Offical Tactics Thread: General / Even Strength

mtsouth · Post by **mtsouth** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:51 pm

Help my D!

My once strong team (25-5-3) is now 30-10-5 and giving up close to 50 shots each game. They are also giving up the puck 6-8 times a game as well. I'm battling some injuries on the blue lines and hoping that is the reason, but I'd like to solidify things going forward. It's the 08-09 season and here are my lines:

Ladd-Staal-the good Hossa
Fehr-Brindy-Vrbata
Walker-Leino-Williams
Ortmyer/Betts-Sutherby-Dingman

Eminger-Vaannen
Gleason-Van Ryn
Leetch-Morrison

I brought Leetch in to help the PP, but I'm going to drop him soon. Right now, Ortmyer, Walker, Hossa, Vaannen and Van Ryn are all dinged up.

Tactically, what areas should I look at to see if I can reduce the shots and cut down on the giveaways? I have Ward in goal and he's solid.

mtsouth · Post by **mtsouth** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:15 am

47 shots faced versus 19 shots fired, 12 giveaways, 3 of 5 on the PK....and the Canes win 5-3...go figure. It appeared they had a lot of trouble getting puck out of the zone on D, leading to a lot of rebound shots.

Hossa, Staal, and Ladd are 1,2, and 4 in the league in scoring. Looking forward to some suggestions on improving the defensive side of my team's game.

selne · Post by **selne** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:22 am

Mtsouth, 47 shots is something you shouldn't face very often no matter who your goalie is.
It was Brian Gionta who said: "When you're throwing things on net, pucks go in.":-)

So why don't you just post your tactics so that we can try to analyze them and maybe find out some problems?

mtsouth · Post by **mtsouth** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:58 pm

After reading through the tactics thread, I changed a few things. First, I bumped everyone's puck pressure down to normal for the most part. I'm hoping this will reduce the amount of penalties I get which will hopfully reduce the shot attempts. I also tweaked a few personal settings.

My first game after this, we lost 3-0 to Florida. We were 0-10 on the PP, but only had 12 penalty minutes compared to Florida's 22. Florida had 30 shots which is a far cry better than 47 or 50. 2 of the goals were on the PP. Going to keep these tactics for a bit and see if I can get the shots against down. I'd like to eventually get to the point where I have a Red Wings style of attack that leads the league in shots for and also allows the fewest shots against.

yoshig · Post by **yoshig** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:26 am

Hey guys. Wondering if any of you guys have the red light tactic that zeke made light years ago? I saved it somewhere on one of my 100's of DVD's but I cannot find it anywhere. I feel like experimenting with it since I've started to play EHM again starting with the Original (2004) version.

Thanks guys.

MOD NOTE: Please use an existing thread if there is one that covers the topic you are discussing. Your question really didn't require a new thread when there was already a tactics thread present. - B72

mtsouth · Post by **mtsouth** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:11 pm

I stopped trying to match lines and my team started doing well again. Adding Roy and Pominville from BUF also helped. BUF had them on the 3rd and 4th lines and not getting PP time. I picked them up and tossed both of them on my 2nd line which allows for a 3rd line of Walker-Brindy-Williams. Both are averaging near a point a game since joining with Pominville getting a hat trick while subbing in for Ladd on the top line. Took Leino,Vrbata, and the rights to Aaron Marvin to pull it off, but I got Roy and Pom to both ink new deals to keep them for this year plus 2 more.

So I ask, tactic gurus, is it possible to get a Line Matching for Morons guide? Obviously, I can't put together a good balance of shutdown lines and wide open lines. Then again, I think my tactic of my #1-4 lines are better than your 1-4 lines seems to work well and if you check out the previous posts, this isn't an all-star team by any stretch.

mtsouth · Post by **mtsouth** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:13 pm

OK. I need some tactics help to get over the hump in the playoffs.

To review, my first line of Ladd-Staal-Hossa each had over 100 points. Hossa made first team All-Star and Staal made 2nd. Staal led the league in points. I lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs to the Rangers. For the year, the team led in shots and goals, but also gave up a lot of shots on goal. PK and PP were ok, but not great. Special teams killed us in the playoffs and that is with practice being set to 40-30-30 for most of the season.

My tactics by line:
1+2 - Offensive-Normal-Easy/Normal-Tight-Heavy-Easy/Normal-High Tempo-Normal (Staal is creative)-Normal(Hossa is selective and had a shooting percentage near 20%)-Rarely - Freeflowing/Crisscross-Positional/Crisscross-Triangle-Positional High- 1-2-2 - Open - Point Shot - Lopsided

3+4 are similar. I like to try to roll four balanced lines as I'm not very good at line matching.

On the PP, I normally use Diamond or Umbrella (even though the pictures are reversed) and go to Very Offensive and less backchecking.

My defensive pairings going into FA:

Vaanaanen-Eminger
Gleason-Van Ryn
Morrison-Sopel

I think I'm solid here. Boyton is a FA and I'm looking at him, but I'm not sure who he would replace. Eminger and Gleason are on the 1st PP line with Sopel and Van Ryn on the 2nd. Vaanaanen and Morrsion are on 1st PK.

Forward lines

Ladd-Staal-Hossa
Fehr-Gomez-Pominville
Sutherby-Roy-Williams
Dingman-Brindamour-Weinhandl/Ortmyer

Hartnell is someone I like as a FA. Looks like a good fit on the 2nd or 3rd line. I also have Betts who can C a line. Brindy is slowing down, but I like to keep him around for his leadership and teamwork.

So what should I do to better prepare myself for the Cup run? I've won the President's trophy two years straight and have nothing to show for it. My team can score, but stopping other teams seems to be the issue.

Thanks.

selne · Post by **selne** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:56 pm

If you don't use linematching and want to run some balanced lines i would try to set backchecking to hard and maybe agressivness to aggressive. Both settings will help your defense.

