How games happen
What the feed shows
Section titled “What the feed shows”The broadcast has enough granularity to follow flow and feel tension, not so granular that it becomes noise. You will see:
- Faceoffs
- Shots on goal
- Saves
- Hits
- Penalties and power plays
- Goals
- Fights
- Injuries (from Season 04)
- Period summaries
Between-period updates from the booth. A post-game wrap with final stats.
G.L.A.S.S. can see them now
Section titled “G.L.A.S.S. can see them now”In Season 02, G.L.A.S.S. entered beta operations, and Le Council asked for patience “where the glass is still being fitted to the frame.” From Season 04, the glass is fitted.
G.L.A.S.S. no longer draws the game from the record. The record is drawn from the game. Every player on the ice has a position, ten times a second, and the rink shows all of them: the forecheck, the gap, the pass that did not arrive, the defender already in the lane before the shot. The puck goes where the puck went. On a phone, the camera follows it.
- The feed keeps the same clock. JM’s call lands with the play it describes, and not before.
- When the game ends, the rink goes dark. G.L.A.S.S. watches. It does not rewind.
- Not every game, perhaps. Where G.L.A.S.S. can see a game, it sees all of it. Where it cannot, the rink citizens already knew is still in place.
The record reads differently
Section titled “The record reads differently”Because G.L.A.S.S. now watches every player, the box score counts three things it never could: blocked shots, takeaways, and giveaways. They move as the plays air.
The record also counts more of what it already counted. Season 04 shows more shots, more saves, and more hits than any season before it. It does not show more goals.
Injuries
Section titled “Injuries”Season 04 introduces something Le Council would prefer not to introduce: players can be hurt.
It happens at a hit, in a fight, on a fall, or when equipment fails. The whistle goes. The trainer comes out. The player is helped off, and a teammate takes the seat. Nobody in the building knows yet how bad it is. At the next period break, the record does:
| Grading | What follows |
|---|---|
| Minor | Out for the rest of the game. |
| Major | Out for a number of games, posted on the player’s page. The front office calls up a free agent from the unattached pool to dress in the seat until the player is back. The pool lends the player; it does not let them go. |
| Career-ending | The player retires. The front office signs a replacement on the spot, and the holders are asked to ratify that signing at the next S.H.I.F.T.. |
Le Council expects most injuries to be minor. Le Council expects a few not to be.
Games missed are counted only against games that have aired. A matchday is simulated before it airs, and the record will not announce tomorrow’s lineup today.
Star ratings
Section titled “Star ratings”Every player carries a public 1–5 star rating, assessed by Le Council’s scouting department. Modifiers, arena effects, and the general unpredictability of The Almighty Ice mean a two-star player can outperform a five-star player on any given day.
Ratings move between seasons. After Season 03, of the 720 rostered players, 360 rose and 310 fell; 119 gained a star and 128 lost one.
The stars are a guide. The Almighty Ice is the authority.
What shapes a result
Section titled “What shapes a result”A game is not purely a matchup of ratings. Three layers of chaos sit on top of the simple hockey rulebook:
- Player modifiers—gained in the Sixth. They travel with the player.
- Arena modifiers—one per home arena, always active there.
- Match modifiers—announced before each game via a LPCHUIP advisory.
When they combine, emergent chaos results. Le Council tracks all outcomes. Le Council does not explain them.
Other things now reach the ice as well:
- Calendar rules—the day of the week, applied to every game on the slate.
- Rivalries—a team playing a team it counts a rival plays it differently. More hits, considerably more fights, and an advantage Le Council puts at “a little over half of home ice” at the fiercest. Le Council publishes the size of that edge and not its arithmetic.
- Marks—a player the light has settled on plays to “one number applied evenly to everything they do,” and whatever the Sixth left on them is not legible while it holds.
Fairness
Section titled “Fairness”The authority on whether a match was fair is The Almighty Ice. Le Council does not adjudicate fairness. Le Council collects data and issues advisories.
See also
Section titled “See also”- Modifiers—the three-tier system in full.
- Season cycle—where a single game fits.
- Rivalries—why some games are harder than others.
- Economy & betting—how O.D.D.S. turns star ratings, modifiers, and recent form into odds.