Armchair GMs, the chair just got real.
Run the club. Real games keep score.
Take over a real hockey club. You start with its real roster, every real contract and the real salary cap. From that day it is yours to reshape: set the lines, work the phones, manage the money. Then the real season plays, and what your players do on real ice decides whether you win.
One pass seats eight: you and seven friends in your own private league. Cancel any time.
The best of both worlds
Fantasy hockey gives you real stakes: real games, real results, a real argument on Monday morning. But you only manage a handful of players, and there is no cap, no contracts and no club.
A console GM mode gives you the whole job. If you have played Be A GM in the EA SPORTS NHL series, you know it: lines, trades, contracts, the cap. But the games are played on the console. You play them or it simulates them, and the season moves as fast as you press the button.
WP GM Mode is both. You get the whole front office, and no game is simulated. Your club's score each week is worked out from what your players really did in real games.
| Fantasy hockey | A console GM mode | WP GM Mode | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What decides your results | Real games | Games played or simulated on the console | Real games, every week |
| What you manage | A few players you drafted | A whole club | A whole club: four lines, three pairs, special teams, the farm |
| Money | Usually none | A cap inside the game | The real cap and every player's real contract |
| Player ratings | None | Set by the publisher and updated from time to time | WP ratings out of 99, rebuilt every night from real play |
| Trades | Swaps inside your pool | With the game's own teams | With 31 other general managers, each with his own plan, in a market that moves all season |
| The calendar | The season, then nothing | As fast as you press the button | Real time: deadline day in March, playoffs in spring, free agency on July 1 |
| Someone to answer to | Nobody | Sometimes | An owner whose confidence you can lose, and who can fire you |
Bring your friends. One pass seats eight.
Every hockey fan has a friend who is sure he could do the job better. Now you can settle it. Start a private league, send a link, and each friend takes over a real club. Your GM Mode pass covers you and seven friends, and they play free. The office needs more room? A second pass seats eight more.
One of you is the commissioner and sets the rules. The computer runs the clubs nobody takes, and how hard it bargains is up to the commissioner.
What is the point?
A fair question. Here is what you are playing for.
A full regular season, then playoffs in the real league's format. Four rounds, one champion, your handle on the banner, and the champion general manager wins twelve months of the Ultimate pass. A second prize, six months, goes to the general manager whose club climbs the most places, so a weak club is a real chance too. Rules
Your owner gives you orders and watches every result and every move. Earn his trust and you are safe. Lose it and he finds someone else, and you start again with another club.
GM of the Year, Trade of the Year, Signing of the Year. And one nobody wants: Blunder of the Year.
Twenty-four trophies for what you do in the job, from your first win to the Cup. They are yours for good, whatever club you run.
Earn a pack for every week you play and another for every win. Three retro player cards a pack, 845 to collect, and legends are rare.
Running a club here means watching nightly ratings, form, injuries and contracts for the whole league. That is exactly the homework that wins a hockey pool.
Standings by division, conference and wild card. Two rivalry weeks a season where a win counts double. Everyone can see who is on top.
Start a private league and send a link. Your pass seats you and seven friends, and they play free. One of you is the commissioner and sets the league's rules.
A week as a general manager
- MondayLast week's game is in. Watch it as a broadcast: three periods, the goals credited to the players who really produced that week, and now and then the gloves come off.
- Any daySet your four lines, three pairs and both special teams by dragging players into place. Your coach fills anything you leave empty.
- Any dayMake a trade offer. The other general manager weighs it against his own plan. He may say yes, say no, or ask for more. An offer stays open for three days.
- Any dayMove an injured player to injured reserve, call someone up, claim a player off waivers, or open contract talks with a player you want to keep.
- All weekYour players play their real games. Goals, assists, shots, power-play goals, blocked shots and takeaways all count.
- The big daysDeadline day, when the phones do not stop. The playoffs. Awards night. And July 1, when contracts run out and free agents choose where to sign.
Every player has a card
Rated out of 99 from real play, and rebuilt every night. These are today's top three.
