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3rd quarter of season #1 was the best 3rd quarter in my challenges, if I remember right. There has usually been a pattern in my challenges: we start well (1-3 games), then struggle some ten next games, then we start improving 'til January and after that start struggling again. Now it changed and we were really strong in games 41-60 (12-3-5), but after the trade deadline it all turned around. We have lost to all our closest rivals and there seemed to be nothing to do. I believed the trades had stimulated other team's playing and now they were steamrolling over us
In the game #67 against Ducks we lost by one (2-3) and Legwand got injured. He has been playing biggest minutes of my offense (both 2nd PP and 1st PK) and when I read that it was his shoulder I was sure he will be gone at least the rest of the season, but fortunately it was only a contusion and he'll be back in a week. And that's not all. In the next game we faced Red Wings and I expected the worst - but we won 5-3! I put Bonk in the 2nd line and he had his first hat trick of the season. Maybe we still have a chance there...
I know what you mean, kuulapaa! I run into that same pattern most of the time.
My start to season 2 has been a bit messy. I mentioned before that I had a couple guys suspended to start the season (Arnott 2 games and deVries 1 game). I also had Dumont injured. Well Arnott got injured (10 days) in his first game back. Now Begin is out for 10 days. I've actually had Platonov playing 1st line center and he's done okay but that line isn't producing what they should because Arnott is out. It makes me wish I didn't send Wilson back to the WHL yet. Despite our troubles, we're 3-2 with Howard in net for all 5 games. If we can just get healthy, I think we'll look like a strong team.
Arnott is, as always, great for me. He's on his second 100+ points season for me, after 69 games he has 106 points while Dumont has 102 in 67.
It seems like we are heading to playoffs this season, but you'll never know, it's hard to predict when you win against Red Wings in one game and then lose to Coyotes in the next one.
joehelmer wrote:...when you win against Red Wings in one game and then lose to Coyotes in the next one...
Are you talking about your game or mine ?
Probably both!
I am now in 3rd place, one point ahead of Red Wings, I hope I can keep this spot so I don't get a team that is too hard in the conference quarter finals.
I finished in 3rd and got what I thought was a good matchup against Flames, but it seemed like the lack of experience of playing in the playoff shined through and we were beaten in four games.
Well we are approaching the playoffs and my boys are really playing well. Ryan Suter just went down with a 3 week injury so hopefully everyone steps up. The way they have been playing I'm thinking of changing my goal to winning a round in the playoffs.
Alright so my new goal didn't happen. It could have we will never know. Dallas is on my hitlist though. They have been playing dirty and taken out Ellis and Arnott. So my starting goaltender was Pekka "I let in five or more" Rinne. Anyone know where I can find Tim McCracken, Oglethorpe, and the Hanson brothers?
great news, i havent visisted blue line since the last islanders challange got out of control and managed to sign kovalchuck for NYI haha
gotta make alot of reading on this one.
Preds are my fav team exept maple leafs so i just gotta make the best out of this. I see home grown rules are away i liked those but hopefully this new set of rules will be cool. Max 4 players per trade and 2 trades per year looks very good before trying it out.
Finished my first 20...and wow I am leaking goals like crazy:( Suprisingly Erat has been my best player...and Arnott has been out for a month I am taking way to many penalties, so I am thinking I'll be getting a high draft pick this season.
Ok, so first season is stumbled through. I'm looking forward to season 2 and aiming for that playoff spot.
Made my 2 trades: Erat and rights to Blum to Maple Leafs for Hagman, Koistinen and rights to Pickard to Avalanche for Van Ryn.
And I went with the Tier 2 signing Robert Esche and Ossi Väänänen. I know Esche is kind of a question mark, I know he can play good but he really isn't a shining star. I could have traded Bryzlagov but I couldn't sign any of the better defenseman available and I really wanted somebody on the defense who is good at both ends and especially in the own end. Now atleast my defense looks pretty solid with Van Ryn, Weber, Suter, Hamhuis, de Vries and Väänänen. Now I just need to get the tactics working on them.
One of the biggest things I need to focus next season is trying to get my PP and PK working, they were dreadful in the first season. I hope Hagman and Van Ryn can make a difference in the PK. I would have wanted to get a defensive forward for my 3rd line and for PK but as the there were limits and I couldn't find anyone suitable from the teams I traded with I just had to leave that to work with in season 3.
By the way, instead of Hagman, I also could have had Scott Hartnell and even Simon Gagne and still stay within the budget. But Hagman was a little cheaper than Hartnell and what comes to Gagne, I thought it would have been a little over the edge.
Did you get somebody though? If you wanted to go Tier 1 but didn't get anyone to agree to a contract, you could then try for another Tier 1 guy or maybe take a shot at one of the other Tiers. If you don't sign anyone by the time the UFA signing period ends, you'll have the option of a waiver claim.
A much better first 20 than any of my Islander teams, with an 8-10-2 record, good for 10th in the West. I've suffered through some mini-injuries to Sullivan and Dumont (luckily at different times), and it's no surprise that Sullivan and Arnott are my top guys with 29 and 25 points respectively and 10 goals apiece.
The biggest surprise so far had been Ryan Jones. I called him up during Dumont's injury, and he's posted 7 points in 7 games (Even, 7.29 AvR). Not bad from someone I expected nothing from. Now, he's holding down the second line LW slot along with some 2nd unit PP time as well. Jessiman has been solid on special teams. Much like everyone else, my third and fourth lines are nearly non-existant on the scoring sheet.
Rinne had a better pre-season, but Ellis is clearly my #1 netminder. He's 8-6-2 with a 3.31 GAA, while Rinne is in the toilet, with no wins and averaging just under 7 goals per game in 5 games. I don't have much else to go with in that department, however, as Milwaukee is in the crapper. I had my Admirals GM sign a goalie out of the SPHL (he was 15-0-1 with a 1.something GAA when I tendered the contract) to turn things around there. The organizational depth at the position is dreadful.
Oh I've got my goaltender he just wasn't my first option. I'm still looking for a way to get Dallas back for the goonery. my first pick was Khabibulin who went to the Kings for less money. I ended up with Roloson. He and Ellis should be fine till Benda (draft) and Smith are ready.
I would quess that Kings released his rights. In my game both Semen Varlamov and Al Montoya were released as UFAs. Don't know why in the heck but that's what they did. They both were released in August or late July, I'm not sure exactly when, but I didn't see them on the UFA list in early July and I do remember trying to make a trade for Montoya in the beginning of July.
And yes, it didn't feel good to see other teams make offers to them while I couldn't do anything because I already had signed my UFA players. Montoya went to Blue Jackets and he has one of the best goalie stats in the league. Varlamov went to Coyotes and he's their second goalie behind Bryzlagov. Kind of twisted...
Made my 2 trades: Erat and rights to Blum to Maple Leafs for Hagman, Koistinen and rights to Pickard to Avalanche for Van Ryn.
...
Hey, reading this... were these the rights to Blum and Pickard? Because we're not supposed to trade rights to unsigned prospects, right?
6.9 You may not trade in or out any draft picks or unsigned prospects at any time.
Sorry but don't want you to lose a bunch of time
The thing about Pickard and Blum is that they are on loans to their respective junior teams, so they are part of the Predators, just on loan. So when you use them in trades it says that you trades their rights, but I don't think they count as unsigned prospect as they got contracts for the Predators.
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