1979/80: XenHL's Roster Update

[XenHL]

With kind permission from Nino I've begun work on a new DB that starts in the 1979/80 season. Since I'll probably have many questions along the way I'll just ask them all in this thread, in which I'll also give progress updates.

So far I've done the following:

1. Did Year adjustment forward by 5.

2. Used the Free Agent utility to make all Players free agents.

3. Moved teams for the NHL, AHL, ECHL, CHL and AAL4.

NHL

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks
Cincinnati Stingers
Cleveland Barons
Detroit Red Wings
Indianapolis Racers

Northwest Division
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Minnesota North Stars
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets

Pacific Division
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Roadrunners
San Francisco Seals
Vancouver Canucks

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
Boston Bruins
Hartford Whalers
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers

Northeast Division
Buffalo Sabres
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Quebec Nordiques
Toronto Maple Leafs

Southeast Division Division
Birmingham Bulls
Houston Aeros
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals

To solve an issue of having nicely regionalised Divisions and Conferences, I fast-forwarded a little and moved the Atlanta Flames to Calgary early.

Since the 79/80 NHL only had 21 teams, I needed to add 9 more. So, instead of only 4 WHA teams joining the NHL, all did - bringing the NHL to 24 teams. For the rosters of the three extra teams - for Cincinnati and Birmingham, I will use the 79/80 CHL rosters, and for the Racers I will use the 79/80 Indianapolis Checkers CHL roster.

A 25th team was added by undoing the merger of the Minnesota North Stars and the Cleveland Barons. For the Barons' roster, I will start with their last NHL season roster, 77/78, removing any retired players if necessary. From there, I will track any trades made by the North Stars during the 1978/79 season involving former Barons players, and the players Minnesota received in reality for those players will be added to the Barons roster.

I took the liberty of another bit of time-warping to get a 26th team: the New Jersey Devils. In reality, of course, the Rockies moved to New Jersey, but in this DB they'll be essentially an "expansion team". For their roster I will use the 78/79 Jersey Aces EHL roster.

Team #27 is the Ottawa Senators, which from Nino's reports working on the 1974 DB seems to be a requirement for the game to function. So, I'm leaving them where they are, and will use the 79/80 Binghamton Dusters AHL roster. (See AHL below for explanation of what happens with the Dusters team).

Team #28 is the Phoenix Roadrunners, using the Roadrunners' 78/79 Pacific Hockey League roster.

Team #29 is the Houston Aeros, on the grounds that hockey was working in Houston during the WHA years... well, we'll assume it kept working. I'll use the 79/80 Houston Apollos AHL roster for them.

Team #30 is the San Francisco Seals, using their 78/79 Pacific Hockey League roster.

AHL, ECHL and CHL

These had teams move about between them, some teams removed, and teams added from other leagues. The International Hockey League (merged with the AHL, since those two were probably the top minor pro leagues).

AHL
Adirondack Red Wings
Baltimore Clippers
Binghamton Whalers
Dallas Blackhawks
Dayton Gems
Flint Generals
Fort Wayne Komets
Fort Worth Texans
Grand Rapids Owls
Hershey Bears
Houston Apollos
Kalamazoo Wings
Maine Mariners
Milwaukee Admirals
Muskegon Mohawks
New Brunswick Hawks
New Haven Nighthawks
Nova Scotia Voyageurs
Oklahoma City Stars
Port Huron Flags
Rochester Americans
Saginaw Gears
Salt Lake Golden Eagles
Springfield Indians
Syracuse Firebirds
Toledo Goaldiggers
Tulsa Oilers

In a bit of a fast-forward, I replaced the Binghamton Dusters (whose 79/80 roster supplies the Ottawa Senators' roster). I will base the B-Whalers' roster off their 1980/81 roster.

The Houston Apollos will likely start out with a blank roster, since their 79/80 roster will be used to fill the NHL Aeros roster.

CHL

California Eagles
Des Moines Buccaneers
Fresno Falcons
Kansas City Red Wings
Indianapolis Checkers
Long Beach Sharks
Mohawk Valley Stars
Peoria Blades
Reno Gamblers
San Diego Hawks
Sherbrooke Jets
Spokane Flyers
Syracuse Hornets
Trail Smoke Eaters
Tucson Rustlers
Wichita Wind
Winston-Salem Thunderbirds

The Checkers will likely start out with a blank roster, since their 79/80 roster will be used to fill the NHL Racers roster.

