CAR Second Season: Challenge 2.2 Chat Thread

[bruins72]

Okay, I've just finished the preseason and I'm about to start season 2 of the Carolina Hurricanes challenge. If I'm not supposed to post second season talk here, could a staff member please move it to the appropriate thread or at least point me in the right direction?

As I posted in in the stats thread, my budget has been bumped up a little (it's now $31.5M) and I took advantage of it! I let a bunch of minor leaguers go to and become UFA's. Brian Sutherby wouldn't resign either but he became a RFA.

I made two off-season trades. As I had mentioned last season, I wasn't happy with Cory Stillman. He just wasn't right for my team. I packaged him along with the rights to Brian Sutherby and sent them to Dallas for the rights to Richard Clune and Dallas' 1st round pick in 2007. This is perfect for me. It clears some budget space and gets me a 1st round pick. Sure, it'll be a late 1st rounder but it's still a good pick!

My other trade (both made a day apart in early July) was to package Tverdovsky (who wasn't needed with Gleason developing nicely) and Nordgren (who never did anything for me last season) and sending them to the Sharks for a 2nd round pick. This was pure salary dump! I wanted more room to hit the UFA market.

The UFA market was where I made a real splash. Of course, I tried for the really big names like Jovo, Ohlund, Gagne, Richards, and that sort of guy. I ended up getting a couple that I was very happy with. I got Olli Jokinen and Paul Mara a few days in the free agency frenzy. After that I was looking around for another center (because Sutherby was gone) for my 3rd or 4th line. I ended up signing Brian Holzinger as a UFA a couple of weeks into July. I thought I was set but Wallin got injured (out 2 months) toward the end of the preseason. I looked to see who was still available and found Ossi Vaananen still out there. I ended up signing him for $1.4M per for 2 years.

That's been my offseason and I'm ready to move forward now!

[Minstrel]

I actually hadn't decided if we were going to keep rolling in the 2.1 thread or not but what the heck may as well start a new one so we can concentrate eh?

Out of curiousity, I know you only had a few picks, but who'd you end up with in the draft?

BTW - we wil be using the same recording thread just start your info line stating that it's for 2.2. When we get to recording the default page at GLR will probably remain the 2.1 season for a while but you'll be able to access the 2.2 stats page via the 'Season' drop-down menu It reloads automatically after you select to go to a different season page.

[bruins72]

Ooops! My draft was so insignificant I forgot all about posting the details of it!

In the 4th round, I took Anton Skorykh, a RW/C. He's projected as a depth guy. He's got A's & B's in everything except leadership and defense. Great size and strength! He still needs to develope his skills but he's already a great skater.

In the 6th round, I drafted Tomas Svoboda, a center. Another depth guy, but not as good as Skorykh. He's great skater with excellent hocke sense and decent scoring abilities. Lacks size, poise, leadership, and defense.

I had two picks in the 7th round (a traded a spare part prospect or something for an extra 7th rounder). The first one was a RD named Chris Gravelding. He's kind of short but he's got B's in everthing but skating (which is an A). He's projected as a #5 or #6 d-man and compared to Kim Johnsson with a smaller frame. Definately worth a shot in the 7th round. The other guy I got in this round is Aaron Rock. He's a goaltender with a good glove hand but not much else (Athleticism is good). The scouts compare him to Clemmensen. I figure it's always good to grab a goaltender, even in the 7th. He's a longshot though.

[Minstrel]

Well you're not required to report your draft or anything I just find it interesting hearing about people's teams Thanks for sharing.

It's looking like I'll have my first rounder, which I of course hope is the 30th pick overall and Pittsburgs second rounder. Maybe a fourth or something I might pick up along the way just did a big deal sending my second and Boston's 3rd I had aquired. Pitt have become mortal again not the rediculous 130+ point season juggernaut they were when I beat them in my Washington Cup run so their second could be a decent pick. We'll see I guess; I'm not planning any more big deals unless someone blows a knee out at the deadline or something. I've pretty much got my team set.

[timmy_t]

How did your team build up Minty?

I am still working my deals and trying to get the team together. So far there are some great GM's again in this challenge.

[Minstrel]

I'm getting close to by first reporting and I'll let you know then, possiblly later today though I'm working on a project to so I might play more or work on my project more... soon though.

