Strat-O-Matic Computer Hockey is a multifaceted game with many options and features.  If you are new to the world of Strat-O-Matic and just want to get started quickly you should follow these steps:

1. If you wish to play with the cards (this game may be played with or without the Strat-O-Matic hockey cards), you must understand the ratings system.  Even if you don’t plan to use the cards, you will probably want to understand the ratings system employed by the game.
2. If you are playing a nonleague game, no stats will be saved.  When you play your first league game you will be able to view statistics.
3. You can accept the defaults for most of the items shown in the menus when you start a game.  
4. Don’t worry about messing things up!  You can always re-install the software.  Also, each season individually can be restarted, which simply erases all statistics accumulated to date for that league.