EHM The Blue Line

Orpik is overrated in the game, so I would not be surprised if the Pens refused to add any more than Orpy.

You are right, they wouldn't give up anything else so I sent them packing.

Have got my Checking Line sorted now. Hagman - Marchant - Laperierre. They are doing a great job and no top line has scored past them in 5 games.

What I should do to get the most out of my attacking defenders like Rafalski and Bouwmeester, what settings should I use, apart from that face off option?

You have to be careful here or they get busted .... alot. I use normal on the power play for example and defensive at even strength,.

I am toying with making Barker and Seabrook go for it all the time, but in the past when I have done this they end up with 1 pt every 2 games, and with 3 or 4 goals agianst every two games. So not a good ratio.

At best I would have one dman on the team GO FOR IT, and make sure he is paired with a real homebody..say Jason Smith type. Join rush and carry puck help too if they are capable of deking/stickhandling.


(See I can answer now...cool)

batdad wrote:Orpik is overrated in the game, so I would not be surprised if the Pens refused to add any more than Orpy.

I don't usually pay attention to Orpik, but here are his stats in 2011-2012. Does he usually get this good 4-5 years into the game? I was pretty surprised. The last few seasons he was averaging about 7.5, and now 8.3 this year!

http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=orpikmy6.jpg

Joe wrote:

batdad wrote:Orpik is overrated in the game, so I would not be surprised if the Pens refused to add any more than Orpy.

I don't usually pay attention to Orpik, but here are his stats in 2011-2012. Does he usually get this good 4-5 years into the game? I was pretty surprised. The last few seasons he was averaging about 7.5, and now 8.3 this year!

http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=orpikmy6.jpg

Well i'd say thats how i would expect him to turn out, connsidering his attributes at the beginning of the game.

Yeah he does. Like I said...over...rated.

Avr rating question - one of my dmen, murray, has an avr rating of 6.72 after 63 games. Michalek, my back up, has played 14 games and has an avr of 7.35. Bearing in mind murrays ratings are alot better, would u play him or would u give michalek a proper run as a starter?

@ matt44: If your backup is doing a better job and works harder, then he deserves the spot, no matter what his attributes are.

Well, first, be sure that Murray's instructions fit well to the kind of player he is... It would be the issue. But if it fits well, then it's just that he's not making the job, and therefore deserved to be pulled off the lineup IMO.

At least it works like that with my teams, and even guys like Malkin or Scott Niedermayer spend time on the bench if they don't do their job. In general, they understand the message pretty fast

Michalek is better than Murray. period.

batdad wrote:Michalek is better than Murray. period.

murrays' attributes are currently better, but its only year 1 and michalek is only 22/23 yrs old.

Attributes are not the be all and end all. Michalek is better than Murray. Trust me. And your avg ratings show that. For me Murray would ride the pine.

I have Kendall McArdle on my Blackhawks team..his attributes show he should play 2nd line and pp. But the dude is horrible. 70 games...5 goals. He played 30 of those games on the 2nd line and pp before I got tired of trying to help him get going. Now...5 minutes a game or so. He sucks. Horrible.

But the attributes are all high 15-19 in all the important offensive areas. He sucks though.

Cool, thanks for your help

I agree, attributes are not all, they don't deflect real players ability...i mean, i had this def that i thought is great...18 checking, 20 positioning, high pokechking, nice huh? with his 5-6 av.rating and -7 +/- he didn't live up to his expectations. guy with checking 12 and positioning 15 has fit his spot well.

EDIT: Also, in my Wild game, Harding put up much better performance than Backstrom who was waay back down to 0.850 save percentage. :-/...

OK, I have a new query for y'all:

My 2nd line consists of Grabovsky - Leino - Weinhandl

After 35 games each has between 15-20 points and an avr rating of 6.70

Is there a particular way any of you experts would play these guys tactically??

My first line is: Chistov - Handzus - Doan. All of which are doing very well.

Actually...I hate Grabovsky. I hate Leino, and Weinhandl although he has excellent ratings...only can play on the third line.


So for me...Dump them all.

Never actually used any of these guys before, but, what is there +/- like? I'd say from their point production they're not doing anything defensively at all. IF they're on attacking I'd consider rolling it back to normal,BUT, if they're doing alright defensively, I'd let them stay the course, their avr wil probably raise as the season goes on. In my first year I once had Dan Carcillo Rane Carnegie and some other bum prospect. and they all had 7.2-7.5 avr's, wish that hdd didnt die...

I have a question about goalies in general. How come if a goalie gets a shutout, he doesn't always get a 10 rating? This just doesn't make sense to me.

Low # of shots against, low chances against. Never had to work hard?

Yeah, a 13 saves shutout with only weak shots from sharp angles clearly doesn't deserve a 10...

A 35 saves shutout with 4-5 breakaways and 4-5 deflected shots in front of the crease is a whole different story!

Hi gentlemen. In a new save with the yotes, i am in year 2 and due to salary cap issues had problems getting a 1st line centre, so i decided to throw MEULLER in at the deep end and have him centering Kotalik and Doan. After 9 games he has 12 pts and a good AVR, but after a year in the juniors do you think it may be too much too soon for him?

If he can handle it, he can handle. If he was struggling I'd say your gonna drown him, but, if the kid can swim, let him go.