EHM The Blue Line

At this rate, I'll get through 12 seasons by then!

T-bug, I see you won The Cup in season 3 too. Good job!

Yep, that's it for me with this challenge. The game crashes on November 19th no matter what I try.
It's kind of sad, I had some really promising prospects coming who I would have liked to see how they develop.

This was my line-up for the Season 5:

Thomas Vanek-Colin Wilson-Marian Hossa
Denis Kulyash-Shea Weber

Magnus Svensson-Pääjärvi-Kyle Turris-J-P Dumont
Ossi Väänänen-Drew Doughty

Niklas Hagman-Paul Gaustad-Adam Henrich
Ryan Suter-Mike Van Ryn

Matt Hollweg-Vitaly Karamnov-Jed Ortmeyer


Peter Budaj
Leland Irwing

Good luck for everyone!!

Season 3 - Stanley cup winners (Great Times)
Season 4 - 9th!!! Not such great times!! Shouldnt have let legace go and losing jackman for 4 months meant i had to use 2 rookie defense men when i had only planned on using josi( who won calder by the way, the only bright light)

Oooops!
I accidentally erased all my saved games when clearing out other things from the computer. So it seems like the Preds' dead. I don't feel like starting over again. All that losing isn't funny. Good luck to all you guys and we'll see each other in a future challenge

Just played my last game for season two where we got knocked out in the first round by the Flames... I swear Kiprusoff has ruined more playoffs for me than any other player in the game. It wasn't all him though, our special teams were terrible with a PP% of 0(!) and a PK% of 80.

But the future is looking bright, atleast down the middle. Wilson won the WHL scoring title with 140 points and +52 in 70 games. Karamnov finished second with 134 points and 170 PIM also in 70 games.

I think I'll be bringing in some fresh young bodies to my team next season. I'm in January of season 4 and I've started trying to re-sign some players. I'm seeing that Vaananen and Kesler aren't interested in signing new contracts. We're also right near the cap right now, so I'll probably have to trim some salary. It's looking like I'll bring up Petrecki from the farm team next season and he'll fill Vaananen's role as the 3rd pairing LD. He plays a physical game and has a decent slapper. As for Kesler's 3rd line RW spot, I'm still undecided. I've still got Hornqvist down on the farm but I'm not sure how much I like him in that 3rd line/PKer role. With his shot he seems better suited towards a more offensive role (which he's not talented enough to take on my Nashville roster). I could go with Thuresson. He's 24 right now and projects to be a 2-way player. My other option is to try working a trade to fill that spot. We'll see what happens.

Season two awards:
RD/LD Chad Lowry - Bobby Smith Trophy (OHL scholastic player)
C/LW Colin Wilson - WHL Playoff MVP, WHL Plus-Minus Award, Four Broncos Memorial Trophy (WHL Player of the Year), Bob Clarke Trophy (WHL Scoring title), WHL Star Player Award
C/RW Vitaly Karamnov - Jim Piggot Memorial (WHL Rookie of the Year), Bob Clarke Trophy runner-up, WHL Star Player Award runner-up
G Chet Pickard - Del Wilson Trophy (WHL top goaltender)
C/RW Jason Arnott - Art Ross Trophy second runner-up, Hart Memorial Trophy runner-up, Lester B. Pearson Award second runner-up, NHL First All-Star Team

Prospect signings:
RD Michael D'Orazio 5-6 pot, 64GP 31P +4 7.38 Avg. Owen Sound
Will be 20 by the time camp comes around, could be AHL ready or sent back to jrs for one more season.

RD Dalton Prout 5-6 pot, 64GP 45P +1 7.56 Avg. Kitchener
Turned 20 this spring, should be AHL ready.

LW/RW Blake Geoffrion, 4th line pot, 50GP 15P -15 6.50 Avg Wisconsin
22 y/o, signed for one year to provide LW depth in the AHL

C Joonas Nättinen, 2nd line pot, 34 GP 72P +42 8.59 Avg Blues Jrs
19 y/o playing in Europe, might end up in the ECHL but is hopefully AHL ready.

Pending free agents:
Wade Belak, UFA. Provides hits and is a good fighter, would like to keep him but he doesn't want to re-sign.
Matt Ellison, RFA. Won't be re-signed.
Dan Hamhuis, RFA. Doesn't want to negotiate but I'll sign him as a RFA if I have to, Hedman might be NHL-ready but I would prefer to give him another AHL season.
Ville Koistinen, RFA. Won't be re-signed.
Tim Ramholt, RFA-UQ. Won't be re-signed.
Jordin Tootoo, RFA. Provided a right handed shot on the PP and managed 18 goals but hopefully that role can be filled by Jessiman next season (50G in 68GP this season in the AHL).
Greg Zanon, RFA. Doesn't want to re-sign.

