EHM The Blue Line

bruins72 wrote:

thunderbug wrote:I've noticed this is one challenge where you have to be very good on the PK, because of the team you have. You're going to take a lot of penalties and so in order to combat that you need to be able to handle the PK.

So you're saying that if Batdad comes along and joins the challenge, he's going to dominate?

Isn't that obvious?

bruins72 wrote:He just wasn't doing anything for me. He's just "okay" in some many areas but he's old and his condition seems low too often.

Maybe it would be better to tone down his training a bit.

bruins72 wrote:I decided to give Modin a shot at RW on the 3rd line. I juggled things around and moved Little to center while Slater is out. This opened up a RW spot. Hopzapfel is sitting.

And another injury. On defense this time. Oduya is out for 10 days with a broken cheekbone. I've called up Valabik to fill in.

I've got a question for everyone... how are you using Buffy? Do you play him as a defenseman or a winger? I've been using him at D and he hasn't produced much. He's just so slow though. I worry that this might be bad on the wing.

Oh and to the person asking about how Peverly is doing for people... he's been pretty bad in my game. 3 points in 15 games.

I'm just finishing preseason and Fugly will start at the top defensive pairing, then we'll see how it goes. I don't know where to play Modin though, I have too little confidence in him to put him anywhere above the fourth line.

Where are you playing Peverley? I'm planning to put him on 1st/2nd line RW. Those numbers are bad, though.

tksolway wrote:I've tried to play tough tactics with this team (since they are really a team of pluggers), but this result is just too cool. I have never had this happen before. The Caps forfeited the game to me after too many of their players were thrown out of the game

Result
Result2

That sure is interesting!

bruins72 wrote: I've got a question for everyone... how are you using Buffy? Do you play him as a defenseman or a winger? I've been using him at D and he hasn't produced much. He's just so slow though. I worry that this might be bad on the wing.

I used Buffy as a defenseman in my first season. He had 5G 45A 50P in 75 games. He also had a plus/minus of -10 and had an AVG rating of 7.75. So overall it wasn't that bad, but I'm hoping his plus/minus will be better next season.

Well missed on the lottery but have 2nd overall pick. Not much to choose from:

#1 Sean Couturier LW (nothing spectacular imho)
#2 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins C (small at 156lbs)
#3 Nathan Beaulieu D (again nothing that jumps out at you)

guess Ill keep looking

bruins72 wrote:That's awesome! How many PIM did each team have in the game?

I didn't think to check that, I'll have to try and go back and see the game stats.

blueshirtnParis wrote:Well missed on the lottery but have 2nd overall pick. Not much to choose from:

#1 Sean Couturier LW (nothing spectacular imho)
#2 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins C (small at 156lbs)
#3 Nathan Beaulieu D (again nothing that jumps out at you)

guess Ill keep looking

Draft prospects in Lidas rosters always seem to be underrated. I remember that Taylor Hall had about the same ratings and Sean Coutourier does this year, I really think that Manimal show look at what prospects are given for ratings, especially top prospects, because with such low initial ratings they don't develop well, and since most of them have 9s across the board rather than a few higher numbers even when they do develop you end up a with a player that has 15s across the board.

Peverley was okay for me for two seasons, then I let him walk. Modin got 57 pts in season one and was solid in season two. But with other prospects i let him walk too in season two. Byfgulien Played the last half of season 1 as right wing, winning the selke.

bruins72 wrote:I've got a question for everyone... how are you using Buffy? Do you play him as a defenseman or a winger? I've been using him at D and he hasn't produced much. He's just so slow though. I worry that this might be bad on the wing.

I used him as a D, in the first season he scored 45 points in 82 games. And Enström scored 57 points and ended third in the Norris Trophy voting

After full week or two of reading and fillingexcel tables I have finally made my first moves. Practice schedules are set. Mr Weeks has ben fired and I have offered contracts to Bob Hartley and Ulf Weinstock as assistant coaches. Bob should fill in nuce in conditioning, offensive and tactical regimes and Ulf would add depth at skating, shooting, tactic and gk regimes.
Weeks was nice for goalies but he didn't have strenghts in any other area.

Now of to prepare infividual and line tactics. I guess that in 2-3 weeks I will play my first games

francis246 wrote:

Aahlstroem wrote:Did Peverly produce for you guys? He didn't for me so I traded him for Linus Omark in the beggining of season 2

Nope he did not and I traded him for Zheredev. Seemed like a deal I could not pass up. I just got the deal done, before the July 16th deadline. I tried trading Antropov, but it was hard and his value went down after the draft.

