Challenge #38 - Shark Attack! - Discussion Thread

[visualdarkness]

First 20 in the second season done and we are struggling bad with a 7-11-2 and 55-68 record.

One of the big reasons for the struggle is for sure the special teams. My PP is at 7.07% and my PK 72.4%, I'm just lucky that out PIMs are low. I've tried everything from the PP/PK knowledge thread but we actually went from brutal to even worse in this area. I don't think the team should be this bad though with the players I got.

Dumba is bad and Johnson is following up a surprise season with a brutal one. Coyle is a PPG but not the machine from last year. Tierny is my new object of pure hatred, you guys weren't kidding about him sucking the last challenge.

[cecede123]

SAP goes for Soon as possible, meaning get out of there as soon as possible !!!

Finished dead last in West, carrying a 31-42-9 record, with 11-24-6 at home
My All-SanJose team would be : Nieto(54)-Couture(54)-Wingels(64)-Klingberg(43)-Muller(42) and no goalie, because they we're awful
Surprise : Melker Karlsson with 43 points
Deceptions : Goaltending, Hertl with 41 points, Erik Johnson -28...

On a better note Worchester killing it in the AHL !

Now, let's go see the "where are they now" thread...
Burns(31) Vlasic(43) Pavelski(42) in CGY vs Gaudreau(51) Morgan Klimchuk(47 AHL)
Kostka(26) Braun(22) in TOR vs Fred Gauthier(22 AHL) Stuart Percy (10)
Marleau (52) to DAL vs Klingberg (43)
D'Agostini(18) Niemi(14-7-3) to MTL vs Beaulieu(28) Gregoire(32AHL) McCarron(23AHL)
Big Joe (17) to WIN vs Eric Comrie (24-9-2, 1.92 and .919 AHL)

Worchester finished with a 57-14-5 record, Ryan Hartman best scorer with 69 pts !

[stone169]

So here is my official lineup for the 2016-2017...

2016-2017 Roster
-----------------------
Matt Nieto - Logan Couture - Dennis Everberg
Tomas Hertl - Mika Zibanejad - Melker Karlsson
Michael Ferland - Tommy Wingels - Eriah Hayes
Harry Zolnierczyk - Ben Smith - Justin Shugg

Mirco Muller - Erik Johnson
Jake McCabe - Rausmus Ristolainen
Duncan Siemens - Cody Ceci

Alex Stalock
Harri Sateri

Of note, in 8 exhibition games Mirco Muller had 5g 7a and was a +7. Although I've noticed that was happens in the exhibition season normally does not happen in the regular season.

[Smylie]

Thought I would give this a whirl..... First part is done and I got everyone traded before the draft..... I have 4 1st 's and 4 2nd round picks so I will get to the season after that...... I have posted the screen shots in the other place but will give this some more verbage when I get home tonight!

Well I thought I was doing well to get 4 1st round picks but that looks like the average...... Here were mine
2016 Draft
--------------
1st round Maher-C (6th)
1st round Fitzpatrick-G (21)
1st round Gauthier-RW (25)
1st round Krys-LD (30)
2nd round Catelin-LW (31)
2nd round Saigeon-RW/C/LW (36)
2nd round Clague-RD(42)
2nd round Howden-C (51)
3rd round Jost-RW/C (61)
3rd round Routsalinen-C (88)
4th round Foligno-RW (96)
5th round Makeyev-RD/LD (126th)
6th round Nick Heid (156th)
7th round Ericson-C/LW (186)
7th round Siegenthaler-LD (199)

Hopefully I can get a little time this weekend to move this game along.....

[Asher413]

One quarter down, and man it's ugly.

I went with the develop the young guys method. The only guy who's not waiver eligible that's with the big boys is Mueller. Too many of the young guys aren't really ready, so I'd rather toss a year out, and then go for it in earnest next season. Of course my sanity hit the end when two centers go down for a week, leaving me with Chris Tierney as the #1 center for a few games. (0-2-2 in 7 games...) I have managed to complete a team with no physicality, and Erik Johnson's lack of stamina leaves me in trouble too. Oh well!

