Hockey NZ: The Lion Foundation National Hockey League 05 gets underway on 10 September with some fine tuning to help increase the league’s excitement level.

The inclusion of several international stars including Australians Brent Livermore and Michael McCann, plus New Zealand’s own world class stars playing along side the next layer of emerging talent sets the scene for an exciting showcase. First class hockey will be delivered to audience’s right around the country.

Next year will be a huge year for Hockey New Zealand internationally, with the Commonwealth Games and World Cup on the agenda for both the Black Sticks Men and Women, so there will be plenty of incentive for players to impress during the NHL.

Format-wise, the main change is the introduction of two centralised double-header weekends to minimise travel and allow players to have more recovery time. It will also create a hockey bonanza spectacle for fans. For example, Wellington will host an amazing 16 games of men’s and women’s hockey on the weekend of 17 and 18 September.

Round seven and the Finals will be centralised in Christchurch following the replacement of Canterbury Hockey’s number one pitch earlier this year.

The women’s competition commences one week earlier than the men’s competition, taking into account that some teams will lose players to the Black Sticks (during Rounds Five and Six), who are participating in the Indira Gandhi Tournament in India.

A bye during that period for all women’s teams will mean the Black Sticks will only miss two NHL matches, returning for the last round and the Finals.

There has also been adjustment to the makeup of teams. Last year there were less player restrictions, due to the disruption of the Athens Olympics but rule changes have been made to guarantee more game time for the players selected in each region and to ensure these players participate in the NHL Finals weekend.

The men will be restricted to 16 players and the women to 18, (due to Indira Gandhi Tournament). Women’s teams with more than two players in the Black Sticks side can select additional players up to a match team total of 16 to replace their unavailable players.

Guest player rulings have also been revisited to increase the intensity of the competition. Once again each team is permitted six guest players, but the number of international guest players has been increased from one to two.

There will also be more medals and awards up for grabs. A bronze medal has been introduced this season. In addition to the top goal scorer’s tally which will be published weekly, there will also be a new MVP award. The winner will be selected by his or her peers. Each week the teams themselves will select their own MVP.

The teams will also nominate an opposition MVP. The totals will be collated each week and will accumulate over the duration of the NHL. Slightly more weight is given to the nominations made by the opposition team to give the best balance of opinion.

A similar MVP system will operate for umpires, which will not only reward the best officials, but also provide a great new vehicle for umpire feedback.

The league has been renamed this year from the Lion Foundation New Zealand Hockey League to the Lion Foundation National Hockey League, in line with Hockey New Zealand’s re-branding earlier this year.