Unless things change by the time I'm able to start trading, I think I'll be looking to deal Peverly too. I just wonder what his value will be.

At this point, I can't see why I'd trade Antropov. He's been in the top 5 in scoring for the NHL all season so far (admittedly, less than 20 games into the season). He's been my clear #1 center and I think we'd be toast without him. The only reason I could see for trading him is because of his age. Maybe he could be traded to a Cup contender for a younger center who is close to breaking out.

Círyatan wrote: I'm just finishing preseason and Fugly will start at the top defensive pairing, then we'll see how it goes. I don't know where to play Modin though, I have too little confidence in him to put him anywhere above the fourth line.

Where are you playing Peverley? I'm planning to put him on 1st/2nd line RW. Those numbers are bad, though.

I had Modin sitting because initially, I didn't want to play him anywhere but LW. He's definitely not a fit on my 4th line. I like what I've got going with Boulton, Stewart, and Thorburn there. I've used him as a fill-in on the RW due to injuries and he's gotten 2nd and 3rd line time with poor results.

Peverly was initially my 3rd line RW and 2nd PP unit RW. His passing and faceoffs skills weren't good enough for me to want to play him at center. He's gotten time on both the 1st and 2nd line RW and on the RW on both PP units since then and he still fails to produce.

bruins72 wrote:

Daelh wrote:

bruins72 wrote: I guess we'd need some sort of proof (screenshots) that they were supposed to RFAs. Maybe show a screen of the qualifying offer. If you can show that, they we could allow you to try to sign that player (as a UFA) without them counting as a UFA signing. Beyond that, there's not much else that can be done.

Has anyone else run into this? It's also possible that Daelh offered Kane a contract but it wasn't enough to be a qualifying contract. It might not have been enough. He could have already been over budget and his board might not have let him offer the qualifying amount.

My budget was at 50m/y and my caphit at 43 when i tried to sign Kane to a new contract. I tried to sign a new contract with him all year long but he didnt want to negoiate a new one. Then i thought that, yeah well he will be RFA so I can sign him then, but I lost my rights to him the same day that he became FA.... I dont know why it turned out that way.

Did you still offer him a contract even though he didn't want to negotiate?

No I did not. Should I have?

Well... my first 20 games are in the books! If the playoffs started today, there would be no hockey in Atlanta. I think I have to take a step back and reevaluate my team and see if I'm using everyone properly. I've got too many players that are under-performing. Enstrom, Oduya, and Sopel all have average ratings of less than 7. That's half my defense! I think about 1/3 of my forwards are under-performing too. Yes, I've got to take a good hard look at this team. I may have to rethink my tactics as well.

Daelh wrote:

bruins72 wrote:

Daelh wrote: My budget was at 50m/y and my caphit at 43 when i tried to sign Kane to a new contract. I tried to sign a new contract with him all year long but he didnt want to negoiate a new one. Then i thought that, yeah well he will be RFA so I can sign him then, but I lost my rights to him the same day that he became FA.... I dont know why it turned out that way.

Did you still offer him a contract even though he didn't want to negotiate?

No I did not. Should I have?

If you don't offer him a contract b4 his old one expires he becomes a UFA. It always tells you the minimum you have to offer to keep his rights, whether he accepts or not.

CeeBee wrote:

Daelh wrote:

bruins72 wrote: Did you still offer him a contract even though he didn't want to negotiate?

No I did not. Should I have?

If you don't offer him a contract b4 his old one expires he becomes a UFA. It always tells you the minimum you have to offer to keep his rights, whether he accepts or not.

Stupid me... Thanks for the answer.

Since it seems like I can't play in my save I want to say good luck with the team to the rest of you!

I tried to trade Peverley for Zherdev, but Philly wasn't interested. They ended up unloading him on the Senators for the prospect that Ottawa picked in the first round. Pittsburg had a horrible season, and I've been trying to pry one of the big three from them, but they won't go one for one, could do it if I could trade two . In the end, I'm going to hold off on the trade until the season, may still sign someone, I'm too good to get a good waiver claim, but its hard to find something to fit for 2mil.

Ended up Signing Aaron Asham for 3 years at 1.2 mil per. He's older, but he's a very good third line RW for my Checking Line.

I've found that for whatever reason, even if you offer the pending RFA's the required money, you still lose their rights about July 2-3rd. You get a news item that you lost their rights because they were not signed to a contract. It's one of the things that really annoys me about the game because it means I pretty much have to give into their demands if i want to keep them around, otherwise they get to be UFAs. Not sure if it is the Lidas rosters, and caused beacause we are altering everyone's ages or what, but it is annoying.