I was just posting about my picks because I don't think my drafts picks will change between now and the draft since pending injury or a total meltdown I don't forsee having to use them to leverage anyone away in a deal Pretty happy with my team at least being able to be competive I think.

[bruins72]

Okay, I've finally wrapped up the first 20 games of the second season! I've been a bit busy and hadn't had a chance to work on it.

I haven't made any deals since the season started. I like what I have for a team right now. There are a couple of guys that I'd jump at if they became available but other than that, I'm set. I did grab Mike Fisher off waivers during the first week of the season. He's working out nicely.

I was really dominating during the first 10 games. Then Brad Stuart went out with fractured ribs. We've still done well but we're not as good as we are with him in the line-up. I also lost Cole for a few games but it wasn't as bad.

My first line is really clicking like I had hoped. Jokinen and Saprykin are great together. Nagy hasn't been as good as last year though. Maybe I should switch him to the 2nd line and bring Cole to the 1st? Speaking of the second line... they've been okay but not that great. Staal isn't doing much. I just switched him to the 3rd line center a couple of games ago and put Fisher in as 2nd line center. I've still got Staal centering the 2nd PP line though.

Stuart should be coming back soon and I'm hoping to do even better. I'm still #1 in the conference though... so I've got nothing to complain about.

[bruins72]

I stuck to my plan of not tinkering with my roster too much this time around. I only made 2 minor moves. The first one was to send Colby Armstrong and my 6th rounder to the Oilers for Yan Stastny and their 3rd round pick. Armstrong wasn't really developing for me and I liked Stastny better, plus I got a 3rd rounder to boot. The other move was to send Brett Carson and the rights to Jared Newman and Nathan Hagemo to the Blackhawks for Anton Babchuck. None of the guys I gave up were really in my plans but Babchuck is a decent prospect.

I moved Nagy down to LW on the 2nd line and Cole up to the 1st. Nagy has revitalized my 2nd line and Cole has been more productive with the 1st line guys. It's worked out nicely. I haven't had any injuries to speak of this time around. <knock on wood> Just a game here or there missed.

I don't really have much for prospects in the minors besides Dustin Brown (and Babchuck now). Brown has been great in the AHL again this season. He's got 36 points in 29 games. He's currently out for a couple of weeks with an injury. Skorykh has been doing well for the PEI Rockets in junior hockey. He's got 51 points in 31 games. He also played for his national team some (WJC, I think). Svoboda has been doing okay with 21 points in 35 games for Drummondville. Richard Clune has 55 points in 37 games for Sarnia. Gravelding isn't doing so hot for Sarnia though. He's got 2 points and a -7 in 34 games. Aaron Rock is doing okay in net for Peterborough. He's 13-14-7 with a 2.18GAA and .928SV%. It would seem he's just not getting any support from his offence.

Overall, things are going well. Even though I'm 2nd in the conference this time around, I've actually got a better record for this segment of games. The reason we're in 2nd is because the Flyers have really turned it on lately. They've played 2 less games than me and have 2 more wins.

Let's see if we can keep this up. I'd like to see this season be a major improvement over the last. I'm also hoping to get another budget increase. I've got some contracts up and I don't want to lose anybody.

[Minstrel]

Well I'll hope you don't jinx yourself like I did in my wrap-up post for 2.1

Looks like your team is running very strong which is great.

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I've added info for anyone wanting to take their 2.1 team on to 2.2 (I hope everyone will!) into the Announce threads. We'd covered most of it in discussion in the other threads the only thing not outline previously is the concept of the extra year end 'Improvement Points' bonus points so you can check out how that will work but it's basically the same categories as the year end bonuses but scored on the in-season scale of 3 pts for 1st, 2 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd. A little incentive to give people having a rough Season One with their teams something to shoot for in going on to the second season.

[bruins72]

Thanks! I hope I don't jinx myself either!

I just wrapped up games 41-60 and posted my results int he stat thread.

I haven't made any trades in this segment and I'm getting close to the trade deadline. I'm planning on holding the line unless I can swing a player I really covet. I've kept Brown and Babchuck down on the farm the whole time. I've tried to manage things using only my current roster. Both of those guys played in the AHL All-Star game. Babchuck had an assist in it.