ECHL

Austin Mavericks
Baltimore Skipjacks
Charlottetown Islanders
Chicago Cardinals
Erie Blades
Fitchburg Trappers
Fort Wayne Scouts
Fox Valley Flyers
Fredericton Capitals
Grand Rapids Grizzlies
Green Bay Bobcats
Hampton Aces
Johnstown Red Wings
Kenosha Chargers
Moncton Alpines
New Hampshire Freedoms
Pekin Stars
Richmond Rifles
Salem Raiders
Schenectady Chiefs
Sioux City Musketeers
St. Paul Vulcans
Syracuse Stars
Utica Mohawks
Waterloo Black Hawks

AAL-4

Barrie Flyers
Cambridge Hornets
Chatham Maroons
London Kings
Lucan-Ilderton Jets
Orillia Terriers
Petrolia Squires
Preston Jesters
Welland Steelers
Whitby Warriors

The AAL-4 is the 79/80 Continental Senior A Hockey League... which leads me to a question!

In other databases, this "All-American League 4" is called other things, United Hockey League is one example that comes to mind. Does this mean it's possible to change the name of this league and still have things work? If so, I'd change it to "Continental Sr League" (which has the same number of letters, if that's a thing, if it's not a thing then I'll name it properly... so the actual question here is: is changing the name of this league as easy as changing the name, or is there some more complex process involved here?

[nino33]

Woo Hoo! Another retro project

the Ottawa Senators, which from Nino's reports working on the 1974 DB seems to be a requirement for the game to function. So, I'm leaving them where they are

I did successfully remove Ottawa when I first started, but when I experienced my first data loss and had to restart I couldn't remove or even move them...

Congrats on all the team movements (moving teams around didn't always go well for me HaHa)

The AAL-4 is the 79/80 Continental Senior A Hockey League... which leads me to a question!In other databases, this "All-American League 4" is called other things, United Hockey League is one example that comes to mind. Does this mean it's possible to change the name of this league and still have things work?

This I don't know, but I bet Manimal does...

[Manimal]

The AAL-4 is the 79/80 Continental Senior A Hockey League... which leads me to a question!In other databases, this "All-American League 4" is called other things, United Hockey League is one example that comes to mind. Does this mean it's possible to change the name of this league and still have things work?

This I don't know, but I bet Manimal does...

No, I don't. Archibalduk or Alessandro would probably know.

Good luck with the project!

[bruins72]

Good luck with this project! I'm very eager to play this! This is edging closer to when I started watching hockey regularly. I really got into hockey in 82-83, so there will be many more familiar faces here for me. I can't wait!

[XenHL]

Good luck with this project! I'm very eager to play this! This is edging closer to when I started watching hockey regularly. I really got into hockey in 82-83, so there will be many more familiar faces here for me. I can't wait!

Thanks for the encouragements!

1981 was when I first remember watching hockey with actual interest, but 79/80 is a bit more convenient from the point of view of adding teams to make 30 NHL teams, what with the NHL-WHA merger happening then.

[archibalduk]

The AAL-4 is the 79/80 Continental Senior A Hockey League... which leads me to a question!

In other databases, this "All-American League 4" is called other things, United Hockey League is one example that comes to mind. Does this mean it's possible to change the name of this league and still have things work? If so, I'd change it to "Continental Sr League" (which has the same number of letters, if that's a thing, if it's not a thing then I'll name it properly... so the actual question here is: is changing the name of this league as easy as changing the name, or is there some more complex process involved here?

I might be wrong, but I think the game is only happy either with the original AAL names or the real life names. I don't think it accepts anything else. Give it a try and see what happens. If it doesn't work, it'll give you an error message when you first create a new game.

The length of the league name won't be an issue. The issue will be whether or not it accepts something that isn't AAL or UHL.

[XenHL]

Thanks, Archi! I'll give that a try in a little bit, after I've finished what I'm doing right now.