Just getting into this challenge. Havent been in the last 2 but was still playing a bit with the Oilers team.
This one looks good.
Hired Trevor Linden as AGM (great stats) and Kevin Constantine as an assistant coach. Both could take over as Head coach if I have to make a change next year.
Just into the pre season doing ok,and giving everyone a good look.
I am going to try Buff on defense, and right wing on th PP maybe in diamond to put him right in front of the goalie.Ive never been too sucessful with that tactic, overload slot seems to work better, but I'll give it a go for a bit.
Too bad about the comments regarding Modin, I am planning on using him alot.
This team can really hit.

Wasn't sure if I wanted to join this challenge as I have successful save with Bruins going. But now I will play this as well.

I keep on losing, my team is now 1-8-0. But I'm not giving up, I will continue to try and find tactics other than the one with which I've done my best result - I want something else than the usual all-out-for-offense approach this time. And now I'm going to find it - or get fired.

And I have to say that there are times when I really hate these Challenges sooo much. This evening was one of those times, when Bruins placed Lucic on waivers. Lucic! Waivers? Aagh! Aaaghhh!

kuulapaa wrote:I keep on losing, my team is now 1-8-0. But I'm not giving up, I will continue to try and find tactics other than the one with which I've done my best result - I want something else than the usual all-out-for-offense approach this time. And now I'm going to find it - or get fired.

And I have to say that there are times when I really hate these Challenges sooo much. This evening was one of those times, when Bruins placed Lucic on waivers. Lucic! Waivers? Aagh! Aaaghhh!

Yeah I know what you mean.. Gonchar was placed on waivers 5 days after I signed NICK BOYNTON!! and in oktober he was up for grabs two days after I traded Dawes for Olesz... that sucks.

20 games now played and I have huge problems with my PK. After 10 games PK% was 74.0 now it's 80.0, so I'm doing little better now though.
Just when all worked in even strength, Ladd injured for 4 months (UCL tear) really miss him.. he was key in my 2nd line.
And now when Ladd is injured I recalled Bergfors from Chicago, hopefully he can rise level.. So far Bergors has played 15 games in NHL: 2 points and AvR 6.50. He is worstest regular player in team.
Mason is god.. 18 games and he doesn't even get tired. Pavelec have hard times even in AHL and MacIntyre allowed 7 goals in single NHL game. So I have to go with Mason and hope for the best.

Lazion wrote:20 games now played and I have huge problems with my PK. After 10 games PK% was 74.0 now it's 80.0, so I'm doing little better now though.
Just when all worked in even strength, Ladd injured for 4 months (UCL tear) really miss him.. he was key in my 2nd line.
And now when Ladd is injured I recalled Bergfors from Chicago, hopefully he can rise level.. So far Bergors has played 15 games in NHL: 2 points and AvR 6.50. He is worstest regular player in team.
Mason is god.. 18 games and he doesn't even get tired. Pavelec have hard times even in AHL and MacIntyre allowed 7 goals in single NHL game. So I have to go with Mason and hope for the best.

Same thing happened to me, Ladd out 4 months for ACL. Bergfors was one of my best at ES in the first season. One of only a few that were on the plus side. Good luck

So start of second season for me. Hope things go better than last one, though cant see how much worse they can be (2nd to last in league)

Big off season (hopefully)> Traded Burmistrov to Flyers for Richards!!! Hopefully with Antropov getting older, going against lesser competition should help. Though in 3 games Richards doesn't not have a point, I hope that will change. Hopefully with Richards PK and faceoffs should be better, something i was getting killed on last season

signed Boyton as this D is really nothing but 3/4 and 5/6> No really 1/2 pair. Not that Boyton is a 1/2 but with only $2mil to spend, options are limited.

kuulapaa wrote: And I have to say that there are times when I really hate these Challenges sooo much. This evening was one of those times, when Bruins placed Lucic on waivers. Lucic! Waivers? Aagh! Aaaghhh!

Seriously? Ugh! That's brutal! It must be because of their salary cap issues. Still... how about waiving Ryder?

Lazion wrote:So far Bergors has played 15 games in NHL: 2 points and AvR 6.50. He is worstest regular player in team.

That really is surprising. Bergfors has been the second best player on my team, right after Antropov.

blueshirtnParis wrote: Big off season (hopefully)> Traded Burmistrov to Flyers for Richards!!! Hopefully with Antropov getting older, going against lesser competition should help. Though in 3 games Richards doesn't not have a point, I hope that will change. Hopefully with Richards PK and faceoffs should be better, something i was getting killed on last season

WOW! Nice trade! Richards really changes the face of this team. That gives you two rock solid scoring lines, IMO.