Hartnell has really come alive for me. He had a few 2 goal games for me during this stretch. I lost Nagy for a couple of weeks and had to juggle the line a bit. I also lost Cole for a couple of games. I lost Fisher for 3 weeks and just towards the end of this segment, Ortmeyer went out with a rotator cuff sprain. Paul Mara's conditioning remains a problem. He's my top LD and gets a decent amount of minutes. He's often tired after games (even though his condition is 90% or better) or gets those potential injuries that go after the next day. I might have to try trading him in the off-season. I usually throw Wallin in there when I can't play him. When Nagy was out, I had Stastny playing on the top line. He actually did okay.

Lundqvist is doing well, of course. He's 18-12-14 for the season with a 2.65GAA and a .915 SV% and 2 shutouts on the season. He's the main reason for our season's success. We don't put up big numbers but everybody tries to play a solid game. Gerber has done okay in the backup role but won't be challenging for the starting position any time soon (or even in the distant future). He's 8-4-4 on the season with a 3.01GAA and a .900 SV% with 1 shutout.

My team is leading the conference with the Rangers trailing by 3 points but they've played 2 games more than us. Chistov is putting up some good numbers for them on their top line centered by their big FA signing, Brad Richards. Jagr had been doing well for them before going out with a UCL tear right before X-Mas. He's expected to be out another 2 months. The Stars are the best team in the west with 89 points in 61 games.

My biggest problem all season has been my special teams. Even though we've been #1 or #2 in the conference all season, we can't capitalize on the PP. We're currently sitting at 13.7% and our PK isn't much better at 82.8%. I guess special teams haven't hurt us that much. It's still a major concern for me with the playoffs not that far away. I have a feeling it could really hurt us. I'm also worried about the health of my team. I've been seeing some key guys go out for a week or two at a time. I don't need any of that come the playoffs either.

I've got my fingers crossed hoping the last 22 games go well. Just stay on track, guys!

[bruins72]

I played the last 22 games (see stat recording thread for details). Of course, there were no transactions during this period. I kept up a similar pace with what I had been doing before. I had a bit of a rough stretch at the end but I still held on to the top spot in the conference. The Dallas Stars beat me for #1 overall in the league by 4 points. I had no major injuries (just more of the condition losses, tiredness, and potential injuries). I've also kept my lines pretty much the same. I might've juggled them for a game or two if things stagnated but that's about it. This was my lines...

Nagy - Jokinen - Hartnell
Cole - Staal - Saprykin
Vasicek - Fisher - Ortmeyer
Forbes - Cullen - Stastny

I swapped the wings on the top two lines at different points in the season depending on who was hot and who needed a jumpstart. I also had Holzinger centering my 4th line most of the season but he's out with a groin strain.

My defense pairings

Mara - Boynton
Hale - Stuart
Vaananen - Gleason

Stuart and Boynton were actually the other way around for most of the season but over the last dozen or so games, Stuart has gotten tired more often, so I put Boynton in the top pairing. I also had to sit Mara, Boynton, and Stuart at various times (condition problems) and put Wallin in whenever one of them was out.

Babchuck has had a good season down on the farm. In the 53 games he's been with the team he has 13 goals and 21 assists with a +31. Dustin Brown missed some games due to injury but in 62 games he had 35 goals and 36 assists with a +37. One or both of them may join the team next season depending on what I do in the off-season.

For unsigned prospects, Aaron Rock was 25-22-13 for Peterborough with a 2.18GAA and .928 SV%. Unfortunately, he had 3 losses as the Petes got swept out of the first round of the playoffs. Chris Gravelding had a rough season 5 assist (no goals) and a -12 in 62 games for the Sarnia Sting. He was a -1 in the playoffs for them, getting knocked out after 5 games. Richard Clune had a nice season for the Sarnia Sting. He led his team with 32 goals, 62 assists, and a +57 in 67 games. He had 4 assist in their 5 playoff games. Tomas Svoboda had a decent season for Drummondville. He had 25 goals and 30 assists with a +13 in 63 games. He had 4 goals and 6 assists in their 5 games of the playoffs before his team was eliminated. Anton Skorykh tied for the PEI Rockets lead in points with his linemate Murray Campbell. Skorykh had 39 goals and 45 assists with a +43. He had 3 goals and 2 assist in 5 games before his team was knocked out of the playoffs. Most of these players will be 20 years old by the start of training camp for next season. I'm expecting them to be signed to play for Carolina's farm team.

