Challenge 16: Edmonton Oilers (Discussion Thread)

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:32 pm

Use this thread for all Challenge 16 discussion! Don't forget, questions or comments on the rules go HERE.

Post by **McQwak** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:41 pm

This is funny. My previous games before I started to play challenges were like Colorado, Edmonton, Colorado. Then the Winnipeg challenge, followed by Colorado challenge and now Edmonton

But those old games were with old rosters, of course. So at least one difference.
Let's get into this one

mustardstew · Post by **mustardstew** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:02 pm

that is funny

Quick turn-around on the Challenge - awesome!

Hopefully I can get more done than the last couple of challenges

I love that its another team I know very little about... no Khabibulin - sounds like the Isles challenge all over again (DiPietro on LTIR).

Is Gagner still a wimp? lol

and Canada's fans are disappointed that an American is GM. I forgot to tell them I'm part Quebecois!

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:41 pm

Honestly... the lack of goaltending makes this team BRUTAL! This could be one of our most difficult challenges yet.

Círyatan · Post by **Círyatan** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:54 pm

A new Challenge, that's really exciting! I just thought about starting a career in FM, but I guess that'll have to wait.

I've never played with the Oilers, so that should be fun. I hear there's no Khabibulin on the roster; any story behind that?

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:24 pm

Glad to have you on board, Ciryatan!

You heard correctly. There is no Khabibulin in this challenge (make sure you download the special version of the DB for your challenge game!). Our reasoning behind that is that we were looking for a team that was bad enough to make for a difficult challenge team. Looking at the real life NHL, the Oilers have been terrible. The one difference between the real life Oilers and the EHM Oilers was that in the real world, Khabibulin was injured and he's out for the season. Goalies make a big difference in EHM and by removing him from the team, the Oilers became horrible in the game.

Beyond the Khabibulin change, there are a couple more changes to this version of the database. We've had Horcoff tweaked to be a little less effective (matching his real life production better). Lidas may have done this in the regular version of 2.2 but I'm not sure. We've also had the affiliations changed so that the Oilers had an AHL affiliate. We felt that you really needed an AHL affiliate for a challenge since we're supposed to be developing our own talent. I think that's about it for changes. I could be forgetting something though. Anyhow, other than the removal of Khabibulin, the changes are minor ones just to make things more challenge-friendly.

Marsac · Post by **Marsac** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:30 pm

Sweet. I'm currently without my EHM laptop but I'll be sure to join in once I get it back.

Círyatan · Post by **Círyatan** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:34 pm

Oh, I see. Well, we'll have to do without Khabby.

Challenge-friendly means participant-unfriendly, eh?

Just kidding, the more challenging it gets, the more fun it is to play.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:53 pm

Hope you get your EHM laptop back soon, Marsac!

Ciryatan... yes, challenge-friendly definitely means participant-unfriendly! LOL! Everyone has been playing this game so long and have gotten so good at it. We need to make these challenges as difficult as possible! Seriously though... the Avalanche challenge proved to be a difficult one because of the type of team it had. This Oilers challenge takes that to a whole new level!

Post by **joehelmer** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:59 pm

Hm..I wonder what I will go for in the first season draft? A goalie maybe?

Post by **McQwak** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:08 pm

I think that everyone will trade some goalie in or sign him from free agency one it is allowed.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:11 pm

Yeah, I don't remember there being much for goalies available in that first draft. Even if there is, I'm sure they won't be ready for the NHL any time soon. I'm sure most people will end up using their 1st allowed trade to land a goalie. You won't be able to sign much more than a career backup with that $2M cap hit max for UFAs. Beyond that, your best hope would be to not sign any UFAs so you have a waivers claim and then pray that a decent goalie is waived.

Post by **visualdarkness** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:35 pm

Once again I get to play the Oilers!

Lets see if I can win the SC the first season once again. I'm not too concerned about having JDD as a starter as I've had a lot of success using him as a high workload backup!

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:46 pm

I will be amazed if you can win the Stanley Cup in the first season with the Oilers. Remember, you're not allowed any trades nor signings in the first season. You're using this team as is.

Post by **visualdarkness** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:52 pm

bruins72 wrote:I will be amazed if you can win the Stanley Cup in the first season with the Oilers. Remember, you're not allowed any trades nor signings in the first season. You're using this team as is.

It will be harder as Horcoff is worse in the 2.2 than before (He got grades 8.9 and 9.4 the first two seasons on my old save) and not being able to bring in a hitting PKer is a killer.

I hope this challenge will make it even more fun to play as my beloved Oilers as I start to get a little bored of them.

eric1985 · Post by **eric1985** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:16 pm

So i started my challenge and noticed something funny... The bulin wall is on the team but injured for 7 months. Thought i read he was removed from the team. I'm using the 2.2edm roster.

Post by **batdad** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:19 pm

Not removed---just injured and cannot use him I think. Course I have not got the rosters yet.

Man, a defensive style without goaltending...oh oh for me.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:23 pm

Yes. Since I posted that I was able to start up a game and see how Lidas handled it. Bulin is set for a long-term injury and has a retirement set. It shows that he's set to retire after the season but I haven't simmed a day yet so he might actually retire right away because of his age, injury, and retirement set. I believe Lidas kept him so that we'd get a regen.

Post by **joehelmer** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:35 pm

For me Bulin Wall retired because of "recurring injuries" the first day.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:39 pm

I'm guessing that's going to happen to everyone. Lidas knows how to work those things.

Post by **visualdarkness** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:58 pm

He retires the next day, so it works!
I find it somewhat difficult to grasp all the rules, but well, I can be somewhat slooow.

axwel3221 · Post by **axwel3221** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:59 pm

At first, I would like to play my first challenge. Then, I would like to know why you need to enhance all those leagues. Then, I would like to know where you can download stat recorder, I can't see it anywhere. And, at last, do you get me?

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:00 pm

Download the rules cheat sheet and print it out as a handy reference. Read through the rules carefully and if you have any questions about specific points of the rules, ask them in the Rules Questions and Comments thread.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:36 pm

So on September 4th, I see a news item saying the Martin Brodeur got injured and will be out for 6 months. If we were playing with an Eastern Conference team this would make a pretty big difference in my challenge game.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:40 pm

So Omark just isn't going to sign. He doesn't want to come over to North America. That's a major bummer. I offered him Key player status and as much of a bonus as we're allowed (because of his age you can't offer him more than $850k per year for a contract). He just doesn't want to come over. He would've been a nice season 2 addition.