Lines:
Couture-Johansen-Karlsson
Nieto- Girgensons-Wingels
Emanuelsson-Smith-Hayes
Zolnierczyk-Oleksuk-Hertl

D pairs
Doherty-Johnson
Mueller-DeMelo
Oleksiak-Tennyson
Regner

Stalock
Grosenick

Ullmark was very good for 6 games during injuries, really hoping to save his rookie status for next season.

[listro55]

Lottery Win!
1st- Nolan Patrick
17- Jonas Turtiainen (acquired from Col for Wingles)
20- Igor Zenchikov (acquired from Mon for Nieto)

32- David Farrance
46- Henrik Norberg (acquired from Col for Wingles)
60- Hans-Göran Ericson (acquired from Nsh for Oleksiuk)

62- Jonny Kilström

92- Travis Fitzgerald

122- Otto Mäkinen

Sean Day was a big bust in year 1... 77 gp. 0pts. Nothing special except Larkin get All-rookie honors.

152- Albin Wallin
166- Boris Martinka (previously acquired)

182- Vitaly Prus
205- Dick King (previously acquired) <--- John Tortorella would suggest this guy. His type of player! (King, Dick)

[radiskull]

So many different decisions out there from many managers. It's interesting.
For example, I could not imagine having Hertl on the 4th line and Karlsson on the 1st like Asher. Or having Wingels to play as a center like Stone (and on the 3rd line!). Or not having Hatman at least as the 2nd RW. It's fun to see different approaches.
Hertl-Couture-Wingels was my killer line for 2 seasons. And Hertl was my best scorer in these years and one Art Ross winner. Couture was a little meeh, but still got decent points. And Wingels even won Maurice Richard first year.

I didn't write about 2nd season. So here it is. We managed to get 1 more victory than last year and went 63-16-3. And second Cup. This time playoffs were easier. And we faced Ducks and Avalanche again in the same rounds.

As I said, Hertl was my top performer with 36-61-97. But no Art Ross this year, because Kessel went crazy.
Luke Green won Best rookie. And it's not a surprise. You can see his screenshot in this thread earlier. In the offseason he got even better. I predict Norris next year. And after 20 games into 3rd season I think he is definitely going to win it.
This another guy, Mascherin. He was 3rd in the Calder trophy. But he is a monster now. In the 3rd season he's my 1st LW. After 20 games he's got 19-16-35. Almost 2 points per game. I love this dude.
Also I swapped Couture and Teravainen. Now Teuvo is my 1st line C. And he's doing very well there.

Now let me try to recall my lines (I'm not at my gaming computer right now)…

Mascherin - Teravainen - Wingels (this just works; Mascherin is definitely an Art Ross winner this year! And maybe Maurice Richard too. And other two guys are awesome)
Hertl - Couture - Hartman (Hertl and Hartman didn't develop at all for me, but they produce!)
Goldobin - Zetterberg - Russell (he's from 2016 draft, I think; not bad, but has Anticipation 3 - this hurts)
Nieto - Boyko - Smith (yep, now Nieto is here; everyone else is just better; I'll trade him before 4th season, but he performed very good in the past years)
Konecny+Saigeon are my call-ups

Maatta - Green (killer offensive D-pair)
Muller - Johnson (I want to swap Johnson for someone else; he's too slow)
Musil - Marincin (same thing with Musil)
But thankfully we have our call-up Chad Krys who is pretty much ready to push Musil aside. In his NHL debut he got a 10 rating. Good sign.

So, we are on our way to the 3rd Cup victory with 15-4-1 now. Yeah, I think I figured out this game for sure...

[visualdarkness]

Wow 33 games into the second season my PP is at 4.8%, that's weirdly low.

[Asher413]

So many different decisions out there from many managers. It's interesting.
For example, I could not imagine having Hertl on the 4th line and Karlsson on the 1st like Asher.

Heh, I feel ya. I'm honestly just accepting that I have sucked bad at the last few challenges, and trying different things than in the past. For a while (Carlina I think) I tried roles for positions (LW was the defensive guy, C the passer, RW the scorer) on each line. I'm trying this time to keep one left shot and one right shot winger. All I've found for sure is "I'm doing it wrong" .