Carolina didn't trade away all of their picks for the NHL Entry Draft this year. In fact, they've acquired a few picks. I've got 2 in the 1st, 2 in the 2nd, 2 in the 3rd, plus my 4th, 5th, and 7th round picks. The two 1st rounders will both be at the end of the round because one is my own pick and the other is Dallas'. I've got San Jose's 2nd and Columbus' 3rd. The Sharks were 5th in the West and Columbus was 10th. So those won't be spectacular either. I'll just have to make the best out of them.

I'm going to go and play my playoff games. Hopefully I won't get knocked out in the first round this year. I'd be very disappointed if I didn't go a couple of rounds after how well my team did in the regular season.

BTW, are we continuing this into a 3rd season? I know most people aren't even on the 2nd season yet but I'm really enjoying it. I'll probably keep playing it no matter what... at least until another challenge comes up.

[bruins72]

I just finished my 2007 playoff run. We're heartbroken but I'm proud of my team. We made it all the way to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals but lost the the regular season leaders, the Dallas Stars.

I thought we were going to be in trouble early in the first round of the playoffs. We won game 1 against the Panthers but Lundqvist got pretty banged up and had to sit out the next game. Fortunately, Gerber held on strong (I didn't expect him to do so well) and let in only 1 goal in a 3-1 win. The Panthers won the next game but my boys took the next two to win the series. Jokinen had 7 points in the series and Nagy had 8.

The Washington Capitals turned out to be one of our toughest playoff battles. Our teams went back and forth, win for win, until we finally edged past them in game 7. I ran only 3 lines for the last two games of the series because my 4th liners were hurting me more than they were helping. Looks like it did the trick. Saprykin had a hat trick in game 6 with 9 points in the series.

We made easy work of the Buffalo Sabres in the Conference Finals. We won 4 games straight to sweep them. Lundqvist earned a shutout in game 2 but Nagy left the game pretty banged up. He sat out the rest of the series. Fortunately, he had time to rest up because Dallas took 6 games to move past the Predators. Jokinen had 6 points in the series.

So my boys made it to the Stanley Cup Finals! The first 5 games were a back and forth affair. I'd win one, they'd win one. The widest margin of victory was a 4-1 Hurricanes win in game 1. Three of the next four games were decided by 1 goal. The other was by two. Unfortunately, we lost Scott Hartnell during practice between games 3 and 4. He went out with a rotator cuff strain. I moved Mike Fisher up the the second line RW and put Cullen in as 3rd line C. We lost that first game without Hartnell (our captain) but came back and took game 5. After that we lost our next two straight. Game 6 went to overtime. I think the boys had the spark sucked out of them after that one. They got shutout in game 7 by a score of 2-0. Nagy had 8 games in the series. Jokinen had 7 points with 4 of them coming in the game 6 overtime loss. Saprykin had 7 also. Unfortunately, Bill Guerin had 9 points, 8 of which were goals, to lead his team to victory. He was the playoffs point leader and I'm expecting him to be named MVP. Nagy, Jokinen, and Saprykin were 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. As a bit of poetic justice, the two goals scored in the game 7 shutout came from Cory Stillman, who I traded to the Stars in the offseason. I never would've expected that one to come back and bite me. Oh well!

Anyhow... that was my playoffs. Even though losing in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals was tragic, I'm still very proud of my team. I'm sure the Stars had a much bigger budget to work with. I'm hoping my board increases my budget for next season. With the core of players I have, we should be a good team for some time. Then again, I'll probably do some tinkering.

Okay folks! Let's see some other people tackle season 2! I'm going to play through my off-season and probably start a 3rd season. Are we doing the challenge for a 3rd?

[bruins72]

Just another update.

Despite Nagy, Jokinen, and Saprykin being 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in playoff scoring, Morrow and Zubov were the runners up for the Conn Smythe trophy. As expected Bill Guerin won it. Turco was the Vezina winner but Lundqvist was a runner up (along with Roberto Luongo). Lundqvist was also a runner up to Turco in the Crozier Saving Grace award. None of my guys won a trophy but I didn't expect them to. They play more of a balanced team game.

[bruins72]

Draft Update:

I was unable to pry one of the top picks away from any of the lottery teams. Montreal won the lottery despite being the 5th worst team. I know the SI team has said that the in-game lottery works the same way as the real life one but in my games it always seems like the worst ranked team never wins the lottery. As expected, Montreal took Angelo Esposito with #1 overall pick. Alex Grant went 2nd to the Coyotes and Zach Hamill went 3rd to the Blues.

