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Kolzig out for 4 months!! never has a phrase been so hurtfull! after a 10 game win streak where he was a beast in most of them!! in dan ellis and pekke rinne i barely believe!"""
mustardstew wrote:Hey B72 - thanks for the feedback and encouragement!
I have to admit, I probably didn't give Tootoo a great shot... but Belak, already being up (from the farm), took the spot for agitator/enforcer 4th line RW and ran with it... plus he's improved with practice
Any way to check a players shootout success? I haven't found it, but I swear Platonov is GOLD in shootouts. I can't remember him not scoring on one... he won opening night in shootout vs. the Blackhawks
I haven't seen anything to do with shootouts besides the spot where it allows you to set the shootout order. Shootouts really seem to be kind of an after-thought. I never seem to be able to win them either!
I usually see them with defensive d-men, but never a scorer like Erat.
Captcrunch, hope you have betterluck against Vancouver than I did. After losing the first game of segment two, we rattled off a 6 game win streak to take over second in the conference.
Midway point in season 4. After 40 games we stand 2nd in the conference, tied in points with the Oilers who have one game less played. Our PK has improved a lot but PP is still kind of inconsistent. Interesting thing is that my worst players in the plus/minus stats are Platonov, Bellemare and Pihlström with a zero rating in it. Everyone else has a plus rating, so NO ONE in my team has a minus rating.
Another interesting point is that although we are in the top of our conference, we are getting notes of all-time low attendances in games I guess the fans don't like us winning the games... Or maybe it just depends of the team we are playing against.
Yeah I don't get the attendance with Nashville at all. My team is not exactly filling the seats. There is no reason my team shouldn't be selling out the arena. Since taking over we are over .500. We just came off a Presidents Trophy and a Stanley Cup and are making another run. We lead the league in goals as well as goals per game. You would think at that point that the tickets would sell themselves.
So, I'm having trouble with a player and was hoping you guys know what to do. My 3rd pairing RD had a few bad games in a row and it killed his morale. This is causing him to play worse. He's not someone that doesn't deserve to be there. In fact he was a big part of the cup run last year. I'm not exactly sure how to help his morale without sending him down, and I can't do that without him passing through waivers.
thecupismine wrote:I'm doing a lot better in the second season, but the same problems that I had in the past season still exist: Inconsistency, poor powerplay (anyone ever gone 0/12 before?), poor penalty killing and inconsistent goaltending. I'd ask for special teams help (12 % pp and 80% pk) but this doesn't seem to be the right place because it's a challenge thread. Overall though, the team is sitll trucking along but this time around with a lot more timely scoring and a shutdown defence, at even strength, of course when needed (Betts and Ortmeyer are awesome at this). I'd also like to mention that Dan Hamhuis continues to be an awesome defenceman for me, playing around 25 minutes a night and still putting up a high plus minus as well as scoring the most goals from the blueline. Weird how in some games things work so differently...
Actually we've been known to be helpful with such things particularly in previous challenges. My suggestion is to check out the game knowledge forum there is a thread about pk and pp tactics. If you still have questions feel free to ask.
thunderbug wrote:So, I'm having trouble with a player and was hoping you guys know what to do. My 3rd pairing RD had a few bad games in a row and it killed his morale. This is causing him to play worse. He's not someone that doesn't deserve to be there. In fact he was a big part of the cup run last year. I'm not exactly sure how to help his morale without sending him down, and I can't do that without him passing through waivers.
Usually when that happens I retire the guy from the lineup and bench him a couple of games. Eventually his morale is going to be "ok" and he'll be ready to play again.
thunderbug wrote:So, I'm having trouble with a player and was hoping you guys know what to do. My 3rd pairing RD had a few bad games in a row and it killed his morale. This is causing him to play worse. He's not someone that doesn't deserve to be there. In fact he was a big part of the cup run last year. I'm not exactly sure how to help his morale without sending him down, and I can't do that without him passing through waivers.
