EHM The Blue Line

This challenge I've started to use line-matching, which have turned out quite well. Running one def line (P-J Axelsson, Bonk, Ortmeyer), and matching it against the opponents 1st line. They get naff ratings though, but final results seem to have improved. Trying to keep down the ice-time on my first line - none of them have more than 20 mins per game, and that has helped me keeping them healthy. (Knock on wood)

Also, after reading what the master of tactics - Batdad has written, I am using personal settings for each and every player. I guess that gets the best out of each player.

Here are my lines - if anyone is interested. (It's Marcel Hossa - not Marian)

For season 2 I decided to go for UFA Tier 2, with one player who got "Very good" as reputation and one with "Good", and once again one them is dropping in rep after I sgined him.

Marty Murray (Good)
James Sheppard (Very Good), before he signed with me.
James Sheppard (Good??), after he signed with me.

I never seen em drop in drop before in short time. Now i am aware of that.

seem that tier 3 is the way to go on the released picks with rep good; example Brule,JJ,dej,taylor first year. They are young and can devolp with luck ,and can be used with advantage in trades later on in game.

Maybe Lidas has made his own Lidas roster DB v1.13
Congrats to reaching SC finals!

does it have to do with the status you are giving them when signing?

I remember (now, but vaguely) changing someone's status (depth to core, I think) and his rep. from Good to Very Good...

just a thought

I'm bad at these, though -

I have started seson 3. We used tier 3 ufa again and signed Blake Wheeler, Sam Gagner, Derick Brassard.

Tavares joined from junior team and togheter with wheeler moves right into top 2lines.

2 trades was made in july and october, and my strategy oldies for youth continued
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july

De Vries,Bonk,Jeremy Smith for Zách Parise, Parise gives me more offsnive punch on 2nd line at LW


oct
Martin Erat for Brian sutherby , offesnive overpayd player for hardworking defensive player with cheap contract (800k)

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With Tavares,Wheeler and Parise in team i could afford to move away Erat who otherwise had been stuck on 3rd line.

It will be hard to get to SC final this year again but playoffs is our goal.

Season 3 Free agent frenzy over here. Went tier I this time. As I improved forward depth last season, I decided to bring in a top defenseman this time (Preferbly RD). Pronger, Gonchar, and Niedermayer were all available, but demanded too high salary. Available in my salary range (max 4.5M) were Kim Johnsson and Pavel Kubina.

Kim decided to go to sunny Florida, and Kubina re-signed with the Maple Leafs. BUT - the Leafs, who had already grabbed a bunch of UFAs, decided to not sign Kubina, so he signed with us instead

Hey Lidas, thanks for the tip on line matching. I too like to read things that batdad has written about tactics, I just have trouble implementing it sometimes.

Although my first 20 games looks bad,I'm hoping I can get the team into the playoffs this year.

thunderbug wrote: Of the RFAs I have brought in Kulyash has made the most impact. He has taken a powerplay that was hohum, and has turned it into one of the best in the league.

I've got Kulyash joining my team for the third season I wasn't able to get him to sign the first time around. Of course, he agreed to sign in the first off-season but then he won't join us for a year. He's a great looking offensive defenseman though.

Lidas wrote:

2nd season went above all expectations, and I reached the finals. Pushed the Flyers really hard, but lost in overtime in the 7th game. Man, I hate when that happens!

So close but yet so far away...

joehelmer wrote:For season 2 I decided to go for UFA Tier 2, with one player who got "Very good" as reputation and one with "Good", and once again one them is dropping in rep after I sgined him.

Marty Murray (Good)
James Sheppard (Very Good), before he signed with me.
James Sheppard (Good??), after he signed with me.

WOW! You must have a really poor reputation. Just playing for your team lowers a player's rep.

You've covered yourself well withe screenshots though.

mustardstew wrote:does it have to do with the status you are giving them when signing?

I remember (now, but vaguely) changing someone's status (depth to core, I think) and his rep. from Good to Very Good...

just a thought

I'm bad at these, though -

Hmmm... that might be the cause of it. It makes sense that a player's status/role with the team might effect his reputation.

I can't believe Pekka Rinne is the best option I have for a backup netminder!!!!

He took a 4-1 lead into the 3rd against the rather lowly Blues, then gave up 2 goals in the final minute to cough up the victory.

To make it worse, I accidentally started him again the next night. Went down 6-1 before I realized it was him. Grrrrrr!

LOL! Rinne is just brutal! Ellis isn't too much better. He's best suited as a backup. You've really got to look at bringing in a starting goalie in that first offseason.

Easily on the top of my list.

