Challenge 13: Nashville Predators (Discussion Thread)

[bruins72]

The short answer is yes.

Just remember to use the "tiers" when signing your UFA's. It is possible for an unsigned prospect to have a "very good" rating, which would then allow you to only sign one "good" UFA, with a salary between $475k and $1.0mil.

Whoa. Not quite.

You may sign as many of your unsigned prospects as you like, but the signings have to be within the May 1-Oct 1 signing period. These players will not count against your UFA signings. For example, you may sign Alexander Radulov, and that acquisition will not count against your free agent signing limit.

In other news, my Preds are predicted to finish 25th for the third season! Where's a dancing banana when you need one?!?

The original poster was asking about undrafted prospects. Those guys that never get drafted by anyone. They're not your property. You have to sign them as UFAs. Your own unsigned prospects are another matter entirely.

[bruins72]

We are in half way of season #3 now. First quarter was very difficult as I couldn't get our game going no matter what I tried. We lost four games in a row, then won two and then lost the next five games. I was trying to get the team to play more defensively than before but couldn't find tactics which would've worked. So after some 25 games I changed back to more offensive tactics. And in the last days of November I managed to make two trades which were pretty good considering both short and long term.

I'm still early in my third season and I've found it to be a bit of a struggle too. I'm still above .500 but I've been dealing with injury after injury to key players. Nothing really longterm but it's hard to get any kind of momentum going when you can't keep your lines set for more than a couple games at a time.

After changing the tactics and making the trades Preds have come up from the 14th position to 3rd in the Conference. Central Division is the worst division in West but what the heck, if we can get the third place easier because of that, I don't complain. And for the first time in this Challenge I feel now my team has some kind of chance to make it into playoffs, so... hi - ho - let's go!

Way to turn it around! That's a big difference. Those trades look pretty good, especially the one to land Getzlaf. Getlaf is out for 3 months in my game (ACL) and Stralman is on the Avs. He looks like a decent offensive defenseman though.

[bruins72]

20 games in, and boy, am I pretty bad

I seem to have 6 guys worthy of top two lines, but no one to call up if they go down...
I seem to have 1 decent goalie... but not backup
And the defensemen... well... at least they stay healthy.

This will be a great learning experience, but as I said before, I'm clearly going to be in the running for last

That first season is really a struggle! Hang in there though. It's a fun challenge.

[kuulapaa]

I'm pretty happy with the improvement myself too, but somehow deep down inside a little bit disappointed at the same time, as I wasn't able to make my team work with more defensive tactics and was forced to return to the one and only tactics that works for me. It gets boring with it season after season...

[Captcrunch]

New tactics

Apart from a new goalie, a new LW and, hopefully, an additional right handed defenseman, the thing I will be most looking forward next year will be new tactics. Instead of using unit tactics, each player will have his personal orders based on the following system (thx to bruins72 and the tactics board for inspiration!)

I'll start with the theory that players get penalties and play poorly when ordered to play in a system which does not fit their individual profile (when asked to do something that goes against the grain). Hopefully, by tweaking everything based on each player's profile, I will get less penalties and play stronger defense (its a wonky theory, true, but I'll try anyways ):

Attribute rating
1-7: Weakest setting (1/5)
8-9-10: Second weakest (2/5)
11-12-13: Normal setting (3/5)
14-15-16: High setting (4/5)
17-20: Highest setting (5/5)

Criterias

Mentality: Look in the player's scout report. Defensive player = defensive. Two way = neutral. Offensive = offensive
Aggressiveness: Look at aggressiveness attribute
Backchecking: Look at acceleration + speed attribute
Gap control: Look at acceleration + speed attribute
Puck pressure:Look at checking attribute
Hitting: Look at hitting attribute
Tempo: Look at acceleration + speed attribute
Passing: Look at passing attribute
Shooting: Look at Slapshot + Wristshot
Dumping the puck: depend on the line's role

Shoot/Pass bias: strongest skills
Fighting: strenght, aggression and value of player

Carry puck: Deking + stickhandling
Join rush: Look at acceleration + speed attribute and role

I'll try to play this in a man-to-man coverage. I know I'll have some challenges with this approach but it should be fun!