Off-season plan:
Primarily target a goalie and a RW in the draft since we have no unsigned prospects with NHL potential in those positions.
Try to move Erat for a cheaper top-six RW or include him in a package deal for a top goalie and sign a free agent.

I made my first trade for season three in the July window:

To Anaheim:
G Dan Ellis (1.75M)
RW/LW Martin Erat (4.5M)

To Nashville:
RW/LW Bobby Ryan (2.24M)

I signed Ondrej Pavelec (1M) to replace Ellis after failing to trade for a goalie before July 15th. I'll try for a goalie again during the season for sure since Pavelec would be better off in the AHL.

Tentative lineup:

G
Weekes
Pavelec

D
Hamhuis-Suter
de Vries-Weber
Kulyash-Yonkman

F
Schaefer-Arnott-Dumont
Sullivan-Legwand-Ryan
Grabovsky-Wilson-Jessiman
Grant-Bonk-Ortmeyer
(N/A-Platonov-Belak)

I'm going for three offensive lines this season to have room for both Grabovsky and Wilson but I might try to move Grabovsky in the intended goalie trade once he has been with the team for the required full year. Belak changed his mind about not wanting a contract so I'm glad to still have him on the roster.

I expect this to be the last season as Predators for Arnott, Sullivan and de Vries so I'm hoping we can pick up a good goalie and challenge for the cup.

Fantastic trade. Ryan always seems to develop into a top shelf player, and should end up better than Erat, and is obviously cheaper too. Pavelec I've found can go either way. I've seen him become a starter, but he also was a complete bust in my Thrashers franchise (although I mus admit, I don't have much patience when it comes to developing goalies, and I may not have given him a proper chance).

Esche or Niittymäki, that is the question... I've had both of them play well for me in other games with older DBs.

Esche played 30 games for the Kings last season recording 2.76 GAA and .902 SV%.
Niittymäki played 22 games for the Coyotes, recording 2.56 GAA and .916 SV%.

Based on that Niittymäki would seem like the better choice but the scouting reports favor Esche.

Both trades would see me giving up Radek Bonk and Mark Dekanich.

Or I could wait another month to see what I could get with Grabovsky as part of the trade package and have Wilson play LW.

Marsac wrote:Esche or Niittymäki, that is the question... I've had both of them play well for me in other games with older DBs.

Esche played 30 games for the Kings last season recording 2.76 GAA and .902 SV%.
Niittymäki played 22 games for the Coyotes, recording 2.56 GAA and .916 SV%.

Based on that Niittymäki would seem like the better choice but the scouting reports favor Esche.

Both trades would see me giving up Radek Bonk and Mark Dekanich.

Or I could wait another month to see what I could get with Grabovsky as part of the trade package and have Wilson play LW.

I'd opt for Nitty if you can get him. He's taken teams on his back and won cups for me. I have Esche right now. He's been hot and cold, but seems to be getting better.

Good luck!

Finally won the cup in my 4th season. 2nd year made the conference finals, 3rd year out in the first round, 4th year added Shane Doan and Greg Moore and won the cup. This even with Vanek missing more than half the year with three separate injuries. I've decided he's too soft, so I've sent him to Washington with two others for Ovie!

Predators – Admirals – Cyclones News, June 2010

Sensational season is over!

Season 2009-10 was an unforeseen success for the whole organization. All three main teams (Predators, Admirals and Cyclones) managed to get in the playoffs and both Preds and Cyclones won the Cup. Cincinnati won their second consecutive Cup, whereas Predators won their first Cup ever. Preds won also their first President’s Trophy this season.

