Challenge 15: Colorado Avalanche (Discussion Thread)

Círyatan · Post by **Círyatan** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:08 pm

I like the guy. Tucker, I mean. I don't know why, I can't explain it.

In this database, however, he is utterly terrible, especially considering the amount of money he's earning. He'll be the first one to trade next season, and that's only if he doesn't get waived earlier.

And when it comes to Stewart, I even thought at one time he might be a replacement for Hejduk, but now I think that's extremely unlikely. I'll be happy with him if he establishes himself as a solid 3rd liner.

Post by **Manimal** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:30 pm

I have had good success with Stewart as 2nd line LW. 14 goals in 55 games. He is playing tough and is a good compliment to Duchene and Svatos. Too bad Duchene got injured with about a month left of the season(2 mnth injury)

Post by **batdad** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:37 pm

Stewart is great for me. with the weaker forwards we have he does a great job filling the physical role on any line I put him on. Often he was playing with Svatos. But now with Ruutu it does not happen as often, because Svatos has Ruutu already listed as his BFF.

13 games in to new season,. 10-2-1. I have 43 goals for, which is one more than I had for the first 20 in season 1. However, Wolski just went down for 3 months. Going to find out what Stewart is really made of.

ie99jro · Post by **ie99jro** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:25 pm

Círyatan wrote:
I am pleased with Clark's new contract, as he's agreed to a 2-year, $685K p/y deal. Saved me lots of caps space.

How did you manage to get him to sign that? I might have to hire you as my negotiator in the future! When did you sign him, did he have a bad year or what?

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:39 pm

I'm guessing he must have signed him for that price after his contract expired but he still retained the rights. I can't imagine any other way that he'd re-sign for that cheap.

So I finally got my first 20 games of season 2 logged. I did pretty well this time around. My goals for an against were better than the same period in the first season. My record was definitely better. This is still essentially the same team though. Foote retired, I brought up Stewart, and claimed Moreau from waivers. Also, I didn't send O'Reilly back down to junior after 9 games. I've kept him on the team. I think my special teams are better as well. That makes a difference. Still, even though I won 14 games, my team struggled in a lot of those games. I've been juggling my lineup like crazy because of injuries, mostly to my forwards but also a little to the defense. I still haven't been able to swing a trade that I want. I think I'm looking to get too much out of a deal and also being too picky in who I trade for. I keep looking for a balance of toughness and offensive/defensive skill. Since we're only allowed to make 1 trade per season, I'm trying to make the most of it. I'm fully prepared to wait until the deadline though. I'm doing pretty well without making a deal, so there's really no pressure to do one.

Post by **joehelmer** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:46 pm

For my third season my board wants the Stanley Cup, what are they thinking? We have missed playoff two season in a row and got good picks 4th in first season and 5th in second!

Yeah, I admit, I'm probably dead last in this challenge.

At least we scored most goals of all teams in NHL but still we ended up 13th in Western, so needless to say my defense didn't work. Well it did in the last couple of games and it made so I missed a top 3 pick.

So I think I might get fired in third season...

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:48 pm

joehelmer wrote:For my third season my board wants the Stanley Cup, what are they thinking? We have missed playoff two season in a row and got good picks 4th in first season and 5th in second!

My board said that to me going into season 2! Of course, I made it to game 7 of the second round of the playoffs in the first season. Still, that's high expectations!

Post by **batdad** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:58 pm

Mine wanted it season 2 as well. And I just got a press release after game 18 that said we were favorites. Yet I was ranked 25th at the start. I dunno....

Post by **joehelmer** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:10 pm

Your defense worked opposite to my.

I'm definately going for a defensman for UFA this season, either Ossi Vaananen or Vitaly Vishnevski.

Círyatan · Post by **Círyatan** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:19 pm

ie99jro wrote:
Círyatan wrote:
I am pleased with Clark's new contract, as he's agreed to a 2-year, $685K p/y deal. Saved me lots of caps space.
How did you manage to get him to sign that? I might have to hire you as my negotiator in the future! When did you sign him, did he have a bad year or what?

bruins72 wrote:I'm guessing he must have signed him for that price after his contract expired but he still retained the rights. I can't imagine any other way that he'd re-sign for that cheap.

You're right, my good sir. His contract expired and he didn't want to sign a new one. As I retained his rights, I offered him a new deal, and he filed for arbitration. Didn't wait for the verdict, though, but after a week or so agreed to my offer. Can't say I'm disappointed.

Post by **batdad** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:23 pm

So in my first 20 I ended up scoring 21 goals more than my first 20 in season 1. I gave up exactly the same #...33. This can completely be attributed to Milan Hejduk being healthy. 18 goals 6 assists...he had only 5 points in the first 20 in season one due to injury.

My PP is a bit better. Same # of goals, fewer chances. But my pk is weaker losing Foote...I gave up 2 more goals in quite a few less chances.

All in all though, a much better start.

mustardstew · Post by **mustardstew** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:24 am

wow, only 33 GA... man... nice! that's like 10 games for me!

So, its July 2, start of second season. Rough season 1, ended in 29th place (only beating the Wild with 2 games left did I get ahead of them - yay!) - but I'm supposed to contend for the Cup this year!!! Aaaaagh!

So, of course, I won the lottery and drafted Hall... which figures, because he's sort of like every other offensive player on this team - finesse! Maybe he'll get a bit tougher!