In the first round, I had the 29th and 30th picks. With the 29th I took Slovakian RW Tomas Striz. My scouts have him as a skilled forward, 1st line potential. They compare him to a more talented Todd Bertuzzi. Not too shabby! He didn't do much for Red Deer this past season but I'm thinking that he's adjusting to the North American game and trying to find a role on the team. It seems Red Deer has lost a bunch of players in the off-season, so I'm expecting him to get more ice-time next season.

The 30th overall pick was Patrick Leonard. He's a speedy (19 acceleration and 18 speed already) LW/RW with excellent puckhandling skills. My scouts have him as a goal-scoring forward with 1st line potential. They compare him to a bigger, better version of Markus Naslund. I can only hope! His leadership, defense, and hockey sense are only rated as C+, so I'm not holding my breath. Still not a bad pick though. He had 115 points in 60 games for the Indiana Ice of the USHL (whoever that is) with 67 goals and 48 assist this past season. He signed to play for Rensselaer next season.

In the 2nd round I had the 52nd and 59th overall picks. With the 52nd pick I took Ryan Kerr. I've got high hopes for him. Even though he was given 4 stars by my scouts, he's got all A & B ratings. My scouts project him as a defensive defenseman with 3-4 potential. For a comparison, they suggest a smaller but better version of Pavel Kubina. Again, I can only hope! Still, this was a guy I wanted going into the draft, not just the best available at the moment. He was traded to Red Deer during the season and had a rough time but I think the whole Red Deer team had a bad season.

My other 2nd round pick (59th overall) was Dale Mitchell of the Sarnia Sting. He's a RW/LW with all A & B ratings. He's projected as an offensive forward with 3rd line potential. I'm hoping he can beat the odds and be a 2nd line player. My scouts compared him to Mike Knuble with a smaller frame. He's got a killer slapshot but not much of a wrister. He did pretty well for Sarnia this past season. He put up 81 points in 68 games, good enough for 3rd on his team (1st was fellow Hurricanes prospect Richard Clune).

The last player chosen before my 3rd round pick was Akim Aliu. The Kings took him with the 71st overall pick. I was hoping to get my hands on him, so I dealt for him. He was rated much higher in previous version of the game, so I'm hoping he's a late bloomer and becomes better later on. I had to send LA a 3rd (Columbus's pick, the next one after Aliu was chosen), 4th, and 5th round pick (all from this draft of course) to get him. I hope he was worth it. He's got all A & B ratings except for a C in hockey sense. My scouts say he's a playmaking forward with 3rd line potential. They compare him to Scott Hartnell.

My pick in the 3rd round (89th overall) was Aleksei Mikov. He's a small, Russian center with nice skating, puckhandling, and shooting. I also like that he has a high (17) determination. That's always a plus! He's projected as a skilled forward with 3rd line potential and compared to Zhamnov (let's hope they mean the younger, healthier version of Zhamnov).

My next (and final) pick didn't come until the 7th round (209th overall). I took a Slovakian center named Rastislav Konecny. He wasn't ranked but I didn't see much left for ranked players. He's a good skater. Nothing special but a decent long-shot for a 7th round pick. He's also 19. My scouts projects him as a playmaking forward with second line potential. They compare him to Chris Gratton with a smaller frame.

Not a bad draft but some players were taken much higher than I expected. Brandon Sutter was ranked 22nd but taken 7th. Mark Katic was ranked 27th but taken 14th. Even worse, Colton Gillies was ranked 44th and taken 19th. There were several other players that jumped (and others who dropped) positions but these were some of the worst. There were a few guys I thought I might've had a chance of picking at the end of the round but were snatched up early. Even more surprising was that unranked players started getting picked as early as 60th overall (Dallas took a guy named Tony Lagerstrom). That's a nice part of the game. Drafts don't always go as the rankings do, just like in real life!

Now I'm just waiting for the free agency frenzy and to find out what kind of budget I have.

[timmy_t]

Man bruins72, you are awesome! I like the write-ups a lot too. I am still playing in my first season but I hope to finish and get to the second season soon. Good luck with season #3.

[bruins72]

Thanks for the kid words, timmy_t! I really enjoy these challenges and half the fun is sharing your experience with the other players. I think we learn more about the game and how it's played by seeing what other players do. It gives you another perspective. Plus... work is slow and doing these write-ups gives me something to do!