Cincinnati won their division and was second in the league after regular season. In playoffs the first and second rounds were as easy as shooting fish in a barrel, Wheeling Nailers lost three straight games 4-1, 4-3, 3-1 and Rockford IceHogs were swept off in four games with scores 4-0, 3-1, 2-0, 3-0. In Kelly Cup Finals Victoria Salmon Kings were battling bravely and after three games they led 2-1. For the game #4 Helmut Grokenberger assigned Cole Penner to Cincinnati and that made the difference. When the first three games went 1-2, 3-1 and 1-2, the next three went 7-0, 3-0 and 4-0 and Penner scored 5 goals and got three assists in those games. Penner had played in six playoff games with Predators but wasn’t yet ready for that so instead of sitting him on the bench Grokenberger decided to give him better experience in the end of the season. Decision was right and Penner got chosen for both ECHL Performer and Player of the Month for May. In regular season Matt Duchene was in his own category hitting 42 goals and giving 52 assists in 69 games. Ben Ondrus (37+31=68, +12) and Andreas Thuresson (21+37=58, +18) were the next in scoring points. Teemu Laakso was leading in plus-minus ranking with +25. Duchene seems to be the sole prospect in Cincinnati having a realistic chance to claim a place in Predators in few years.

Milwaukee Admirals placed third in West Division and ninth in overall standings. In playoffs they faced Quad City Flames who were way too strong for them. Quad City won the series in four games and went all the way to the Calder Cup Finals, where they lost to Hartford Wolf Pack, the regular season winners.
The best scorers of Admirals in regular season were Patric Hörnqvist (24+34=58, -9), Toni Rajala (27+30=57, -10) and Matt Ellison (18+37=55, -13) and the best player was easily Jeremy Smith with AvR of 8.33 in 79 games and GAA 2.78, SV% 0.912 and 7 shutouts. He may be a starting goalie in Predators one day.

For Predators the whole season was one great success story. They led the league from the game #15 to the end. Especially the third quarter of the season went well, Preds losing just once on regular time (5 times on OT/SO though). Fortunately there were no serious injuries this season, but as we saw in spring, the depth of their roster was so good that one long-term injury wouldn’t have hurted the team badly, no matter what position it would’ve come.
The biggest problem this season was losing so many shoot-outs. No matter who was shooting or who was at the opposing goal Preds lost. They lost more games on overtime or shoot-outs (mostly in shoot-outs) than in regular time (17-16). In games the same problem led to many wasted breakaways. That problem nearly ended team’s Cup run short too.
Although Predators aimed winning the President’s Trophy, they also wanted to save their key players for playoffs and be aware of injuries. That may have caused some losses in the end of regular season. And there came some injuries too, Rob Niedermayer had had couple minor injuries during the season (thigh strain, 2 weeks in September and twisted knee, 13 days in February-March) and in March 20th he got rotator cuff strain and was out for three weeks. Blair Betts, who usually played as the LW of third line took Niedermayer’s place in the center with no problems. Another ’injury plagued’ was Dan Hamhuis, who was out for over 30 days in spring 2010 for three separate injuries. First he got a skate bit in February and was out for 12 days, then in the end of March he got olecranon bursitis and rested for a week and next he twisted his knee after having played 27 seconds of the second game after his comeback from the elbow injury and had to rest for 13 days more. Hamhuis played most of the time as second line d-man and got himself a few minutes of both PP- and PK-time per game, but when he was out both Anton Strålman and Greg Zanon were playing. Normally another one of them was the 7th d-man and wasn’t dressed.

Nashville Predators, Playoffs 2009-10

In the first round of the playoffs Predators faced Red Wings. Games were tight but somehow it seemed out that Predators were not in big trouble even when they lost one game.

Match #1. In first match Preds’ first line was shut out but 2nd line stood up and hit the goals needed. Colin Wilson got the 1st star with three assists, Hugh Jessiman was runner-up with 1+1 and the winning goal. Preds won 4-3, goals for Pihlström, Hossa, Ortmeyer, Jessiman.

Match #2, Preds’ 1st line woke up. 1st star Ryan Getzlaf (2+1), 2nd star Alex Semin (1+1), 3rd star J.P. Dumont (0+3). Preds won 5-4, goals for Getzlaf (2), Semin, Legwand, Betts.

Match #3, two SH goals for Preds in 1st period. It was time for 2nd line to step up again. Marcel Hossa was the first star, he hit the overtime winning goal. Karri Rämö made 35 saves. Red Wings’ Justin Williams was assisting all four of their goals. Preds won 5-4 ot, goals for Suter, Ortmeyer, Jessiman, Semin, Hossa.

Match #4, Denis Kulyash was 3rd star of losing game, Jose Theodore was back in net. Preds lost 2-4, goals for Hossa, Getzlaf.

Match #5, back in Sommet Center again. 1st line led the party, although others got their moments too. 1st star Dumont (1+2), 2nd star Getzlaf (1+2), 3rd star Semin (1+1). Preds won 5-3, goals for Dumont, Legwand, Getzlaf, Semin, Niedermayer.

