Nice
@xECK29x !
Contemplating turning NHL36 into a two-level NHL with relegation and promotion. This database has always been a "lab" for experimentation so this would be the next evolution.
NHL: 32 Teams - Seattle would start as #32 and the league setup would be similar to the base NHL32 database I update.
NHL2: 32 Teams - Would basically be the AHL re-branded, with my other NHL36 franchises (Kansas City, Houston, Portland, Quebec, Toronto Toros, Montreal Maroons, Halifax, Hartford, Saskatchewan) starting in this league along with the top AHL franchises. I might even sneak an international team or two in there, perhaps London to start.
Promotion/Relegation would be via playoff between the bottom of each of the four NHL divisions versus the winner of each of the AHL divisions (if I can get this to work with the editor options). I like this format because it would keep the regional aspect of the divisions intact (Atlantic, Metro, Central, Pacific) no matter who gets promoted or relegated. This means in NHL2, the regular season is basically everything...there would still be a Cup playoff but it would not mean anything in so far as promotion/relegation is concerned.
AHL: 32 Teams - Basically takes over as the ECHL as the third tier and is a combination of lesser AHL clubs, ECHL clubs and SPHL clubs. There is no promotion from this league. The purpose of the league would be to serve as the farm league for both divisions of the NHL. Because I don't want there to be a chance of a farm team being at the same level as the main team, each NHL and NHL2 team will feed into a single AHL club as a farm club. There will be no affiliations between NHL and NHL2 clubs.
I love promotion and relegation as a concept and as a challenge and I think letting an EHM player turning say the Hershey Bears into a Stanley Cup dynasty would rank as a pretty exciting and difficult challenge.
I'd probably keep the standard NHL32 Seattle database updated as well because that's been a popular one since it is likely to happen IRL. But this new version of NHL36 with promotion and relegation would likely replace all the varieties of NHL36 I maintain right now as it would be too time consuming to do both and the league structures will be completely different.
Would a database like this appeal to anybody else?