[XenHL]

Okay, so I gave it a try, first changing AAL4 to UHL - that worked just fine. When I tried a different name, though, it lost and EHM crashed. So. I think in the 79/80 DB I will go with "United Hockey League" as the name of this league, since "All-American League 4" is eminently inappropriate for a league that is, well, All-Canadian.

DB Progress 1: I changed the Affiliations of all NHL teams. I tried where possible to use the Real World affiliations, though of course this wasn't possible in some cases, notably the 'expansion' teams.

DB Progress 2: I've started to fill the NHL player rosters. So far, Birmingham Bulls, Cincinnati Stingers, Indianapolis Racers, New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators are done. Once all 30 NHL teams are populated, I'll give the DB its first test run!

[XenHL]

Another thing: I changed the teams that are in the "United Hockey League", so the list is as follows:

UHL EASTERN CONFERENCE

Dundas Merchants (79d 52' W)
Cambridge Hornets (80d 19' W)
Preston Jesters (80d 19' W)
Durham Huskies (80d 49' W)
Woodstock Royals (80d 44' W)

UHL WESTERN CONFERENCE

Stratford Perths (80d 58' W)
London Kings (81d 25' W)
Lucan-Ilderton Jets (81d 27' W)
Petrolia Squires (82d 09' W)
Chatham Maroons (82d 11' W)

Geographically Stratford is in the same area as the other Eastern Conference teams, but... it is the closest of them to the Western teams!

[XenHL]

I just remembered a question I'd thought of as I started populating the rosters of the NHL teams.

Since I started with teams 22-30 (the 'Expansion teams'), I've already had the need to add some players that weren't already in the DB. I'm not filling out attrs or any great detail for now, just the basic things (DoB, position, shoots, draft info, height, weight), and have been putting in a 'placeholder' CA and PA. In some cases - for a concrete example, a guy like Jim Chappel (do /you/ know of him?) - I suspect I'll not really be able to make more extensive/accurate attributes, and they'll therefore retain the 'placeholder' CA and PA.

So for these guys, I worked out a scale for CA values to use:

Default CAs: for players on NHL teams 120, AHL 90, CHL/ECHL 75, UHL 60

While for PAs I've been making a best guess based on available stats (so far they've all been -12 and -13, with a couple of -5 and -6).

So my question: do these values seem reasonable for such 'unknown' players?

[Manimal]

I just remembered a question I'd thought of as I started populating the rosters of the NHL teams.

Since I started with teams 22-30 (the 'Expansion teams'), I've already had the need to add some players that weren't already in the DB. I'm not filling out attrs or any great detail for now, just the basic things (DoB, position, shoots, draft info, height, weight), and have been putting in a 'placeholder' CA and PA. In some cases - for a concrete example, a guy like Jim Chappel (do /you/ know of him?) - I suspect I'll not really be able to make more extensive/accurate attributes, and they'll therefore retain the 'placeholder' CA and PA.

So for these guys, I worked out a scale for CA values to use:

Default CAs: for players on NHL teams 120, AHL 90, CHL/ECHL 75, UHL 60

While for PAs I've been making a best guess based on available stats (so far they've all been -12 and -13, with a couple of -5 and -6).

So my question: do these values seem reasonable for such 'unknown' players?

I think so.
As long as the players never were stars.
I had to look up Chappell and saw that he only played a few years for the Roadrunners. In my mind he'd be 75 and -12.
IRL he never went higher than the Roadrunners but it would be good to have the possibility to in game. Especially if he is to play in the NHL(which will be very hard at 75 CA)

[XenHL]

I think so.

Thanks for confirming that I'm not out to lunch!

As long as the players never were stars.
I had to look up Chappell and saw that he only played a few years for the Roadrunners. In my mind he'd be 75 and -12.
IRL he never went higher than the Roadrunners but it would be good to have the possibility to in game. Especially if he is to play in the NHL(which will be very hard at 75 CA)

That was my thinking, too. The 'expansion' teams - probably especially the Roadrunners and Seals and Devils with their PHL and EHL rosters - are going to be rubbish the first few years, I figure at least with players in the 90-120 range they won't lose 69:0 every game.