Predators won the series 4-1.

In the second round of playoffs Predators faced Coyotes. Somehow everyone thought that after the pretty easy series against Red Wings all would sort out easily. Even the 2-5 loss in the end of regular season didn’t ring the bells as it should’ve had.

Match #1, Getzlaf got 1st star with 1+2. Theodore got hurt but luckily only for two days with cut hand. Preds won 5-4 ot, goals for Semin (2), Getzlaf, Ortmeyer, Jessiman.

Match #2, Getzlaf got 1st star again, now with 2+1. Preds won (too easily) 5-3, goals for Getzlaf (2), Weber, Hossa, Semin.

Match #3, here comes the trouble. Getzlaf was 3rd star with 1+1 but Coyotes’ Peter Mueller hit a hat-trick and Ed Jovanovski got three assists and was 2nd star of the game. Coyotes young and very skilled players started to produce, Preds lost 2-4, goals for Dumont, Getzlaf.

Match #4, deeper and deeper. Coyotes’ goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was just magnificent making 37 saves and getting 1st star of the game. Chris Kunitz hit Coyotes only goal in regular time and assisted the ot winner. Preds lost 1-2 ot, goal for Hossa.

Match #5, time to pull one’s socks up. Getzlaf back to 1st star (1+3), Ryan Suter 3rd star with two goals. Rämö started fourth consecutive game claiming the starter position little by little. Preds won 5-3, goals for Suter (2), Dumont, Getzlaf, Semin.

Match #6, time to take the fourth win. Coyotes disagreed and knocked Preds out in first period scoring four goals in just three minutes and two seconds (7:46-10:48). Mueller was their leading forward and 1st star (2+1), Kunitz was 2nd star (1+2) and John Tavares had 3rd star by assisting three goals. Preds lost 2-6, goals for Legwand, Wilson.

Match #7, on the edge. Preds’ first line wasn’t in best shape, Dumont was playing in third line with Jessiman and Wilson and Hossa as the first line RW. Eventually Semin got injured in third period (51:31, arm contusion, out for 6 days, Jovanovski got penalized for charging) but instead of giving up the team started to fight. In 56:59 Grigori Shafigulin struck the winning goal and claimed the 1st star of the game (2+0). David Legwand was the 2nd star (1+1) and Kulyash the 3rd (0+1). Rämö came back after the horrible loss in Phoenix and started his sixth straight game making 34 saves. Preds won 4-3, goals for Legwand, Shafigulin (2), Semin.

Predators won the series 4-3.

In the Conference Finals Predators encountered Anaheim Ducks. In recent match-ups Ducks had been dominating the game so Predators had to be awake from the very beginning. And they were.

Match #1, sounding opponent. While Semin out Dumont was back in first line and Hossa was playing in Semin’s place as LW. Cole Penner was playing as second line LW, but is was too requiring a place for youngster like him. Getzlaf was 1st star once again (1+1), Rämö made 30 saves and Jessiman assisted two of Preds’ goals (also the ot winning goal of Wilson). Preds won 4-3 ot, goals for Dumont, Getzlaf, Shafigulin, Wilson.

Match#2, to continue from where they last ended. Getzlaf 1st star (1+1) (déjà vu?), Penner still got rating of 6 and played his last playoff game in Predators this year. Shea Weber 2nd star (0+2) and Dumont 3rd (1+0). Preds won 3-2 on second overtime (83:51) with Dumont’s goal, other goals for Getzlaf, Kulyash.
Match #3, in Honda Center. Semin came back after his injury, but first line got shut out and this time other lines couldn’t take their place. And while Giguére played great game in Ducks’ net (35 saves), Preds lost 2-3 ot, goals for Ortmeyer, Shafigulin.

Match #4, good time to take the series over. First line shaped up, 1st star for Getzlaf (1+2), 2nd to Rämö (34 saves) and 3rd to Hossa (0+2). Preds won 3-2, goals for Semin, Weber, Getzlaf.

Match #5, chance to take the series on home ice. Preds took the lead in 4:59 with Weber’s PP goal. Only 37 seconds later Ducks’ Handzus intentionally hit Getzlaf, who got hurt and was forced to leave the ice immediately. Staff behind of Preds’ bench started to work with the players and fix the lines, but Preds’ fans were quiet for a while for sheer shock after the injury of team’s no 1 star. Ducks scored twice in the period and took the lead, but in 19:32 Legwand, who hadn’t scored a point in last three games brought Preds back in game. In second period Semin scored twice and in third Legwand scored his second goal of the game giving Preds a three goal lead. Ducks scored once after that, so Preds won 5-3. Goals for Weber, Legwand (2), Semin (2). Semin was the 1st star of the game (2+1) and Legwand was the 2nd with same points.
After this game and also in the Stanley Cup Finals it seemed that Getzlaf’s injury was a stroke of luck to Predators as the whole team started to play better and fight to win the games. Also luckily Getzlaf wasn’t hurt badly and was projected to be out only 9 days for olecranon bursitis, so he was going to be back in finals too.

