New Danzilona Hockey League

The header and logo of the NDZHL

The New Danzilona Hockey League (or NDZHL) was a Minecraft hockey 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 3 seasons and contained a total of 9 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 BlazesNew 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 indefinitely 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 seasons 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 indefinitely 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.