Ellis has been solid for me lately. Not perfect by any stretch, but I have much more confidence in him than in anyone else currently in the organization.

I had to really weigh my options for a goaltender in the off-season. Should I try to sign a UFA goalie? There wasn't a huge amount of talent there. I might not find what I was looking for. Or use one of my two trades and get a goalie that way. I ended up going the trade route because I felt I could get a better goalie that way. Now looking back, I think I may have made the right decision but the goalie I traded for (Howard) isn't blowing me away.

In my next off-season I'm going to look at replacing some of what I have up front. I don't really like Erat. Also, Sullivan has been awesome for me but he sure is getting old. I've also got to start preparing for when Arnott isn't going to be "the man" anymore. Still, that's a long ways away. I'm only 42 games into season 2.

bruins72 wrote:LOL! Rinne is just brutal! Ellis isn't too much better. He's best suited as a backup. You've really got to look at bringing in a starting goalie in that first offseason.

I bought in Fleury in a package deal involving Ellis, and dam has it helped! I finished 4th in season 3! The Kings swept me in the first round Fleury was brutal, and because Rinne is my backup I rode Fleury too hard during the season and tired him out . So I will try find a capable backup to give Fleury some rest during the season.

My trades have been good to me so far, I have received Fleury, Leopold, Cammalleri, E Staal, M Richards. Though Cammalleri is a little fragile so I may ship him out.

This seasons UFA and Trading I think I'll get a veteran presence on the blue line and either a second line centre or some good pk players.

Just remember that you must keep a player on your team for 1 year (12 months) before you can trade him. So look at the date you acquired Cammalleri on.

bruins72 wrote:Just remember that you must keep a player on your team for 1 year (12 months) before you can trade him. So look at the date you acquired Cammalleri on.

Yeah not sure if I will trade him or not, but thanks for the heads up!

bruins72 wrote:LOL! Rinne is just brutal! Ellis isn't too much better. He's best suited as a backup. You've really got to look at bringing in a starting goalie in that first offseason.

Hmmm yeah I think my Gs are really costing me victories. Although I score plenty of goals, I leak even more. I may have to change strategy and go for a goalie come the end of season 1.

When I signed Sheppard he wanted to be a prostpect for the future and I gave him that role. Did he want to get worse rep?!

I was thinking a bit about the conversation regarding Dan Ellis. Through 64 games, we're 24-33-7. Personally, Ellis is 23-20-6.

My backups are a combined 1-13-1. Sad

Just made my trades for season 4!

Trade 1: Predators send Mike Cammalleri and Anton Lander to the Islanders for Vincent Lecavalier

I wanted more consistancy from my top 2 lines and while Cammalleri is good, he got injured too much and wasnt consistant enough, and Lander hasn't developed anywhere near how I expected, and of course getting Vinny is huge for my franchise, not only will it put bums on seats his hockey talents are second to none and will be a real leader on and off the ice for my club.

Trade 2: Predators send JP Dumont and Joel Ward to the Red Wings for Johan Franzen and Mike Van Ryn

I needed a more veteran presence on the blue line and Ryno provides that with a cheap contract of 1.2m, Franzen is cheaper and younger than Dumont and looks to have the same skill set but more of a power forward which I prefer.

UFA signings:
Now last season I couldn't sign anyone so I picked up Colton Orr off of waivers whom I was happy with, so this season I really wanted to get a backup goalie so I could give Fleury nights off as I rode him waaay too hard last season. There weren't many options available in a trade or UFA so I had to settle for Joey MacDonald, he isn't the best out there but he is alot better than Rinne and I'm hoping he can give Fleury some rest.

I signed 3 "good" players mainly just to add to my bottom lines, I signed Jarkko Ruutu just to add some "sandpaper" to my lineup, along with goalie prospect Tyler Plante.

And here are my Season 3 moves.

As I mentioned earlier, I grabbed Kubina on UFA.

First I was planning to trade for a 2nd line LW and a 3rd line RW, but I changed my mind and decided to go for some more drastic changes. Finally, I ended up with a new 1st line LW and a first line C.

As for LW, I got offers accepted for Erik Cole and Thomas Vanek. Cole has better overall stats, and costs less than half in salary, and I've had good results when playing him before - and that's the reason why I chose Vanek. I wanted to try players I've never played before. Sent away Sullivan and Nichol to get him.

New center - Jeff Carter. Same deal here, I chose a player I've never worked with before. He's got good stats - not phenomenal, but I hope he'll develop them in Nashville. Sent Legwand, Rinne, and Laakso to the Flyers. Not sure if Arnott's gonna like this as he'll be send down to 2nd line.

I've used Carter in the past and he can be phenomenal! Nice trade there!