You're on the right track here. Just keep in mind that other attributes can factor into these too. For example, passing is also affected by "Creativity". I think "Anticipation" might come into play as well. There are also hidden attributes like "vision" that will be a factor.

For shooting, some people like to actually set their wingers to "Selective" or "Very Selective" if they've got a high wrist shot skill. It's making them more of a sniper. They'll wait for the perfect shot rather than just throwing everything at the net. A defenseman with a cannon for a slapshot would be a good player to set for "Heavy" or "Barrage" shooting.

One thing that could factor into a lot of your penalties is the hidden attribute for "Dirtiness". Also, another thing to consider or the whole "Tight" or "Relaxed" Gap Control is the "Positioning" attribute. Guys take hooking penalties when they get caught out of position.

Some people look at "Strength" and "Getting Open" in addition to "Deking" and "Stickhandling" when deciding whether a player should "Carry the Puck".

Anyhow, I think you're on the right track.

Thx for the tip! I actually try to simplify everything or else I go mad trying to guess if the little dot on the screen is taking a hooking penalty because he lacks positioning, because he doesn't backcheck enough, because he does not have enough skating speed, because he's trying to pressure the puck too much and thus forgets to take the man or simply because he is too being too aggresive, is trying to to too tight a gap control hand does not have the skills to succeed it, because he's lazy and does not husle enough... ect...

And then I tell myself its probably a mix of all these factors at varying degrees and I give up trying to find out.

I'll keep an eye out on creativity for passing, strenght + getting open and the selective/barrage approach.

Overall I'll probably run with the tactics for a 1/4 season and tweak them a bit as the time goes on. God knows I've failed trying to implement a stifling defensive unit tactic for my third line so maybe if I give specific orders to players and more them around I'll have better success.

I've had a bit better success in the end of season one with that approach. I actually had something that looked like a defensive game!

[Captcrunch]

The short answer is yes.

Just remember to use the "tiers" when signing your UFA's. It is possible for an unsigned prospect to have a "very good" rating, which would then allow you to only sign one "good" UFA, with a salary between $475k and $1.0mil.

Whoa. Not quite.

You may sign as many of your unsigned prospects as you like, but the signings have to be within the May 1-Oct 1 signing period. These players will not count against your UFA signings. For example, you may sign Alexander Radulov, and that acquisition will not count against your free agent signing limit.

In other news, my Preds are predicted to finish 25th for the third season! Where's a dancing banana when you need one?!?

The original poster was asking about undrafted prospects. Those guys that never get drafted by anyone. They're not your property. You have to sign them as UFAs. Your own unsigned prospects are another matter entirely.

Yeah. It actually makes sense. I did try though

[bruins72]

Well I'm finding that my Tier 2 UFA signings weren't so smart. I signed Milan Lucic as my "Very Good" and Zack Kassian as my "Good". Kassian needed to go back to Junior. Lucic probably would have benefited from some time in the AHL but he can be sent down there without going through waivers. So I have to keep him on my roster and he's really not ready for a big role. So now I've got to try to work with him.

I'm also seeing that Steve Sullivan isn't as good as he was for me in the first two seasons. His attributes really haven't dropped off but his point production is down. In 13 games so far, he's only got 10 points. That's bad for him! Unfortunately I'm not having much luck in find a deal I can work to replace him. I've been trying to package him and Hamhuis together since Hamhuis is the odd man out on my defense. So far no luck.

Despite his rock solid play, I've been looking at replacing de Vries because of his age. I wanted to get some value for him while I could. I ended up working a deal that I quite like!

Predators send Greg de Vries and Martin Erat to the Panthers for Jay Bouwmeester and Nick Tarnasky.

I packaged Erat with de Vries because Erat was too streaky for my tastes. I just couldn't count on him and he made a whole lot of money. In Bouwmeester I get a top defenseman that can play both the PP and the PK. He's a franchise defenseman! Tarnasky is a good mucker and character guy. He'll fit in nicely on my 3rd or 4th line (starting him out on the 4th).