[nino33]

trying different things than in the past......All I've found for sure is "I'm doing it wrong"

HaHa Reminds me of a great Harry Neale line when he was coaching the Canucks "Last year we couldn't win at home. This season we can't win on the road. My failure as a coach is I can't think of any place else to play"

[visualdarkness]

We scored one PP goal last game and jumped from 4.2% to a whooping 4.6%! It doesn''t take much to climb from there.

[Sesyde]

Heading in to season 2 now after a good offseason. We went 6-1-0 in the exhibition games with 33GF and 17GA.
Olle Eriksson-Ek seem to be a nice pick in the draft, turning heads in the Camp he will be my starter in AHL this year. Hope he will develop well down there so he can maybe climb up and push Stalock out next season.

Sharks linup going in to this season will be:

Hertl - Couture - Hartman
Domi - W. Karlsson - Nieto
Fiala - Boyko - Smith
Goldobin - Tierrney - M.Karlsson
Emmanuelson
Tarasov

Muller - Ristolainen
Morrissey - Nurse
McCabe - Theodore
A. Larsson

Stalock
Grosenick

Petan might be called up later this season depending on my need and how he does in AHL. Wasn't too happy with him last season and he need to pick his development up.

[visualdarkness]

Muller - Ristolainen
Morrissey - Nurse
McCabe - Theodore
A. Larsson

So you managed to switch out the entire D? That's an accomplishment.

[Sesyde]

Muller - Ristolainen
Morrissey - Nurse
McCabe - Theodore
A. Larsson

So you managed to switch out the entire D? That's an accomplishment.

Yeah, except for Muller then of course. Wasn't really something I set out to do, but they old ones just kept disapointing me, so they had to go.

Have only played one game so far this season but the D was really good that game (beat the Stars with 6-1), and Muller had 3 assists, Morrissey scored one goal and Nurse had one assist. So quite happy with it now.

[Asher413]

This team is starting to come around! I started with trying to win with the vets, started okay, then we sucked bad. After drudging through a bad stretch, I finally resolved that this team had no hope of the playoffs... but we're still 11 points ahead of last place Flyers.

Now that we're finally creeping up to .400 hockey, I actually WANT to lose for the #1 pick. I'm reminded of the scene in Major League:

RACHEL
Plus, this team is
showing signs of improvement. I didn't
think we'd win 15 games all year.
Any ideas?

DONOVAN
On how we can get worse?
(sarcastic)
How about a series of fines for good
play? Maybe a $30,000 bonus to the
guy chosen Least Valuable Player.

RACHEL
This is no laughing matter, Donovan.
(pause)
I think maybe the problem is we're
coddling these guys too much.

Can I take away their plane?

[visualdarkness]

Yeah, except for Muller then of course. Wasn't really something I set out to do, but they old ones just kept disapointing me, so they had to go.

Müller is one of my best D too, but my board wants me to get rid of him and Hartman for some reason.

[nickflyers]

Ugh....40 Game mark and we are plummeting FAST. Stalock and Grosenick can't stop anything at all, Couturier has been garbage, Meier is out 4 months with a UCL injury. Good news is the kids are handling the NHL well(Ghost, Gold, Meier and Rychel) so I've got that going for me. AHL is killing it(23-9-4)

[radiskull]

3rd season is done. 3 Cups in a row, 66-11-5 record. We're getting even better.

Players

The most outstanding guys:
Adam Mascherin, 49-51-100 in 82 games. Our young star on the left wing. Just gets the job done. Won Art Ross + Maurice Richard + NHL Plus/Minus, as I predicted. Runner up for Hart Memorial and Conn Smythe. First All-Star team. Pro-tip: draft Mascherin!

Tommy Wingels, 40-44-84 in 70 games. He's 31 years now but I just could not trade him out. He was so good in these years that I'm not ready yet to swap him for someone younger. Frank J. Selke trophy winner. First All-Star team.