See it
Your club is waiting
USD $5.99 a month, and one pass seats eight. Want WP's picks too? Ultimate is USD $13.99 a month. Cancel any time.
Take a clubQuestions
How much does it cost?
The GM Mode pass is USD $5.99 a month. It covers the game: the public league and private leagues. It does not include WP's picks. The Ultimate pass is USD $13.99 a month and adds everything in Picks Monthly: every pick, the daily parlay, the calculator and all articles. Both renew monthly until you cancel.
Can I play with my friends?
Yes. Start a private league, give it a name and an emblem, and send your friends the invitation link. Each friend picks a club and a handle. You are the commissioner. Every club starts from its real roster and real contracts, and the computer runs the clubs nobody takes.
Do my friends have to pay?
No. One GM Mode pass seats eight people in a private league: the pass holder and seven friends, who join with a free account. A bigger group needs a second pass in the league, which seats eight more.
What does a friend on a free seat get?
Everything inside that private league: a club, lineups, trades, waivers, contracts and the playoffs. A free seat is good for one private league. The public league, its prizes and starting a league of your own need your own GM Mode pass.
What happens if the pass holder cancels?
The league keeps its seats for seven days. If any member has a GM Mode pass in that time, play carries on. If nobody does, the members' clubs go back to the computer.
Can the commissioner change the rules?
Some of them. The commissioner sets how often the computer-run clubs trade with each other, how hard they bargain, whether they call members with offers, and whether an owner can fire a general manager. Scoring and player ratings are the same in every league and cannot be changed. Private leagues have no prizes.
Do I keep the real roster all season?
You start with it. From the day you take over, the club is yours to change, and the other clubs change too. Clubs trade with each other all season, and one may call you with an offer. Every trade is reported on the league's news wire.
Can I keep my club next season?
In the public league, yes. Your club, its roster and its contracts carry into the next season for as long as your pass stays active, and the club's page keeps its record season by season.
How is this different from a console game or a hockey pool?
A console game plays or simulates its own games. A hockey pool gives you a list of players and no club. Here you run a whole club with real contracts and the real salary cap, you can trade with every other club, and real games decide your week.
Do I need to understand advanced statistics?
No. Every player has one rating out of 99 and a few plain sub-ratings. A guided tour shows you each screen in about a minute, and a button fills in a sensible lineup for you.
Who runs the other clubs?
Every club has a general manager. A club that nobody has taken yet is run by the WP GM engine until someone takes the job. Each one has its own plan: some are trying to win now, some are rebuilding. In a private league those clubs are labelled as run by the computer.
Is this gambling?
No. There is no wagering: nobody stakes money on a result. It is a management game scored from real results. The two prizes, a year of the Ultimate pass for the champion and six months for the most improved club, can be won without buying anything. See the official rules.
The best clubs are taken. Is it too late for me?
No. Every club's starting position is recorded on the day its general manager takes it. The Most Improved prize goes to the biggest climb from that position, and a club near the bottom has the most room to climb. The real league's own balance helps too: weaker clubs often have more cap room, and they get first claim on waivers. And before every new season, the strongest open clubs are handed out by a random draw, not to whoever signs up first.
Is there a prize?
Yes, two. Each season the champion general manager wins twelve months of the Ultimate pass, about CAD $240. The general manager whose club climbs the most places from where it stood when he or she took it wins six months, about CAD $120. No purchase is necessary, a skill-testing question applies, and it is open to residents of Canada outside Quebec who have reached the age of majority. The official rules have the details, including how to enter free.
What happens if I am fired?
You lose that club, not your pass. Other owners will be hiring, and you take another club and start again.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes. The league works in a phone browser, and a GM tab is coming to the WP Hockey Predictor app.
How much time does it take?
As little as five minutes a week to set a lineup. As much as you like if you enjoy working the phones.
WP GM Mode is an independent product of WP North Entertainment Group Ltd. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Electronic Arts Inc., the National Hockey League, its clubs or the NHL Players' Association. EA SPORTS and Be A GM are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. and are named here only to describe how the products differ. Club and player names are used to report real results. Prize: no purchase necessary; see the official rules.