Who is your goalie? When i have a bad goalie i use offensive tactics and this way try to keep the puck in the opponents zone. Try to set the defensive zone to "positional". I never had good results with "open", exept on PP. You could try to set the neutral zone defense to 2-1-2 instead.

What's the stats for the second line? I don't think your 2nd line can manage the triangle... $:\$

Good luck!

pens66 · Post by **pens66** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 9:27 am

Like selne wrote: Who is your goalie??
And I would try to add a true #1 defenseman. You don't have one at the moment. Those guys are valuable come playoff time and should eat up close to 30 minutes then.

mtsouth · Post by **mtsouth** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:14 pm

Goalie is Cam Ward. He's won 51 and 49 games the last two years. I may be playing him too much during the regular season as he's started 75 games both years.

Eminger is considered a #1-2 type. Do you mean a veteran #1 D instead of someone who has the potential to reach that level?

What stats do you want for my 2nd line guys?

Post by **batdad** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:03 pm

Not necessarily a veteran, but your d is based on potential...this is not a reality. You need to have dmen who are actually good. Not d-men who might one day turn out good. Eminger hardly ever does turn out good. One or two prospect dmen are fine, but...well not a fan of your d-crew. I have had them all at one point.

Van Aanen--Mostly ends up as a 5-6-7 dman.
Gleason is about right, but is not good defensively...I used him as 3rd pair and pp guy.
Eminger--Never seen him in my games elevate beyond a #5
Van Ryn--IS okay, good spot for him there.
Morrisonn--Same as Eminger.
Sopel--Do I have to say anything? Just sucks in real life, and game.

mtsouth · Post by **mtsouth** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:20 pm

What attributes should I be looking at to find a good D-man?

I've also got Denis Kulyash under contract. He's 26 and appears to be offensive oriented (speed-19, acc-17m slapshot-20, pokecheck-16,positioning-15).

thunderbug · Post by **thunderbug** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:21 pm

Here's my thoughts on your situation. Batdad hit the nail on the head with the defensemen. If you want to line match based on your lines I'd line match 1-4 and 2-3. You also need to make sure your tactics are set up especially for your 3rd and 4th line otherwise they will suck.

thunderbug · Post by **thunderbug** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:26 pm

Kulyash is nice but he doesn't fit the mold of a 1 defenseman. His positioning checking etc are generally too low (at least in my games). As for attributes I look at what you do as well as anticipation and checking. I consider a super high workrate to be a bonus too. I tend to stay away from players with low workrates.

Post by **batdad** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:27 pm

FOr dmen you want someone as close to Pronger as you can find.

Mattias Ohlund, Sami Salo are strong. Willie Mitchell is not.

You want a top dman to have attributes that are good allaround, especially in areas such as anticipation, stamina, determination, bravery, offensive skillsets.

Some guys are wildly good in one area then suck in another. Top pairing d-men need to be pretty dang good at all of it.

I never have top scoring defensemen in my games. However...I always have someone who can log a TONNE of minutes and do very well at it.

patrickgirard11 · Post by **patrickgirard11** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:29 pm

Well , it seems thath after 2 years i am starting too win .
i try too win in Nhl during 4 season and i just restart a new Franchise in Junior League .
Here is my hints and that work for real.

1) Use the Practice Guide you're team will be stay good in execution
2) use simple Tactics and try too not make the thinks too complicated
3) Try Too identify Defensive Player And Offensive player Not by the position but by their Skills.

if you followed those rules i think you can have fun if not you're players will strugling during the Season and you will be Disapointed about the Season - thea Other Season and the Franchise and finally the Game and if not you will won and be a good GM .

Post by **batdad** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:53 pm

Thanks Patrick for the info! Great stuff.

I moved the post here even though it covers tactics and practice, because it does not really need its own thread. Thanks for the info though...

Peterman5000 · Post by **Peterman5000** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:58 am

I have been able to cut down quite a bit on the dreaded GA and improve my TA.

I'm wondering if giveaways is a direct result of safe passing, or is there something else i can adjust to help.

Let me know if you guys have any info.

Thanks

Sucker Punch · Post by **Sucker Punch** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:00 pm

Is there a way to bench a player in-game?

I know I could just take them off the lines, but I seem to remember being able to do something simple, and "Benched" would show up beside their name in the tactics screen.

I searched and played around a little, but couldn't find it. Am I just dreaming?

rottamies · Post by **rottamies** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:13 am

Sure you can.
First select the "Benchings"-option from the "View"-menu in your ingame tactics screen.

Then just click on the "BEN"-text on the right side of the players name you wish to bench.

selne · Post by **selne** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:38 am

rottamies wrote:Sure you can.
First select the "Benchings"-option from the "View"-menu in your ingame tactics screen.

Then just click on the "BEN"-text on the right side of the players name you wish to bench.

I did not know about this benching option.

Thanks rottamies!

Post by **Tasku** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 1:19 pm

Holy smokes! I never knew that either!

Post by **joehelmer** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:20 pm

Wow!

Didn't knew that either.

Cool that there is still so much to learn about game that soon has been out for 2,5 years.

Hypnotist · Post by **Hypnotist** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:21 am

joehelmer wrote:Cool that there is still so much to learn about game that soon has been out for 2,5 years.

I don't know about that. I think it speaks more to the lack of proper documentation. The game is chock full of great little features but the only way to learn about them is by chance or by reading online community posts of others who have happened to already found them.

slash · Post by **slash** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:42 am

Does anyone knows how to develop the trap in EHM 2007? Sort of like what the Minnesota Wild use in real life. Thanks.

Offical Tactics Thread: General / Even Strength

Original EHM Tactics

Path Too Victory

Giveaways