Predators won the series 4-1.

In the Stanley Cup Finals Predators were to face New York Rangers. In their short shared history home team had always won their encounters. Preds’ coaching staff was especially worried of Henrik Lundqvist, who had played a stellar season winning most games (47) and getting the lowest GAA (2.33), highest SV% (0.919) and most shutouts (8) of the starting goalies.

Match #1. While Getzlaf was out, Legwand was Preds’ leading center, although Wilson centered the first line. In first period both teams scored once on PP and in second, while 31:58 played Legwand gave Preds the lead. Just about one and half minutes later Legwand took a stupid-ish major penalty for cross-checking and got a game misconduct too. Now Preds were missing their first two centers! Grokenberger would’ve (and should’ve) warned Legwand for his misconduct after game unless the goal he made before that wouldn’t have been the game winner. For the first time in Predators’ playoffs games goalie got chosen for the 1st star of the game, but it wasn’t Lundqvist. It was Rämö with his 39 saves and one goal allowed. Suter was 2nd star (1+1) and Semin was 3rd (1+1). Predators won 4-1, goals for Semin, Legwand, Niedermayer, Suter.

Match #2. Getzlaf was still out. NHL wanted to suspend Legwand for two games for his game misconduct, but revoked its decision after Grokenbergers appeal. In the game Wilson and Semin clicked, Semin was chosen for the 1st star with two goals and a helper, Wilson was the 2nd star (0+2). Legwand got a bad game, but Preds won 3-2, goals for Hossa, Semin (2).

Match #3, Madison Square Garden. Getzlaf came back after his injury. Game started badly, when Kotalik scored just 15 seconds from the start. Fortunately for Predators that goal was the only one for Rags. Getzlaf was chosen for the 1st star of the game (1+2), Dumont was the 2nd (1+0) and Rämö the 3rd (25/26). Preds won 4-1, goals for Getzlaf, Hossa, Dumont, Ortmeyer.

Match #4. Fourth win should be the hardest one to take, but this time the game went like a dream pretty long. Opening goal by Dumont after just 7 seconds of game and after the first period Preds led 3-0. In the second period Preds scored once again while Rags didn’t. And when Getzlaf hit Predators to 5-0 lead in 50:25 played the finals seemed to be resolved. On 54th minute Zherdev scored twice and Predators changed to defensive tactics. But when Rangers scored in 58:14 and 58:22 the game started again and when Shea Weber got a two-minute penalty for cross-checking in 58:40, there was some excitement in the game though. Preds’ PK cleared the situation still, so Preds won the game 5-4 and got the Cup. Goals for Dumont, Semin (2), Wilson, Getzlaf.

Predators won the series 4-0.


Awards

G Jeremy Smith - ECHL
Kelly Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player third place

LD Denis Kulyash - NHL
James Norris Memorial Trophy

LD Olivier McCrae - QMJHL, signed 5/31/10
Named in QMJHL All-Star Team
Emile Bouchard Trophy
QMJHL Def. Player of the Year runner-up

LD Alex Theriau – WHL
Bill Hunter Trophy
Star Player Award runner-up
Four Broncos Memorial Trophy runner-up
Named in Canadian Hockey League All-Star Team

RD Zachary Stebner - ECHL
Named in ECHL Rookie All-Star Team

RD/LD Shea Weber - NHL
James Norris Memorial Trophy third place

LW Konstantin Glazachev - ECHL
Selected for American Conference

LW Cole Penner - NHL
Named in NHL Rookie All-Star Team

LW Alexander Semin - NHL
Maurice ’Rocket’ Richard Trophy runner-up
Conn Smythe Trophy third place
Art Ross Trophy third place

C Matt Duchene - ECHL
Selected for American Conference
John A. Daley Memorial Trophy
ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player
Sher-Wood Most Valuable Player Trophy
Named in ECHL First All-Star Team

C Ryan Getzlaf - NHL
Art Ross Trophy
Conn Smythe Trophy runner-up
Lester B. Pearson Award runner-up
NHL Plus-Minus Award third place

C David Legwand - NHL
NHL Plus-Minus Award runner-up

RW/LW Jean-Pierre Dumont - NHL
Conn Smythe Trophy
NHL Plus-Minus Award
Art Ross Trophy runner-up

Head Coach Barry Trotz
Jack Adams Award

Head Coach Dan Bylsma
ECHL Coach of the Year Award

darn it, the hard drive in my laptop gave up on me yesterday.