Good luck with the rest of season 1. I can't wait to see what you do in season 2.

[bruins72]

I've got my budget for season 3. I'll post it here just in case we play another season. I've been given the maximum allowed by the NHL salary cap. I guess making it to the Stanley Cup finals paid off.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v166/ ... budget.jpg

I'm wrapping up the offseason, so I'll fill everyone in on what's happened since the draft. I did a little free agency work. I let Matt Cullen go. He just never worked out for me and I could never get an offer for him. I signed 4 of my prospects (Skorykh, Svoboda, Clune, and Rock) and assigned them to my AHL affiliate. I also signed a couple UFAs. I got Maxime Ouellett and Jay Pandolfo. I got Ouellett to be my backup. He seemed better than Gerber. Pandolfo adds some grit to my 4th line. I can also use him to do some PKing if needed. I tried to get Scott Hannan but he ended up going to the Dallas Stars instead.

I made a few trades as well. I dumped Brian Holzinger and Martin Gerber. My board mentioned that they didn't think Holzinger deserved a spot on the team at the end of the playoffs. So I sent him to the Devils for a 4th round pick. After getting Ouellett, I didn't need (nor want) Gerber. I sent him to the Ducks for a 4th round pick. At several points in the season, I mentioned I was unhappy with Paul Mara's conditioning and wanted to see if I could swap him out. I was finally able to do that. I sent Paul Mara and Akim Aliu (who I traded for during the draft) to the Red Wings for Mattias Ohlund. I think this was a good move. Ohlund is a top notch defenseman and I feel much better having him in my top 10 than Mara.

I dropped a conditioning coach, a defensive coach and a goaltending coach (Kjell Samuelsson and Billy Smith) and brought in Steve Stirling, Neil Wilkenson, and Chad Allen. Stirling is good with defense and forwards and is great with youngsters. Allen is a good conditioning coach who is great with youngsters and tactics. Wilkenson is great all around. I also added a couple scouts.

Lastly... in the NHL season preview, my Hurricanes are ranked #5. The defending Stanley Cup winning Stars are ranked only 11th. I'll get into this all in more detail tomorrow though.

[bruins72]

Back again! As I said in the last post, I've come to the NHL Season Preview news item. Here is the list of team rankings in the preseason.

1 Calgary Flames - MVP: Iginla New Face: Sundin
2 Ottawa Senators - MVP: Heatley New Face: Andy McDonald
3 Vancouver Canucks - MVP: Bertuzzi New Face: Osgood
4 Toronto Maple Leafs - MVP: Luongo New Face: Zubrus (actually both are new to the team)
5 Carolina Hurricanes - MVP: Ohlund New Face: Ohlund
6 Buffalo Sabres - MVP: Roenick New Face: Brind'Amour
7 Colorado Avalanche - MVP: Simon Gagne
8 Washington Capitals - MVP: Doan New Face: Ozolinsh
9 Nashville Predators - MVP: Drury New Face: Carney
10 NY Rangers - MVP: Jagr New Face: Raycroft (as a real life Bruins fan, I'm hurt by this!)
11 Dallas Stars - MVP: Turco New Face: Hannan (he should've signed with me)
12 Tampa Bay Lightning - MVP: Lecavalier New Face: Hunter
13 Philadelphia Flyers - MVP: Primeau New Face: Markov
14 LA Kings - MVP: Forsberg New Face: Tkachuk
15 New Jersey Devils - MVP: Martin Broduer New Face: Hamrlik
16 Chicago Blackhawks - MVP: Thornton New Face: Niinimaa
17 Florida Panthers - MVP: Bouwmeester New Face: Giguere
18 Atlanta Thrashers - MVP: Hossa New Face: Peca
19 Detroit Red Wings - MVP: Datsyuk New Face: Mara
20 Montreal Canadiens - MVP: Kariya New Face: Esposito
21 Pittsburgh Penguins - MVP: Crosby New Face: Kloucek
22 San Jose Sharks - MVP: Marleau New Face: McGillis
23 Edmonton Oilers - MVP: Pronger New Face: Turgeon
24 Anaheim Ducks - MVP: Neidermayer New Face: Gonchar
25 Columbus Blue Jackets - MVP: Rick Nash
26 Boston Bruins - MVP: Samsonov New Face: Vishnevski
27 St Louis Blues - MVP: John Madden New Face: Kevin Weekes
28 Minnesota Wild - MVP: Nicklas Lidstrom New Face: Markov
29 Phoenix Coyotes - MVP: Lindros New Face: Kvasha
30 NY Islanders - MVP: Yashin New Face: Skoula

I don't think things will shake out quite like they're predicted. For one thing, the Falmes roster really doesn't look at that strong. I'm predicting the Capitals and the Rangers to be two of the stronger teams this coming season.