If you've got another guy to play in place of him, just let him sit for 3 or 4 games. Usually, that will let him get from "low" moral back up to "ok". Then once he's "ok", put him back in the lineup.
Sometimes, I find sitting him out for a game who two will improve his morale, but this may also depend on his determination. You might also want to consider moving him. If he's getting into a funk when things are going well, he's not the guy you want on the ice when the playoffs are on the line.
Alternatively, sometime I keep throwing guys with low morale out there. I find my 4th line centre frequently gets in a morale funk, purely because the game underrates the contribution of fourth line centres.
The vancouver canucks are first in the western conference and we are not favored to win. They won the stanley cup last year and they are strong favorite to repeat.
We lead the league in goals this season with 319 but the Canucks are still in the top 10 with 289. They were the 2nd team with the least goals allowed (213) while we were 24th (288). We both take very few penalties (we were the least penalized team this year) but they have a better power play (17.4% vs 15.4%) and penalty kill (85.9% vs 83.5%) they have a very strong defense, stellar goaltending and a great top 2 line.
Its going to be firewagon hockey with two backup goalies vs stifling defense and the best cluch playoff goalie in the league. May the best win.
Canucks roster
1st line
The Canuck's first line is pretty simple, Henrik sets up the play and Daniel scores. Fortunately, last year, while they were still menacing, they did not elevate their play in the playoffs. Demitra, however, is a strong playoff performer and is the more complete player on the line. Ohlund is a rock on defense and is better than any single player I have, a complete package. The Canucks went and acquired Aucoin during the season from the Islanders in a trade that sent Edler and Dumoulin the other way. He is a good enough defenseman, hits hard and has a good slapshot, but he is not a superb talent. He is very experimented though.
D.Sedin - H.Sedin - P.Demitra
Ohlund - Aucoin
D.Sedin:
Regular season: 82-40-42-82 +17 +/- AVG 30 PIM 7.89 AV R 19.12 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 20-11-3-14 -1 +/- AVG 20 PIM 7.35 AV R 18.13 ATOI
H.Sedin:
Regular season: 82-32-53-85 +26 +/- AVG 38 PIM 8.33 AV R 20.35 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 20-3-11-14 +5 +/- AVG 18 PIM 7.25 AV R 21.56 ATOI
P.Demitra:
Regular season: 76-41-43-84 +31 +/- AVG 18 PIM 8.36 AV R 20.19 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 20-13-10-23 +9 +/- AVG 8 PIM 8.45 AV R 21.22 ATOI
Ohlund:
Regular season: 82-8-42-50 +17 +/- AVG 43 PIM 8.37 AV R 25-.56 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 20-3-11-14 +11 +/- AVG 2 PIM 8.80 AV R 31.02 ATOI
Aucoin:
Regular season: 27-5-14-19 +5 +/- AVG 12 PIM 8.30 AV R 22.52 ATOI
Playoffs last year (Flames): 4-0-2-2 -2 +/- AVG 16 PIM 7.50 AV R 23.02 ATOI
2nd line
Sundin is the playmaker on that line, Huselius the speed freak and Bernier the grinding power forward. The skill on that line is dominant though Huselius is pretty soft in the corners and Bernier is young. Sundin has slowed down considerably but was still stellar in the playoffs last year. Mitchell is a notch below Ohlund but he is still a dominant defenseman while Havelid provides a bit of dept (he was acquired from the Hurricanes for young left winger Marcus Johansson)
