Challenge #37 Discussion - Blowing Up The Canucks!

[batdad]

For those of you complaining about Markstrom and Lack.

[Vadim10]

That SV% is from outer space. Seriously .955%? I would build a monument for a goalie with this stats.

[batdad]

YOu noticed who the goalie is that is second on the voting list right Vadim?

[Peter_Doherty]

batdad - But you are the only one with these ridiculous defensive numbers every challenge, no matter who your d-men or goalies are You broke the game, honestly you should contact Riz and talk to him about your tactics because whatever you are doing is not realistic.

Wow, that came out really negative, didn't mean it in a negative way, i'm super impressed

[Vadim10]

Yes, I noticed that Lack is second on that list. In my game he could have worn a dress with "Lack of talent" written on it instead of his name...

So come on, confess you have an invisible wall behind your goalie or something like that No, seriously: That's absolute impressing

[cecede123]

Kinda funny, Lindey Vey just broke his 49 games goal drought

[stone169]

Ok. Since our discussion concerning tactics. I changed my practice area to General 40%; Powerplay 30%; Penalty Kill 30%. This seemed to help with my PK somewhat. I tinkered with my lines before and during games and also one of the things that I noticed with my unit tactics was puck pressure was set to 'Heavy'. I switched that to normal.

Since messing around with some of these things my record improved to 6-3-5. I see things improving a bit more now. Thanks.

[nickflyers]

Yeah BatDad you broke the game lol!

[riazorblues86]

Just wanna to ask, is this challenge got dateline or whatsoever? I gonna start it tonite because I manage download the saved game after several days trying..weird, my machine is high end capacity but still cannot download the saved game, it always state error.

Just download it using my office machine, hah here i come..hopefully not to late i think.

[radiskull]

Woohoo, 2nd regular season is over. Still on top of the NHL with 53-21-8. Happy! PP 20.3%, PK 80.1%. Much better.
Bartschi, Jensen, Kadri and Mantha all have >1 point per game. Conacher finished with 25 PP goals. Bonino is 3rd in the league for assists. McDavid did pretty well and developed a little along the road, 14-24-38. I will watch him in the offseason and maybe he'll get his spot on the 1st line next year. And Bonino in that case maybe will be traded.
But let's go to the playoffs! Coyotes first.

[bruins72]

Just wanna to ask, is this challenge got dateline or whatsoever? I gonna start it tonite because I manage download the saved game after several days trying..weird, my machine is high end capacity but still cannot download the saved game, it always state error.

Just download it using my office machine, hah here i come..hopefully not to late i think.

I think signing in to Microsoft OneDrive helps the download.

The deadline is on the challenge is currently set for Monday June 29th but about a week before that we're going to run a poll to see if people want to extend it or start a new challenge.

[bruins72]

So I finally finished my first season. I finished last place. Were were horrible! The Stanley Cup Final was Sharks vs Lightning and the Lightning won.

Despite finishing last in the league, we didn't win the lottery. We got the #2 overall. Fortunately, we were still able to draft Chychrun at that position. The Senators (who actually finished 26th in the leage) won the draft and took Clague. Chychrun had actually fallen to 3rd in the rankings (I think he had dropped to 4th in the mid-season rankings).

I was looking to do a little dealing before the draft but there really wasn't a lot of interest in the players I had available. I want to trade Conacher for my non-veteran move but most teams are giving him 3 star interest.

[stone169]

So I finally finished my first season. I finished last place. Were were horrible! The Stanley Cup Final was Sharks vs Lightning and the Lightning won.

Despite finishing last in the league, we didn't win the lottery. We got the #2 overall. Fortunately, we were still able to draft Chychrun at that position. The Senators (who actually finished 26th in the leage) won the draft and took Clague. Chychrun had actually fallen to 3rd in the rankings (I think he had dropped to 4th in the mid-season rankings).

I was looking to do a little dealing before the draft but there really wasn't a lot of interest in the players I had available. I want to trade Conacher for my non-veteran move but most teams are giving him 3 star interest.

I honestly don't know how Chychrun can drop. With other teams, I actually bust my butt to trade up (if I have to), just to get him. Although, don't do what I did and rush him. Give him at least one year in the minors.

Right now, it looked as though we were starting to turn a corner, then I lost Chychrun for a month. I got spanked the following two games after losing him.

On a side note, actually watching this kid play in Sarnia, he's a difference maker, but he has to stay out of the box and stay healthy. He's the reason why the Sting traded D'Angelo to the Soo, instead of keeping him for their playoff run. This kid will go top 5 in the draft next year and you'll be hearing a lot more talk about him next season.

[radiskull]

Well, playoffs went decent.
Coyotes 4-1
Kings 4-0
Oilers 4-0
Lightning 1-4
Rrrrrr, Tampa's too strong. I was hoping, but no.
It was our powerplay that led us all the way with 27.4% in the playoffs. McDavid stepped up and led the team with +11 and 4-14-18 in 18 games. Jensen scored 12.
Ok, waiting for the next year.