Okay, that's all I'm going to put into this thread for now. I'm hoping to see some more folks add to it. I'd also like to know if we're going to carry this on to a third season (I will be anyhow). For that matter, where is everyone? I haven't seen anybody post in the the Challenge Forum for a couple of days now!

[Minstrel]

Well, me I've been working on so many projects with the game that between all that time and keeping up with messages here I haven't advanced very far in my game...

I've been meaning to say, we won' know if there will be enough people to continue on with a 2.3 Challenge for a while but if you want to hold to the Challenge rules you could start your own Dynasty thread and post your normal stats per 20 and keep doing your story to follow your team's progress and then if we do have an official 2.3 Challenge you'll be within the rules and we can plug your stats right in.

I can't believe your team got ranked 5th! That's awesome. Looking forward to seeing how your team continues to do.

[bruins72]

You know, I might just have to do that. I've already played a few games into the season but I can easily recap that. I'll have to take a peek at that forum and see what people do there. I wouldn't want do it but not have it be up to par.

I kind of expected my team to be ranked right after being the top spot in my conference at the end of the season and then making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals and going 7 games. I was more surprised to see Dallas ranked so low. I also had 1 played ranked among the best at his position. Lundqvist was ranked in the top ten goaltenders going into the season.

[Chelmsford Chieftain]

I've just started my new season and it does seem to show alot of potential. Last season my fans didn't exactly have much to shout about but this season I wanted to do them proud. For anyone that is intrested, Nashville won the Stanley Cup.

Alot of this seasons activity came from the UFA market. At the start of the closed season I released a large number of my players. These were Aucoin, Commodore, Dwyer, Hajt, Hutchinson, T.Thomas, A.Ward, I.White, Zigomanis, Hedican, Wozniewski and Gerber. I wasn't too bothered about most of these players apart from Hedican, Gerber and Thomas. In the draft I had 8th pick overall and chose Aleksandr Vasyunov who I signed immediately. I also signed my 3rd round pick, Neil Conway and then let him return to Owen Sound on loan. Other picks included Logan Pyett, Jani Nieminen, Jan Mursak and Brady Leavold. I figured that my 7th pick wouldn't be too important in the entire challenge so I had some fun and drafted current Chieftains player Bernie Bradford.

My attention soon turned to the UFA market again as I tried to sign some good talent. Most of the good players such as Tomas Kaberle ans Sean Hill didn't wan't to come to my lame team but I still got Czerkawski who managed to rack up 99 points last season for Maple Leafs. After a while I noticed I din't have much more money to bid for players so I decided to get rid of Khabibulin who was really soaking up my funds. Goaltending has been a tentative issue during my Challenge but I decided I would take a (big) gamble and try Ouellet as my starting goaltender. As far as Khabibulin's future was concerned, he was packing his bags and going to LA as I took Cammalleri. I don't think it was an entirely good deal for me but at least I had some spare money. With most of the decent players gone from the free agents I was left to scoop up a large number of what my scouts reccomended as 'fairly good players'. In the remainder of the closed season I signed Ratchuk, Lilja, Johnson, Skrastins, Ference and I also re-signed Hutchinson. I now have some real dodgy backup goaltenders (Sanford & McLennan). I didn't have the toughest pre-season (Chieftains, Blackhawks, Sabres and Islanders) but at least I got my first 3 game winning streak against the first three teams.

As I enter the new season I wonder if it will be similar to last year. The same ranking (29th), the same budget (After last years *strict* obedience ) and the same rotten luck (played 4, lost 4).

P.S It didn't take long for my 1st embarasing loss. 3 games in and I lost 6-0 to the Sabres.

P.P.S Just lost 4-3 to Pheonix with their last goal coming at 59:59 AND Konowalchuk has got a 3 month injury.

[bruins72]

Glad to see somebody else entering the 2nd season! Good luck! It sure sounds like you've got your hands full.