I'm ordering a new laptop today and hopefully I'll be able to salvage some data off the old disk, possibly including the EHM-files. But if not, I'd atleast like to say that I liked this new rules format alot but I think NTNB is still my favourite.

I was already looking forward to next season too with my AHL players really starting to perform. Pavelec, Hedman, Karamnov and Thuresson were pretty dominant down on the farm after I traded for Niittymäki. Hedman was my best D-man when he stepped in for an injured Suter for a few games. I'd like to have seen Hedman replace de Vries and Thuresson replace Ortmeyer next year.

I was ready to change my mind about Arnott and sign him for another season as well to make my top two lines Wilson-Legwand-Dumont and Grabovsky-Arnott-Ryan. Ryan and Grabovsky seem to have great chemistry for me with Ryan setting up a lot of goals for Grabovsky this season. Maybe Hörnqvist or Karamnov could have centered Schaefer and Thuresson on the third line. Grant-Platonov-Jessiman could have been the fourth.

For D-pairings I was thinking Hamhuis-Suter, Hedman-Weber, Kulyash-Yonkman.

But I'm getting way ahead of myself as usual, I might never see this Predators franchise again.

Ouch! That's terrible. I hope you're able to salvage the files. It sounds like you were really enjoying your career. Good luck!

I just finished the playoffs with my 2nd Predators' Stanley Cup victory. We went the full 7 games against our rivals in the East, the Florida Panthers. It's like a battle of the big cats! LOL! Anyhow, they were the team we beat in the finals last season for our first Cup. This time they came back with a big UFA signing of Joe Thornton. They still couldn't take us down! Also, our farm team in Milwaukee won the AHL's Calder Cup. It's nice to see our prospects learning what it's like to be champions.

So I haven't gotten to the draft and all that yet but the season's awards were announced.

Ryan Getzlaf - Ross runner-up, Conn Smythe,Plus-Minus Award runner-up
Milan Michalek - Ross 2nd runner-up, Conn Smythe 2nd runner-up, Rocket Richard 2nd runner-up, Plus-Minus Award, 2nd All-Star Team
Colin Wilson - Calder, All Rookie Team
Luke Schenn - Calder 2nd runner-up, All Rookie Team
Jed Ortmeyer - Selke runner up
Bobby Carpenter - Adams
Dave Legwand - Lady Byng
JP Dumont - Lady Byng 2nd runner up, Plus-Minus Award 2nd runner up

I'm pretty upset that I had a Lady Byng winner (and a runner up) on my team. That is not a good award in my book. It means you don't get your hands dirty. Other than that there isn't much to complain about. I do think Getzlaf should've been named 1st All Star Team though.

Off-season 2010 – New contracts, Entry Draft, trades and else

I signed three new prospects to deals in May/June. LD Olivier McCrae got himself a top prospect deal of 900k/y, C/LW Henric Åhlund accepted 500k/y contract and C Sergio Burgener took same kind of deal than Åhlund. McCrae and Åhlund are playing in juniors this season, but Burgener is in Cincinnati and is playing pretty well (6 G 12 A after 24 games, AvR 7.25).

Entry Draft 2010, Nashville’s picks:
#30 RW Cam Brooks, USA
#60 C/LW Karel Herman, CZE
#90 LD/RD Bob Quinn, USA
#120 G Bogdan Herzog, GER
#150 RD Dimitri Hamel, CAN
#180 LD Kraymer Toews, CAN
#210 LW/RW Derrick Manning, USA

We were aiming to get good defenders in this draft, but with the first picks we once again took the best players available. Brooks looks good, but is a bit small and has no creativity at all. He is said to be a better version of Chuck Kobasew. Herman is projected to be like Eric Staal, so I had to pick him too. Most interesting was still our 7th round pick Manning, who is projected to be like Dany Heatley! Can’t wait to see, how he (and the others too) develop.

