Next Challenge?

[tksolway]

Any word on the next challenge?

[Manimal]

Any word on the next challenge?

Yes, it is coming soon. We just need to have the db uploaded to the site and some other small stuff. We are all on holiday-season here!

[tksolway]

Any word on the next challenge?

Yes, it is coming soon. We just need to have the db uploaded to the site and some other small stuff. We are all on holiday-season here!

No Problem, Just think of me as one of those annoying guys who has no patience

[timmy_t]

Any idea on the next challenge team?

Have we ever tried the Florida Panthers? ((Or would it not be good to do another Southeast Division team...???))

[bruins72]

We still haven't decided on a team. Florida worries me because despite their poor record, Vokoun is still a really good goalie that could make this team an easy winner. I'm not sure. Maybe.

What about teams with a lot of over-priced/high-priced talent? There was an idea where we could enforce a "cap penalty" that basically makes a portion of your salary cap unusable. This would force you to waive/release some big money players to get under the cap at the start of the game and it would also make you think about your spending in future seasons. Doing this might allow us to use teams that we've never been able to use in the past. Any ideas for teams like this?

[timmy_t]

I'll look over the teams in 3.0, but until we see what they look like after the trade deadline it might be hard to pick. (I'm referring to the "cap penalty" you suggested)

Also, I really think that you and all of the other challenge guys are good enough to win the cup with every team.

[bruins72]

It took me a couple seasons to win the Cup in the Thrasher challenge.

[timmy_t]

It took me a couple seasons to win the Cup in the Thrasher challenge.

Yes, but you're still awesome at them!

[bruins72]

I'm not as good as a couple of the others, especially lately. My skills have diminished!

Without the cap penalty involved, what about the Dallas Stars? Any thoughts there? They've got decent but not stellar goaltending. Their defense is pretty weak. They've got one good scoring line and their second line is so-so. Their 3rd and 4th lines aren't too impressive. Looking at their guys assigned to the minor leagues I don't see any standouts and they don't have many impressive unsigned prospects. Overall, I think they might be a tougher challenge than the Thrashers were. I'm not sure. Richards is impressive and Morrow is one of my EHM favorites but beyond that, I'm seeing a lot of weaknesses.

[timmy_t]

I never thought about Dallas, they might be a good team too. (I guess I still think of them as a contender.)

I still think that Florida deserves a look after the roster update.

[bruins72]

I'll take another look at Florida later but I still have concerns about Vokoun making them too good.

Dallas just looks really weak in the build of the DB that I'm looking at. Lehtonen and Raycroft are the goalies. Good but not great. The defense is atrocious! Nicklas Grossman, Alex Goligoski, and Trevor Daley are the highlights of their blueline corps.They've got a solid top 3 centers (Richards being great, Ribeiro being good, and Sutherby being good for a 3rd liner). Their top LW and top RW are very good (Morrow and Eriksson). Then they don't really have a 2nd line LW. I consider OTT a 3rd line LW. Benn isn't really developed yet (and I don't know what his PA is like). The rest of the LWs are junk. Then you've got an aging Langerbrunner as your 2ns line RW. The other RWs? Burish, Williams, and Barch are 4th liners, really.

[timmy_t]

I made a list of the trades the Panthers made this year (if you're interested). They are really a rebuilding team right now.

[bruins72]

I'll take a look at the Panthers before I make a final decision but I'm leaning heavily towards the Stars right now. Vokoun is the key at Florida.

[Alessandro]

No Europe?

[bruins72]

Nope. We'd need to revamp the rules from the ground up to go with whatever European league we chose to run a team from. I know I just don't have the time to do that. Plus, the plain and simple fact is that there is more interest in the NHL. We've run a few Canadian junior challenges but I'm not so sure those have attracted as much interest as the NHL one.

[Morty Benson]

Pittsburgh could be interesting if you put Crosby and Malkin on the IR for the entire challenge...

[Alessandro]

Nope. We'd need to revamp the rules from the ground up to go with whatever European league we chose to run a team from. I know I just don't have the time to do that. Plus, the plain and simple fact is that there is more interest in the NHL. We've run a few Canadian junior challenges but I'm not so sure those have attracted as much interest as the NHL one.

Maybe in the future I might have some time to discuss the rules. Imho retaining a RSL spot with Krylja Sovetov would be a very hard challenge if we limit signings and such stuff.