[Chelmsford Chieftain]

After having a short break from management games I got back to my season and at Game 10. I don't think a long write-up is necassary so I'll just give a brief description:

No wins, 1 point and Dodgy Goaltending BUT I've just got Koivu

[Devils88]

after the embarising playoffout in round one i decided to shuffle the deck a bit.

these players left via free agency: shean donovan, keith aucoin, gordie dwyer, david gove,
chris hajt, martin gerber and aaron ward.
not signed but kept the rights: mike commodore, danny richmond and rob davison.
trades before start of season 2:
most noteable: got zach parise and brian gionta / gave up eric staal
parise/gionta combined for 78 points through the first 40 games....i'm very happy with this deal.
got rights for ryan miller (BUF) (signed him later) / gave up ray whitney and rights to rob davison
got rights for adam hall (NAS) (signed him later) / gave up right for danny richmond
got 6th rounder 2007 (NYR) / gave up jesse boulerice
got 2nd rounder 2007 (DET) and rights for niklas hagman (signed him later) / gave up 7th rounder 2007
and rights for benjamin breault
waived brind'amour and his 5mio salary, he was claimed by the NYR.

trades after start of season 2:
got 5th rounder 2007 (WAS) / gave up niclas wallin
got 2nd rounder 2007 (CAL) / gave up frantisek kaberle
got 4th rounder 2007 (DET) / gave up niklas nordgren
got 4th rounder 2007 (NAS) / gave up vaclav nedorost
got 2nd rounder 2007 (VAN) / gave up cory stillman
got jay pandolfo (NJ) / gave up josef vasicek

all these trades were salary dumps....

following players signed via free agency before season start:
ruslan salei
ossi vaananen
derek morris
marc savard
eric boulton
vaclav varada
vaclav nedorost (for lowell)
rob hisey (for lowell)

following players signed via free agency after season start:
mike comrie after game 9
patrik elias after game 27

depth chart goal:
ryan miller
sebastien caron
cam ward

defense:
brad stuart
derek morris
ossi vaananen
jordan leopold
ruslan salei
andrew ference
jack johnson
bruno st. jaques

left wing:
patrik elias
erik cole
niklas hagman
andrew ladd
jay pandolfo
eric boulton

center:
marc savard
zach parise
alyn maccauley
mike comrie
chris gratton
kevyn adams
riley holzapfel

right wing:
justin williams
radim vrbata
brian gionta
vaclav varada
adam hall
roman kukumberg

before the start i decided to go with offensive firepower this year.
changed tactics to three offensive lines and one defensive....
...and that works pretty well, though my 4th line ratings are very low.
thats ridicolous because i signed defensive specialist for the job: LW Hagman,Boulton
C: MacCauley, RW: Varada....
but that doesn't bother me that much (exept awful penalty killing) cause most times
i score far more goals than i gave up. finally after 100 games i found the right PP-tactics
for my team (24.6% in games 21-40). after 40 games i'm 2nd in the conference which is very tight.
record 26-11-3....more than i expected. after game 39, my best defenders are out one month both:
leopold and morris...hope i can get through this period...
disappointments so far:
ryan miller - some awesome nights- many awful nights...0.895 rating 6.88 12-7-3 record
caron is better at all...0.905 rating 7.50 11-5-2 record
varada and hagman both below 7 ratings.

pleasant surprises:
jordan leopold and brad stuart found their scoring touch with 38 and 24 points.
all new signings score pretty well around 1 point per game, but i'm very pleased
with the performance of andrew ladd. he plays on the thrid line and had a rough nhl start
with only 2 points in his first 8 games....but after 40 he scored 12g and 20a for 32 points.
that's much more i expected from him. clicks very well on the left with comrie at center
and gratton on the right wing.

payroll is down to 30,5 million, 33 mio. allowed. but i want to get rid of some more players:
adams, hagman or boulton, maybe varada (injured for 3 months).
i'm happy with my defense so far, but i still want a right sided defender to replace ference.
though all good ones are far over 2 mio. salary....don't know what i will do at the moment.

[Calv]

Have entered all of the stats that are currently in the recording thread, one query has come up that hasn't been sorted yet:
al_money - Your total points and wins/so lossed don't add up, I have entered what I think is correct however if there is a problem you need to tell us. Also you haven't stated what your board budget is, currently you are down for 2 penalty points. Please could you tell us what the budget is and we will rectify this if necessary