In UFA market I had two alternative plans.
No.1 plan was to get us a new goalie since I wasn’t going to re-sign Jose Theodore (and, by the way, he didn’t want to negotiate with me either). There just wasn’t so many interesting goalies available. I offered a deal to Ilya Bryzgalov, Martin Biron and Andrew Raycroft. Bryzgalov was the one I wanted, but he went to Stars. Raycroft would’ve signed with us, but eventually I didn’t want him and Biron was just some kind of a backup offer.

No.2 plan was to sign a defensive forward or a enforcer to play in our third line in place of Jed Ortmeyer, who wasn’t a perfect match in that line last season. I was also looking for a depth d-man. For enforcer there were some options like Eric Godard, Ryan Hollweg and George Parros, but somehow I just didn’t want to sign any of them.

So, out of the blue I made plan no.3 and offered a contract for Patrick Sharp. I was looking at him last season when he played in Ducks and noticed that he was still one of Ryan Getzlaf’s favourite players. So I decided to give it a try and build up a line of players who aren’t only excellent on ice but they also got great chemistry. Sharp joined Predators and I decided to develop my idea further.

Our roster was a little short of right wingers, as it had been all of the past season. Same time our center department was overcrowded, ’cause Colin Wilson needed bigger role than in 3th/4th line and maybe in 2nd PP line. David Legwand, who was considered still as the biggest star of the team, played well in playoffs after Getlaf got injured, but was completely invisible earlier in Conference Finals. And besides that he was the guy who needed a special training program in season 2008-09 to stay happy and in condition. Therefore I decided he maybe was too big a star to my team. He also was a perfect trade bait in order to get a suitable right winger to our new 1st line. I made several offers and three of them got accepted. I got to choose between Drew Stafford (BUF), Travis Zajac (NJ) and Dustin Penner (EDM). Although the deal I chose became somehow expensive to us, I still took it. It was Penner for us and Legwand, Joel Ward and Toni Rajala to Edmonton.

After the trade both the Board of Directors and the fans were really p***ed off at me. During the autumn the Board has already changed their mind and are extremely happy with me again, but the support of the fans has gone. Maybe for good. Well, what can I say, profit is better than fame?

Injuries – frickin’ injuries! (Dec 20th 2010)

Injuries in Preds’ games and practice
Marcel Hossa – rotator cuff strain – in-game – 3 weeks – Oct 28th 2010
Colin Wilson – anterior knee pain – in-game – 11 days – Nov 1st 2010
Shea Weber – bruised ankle – in-game – 5 days – Nov 3th 2010
Patrick Sharp – bruised ribs – in-game – 8 days – Nov 4th 2010
Jed Ortmeyer – fractured shin – in-game – 2 months – Nov 11th 2010
Colin Wilson – rotator cuff strain – in-game – 3 weeks – Nov 18th 2010
Karri Rämö – groin strain - in-game – 11 days – Nov 24th 2010
Blair Betts – rotator cuff strain – in-game – 3 weeks – Dec 5th 2010
Marcel Hossa – thigh contusion – practice – 4 days – Dec 6th 2010
Colin Wilson – damaged elbow – in-game – 10 days – Dec 9th 2010
Cole Penner – bruised ribs – practice – 10 days – Dec 11th 2010
Alexander Semin – hip flexor strain – in-game – 3 weeks – Dec 20th 2010

Injuries in Admirals’ games and practice
Oscar Hedman – groin strain – practice – 9 days – Sep 14th 2010
Konstantin Glazachev – broken jaw – in-game – 3 days – Oct 27th 2010
Patric Hörnqvist – foot contusion – in-game – 11 days – Nov 11th 2010
Brett Theberge – thigh contusion – in-game – 6 days – Nov 15th 2010
Konstantin Glazachev – thigh strain – in-game – 2 weeks – Nov 18th 2010

Injuries in Cyclones games and practice
Andreas Thuresson – olecranon bursitis – practice – 12 days – Oct 16th 2010
Viktor Sjödin – shoulder contusion – in-game – 8 days – Oct 27th 2010
Zachary Stebner – sprained wrist – in-game – 6 days – Nov 25th 2010

I haven’t changed the training systems. I haven’t changed tactics. I haven’t brought a single player back in game when still day-to-day. The staff has remained the same. But something is different now or is this all just bad luck?

After 33 games we are ”just” 18-12-3 and 7th in the Conference, the injuries have disturbed our playing a lot. Milwaukee is doing well in AHL and Cincinnati is tearing ECHL down.

Getzlaf is totally on fire and we are #1 in scoring goals in the league, but we allow way too much goals and the injuries keep us down as we are not able to maintain two effective scoring lines.

