New Danzilona Hockey League

The New Danzilona Hockey League (or NDZHL) was a Minecraft hockey league on Civcraft 2.0. The league and Minecraft hockey as a whole were created by New Danzilona citizen RoarkLeSkif, who was head of the league until his resignation on June 30, 2014. The league ran for 4 seasons and contained a total of 11 competing teams over the course of its lifespan. The NDZHL was not only hugely important in developing a distinct Danzilonan identity but also had both positive and negative diplomatic effects among its competing nations, as well as just being pure good fun.

History
Minecraft hockey first came to the scene on March 17, 2014 with the creation of the r/NDZHL subreddit and the semi-completion of Civcraft's first hockey rink in the southern NDZ neighbourhood of Swisston. On March 21st, Roark finished the NDZHL charter, which outlined the rules and regulations of the league and game as a whole, officially creating the New Danzilona Hockey League. Originally, all of the competing players were from the United Provinces, and they hosted an exhibition match without being organised into teams on April 4th. After the completion of the Swisston hockey rink on April 12th, teams began to be organised for the upcoming opening day of season one. The original three teams included the Swisston Snow Shovels (created by Roark and composed of NDZ and DPNCCR citizens), the Little Latvia Grizzlies (which also represented Churchill and Pella), and the Mt. Augusta Avalanche. Though the draft and opening day was planned for April, it was pushed back to May 2014 to accomodate for players' busy schedules. On May 11th, the draft was held, and the players selected went on to compete in season one, which ran until June 7th and resulted in a victory for the Swisston Snow Shovels. On June 22nd, season two began. A number of new teams joined the league, including the Loveshack Lemon Lollies, Orion Frozen Freedom, Aytos Sportklub, Roma Conquest, and Brimstone Blazes New rules were implemented pertaining to hitting your own teammates after excessive roughhousing caused controversy near the end of season one. This would be a common theme among NDZHL games, as lag and low ticks sometimes made it unclear whether or not rules were broken. The rules of the NDZHL were largely fluid and changed when needed, which caused tensions when gaps and loopholes were found and/or exploited before rules regarding them could be implemented. This, along with the plethora of new players not yet entirely familiar with the game, caused a chaotic opening day for season two. A complaint was lodged by Aytos SK against the Mt. Augusta Avalanche, who switched out two players mid-game and ended up winning. Additionally, a number of players and teams were given suspensions and warnings after continued disruptions of the game and for placing a bounty on Roark and another referee. Although these issues were eventually sorted, Roark took an indefinite break from Civcraft on June 30th, leaving Joesiv2000 and wanado144 in charge of the league. Season two thereafter continued normally, and the new commissioners organised the games as a cup bracket. The season ran until July 27, 2014 and resulted in a victory for the Orion Frozen Freedom.

After season two, the NDZHL went through a period of inactivity caused by drama within competing nations and real-life business of the commissioners. Opening day was originally planned for August 30, 2014 but was pushed back indefinitely following wanado's resignation as commissioner and Joesiv's inacivity. On September 27th, Danzilonan neondan99 took over as commissioner and again attempted to organise an opening day for season three, but it was also pushed back indefinitely. Finally, some months later following the end of the Titan War and return of wanado, season three finally began with an exhibition game on March 21, 2015. During the gap between seasons two and three, many formerly competing teams went inactive or could not field enough players for a new season, leaving just 3 teams competing: the SSS, MAA, and a new team: the New Senntisten Knights. Season three had just a handful of games with typically only two players playing for each team at a time. It ran until May 30, 2015 and resulted in a final victory for Mt. Augusta Avalanche. neondan and wanado were successful in organising and starting a fourth season of the NDZHL. Four teams were chosen to compete: the Bermuda Buccaneers, Aurora Owls (which also represented Bryn), Mt. Augusta Avalanche, and Swisston Snow Shovels (which now represented the entire U3P). Season four had just two games on September 27th and October 3rd, thereafter going inactive due to the start of the Nox War.

After the beginning of Civcraft 3.0, a friendly exhibition game was announced between the residents of the Volans and was hosted on August 27, 2016. Despite this, the NDZHL was not officially reorganised for 3.0 or any succeeding civ servers, remaining currently defunct.