So I've got one more trade I can make. I'd like to make it a deal where I can send out 2 players and receive 2 players. Sullivan needs to go. With him I could send either Hamhuis or Bonk (he's currently scratched). In return, I'd want a top line LW and a 3rd pairing RD. I've got Zanon playing RD in my third pairing right now and I'd rather not have him there. Alternatively, I could keep Zanon there and package Sullivan, Hamhuis, and Bonk for a really good top line LW. I'd love a shot at this but so far I haven't gotten any bites. We'll see what happens!

[bruins72]

And it looks like I found my second trade before I even played another game with my two new guys.

Predators send Steve Sullivan and Radek Bonk to the Sharks for Milan Michalek and Nick Petrecki

I was trying to stay away from trading for Michalek because he used to be one of my challenge regulars. I used to always trade for him in the old challenges. Back then he had a low salary too. He's got a hefty salary now but he's really worth it. He's the type of LW that will make things happen and he's a lot younger than Sullivan. Bonk was a good player but he's getting older and I've got other guys that fill that role. Petricki is another good young defenseman for my farm team for the time being. Eventually he might find a spot on my roster.

[thunderbug]

I think I know whats up with Radulov. In the database he's never listed as playing in the NHL so would still need an entry contract and he wants more than the highest EHM will allow at 985k

[mulla14]

in my second season i signed kolzig on 1.9 a year and his reputation while a UFA was very good but now that hes on the roster hes good. what does this do to the tier i select for signing UFAs

[kuulapaa]

I think I know whats up with Radulov. In the database he's never listed as playing in the NHL so would still need an entry contract and he wants more than the highest EHM will allow at 985k

That makes perfect sense to me. I finally gave up all hope getting him signed somewhere in the spring of season #2, when I was allowed to start making offers to my unsigned prospects. The gap between his asking and the sum I was allowed to offer was so big I saw there no possibility to get him signed.

And then few words of the team situation. Boy am I glad I took the trade where we got Karri Rämö! In game #46 against Stars Jose Theodore got injured and is now out for a month with some fractured ribs. With Rämö I think and hope we still got some kind of chance to keep our position and get into playoffs. And luckily Theodore should be back well before the season ends so he'll be ready when (if) the playoffs begin.

[jbsnadb]

A decent start so far to season three, considering. Legwand went down in the third game, and is out for a month, and I just lost Sullivan for ten days. Considering all that, and Nastiuk's 5.83 GAA in 4 games, I'm proud of our 5-4-3 start.

Wilson continues to impress with 4 goals and 4 assists in 12 games as my 2d line LW, and I feel he's helped bring my PP into the respectable range at 15.2%. Compared with where I ended last season, that's and almost 50% improvement. Sad, I know.

[bruins72]

in my second season i signed kolzig on 1.9 a year and his reputation while a UFA was very good but now that hes on the roster hes good. what does this do to the tier i select for signing UFAs

He counts as the tier he was when you offered him the contract. A few other people have run into that same issue. In the future, just to be on the safe side, you might want to take a screenshot before and after you sign him. You don't need to upload it or anything. Just keep it in case somebody calls your signing into question.

[thunderbug]

Hey I just noticed my season 2 signing didn't have the description of what their rep was with the salary. Roloson was Superb with 3 Million.

[Captcrunch]

Off season jamboree

There were a lot of moves in my offseason, Here's a detailed account of what transpired in preparation for season 2!

Scouts

This year I was looking forward to trim weaker members of my scouting staff and replace them with top notch talent. Scouts play an enormous role in my game so its important for me to have the best. I was allowed to fire 2 scouts, some contracts were not renewed and some guys retired so there were a lot of movement! I always keep the maximum number of scouts allowed (I need the information!).