Season is still young, though.

Ok, I'm back on track! I managed to salvage the save files from the old laptop and have resumed the challenge.

The regular season just ended, I hope we have a better playoff run than last year. We face the Canucks in the first round and we split our four regular season games 2-2 while they outscored us 12-11. I acctually wish Luongo was still with them, but only because he is on IR for 4 months.

They have Nabokov now though so it's not like we have a goalie advantage. In fact, looking at their team I can't say we have the advantage at any position so I guess it becomes a matter of tactics and coaching.

Meanwhile in the AHL the Admirals are leading their division and Thuresson looks set to win the scoring title with 107 points in 76 games so far. He also leads the league in assists with Karamnov in second place while Hedman leads all defencemen.

Players leaving us after this season:
Antti Pihlström, is subject to re-entry waivers and never proved himself in camp.
Patric Hörnqvist, as above.
Kevin Klein, as above.
Jerred Smithson, we will finally be rid of him.
Steve Sullivan, has lost a step and his technical attributes are decreasing as well.
Greg de Vries, his speed has dropped to 10 and we need room for Hedman.

On the fence:
Chet Pickard, hasn't played well in a backup role in the ECHL and does not project to even be an AHL player.
Jeremy Smith, has dominated the CHL but does not project to be even AHL quality.
Blake Geoffrion, doesn't project to be much but atleast he provides some grit for the AHL squad.
Jason Arnott, is slowing down and his goal production has dropped but he still provides alot of experience, grit and assists.

We win the first round 4-1 while battling injuries to Ryan (missed three games, played one day-to-day) and Niittymäki (played three games day-to-day).

If special teams were our demise last season they seem to be one of our biggest strengths this year with a PP% of 22.9 and PK% of 95.7 in the first round. Things are looking promising.

Sullivan is doing his very best to convince me to sign him for another year, leading the team with 3G 4A. I don't have a LW on the farm who seems ready to step in so who knows... Maybe I'll keep Sullivan instead of Arnott, or keep them both at the expense of my young players. The problem with losing Arnott is that it would leave me with only 4 NHL-ready centers and Grabovsky has been terrible every time I've tried to play him at his natural position. On the other hand, if I lose Sullivan my only proven natural LW is Schaefer. Grant provides some hits and takes a few fights but he is really just fourth line filler. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards resigning them both. I don't like relying on free agency to fill my roster holes.

Another, somewhat opposite, issue is how to fit Thuresson into the lineup, provided that his camp performance is similar to his spectacular AHL-season. Dumont and Ryan seem given for the top two positions so that leaves me with Jessiman (15G 16A 125 HT with ATOI 9:34 and APPT 0:26), Ortmeyer (who is almost a must-have for the PK), Belak (played well in the 24 games he was dressed for, plus 4 in the playoffs so far) and Thuresson fighting for two RW spots.

In the second round we beat the back-to-back defending champions LA Kings 4-1.

Sullivan has signed a one-year deal for 2.3M, negotiations are ongoing with Arnott.

Prospect signings:
G Brandon Foote
RD/LD Simon Jodoin
LD/RD Tim Erixon
RD/LD Chad Lowry
LD Brett Ponich
C Jacob Josefson

Wow. In the third round we face our rivals from last season, the Flames, and chase Kipper out of the net winning the first game of the series 9-1. I hope that ruins his confidence enough to let us humiliate them some more.

Wow, I saw Lidas' record post and I must say: Jesus!
Lidas, how did you manage to win the 3rd cup in a row in first four seasons? And your season standings... 135 points for Predators and 103 for the second team (Oilers). That's awesome. Looks like you're really familiar with the game and your database

McQwak wrote:Wow, I saw Lidas' record post and I must say: Jesus!
Lidas, how did you manage to win the 3rd cup in a row in first four seasons? And your season standings... 135 points for Predators and 103 for the second team (Oilers). That's awesome. Looks like you're really familiar with the game and your database

I believe it's all in setting your players' personal tactics. My performance went down during the end of the season, so before the playoffs I checked my tactics, and noticed that about half of the personal tacs had been resetted. I wonder why that always happens... I re-set all the tactics, and boomed through the playoffs 16-0. Getting too easy now, so I'm not sure if I'll start season 5. Although I did have an excellent draft, so I might go on. Drafted the Fedorov regen in round 2 (60th overall).

And also, it helps having Ovie scoring 86 goals. He had a few before he arrived at Preds, so he actually broke Gretzky's record.