Huselius - Sundin - Bernier
Mitchell - Havelid
Huselius:
Regular season: 78-33-35-68 +22 +/- AVG 24 PIM 7.64 AV R 15.43 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 20-7-12-19 +6 +/- AVG 4 PIM 7.55 AV R 19.16 ATOI
Sundin:
Regular season: 74-24-56-80 +24 +/- AVG 50 PIM 8.61 AV R 19.52 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 20-8-17-25 +4 +/- AVG 14 PIM 9.20 AV R 22.09 ATOI
Bernier:
Regular season: 82-40-49-89 +23 +/- AVG 100 PIM 8.24 AV R 17.05 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 18-6-6-12 0 +/- AVG 20 PIM 7.50 AV R 15.47 ATOI
Mitchell:
Regular season: 73-3-15-18 +24 +/- AVG 88 PIM 7.10 AV R 20.34 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 20-1-8-9 +1 +/- AVG 24 PIM 7.15 AV R 26.09 ATOI
Havelid:
Regular season: 26-2-2-4 0 +/- AVG 10 PIM 7.08 AV R 16.20 ATOI
Playoffs last year (Devils): 9-0-1-1 -5 +/- AVG 4 PIM 6.89 AV R 21.07 ATOI
3rd line
This line is a lot less scary and contain a lot of players that were isolated this season. Pyatt has the better skill and has the looks of a defensive specialist while Novotny is pretty soft and Kesler is very young and did not have a great playoff last year. Rachunek and Komisarek are not that impressive. Michael Peka was originally slated to center the third line but he is currently hurt day to day with a hip pointer. Novotny was acquired this year from the Blue Jackets for young defensive stud Yann Sauvé, Rachunek was acquired this year from the Islanders for a 3rd round pick and Komisarek was given away by the Canadiens for a young winger named Prab Rai which the Habs gave up on.
Pyatt - Novotny - Kesler
Rachunek - Komisarek
Pyatt:
Regular season: 76-12-24-36 +36 +/- AVG 42 PIM 7.68 AV R 14.55 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 18-2-5-7 +6 +/- AVG 16 PIM 7.28 AV R 12.40 ATOI
Novotny:
Regular season: 19-1-2-3 +1 +/- AVG 6 PIM 6.63 AV R 9.36 ATOI
Playoffs last year: Did not participate
Kesler:
Regular season: 67-5-15-20 -4 +/- AVG 64 PIM 6.67 AV R 9.14 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 19-1-1-2 -1 +/- AVG 28 PIM 6.32 AV R 10.24 ATOI
Rachunek:
Regular season: 30-1-6-7 -2 +/- AVG 13 PIM 7.13 AV R 14.27 ATOI
Playoffs last year: Did not participate
Komisarek:
Regular season: 33-0-3-3 -3 +/- AVG 23 PIM 7.06 AV R 15.44 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 16-0-0-0 -3 +/- AVG 22 PIM 6.94 AV R 16.40 ATOI
4th line
This line has mainly role players and we should not see them much. Burrows is the only pest while others are probably spare parts in case someone gets hurt.
Burrows - Wellwood - Ouellet
Varies - Varies
Burrows:
Regular season: 77-7-9-16 -3 +/- AVG 89 PIM 6.48 AV R 8:26 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 18-2-3-5 +2 +/- AVG 38 PIM 6.44 AV R 10.25 ATOI
Wellwood:
Regular season: 70-10-14-24 -11 +/- AVG 32 PIM 6.70 AV R 10:16 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 11-1-2-3 -1 +/- AVG 8 PIM 6.45 AV R 13.55 ATOI
Ouellet:
Regular season: 64-8-8-16 -4 +/- AVG 34 PIM 6.78 AV R 10.17 ATOI
Playoffs last year: 19-0-3-3 -5 +/- AVG 8 PIM 6.53 AV R 12.19 ATOI
Goalies
Luongo is a top goalie in the regular season but in the playoffs he transforms himself in a goal stopping machine. If he slips in his bathtub we might have a chance since Laberbera is as bad a goalie as ours but we won't hold our breath.
bruins72 wrote:Kulyash fighting? I've never tried that. I know he's got the aggression, the strength, and the bravery. I might have to set him to allowed.