My new scouts are:

Angel Cronin (Judging player's ability: 8, Judging player's potential: 19)
Tony MacAuley (Judging player's ability: 19, Judging player's potential: 19)
Robbie Ellis (Judging player's ability: 9, Judging player's potential: 19)
Mark Howe (Judging player's ability: 18, Judging player's potential: 17)
Jared Gannaway (Judging player's ability: 18, Judging player's potential: 16)
Mike Moore (Judging player's ability: 19, Judging player's potential: 15)
Rune Johansson (Judging player's ability: 3, Judging player's potential: 18)

Coaches

I was allowed to fire 1 coach (I would have fired several) and I had the good fortune of not extending some others. I have great new arrivals for my next season! If I can't have an all star roster, I'll have an all-star bench! I put a real premium on "working with youngsters" since that's where reconstructing teams progress the most.

Guy Carbonneau
General style, no preferred tactics
Determination 14
Man Management 13
Working with youngsters 15
Discipline 15
Motivating 16
Coaching defensemen 11
Coaching forwards 16
Coaching goalies 4
Tactics 14

Louie Kodman
Conditioning based, prefers attaching style of play
Determination 15
Man Management 17
Working with youngsters 16
Discipline 14
Motivating 15
Coaching defensemen 8
Coaching forwards 15
Coaching goalies 5
Tactics 9

Ted Nolan
General coaching style, no preferred style of play
Determination 17
Man Management 15
Working with youngsters 19
Discipline 6
Motivating 17
Coaching defensemen 14
Coaching forwards 15
Coaching goalies 9
Tactics 15

Free agent

I initially decided to go to tier two UFA (1 good, 1 very good) signing. My plan was to get good goaltending.

I started by signing swedish goaltending sensation, 6'3'', 24 yrs old Jonas "Monster" Gustavsson to a 2 year contract. Jonas will only come in next summer because of the transfer window but he will provide excellent dept to the position!

For my "very good" player I wanted to get an experienced goaltender since I was only able to land a young goalie by the trading route. Ellis had a good second half of season but I don't know which side he'll show in season 2... the sieve of the first half or the excellent goaltender of the second half? I started by sending an offer to ex-flyer Martin Biron. The bum decided to sign with the Washington Capitals.

I then sent an offer to the oft injured Manny Fernandez. Maybe he could find his old form with the Predators? I didn't have such a bad goalie pipeline and I felt a veteran could bring me some dept. Well... the other bum decided to go replace Martin Biron on the Philadelphia Flyers roster.

Since I will shoot myself before trusting the likes of Robert Esche in a veteran goaltender role and the excellent Hannu Toivonen was considered as an unsigned prospect of the Blues (darn you Blues! don't you realize I cannot trade for or sign another team's unsigned prospect?), I decided to stick to my guns in net and go on another route.

I finally went with the "Tier 3" option and signed young undrafted or unsigned UFA prospects I scouted during the season. Given an outside chance of eventually making the roster, an acceptable evaluation of my scouts, a young enough player, maybe I could supplement my prospect pipeline with additional surprises. This is how I signed 18 year old Barrie Colt right winger Zack Kassian, which my scouts project to be a "two-way forward, 3rd line potential" and 18 year old Brandon Wheat Kings defenseman Wes McLeod, which my scouts project to be a "Mobile defenseman, 3-4 potential". Overall its like free draft picks! At 18 yr old, they'll get plenty of time to develop.

Jonas Gustavsson
Team: Farjestads BK, Swedish Elitserien
Reputation: Good
Position: Goaltending
Age: 24
Height: 6 ft 3
Weight: 180
Consistency: 12
Best stats: Blocker (16), Glove (17), Positioning (16), Rebound control (16)
Worst stats: Passing (9), Stickhandling (10)
Character: Ordinary
Projected career role: Starting goaltender, butterfly style
Player projection: Like Rick DiPietro
Last season stats: 40GP 14W 5L 21T 2.5GA 0.892SV% 7.30 AVG Rating