My defense was solid, if unspectacular (although maybe solid is the wrong word... how 'bout 'not my weak link') - Preissing and Quincey played very well, while Liles had some issues - I lost Hannan for 2 months and Foote for 3, so...

My forwards were certainly a mixed bag - I sent all my junior eligibles down, and paid for it, I think... but got good play from Willsie, Stewart and Hensick... Wolski and Svatos led in scoring with 43 and 38 G, respectively. Stastny and Hedjuk didn't do as well as I hoped, although they picked up toward the end of the season. Tucker sucked sucked sucked, along with most of the 4th liners that this team has... but Tucker's gone...

Budaj definitely was the better of the 2 goalies... Anderson, while regaining enough form that I'll use him for my trade, had some ghastly runs of 3s, 4s and 5s...

My PP really couldn't get going, and my PK was average... so there's lots of room for improvement. My biggest problems are giving up way to many goals (and giving away leads in the 3rd period to lose in OT), and not getting stars to perform - Wolski had 83 points, my best scorer... Stastny was in the 70s... while Hensick gets 60, Willsie and Stewart play better than for many other people... apparently I'm a GM in the wrong league!!!

Anywho, this season I get Duchene and O'Reilly, along with most of my juniors - all of a sudden I'm at my reserve list limit

I'm going Tier II UFAs, to improve depth on the farm, as they were even worse! So I've offered Begin and Hnidy (yeah, Bs vets, but they have what I want, and for the right price) the low contract. We'll see!

Post by **Manimal** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:07 am

Wolski won the Calder Trophy and the Plus-Minus Award. Canucks won the Cup

Post by **Manimal** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:25 pm

With my first round pick, I chose Maksim Kitsyn. He's projected to be a 1st line skilled offensive forward. He also has decent size. 2nd round, I went with Alex Petrovic, a skilled d-man 3-4, like a better Dan Girardi. Charles Landry was grabbed in the third. A mobile d-man. In the fourth round, I selected a 20-year old Swedish Center(also capable winger) Henrik Eriksson. Several scouts really liked him as a two-way forward. I'm planning on bringing him over to Lake Erie. Michal Hlinka, an offensive utility player was next and then Fredrik Styrman, a skilled offensive d-man; Scott Ramsay another skilled d-man and lastly Andrei Kuchin who some scouts likened to a poor mans Thomas Vanek. He is 19 and will probably play with Charlotte

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 3:16 pm

batdad wrote:Mine wanted it season 2 as well. And I just got a press release after game 18 that said we were favorites. Yet I was ranked 25th at the start. I dunno....

Yeah, I got the "Avalanche expected to keep winning" news item some time in the first 20 games too. Both my fans and the team Chairman were pleased by my optimism.

Post by **batdad** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:09 pm

I declined comment. I hate to even further the goombah's ego. Since he thinks I should win the dang thing with this horrid roster he gave me...

He might cut my budget if I win it. Currently I am 12 mill under the cap with LTI to Wolski and Hensick.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:42 pm

I really hate Hensick. He's so close to being a useful player but not quite.

Post by **batdad** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:00 pm

Yeah. For me the scouts all give him 1st line rating for potential and depth for now. Coaches like him too. Me...he sucks most of the time, save about every 8th game he puts up 1-1-2..

Hmmm...interesting in September coaches thought he was going to be a very good playmaker. Liked him. Now....they are ALL saying he is OVERRATED . Of course he is on IR for five months with MCL surgery.

Post by **joehelmer** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:14 pm

I might have been to late with this, but I didn't find a coach who looked like a future Head Coach, but now I've signed him. The only bad thing with him is that his determination is low with a 10 all the other stats are 15+ with 19 in Coaching Goalies, 18 in Coaching Defensemen and "just" 16 in Coaching Forwards.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:22 pm

joehelmer wrote:I might have been to late with this, but I didn't find a coach who looked like a future Head Coach, but now I've signed him. The only bad thing with him is that his determination is low with a 10 all the other stats are 15+ with 19 in Coaching Goalies, 18 in Coaching Defensemen and "just" 16 in Coaching Forwards.

I hope he's already been employed by your team for six months in another role and not just hired directly as head coach...

Post by **joehelmer** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:44 pm

bruins72 wrote:
joehelmer wrote:I might have been to late with this, but I didn't find a coach who looked like a future Head Coach, but now I've signed him. The only bad thing with him is that his determination is low with a 10 all the other stats are 15+ with 19 in Coaching Goalies, 18 in Coaching Defensemen and "just" 16 in Coaching Forwards.
I hope he's already been employed by your team for six months in another role and not just hired directly as head coach...

I should have more clear....

I signed him as a assistant coach and in six months Sacco is sacked (or signed to be ass. coach)!

Relax B72, I've been around long enough to know the rules!

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:50 pm

Just making sure!

Batdad almost claimed 2 players off waivers... so anything is possible!

Post by **batdad** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:54 pm

No not almost. Just briefly thought about it...

Círyatan · Post by **Círyatan** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:59 pm

bruins72 wrote:I really hate Hensick. He's so close to being a useful player but not quite.

I use Hensick as a first sub, he fills in whenever any of my top 3 centres or left wingers is out. That means he's usually somewhere there in the lineup. He's been doing OK, but definitely not great. I wonder whether he really has the potential to develop into a solid 2nd line centre... At least that's how my scouts rate him.

Post by **joehelmer** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 8:01 pm

batdad wrote:No not almost. Just briefly thought about it...

That would have been even worse than my possible mistake.