I did not allow him to fight this season and he still fought 8 times. Won 6 of them. If he wasn't such a valuable asset to my team i'd have him fight all the time
Yeah, he's great on the PP! Speaking of defensemen, I've decided to give Hamhuis another shot. Zanon was struggling as my 6th defenseman. He was only playing 3rd pairing RD. So I sat him and put Hamhuis in. Suter hadn't been doing well so I moved him to 3rd pairing RD (I left him on PP and PK) and put Hamhuis as the 2nd pairing LD. So far it's working out okay.
I'm in the offseason between season 3 and 4 and having trouble already.
Thanks to my trades in season 3 I don't have so much of a depth and my team needs are full of "new starting goalie" where I at the moment got Varlamov and he's doing great, "first line LW", where I got Colin Wilson and he's been doing great. And so it goes on.
I'm thinking about bringing in Vokoun as goalie and let him and Varlamov play the first spot and let them play one game then change, if not one of them is doing great then I let that goalie stay for a couple of games. I also bring in Vokoun because I need some experience and Pickard who was my backup in season 3 didn't want to re-sign with me and became UFA.
I will also bring up Marc Crawford, who was one of my assistant coaches in season 3 (I signed him in december, I'm now in July), and Barry Trotz will be assistant.
1- Jason Arnott 4-2-2-4 -3 +/- AVG 11 PIM 9.25 AV R 22.31 ATOI
2- JP Dumont 4-3-1-4 -3 +/- AVG 2 PIM 7.75 AV R 19.11 ATOI
3- Denis Kulyash 4-0-1-1 0 +/- AVG 5 PIM 7.75 AV R 20.33 ATOI
4- Dan Ellis 4GP 0W 3L 4.04GA 0.889SV% 7.62 AVG Rating
5- Greg De Vries 4-0-0-0 -1 +/- AVG 4 PIM 7.00 AV R 20:12 ATOI
Worst 5 performers:
1- Scott Nichol 1-0-0-0 -1 +/- AVG 2 PIM 5.00 AV R 13.13 ATOI
2- Jaroslav Halak 1GP 0W 1L 9.68GA 0.773SV% 5 AVG Rating
3- Antti Pihlstrom 3-0-0-0 -5 +/- AVG 2 PIM 5.67 AV R 9.47 ATOI
4- Colin Wilson 4-0-0-0 -4 +/- AVG 0 PIM 5.75 AV R 8.56 ATOI
5- Denis Platonov 4-0-0-0 -1 +/- AVG 2 PIM 6.00 AV R 6.41 ATOI
bruins72 wrote:Kulyash fighting? I've never tried that. I know he's got the aggression, the strength, and the bravery. I might have to set him to allowed.
He's listed as the team's best enforcer by my AGM on my Team Report, but I haven't allowed him to fight yet either.
I'm preparing for the draft and I've called all my signed guys and put them all on intense practice. I got, by all accounts, what looks like a starting goalie in Jonas Gustavsson although I'm pretty scared to be honest. He had 22 wins, 3 losses and 10 ties in 35 games played, a 2.34 GAA record with a 0.904 SV% and a 7.57 AV Rating in the Swedish Elitserien but is it good enough?
Tavares is too good for junior and too young for the AHL. His record last year with London was 63-56-65-121 with a 9.35 rating. His record in 2008 alone include:
-World championship U20 winner
-OHL Outstanding player of the year
-OHL leading point scorer
-OHL top average player of the year
-OHL star player of the year
-Center of CHL second star team
In other news:
-Jason Arnott won the Art Ross, the Hart, the Lester B. Pearson and got chosen for the first NHL all star team
-Denis Kulyash came in second for the Norris Trophy (Sergei Gonchar won it) and got chose for the second NHL All star team
-Steve Sullivan came in third for the Rocket
So much for a 7th defenseman! My scouts still tell me he is 5-6 talent!
](./images/smilies/wallbash.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
I guess the fans don't like us winning the games... 