[Manimal]

Nope. We'd need to revamp the rules from the ground up to go with whatever European league we chose to run a team from. I know I just don't have the time to do that. Plus, the plain and simple fact is that there is more interest in the NHL. We've run a few Canadian junior challenges but I'm not so sure those have attracted as much interest as the NHL one.

Maybe in the future I might have some time to discuss the rules. Imho retaining a RSL spot with Krylja Sovetov would be a very hard challenge if we limit signings and such stuff.

It will be very hard considering they are in the Vysshaya League in-game
I would love to have an European challenge, BTW

[Alessandro]

What's the DB of the challenges? Lidas'?
Bruins72, what if I would try and think some rules? Maybe we can set up an "alternative" challenge for the summer? Would you open a thread for some public brainstorming? I have already 2 scenaries in mind, one in Russia - another one in Finland or Sweden.

[bruins72]

We've had somebody try to run an alternate challenge (I believe it was ECHL) before. It had a little participation but fizzled out. You're more than welcome to try to get some people together to brainstorm on an alternate challenge. You could start a thread for it in the challenge forum. Once you've got everything figured out, we could look at it.

The Official TBL Challenges use the latest version of the Lidas/Manimal DB. Our next challenge will be based on the one that's coming out in the near future.

[timmy_t]

A horribly difficult challenge would be one with the New Jersey Devils where you have to waive all of the No-Trade players: Brodeur, Kovalchuk, Elias, etc.

[bruins72]

Okay, I'm taking a look at the Panthers now and you may have a point. They're pretty devoid of talent. Sure, they've got Vokoun but he's 34 and Clemmensen is a good backup but he's 33. Their defense is actually worse than Dallas' and they really only have a couple line worth of decent talent. Their 1st line players would probably be 2nd line players on most teams. Looking at this, I can see where they'd be a very difficult team, especially in the first season.

Now, I also see some areas where they'd have a clear advantage over Dallas. First, they've got so many more young players/prospects. They've got a 19 year old Kulikov for starters. They've got 18 players under contract at the start of the game that are 22 years old or younger. When Vokoun and Clemmensen get too old, they've got Jakob Markstrom on their farm team developing and probably ready to step in. They've also got a few unsigned prospects that look pretty good (without scouting them yet) too. Florida also has 2 second round picks and 4 third round picks in the first draft. That would help add to the prospect stockpile considerably. Oh and they've got an empty spot on the coaching staff, so we'd be able to hire one more assistant than usual. I also see that their salary is very low, probably below the salary floor. This would allow us to trade one of our young talented prospects (as long as he's signed) for a highly paid veteran talent that another team might be looking to ship out due to cap restrictions.

So I can see pros and cons for using Florida. I'm going to have to do further testing.

[timmy_t]

Thanks for looking B72!

Another thing is that they traded away a lot of their veterans. (and gained 5 more draft picks in the process)

These are the trades before and at the deadline:

To Vancouver: Chris Higgins
To Florida: Evan Oberg, 2013 3rd

To Carolina: Bryan Allen
To Florida: Sergei Samsonov

To Washington: Denis Wideman
To Florida: Jake Hauswirth, 2011 3rd

To Atlanta: Radek Dvorak, 2011 5th
To Florida: Niklas Bergfors, Patrick Rismiller

To New York Rangers: Bryan McCabe
To Florida: Tim Kennedy, 2011 3rd

To Nashville: Conditional Pick
To Florida: Alexander Sulzer

To Carolina: Cory Stillman
To Florida: Ryan Carter, 2011 5th

To Chicago: Michael Frolik, Alexander Salak
To Florida: Jack Skille, Hugh Jessiman, David Pacan

[bruins72]

Yeah, exactly! There's two ways of looking at it though. Sure, they're weak. They've had their team disassembled. But they're in a very good position to rebuild. Dallas is week but maybe not quite to the same extent. The thing is, Dallas really isn't in a good rebuilding position. They've got more money against the cap, less young players with potential, and no extra draft picks. I just checked both teams in the editor and Florida definitely has more younger players with potential than Dallas.

[timmy_t]

Ahhhh, now I see your point! I was just thinking about current ability as opposed to the combination of current ability and prospects.

You may be right on this one...