Zack Kassian
Team: Barrie Colts, OHL
Reputation: OK
Position: Right wing
Shoots: Right
Age: 18
Height: 6 ft 4
Weight: 202
Consistency: 12
Best stats: Teamwork (19), Determination (17), Aggression (15)
Worst stats: Off the puck (9), Anticipation (10), Creativity (10), Flair (10), Pokecheck (10), Stickhandling (10)
Character: Realist, Determined, Independant, Aggressive
Projected career role: Two-way forward, 3rd line potential
Player projection: Like Jean-Pierre Dumont with a bigger frame
Last season stats: 65-10-28-38 -4 +/-avg 222 PIM 7.23 AVG Rating

Wes McLeod
Team: Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL
Reputation: OK
Position: RD/LD
Shoots: Left
Age: 18
Height: 6 ft 1
Weight: 189
Consistency: 15
Best stats: Determination (17), Acceleration (16), Speed (16), Stamina (16)
Worst stats: Everything else is mostly red
Character: Determined, Fickle, Strong Character, Relaxed
Projected career role: Mobile defenseman, 3-4 potential
Player projection: A more talented version of Kevin Dallman
Last season stats: 71-10-18-28 13+/-avg 36 PIM 6.99 AVG Rating

Trades!

I quickly forgot my idea of bringing a stronger defenseman in the fold in order to focus on getting an established 2nd line LW and a decent goaltender. I had only 2 trades of a maximum of 4 players each, did not want to give up core or key players (no Suter, Weber, de Vries, Sullivan, Arnott, Bonk, Legwand, Dumont) and I did not feel I had enough flexibility to give up Erat (I would have to replace him and I did not get the impression he had a lot of value when I tried him in trades). Furthermore, Hamhuis, the defenseman I was ready to switch, did not have enough inherent value to give me enough rope to trade 2 players and have 2 back.

I could not give picks, unsigned prospects or signed prospects of less than 1 yr. I just signed Colin Wilson (he wanted to be considered a core player or nothing. I finally told him he was considered a core player and put him on the farm team anyways. He will effectively be a core player in the AHL. The bum.). I would have been able to get spectacular players for Wilson but I just couldn't since I had to respect the rule. Suffice to say M.Wilson will have to play like the return of Jean Beliveau this year because I will trade him for a young established star who doesn't have the impression he should be a core player on an NHL roster going out of college, mark my word.

Overall a lot of my young prospects were very popular, which feels good. I was in heated negotiations over the superb Colorado Avalanche left winger Wojtek Wolski but wasn't able to come up with a sufficient package to land him (it would have been necessary to include Colin Wilson for it to work). I would have been able to land flyers prospect Dan Carcillo but they wanted Dan Ellis for him and I wasn't sure I would be able to get an established goaltender via UFA so I decided to pull the trigger on a LW with more experience. Patrick Sharp was available but too expensive.

I finally gave up 22 yr old right defenseman Cody Franson, 29 year old right winger Joel Ward and 25 year old Hugh Jessiman for young goaltender Jaroslav Halak of the Montreal Canadians. Halak was stuck behind hot young Price in Montreal and is identified as a potential starting goaltender in the mold of Ray Emery by my scouts. I never used Joel Ward and I did not expect Hugh Jessiman to get much better. Cody Franson was a throw-in. My scouts tell me he may become a 7th defenseman one day.We'll see. The Canadiens replaced Halak with Robert Esche (!!). Halak gives me a better safety valve then Dekanich in case Ellis blows up (I let Rinne go). I won't win the cup with this tandem but maybe, if everything goes well, I might sneak in the playoffs...

For my second transaction I gave up 26 year old right winger Jordin Tootoo and 27 year old left defenseman Ville Koistinen to the Philadelphia Flyers for the 27 year old left winger Scott Hartnell. Tootoo never played very well with the predators in the first season and was always the odd man out. Ville Koisinen got bumped by the arrival of Denis Kulyach and lost the battle between Kevin Klein and Greg Zanon for my 6th-7th defensemen. Hartnell will bring a lot of character, grit and a bit of offensive flair to my second line and should complement Legwand and Erat well.