Season 1
Opening Day Game 1: Mt. Augusta Avalanche vs. Swisston Snow Shovels @ May 17, 2014; Winner: Mt. Augusta Avalanche 5-4 Game 2:  Little Latvia Grizzlies vs. Swisston Snow Shovels @ May 24, 2014; Winner: Little Latvia Grizzlies 9-8 Game 3:  Swisston Snow Shovels vs. Mt. Augusta Avalanche @ May 30, 2014; Winner: Mt. Augusta Avalanche 5-3 Game 4:  Little Latvia Grizzlies vs. Mt. Augusta Avalanche @ June 2, 2014; Winner: Little Latvia Grizzlies 2-0 Game 5:  Little Latvia Grizzlies vs. Mt. Augusta Avalanche @ June 3, 2014; Winner: Mt. Augusta Avalanche 6-5 Season 1 Final @ June 7, 2014: Winner:  Swisston Snow Shovels

Season 2
Opening Day Game 1: Roma Conquest vs. Brimstone Blazes @ June 22, 2014; Winner:  Roma Conquest 4-0 Game 2:  Mt. Augusta Avalanche vs. Loveshack Lemon Lollies @ June 29, 2014; Winner: Mt. Augusta Avalanche 7-0 Game 3:  Roma Conquest vs. Orion Frozen Freedom @ July 6, 2014; Winner: Orion Frozen Freedom 4-3 Game 4:  Loveshack Lemon Lollies vs. Swisston Snow Shovels @ July 6, 2014 (double header w/ Game 3); Winner: Loveshack Lemon Lollies 6-1 Game 5:  Roma Conquest vs.  Aytos SK @ July 6, 2014; Winner:  Roma Conquest 6-1 Season 2 Final @ July 27, 2014: Winner:  Orion Frozen Freedom

Season 3
The final scores of most season 3 games were unfortunately not posted publicly. Exhibition Game: Mt. Augusta Avalanche vs. Swisston Snow Shovels @ March 21, 2015; Winner: Swisston Snow Shovels 12-3 Opening Day Game 1:  Mt. Augusta Avalanche vs. Swisston Snow Shovels @ April 25, 2015; Winner: Mt. Augusta Avalanche Game 2: New Senntisten Knights vs. Mt. Augusta Avalanche & Swisston Snow Shovels @ May 2, 2015; Game 3:  Mt. Augusta Avalanche vs. New Senntisten Knights & Swisston Snow Shovels @ May 9, 2015; Season 3 Final Game 1:  Swisston Snow Shovels vs. Mt. Augusta Avalanche @ May 30, 2015; Winner: Mt. Augusta Avalanche 11-1 Season 3 Final Game 2:  Mt. Augusta Avalanche vs. New Senntisten Knights @ May 30, 2015; Winner: Mt. Augusta Avalanche 9-1

Season 4
Opening Day Game 1: Swisston Snow Shovels vs. Mt. Augusta Avalanche @ September 26, 2015; Winner: Swisston Snow Shovels 5-3 Opening Day Game 2:  Swisston Snow Shovels vs. Aurora Owls @ September 26, 2015; Winner: Swisston Snow Shovels 8-2 Game 2:  Mt. Augusta Avalanche vs. Aurora Owls @ October 3, 2015; Winner: Mt. Augusta Avalanche 7-2

Sociopolitical Impacts
The NDZHL and its games were received essentially entirely positively by the citizens of NDZ, many of whom pined to participate in it and used it to drive activity in the city. The population of NDZ more than doubled over the course of seasons one and two, in part thanks to the attention brought to the city by the games. Roark himself ran for Infrastructure Representative for NDZ for April and May 2014 and used promoting and expanding the NDZHL and its infrastructure a part of his platforms. Roark won both elections, and his fellow infrastructure rep also made the NDZHL a part of his platform. Some events were planned to take place around the same time as NDZHL games to increase their attendence. When a federal government was discussed for the DZF in August 2014, a Culture Minister who would promote the league was proposed but never implemented.

The NDZHL and Minecraft hockey in general became the diplomatic "face" of NDZ and the DZF, which left a positive impression on many of the server's nations and help foster the establishment of friendly relations. For example, the two oldest continuous teams, Mt. Augusta Avalanche and Swisston Snow Shovels, helped create and maintain extremely positive relations between their respective home nations, especially during the latter half of season two and season three when an Augustan and a Danzilonan co-ran the league. It came to a point where MtA discussed joining the U3P but ultimately decided against it. Nevertheless, the two nations remained friendly until the election of Nox collaborator Prof_TANSTAAFL as Lord Mayor of MtA on June 30, 2015. Residents of Loveshack, of which there were usually only 1 to 3 at any given time, formed a greater sense of community with the Threepers they played against in the league and eventually ascended to U3P membership in August 2014. The overall positive impression left by what was otherwise a modest town thanks to the NDZHL also may have partially helped the Danzilonans completely repel an invasion by hostile neighbours through diplomatic pressure alone without any military action.

On the flip side, the NDZHL also negatively affected relations between New Danzilona and Grundeswald. Grundeswald was continually denied entry into the league due to their team name being a pun of "Neo-Nazis" and worries by commissioners that they wouldn't take the rules seriously. This tension ultimately culminated in Grundeswegians pearling and releasing Roark on June 20, 2014. At the start of season four, Grundeswald formed a rival hockey league, the Official Civcraft Hockey League, with other teams who were denied entry into the NDZHL. The OCHL officially hosted no games.