[Peter_Doherty]

Ranked at #30 in the season preview, i think we can fight for a playoff spot though, that's my hope This is the lineup that will start the season:

Bärtschi-Bjugstad-Conacher
Kreider-Bonino-Jensen
Girgensons(A)-Tierney-Kassian
Lowry-Vey-Dorsett(A)
McMillan, Several players in the AHL knocking on the door, mainly Virtanen and Blomstrand, Tierney and Lowry on the chopping block.

Klefbom-Sanguinetti
Kylington-Tanev(C)
Stanton-Weber
Olsen

Markström-Eriksson
Demko will be in AHL this season.

Utica is stacked this season, especially down the middle so we'll see if i make some roster changes during the season.

[batdad]

NO I did not break the game. It still works. (I know Peter that you were not being your usual self and were in a good mood and it was a happy sentence....lol)

I think I pay way more attention to what is happening to lines and what the other teams do against them than others do. Hint....my lines are rarely static. Especially my C when I have 2-3 good ones. When I do not....my winger pairs are never static.

On this team

Scheifele and Bonino switch 1-2 every 2nd or 3rd game.

Nelson, Conacher, Bartschi go up and down from lines 1-3 and each spends a game or two in that spot. LW PP rotates every 5 games or so.
Kassian, Morin, Jensen went up and down lines 1-3 as much as the others did, and move around on PP occasionally. Not alot as well.

My 3 and 4 line centres move back and forth alot as well.

Probably hurts my offense at times but wins me cups


Really I Do not change them that much though as line combos often remain the same just whether they are the 1st or 2nd or 3rd line changes.

[Vadim10]

Your hint indicates me you're changing lines in a regular timeframe, right? Do you consider hot streaks or do you change your lines though they are on fire at the moment? I know, a good cook never tells his secrets, but at least I try to educe a bit of them from you

[mpronger]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO My 24 year old I traded for turned 25 I was so careful and this late trade doomed me. Oh man, restart coming tomorrow

[Peter_Doherty]

batdad - Hehe yeah, i clearly didn't mean that you literally broke the game, just that your defensive results are so good that they are unrealistic. I was kind of serious about you talking to Riz about it though, we all want the game to be as realistic as possible I've started to change lines and ice-time during games aswell and it does help alot. I usually try to keep my lines pretty static over the course of the season though, i like trying to create chemistry, sometimes you just have to abandon it though.

Edit: I really don't understand why i can't send my euro-kids to juniors though, they were drafted to the CHL but their rights seems to have been lost Now i'm overstocked on players in AHL because of it

[batdad]

Yes I take into consideration streaks. But here is the thing. You know the message you get at 5 games for a guy and goals? If you leave him in that slot after that 5 games (same slots he is in on PP and PK) they will stop scoring and slump alot of the time. At least for me. Guys like Unknown User do not seem to have that issue with slumps....still get 170 points. Now that is some tactical genius---But for me if he is 1st line RW I move him to second line or if capable of left wing, move him there for a game or two.

The AI coaches catch up to you and they start targeting, shadowing your guys (you can do that too if you wish in personal tactics...just be sure to match your LW with their RD, your Rw with their LD, etc etc. C-C, RD-LW, LW-RW....so that you can shut guys down. I have tons of success with this option....especially in some games vs Ovenchicken.

(I have not used that option in EA at all though, and I only match lines every 5-10 games or so at most until playoffs. And then it is only for a period at a time.

[Peter_Doherty]

Tarasenko didn't get 170 points for Unknown, he had 117 over 70 goals though which is sick.

I took over Kalamazoo to clear roster space so i could send some guys down there from AHL since i had too many players in AHL and not everyone got ice time, also got some new coaches in Kalamazoo to make sure i don't ruin the players i send down there.

[Manimal]

So, I've done most my trades and I'm happy with the return.
Now I just need to decide on one of three deals for Vrbata.

to Anaheim for Emerson Etem
to Montreal for Michael Bournival and Jacob de la Rose
to Winnipeg for Adam Lowry, a 2nd and a 3rd round pick

[Peter_Doherty]

I would take one of the 2 first deals, Lowry has been a disappointment for me. Has a hard time getting close to 6.50 AvR and i had him on the 3rd line and 2nd PP to start.

[bruins72]

It would also depend on who you already got in your other deals. What position do you need most?

[batdad]

Tarasenko didn't get 170 points for Unknown, he had 117 over 70 goals though which is sick.

I took over Kalamazoo to clear roster space so i could send some guys down there from AHL since i had too many players in AHL and not everyone got ice time, also got some new coaches in Kalamazoo to make sure i don't ruin the players i send down there.

I Know it was not 170, but still....how in the name? LOL


Blech I hate all of those Vrbata deals, but as B72 says depends what you got in the other ones, and where your biggest need is.