Jaroslav Halak
Position: Goalie
Age: 24
Height: 5 ft 11
Weight: 163
Consistency: 12
Best stats: Blocker (15), Glove (15), Positioning (15), Rebound control (15), Recovery (16), Determination (15)
Worst stats: Passing (11), Aggression (7), Influence (8)
Character: Determined
Projected career role: Starting goaltender, hybrid style
Player projection: Like Ray Emery with a smaller frame
Performance projection on 82 games: 25 wins with a 91.31 SV%
Last season stats: 18GP 8W 6L 1T 3.36GA 0.886SV% 7.61 AVG Rating

Scott Hartnell
Position: Left Wing/Right wing
Shoots: Left
Age: 27
Height: 6 ft 2
Weight: 200
Consistency: 14
Best stats: Speed (17), Strenght (18), Teamwork (17), Hitting (18)
Worst stats: Flair (11)
Character: Ordinary
Projected career role: Power forward, 2nd line talent
Player projection: A poor man's Brenden Morrow
Performance projection on 82 games: 15 goals, 15 assists, 100 PIM
Last season stats: 81-18-25-43 +4 +/-avg 60 PIM 7.12 AVG Rating

[fz50]

Now, it’s time for a recap of my challenge this far. I just finished my 3rd regular season, and I’m pretty happy with what I have achieved so far.

Season One:
As with many of the guys on this forum, my season went pretty much in the crapper. I struggled with bad goaltending, injuries, minor penalties, you name it. Even with this bad season, it wasn’t quite bad enough, since I only ended up as the 29th team in the league, and I really wanted to draft Tavares. I ended up with Hedman, which is okay, and The Islanders got Tavares (They will now (probably) draft 1st for the 3rd consecutive year, now that’s a bad team).

When it came down to individual performance, it wasn’t that much to talk about this season, as Legwand had most points at 86 (36 G + 50 A).

Season Two:
Before the season started I signed Robert Esche as one of my “Good” UFAs (1 000 000 $), and Jim Baxter as my second “Good” UFA (475 000 $). I didn’t sign a third one, since I originally reported my signings as Tier II, instead of Tier III.

Robert Esche would be my new starting goaltender and Jim Baxter would be Denis Kulyash’s defensive partner on the 3rd D-pair.

I also sent Jonathon Blum to the Caps for Varlamov (who played this season in AHL, doing pretty well), and Radek Bonk, JP Dumont, Dan Ellis and Patrick Hörnqvist (all players who really disappointed me in season one), to the Senators for Dany Heatley.

The season ended with my in 9th place in the Conference, only 4 points behind 8th placed Anaheim. A bad finish to the season cost me the playoff spot.

As for individual performances, Dany Heatley did really well, playing with a lot of different line mates due to injuries. He finished the season with 125 points (66 G + 59 A). Robert Esche didn’t impress this season, but at least he did better than Ellis/Rinne the year before (doesn’t take much to top that performance).

Season Three:
As with season two, I wasn’t really able to get the UFAs I wanted, so I ended up at Tier II, signing Jeff Halpern (“Very Good” / 2 995 000 $) and Tom Kostopoulos (“Good” / 475 000 $).

I also made two trades who both turned out to be really good:
First, I sent Wade Belak, Martin Erat, Jarred Smithson and Matt Ellison to the Sabres for Thomas Vanek. In the second trade I sent Greg de Vries, Jeremy Smith, Denis Platonov and Andreas Thuresson to the Flames for Dion Phaneuf.

My first line would now be Vanek – Arnott – Heatley, which should provide me with lots of goals, even though it’s kind of expensive players. Phaneuf should really help my PP and PK, which have been pretty bad the first two seasons.

And as I was hoping, the 3rd season would turn out great. I ended up at the 3rd seed in the Western Conference (3rd overall), and my players have all excelled at an individual level.
The players on my first line were top 3 in the league in points (Vanek with 129 points (62 G + 67 A), Heatley with 134 points (69 G + 65 A) and Arnott with a whopping 160 points (36 G + 124 A). He also led the league in hits and shots blocked). That’s the best first line I have ever had in EHM 2007.