Tomas Hertl. 40-41-81 in 82 games. This year he was on the 2nd line but still did an awesome job. Consistent high-points producer. And now he rejects every offer of a new contract. But he's RFA, so I think I will be able to hold on to him. Lady Bing Memorial winner.

Luke Green! 17-60-77 in 82 games. What a defender! He was unstoppable. He was 2nd in AvR in the league after Lundqvist. And those insane points... As I predicted, Norris + Hart Memorial winner. 2 or 3 place in four other trophies. And First All-Star team. Pro-tip #2: draft Luke Green!

Ryan Hartman. 34-44-78 in 82 games. Still very strong, still on the 2nd line.

Olli Maatta. 17-50-67 in 82 games. Another awesome defender. Maatta+Green = super-pair. Runner-up for James Norris. And First All-Star team.

Teravainen + Couture. Good Center crew. But those wingers and defenders steel many of their points. So only 75 for Teuvo and 61 for Logan. But I'm happy with these guys.

Harri Sateri! Our wall, our undisputed number one goalie. 1.83 GAA and 91.7%. Not super-great, but it was enough to get him Vezina, William M. Jennings and Conn Smythe (again). And a place in the Second All-Star team. Look at him now (I didn't think that at his age players could progress like that):


And a special word for Liam Zetterberg. Still the greatest defensively, but still cannot score. Just 21 points in 82 games. Well, it's not his main job anyway.


Trades

I shipped away Yakupov for 3rd, Musil+Smith for 1st + 4th and Nieto + Tennyson for 1st. In the next season Chad Krys will take Musil's place on the defence. And Saigeon + Konecny will start in the NHL as well.

Overall we are getting better and better skillwise. I have a couple of needs though. Johnson, Wingels and Couture are getting older and I need to find replacements for them. Hopefully from within, if our young guns in the minors will continue to grow.

So, let's get another Cup next year!

[visualdarkness]

Second season was so bad and and we were worse in every category except PIM and a slight improvement in GA. The last quarter we went 13-8-1 in a last push so things looks better than they were.

Just look at my special teams! I've read every guide and the whole PP/PK thread and nothing works at all. So any tips about reading guides and threads aren''t helpful at all.
At least we climbed from sub 5% on the PP to almost 10% at the end.


My top 6 is great and all are way on the plus side but my bottom six were brutal and destroyed the season for me.



Huberdeau-Couture-Coyle
Nieto-Hertl-Wingles
Goldobin-Sheahan-Hartman
Emanuelsson/Karlsson-Samuelsson-Smith
Tierny

Dumba-Johnson
Müller-Tennyson
Marincin-DeMelo
Doherty

Säteri, Grosenick

[visualdarkness]

So, entering the third season.

Awards
Huberdeau
Maurice Rocket Richard
Lester B Pearson
Art Ross 3rd runner
Lady Byng
Plus Minus
Hart 2nd runner
First allstar

Wingels
Frank J Selke

Couture
Plus-minus 2nd runner

Trades
Went for a change up in the bottom two lines.

Ben Smith for Vlastimil Kalfirt (21 year old defensive faceoff specialist with some weird attributes like no hitting)
Doherty, Emanuelsson, Karlsson for Filip Gustavsson (Needed contract space and got a goalie with starter potential)
Tierny for 3rd and 5th (He just sucked and was waiver eligible)

Released
Had to release a bunch to get my prospects signed

Tarasov
Grosenick (Refused to sign a 2,25 million NHL contract with a sure backup role, stupid...)
Schoenborn
Viedensky
Vanier

Draft
#11 Dennis Lundström (D with great offense but no real defense)
#41 Samy Levac (small offensive C who is good in front of the net)
#71 Kim Ferland (Speedy hard working two way winger)
#76 Zoltan Gratton (small speedy playmaking C)
#101 Stanislav Klempa (Very skilled forward with a great slapper but subpar physical and defensive atts)
#131 Rickard Werner (19-year old scorer who is established in the Swedish Elite League)
#136 Victor Hoffren (Non-physical 21-year old offensive D with great passing)
#161 Frantisek Skandera (Super-aggressive and brave goalscorer with limited potential and no stamina, a wild card)
#191 Emerson McMillin (Hard working two way guy with bad tech stats but decent mental and physical)