Other players also stepped up, amongst them Colin Wilson, who will probably win the Calder this year, as he scored 76 points (27 G + 49 A). Dion Phaneuf also had a great season, coming in 2nd in defense scoring with 55 points (23 G + 32 A).

The big problem this season was still the goaltending. Esche was pretty leaky, but still playing a little bit better then Varlamov, whom I called up for a couple of games.

My PP improved vastly though, and I led the league by far in that category (26,1 %). The PK did also improve, enough to 7th in the league at 85,1 %.

Overall I’m very satisfied with the season, as I’m now starting the playoffs. Let’s just hope I don’t get swept in the first round.


A cool little side note from a save I had some months ago with the Nashville Predator

I started a new game as GM of the Nashville Predators using Lidas DB 1.0 (I think). When the save stopped working sometime during the 7th season, I had won the Stanley Cup 3 times. It’s nothing special about that. The cool thing I’m talking about isn’t the cup victories itself. The victories came in seasons 2, 4 and 6, and this is how the cup clinching goals were scored:

Season 2: Game 6, away at the Montreal Canadiens; Colin Wilson (as a rookie playing on the 4th line), scores from just over the offensive blue line, and wins the cup in triple OT.

Season 4: Game 4, away at the New York Islanders; Colin Wilson (now on the 3rd line), scores from just over the offensive blue line, and wins the cup in triple OT.

Season 6: Game 7, home versus the Florida Panthers; Colin Wilson (still on the 3rd line), scores from just over the offensive blue line, and wins the cup in triple OT.

Talk about clutch player! The first time he scored the cup clinching goal, I was just ecstatic, since this was my first Stanley cup victory on EHM 2007. Then exactly the same thing happened two years later, and I thought that it was just crazy that Wilson (on the 3rd line), would score a cup clinching goal again. When it happened for the third time, I couldn’t believe my eyes! Too bad my save game stopped working in the 7th season. I would have liked to see if Colin Wilson could win me some more cups.

[jbsnadb]

Nice work on getting Hartnell. He has MUCH more value to the Flyers in my game, and nothing short of my 1st overall pick and about three others would pry him away. He's a strong power forward in this db.

[Captcrunch]

Nice work on getting Hartnell. He has MUCH more value to the Flyers in my game, and nothing short of my 1st overall pick and about three others would pry him away. He's a strong power forward in this db.

Thanks! He was the best value I could find in the role I was looking for using the players I wanted to give.

My hunch tell me he should have a nice season with Legwand and Erat!

[thunderbug]

Fz50, I hate to be a be a downer, but three of your trades appear to be in violation of 6.11.

6.11 You may make a maximum of two trades per season. In each trade, a maximum of four players may be included (this includes both the players traded to your team and from your team).

[fz50]

Fz50, I hate to be a be a downer, but three of your trades appear to be in violation of 6.11.

6.11 You may make a maximum of two trades per season. In each trade, a maximum of four players may be included (this includes both the players traded to your team and from your team).

Oh. That's just great. I tought that it was at most 4 players from each team in each trade, at max 8 players in each trade. Oh well, count me out of the challenge then...

[thunderbug]

Talk to the mods they will probably just assess a penalty and allow you to continue playing. These challenges are learning experiences. I remember messing up in one of my early challenges. It helped when two mods ended up doing the same thing I did.

[fz50]

I just sent a PM to bruins72, so we'll see how it turns out...

[bruins72]

I'm going to discuss this with Archi. This one is a little extreme. That's 3 franchise players that were acquired by breaking the trade rules. I'm not sure what kind of penalties we could assess that would make this fair for the rest of the participants of the challenge.

[jbsnadb]

Good catch. I missed that the first time reading through. Would've been caught when the screenies were checked.

[bruins72]

Yeah, the stats haven't been entered yet and we don't always have time to check the screens as we go along. If mistakes aren't caught right away, they're usually caught when they're being entered. It also helps if the players kind of police each other. I just wish we had picked up on this problem after the first time it happened. That might have been a little easier to rectify.