Here's my current team report

[cecede123]

Season two is in the book for me ! Made to trades in the offseason, letting go L.Couture and E.Johnson to Winnipeg in exchange of Josh Morrissey and a 2nd pick. I also traded Harry Z and B.Smith to Montreal, for their 1st and 3rd round pick !
This season was a huge step for many young players : Goldobin, Hartman, Boyko, O'Reagan, Klimchuk and Ritchie made the cut to the team : We we're a much younger team, and by the board, a better team !

Tommy Wingels made really good, as Johnny Hockey fed him perfectly ! Wingels won the Art Ross, 4 goals away of the Rocket Richard. Goldobin won the most point for a rookie, but O.Kylington add a 55 points season, so Calder will probably go to to him !!

We had a good season, the special units we're not what I expected, but it was ok. The heck, we've been eliminated in 2nd round vs Anaheim, after we won the 1st matchup vs St.Louis in 6.
Now going in the offseason !

[Smylie]

Well this is who made it to the starting game for the first season..... The only surprise was Konecny.... but of course he hasn't played nearly as well as he did in the preseason...... Bergman got injured right off the hop and now Grubauer is out for 10 days as well..... We have a 5.9% PP average which puts us dead last and a PK of 83.9% which is surprisingly 12 best......

35 Grubauer, Philipp G
32 Stalock, Alex G
41 Muller, Mirco LD
33 Bergman, Julius RD-LD
26 Bowey, Madison RD
13 Doherty, Taylor RD
6 Johnson, Erik RD-LD
30 Regner, Brent RD
5 Tennyson, Matt RD
12 Fiala, Kevin LW-RW
78 Goldobin, Nikolai LW-RW
83 Nieto, Matt LW-RW
9 Zolnierczyk, Harry LW-RW
39 Couture, Logan C-LW
14 Couturier, Sean C-LW
48 Hertl, Tomas C-LW-RW
25 Viedensky, Marek C
31 Hartman, Ryan RW-C
18 Hayes, Eriah RW
8 Konecny, Travis RW-C
21 Smith, Ben RW-C
79 Tarasov, Daniil RW-C
57 Wingels, Tommy RW-LW-C

[m0fownz0r]

Sharks reign supreme again in season 3.

The regular season felt like a breeze for the most part, except short streches of bad games by both Stalock and Grosenick. Another bad stretch we had was when Couture went down for about 4 weeks, in the middle of which, Domi also went down for 2 weeks. Thankfully, Mascherin was more than ready to fill that top line spot.

1st round of the playoffs was against the Jets, a matchup nobody expected to be as hard as it turned out. We went down 0-3 after outworldly goaltending by Antti Raanta, who faced more than 40 shots in each of those games, but a couple of unimpressive starts by Stalock and another shaky one by Grosenick, coupled with the inability to breach the wall that was Raanta and the defending champions were on the verge of being eliminated.
For game four, we swapped the lanes a little bit, went for heavy overload of the top lines and decided to aim our shots low, looking for rebound and lucky bounces. We went out with guns blazing and after a couple of quick goals, Raanta finally looked like a mere mortal once again and we never looked back.

After that game, Stalock found his stable self and went on to win his second Conn Smythe in 3 years.

Wingels won his 2nd Selke and the Lester as well. Ryan Murphy ,who was 2nd to Kessel for the Hart, got anoher Norris, with Muller as runner-up.Mascherin was chosen as the best rookie. Stalock won the Jennings, Domi got the Lady Bing.

We made no trades after playoffs. The Draft was pretty unimpressive, mostly going for undrafter players. We'll be looking to resign Couture and Stalock, our core to once again prove it has all it takes to be a Stanley Cup champion.

[visualdarkness]

#BabcockDrama

[peachesgp]

Here's my current team report

So this question is noob as all hell, but where is this page? I've been wanting something like this but haven't found it to date.