Now a new question: in the pre-game editor, the "add rights" function doesn't seem to work. Is this something that can be done via the Updater? For the time being, until I learn how to do this, I've been adding unsigned prospects as signed but Playing For their actual teams.

And lastly for now: I got the Cleveland Barons roster done last night. As I mentioned, to get their roster, I 'unmerged' them from the North Stars. I took their 77/78 roster, and applied any trades the North Stars made of ex-Barons players in 78/79 as they happened, but with the returns going to the Barons. Thus, Walt McKechnie goes to the Leafs for a 1980 3rd round pick, and Bob Stewart to the Blues for a 1981 2nd rounder. I did, however, take the liberty of assuming that the Barons would not have traded their biggest star, Dennis Maruk, to the Capitals, so he will remain with the Barons. What do you all think? Reasonable?

Another thing I did for the Barons, for the sake of them having some prospects in the system given they're in-game a continuous presence, is to give them a few draft picks for the 1978 and 1979 drafts.

For 1978, I looked at the Stars' picks and the players that went on to play in Minnesota I left with the North Stars (Bobby Smith, 1st round; Steve Payne, 2nd; Steve Christoff, 2nd; Curt Giles, 4th), and some of the players that never signed with the Stars, I switched to being Barons' picks (Roy Kerling, 5th; Bob Bergloff, 6th (okay, so he played 2 NHL games...); Kim Spencer, 7th; Brent Gogol, 9th). This leaves two never-signed picks with Minnesota (Mike Cotter, 8th; Mike Seider, 10th).

For 1979, Cleveland gets three picks. Since Minnesota had two picks in each of the first and third rounds, I took the less "impactful" of the two and assigned them to Cleveland. Thus, Craig Hartsburg (1st/6th overall) and Neil Broten (3rd/42nd) remain Minnesota picks, whilst Tom McCarthy (1st/10th) and Kevin Maxwell (3rd/63rd) go to Cleveland. Of the remaining two picks that year, Jim Dobson (5th rd) stays with Minnesota, while Brian Gualazzi (6th) goes to Cleveland.

Personally I think this is the fairest way to deal with the 'unmerging' of the North Stars and the Barons (and I think they'll probably be the strongest of the 'expansion' teams by virtue of not /really/ being an expansion team)... but if anybody has any violent objections to it I'd be happy to hear alternative suggestions!

[bruins72]

That sounds fair to me. Can I just say again how excited I am about this DB?

[Manimal]

Now a new question: in the pre-game editor, the "add rights" function doesn't seem to work. Is this something that can be done via the Updater? For the time being, until I learn how to do this, I've been adding unsigned prospects as signed but Playing For their actual teams.

I think you have the wrong version of the editor, then.

[XenHL]

That sounds fair to me. Can I just say again how excited I am about this DB?

Thanks! I'm glad to hear it! I'm excited, too, but I'm also apprehensive and hoping that others will think my thoughts on things where assumptions need to be made - like the Barons' roster - are reasonable, too.

Now a new question: in the pre-game editor, the "add rights" function doesn't seem to work. Is this something that can be done via the Updater? For the time being, until I learn how to do this, I've been adding unsigned prospects as signed but Playing For their actual teams.

I think you have the wrong version of the editor, then.

Ah! I now have 1.7. Thanks for pointing it out!

[nino33]

That sounds fair to me. Can I just say again how excited I am about this DB?

Thanks! I'm glad to hear it! I'm excited, too, but I'm also apprehensive and hoping that others will think my thoughts on things where assumptions need to be made - like the Barons' roster - are reasonable, too.

Seems reasonable to me! (and if someone felt differently, with a bit of editing they could "fix" whatever bothered them)

[XenHL]

So I now have 10 of 30 NHL teams done.

What "done" means is that the player rosters are populated, each player has contract and draft info set, as well as CA and PA, meaning I don't think I'll have to touch these players again until it's time to add player histories.

So work is progressing! Though perhaps not as quickly as it could, but I'm working a lot, and I'm not devoting all of my free time to this - if I did, I know of myself that I'd burn out on this and give up. So, since this is something I do want to finish, I'm splitting my available "hobby time" between this and my other hobbies. Still, I'm hoping to run a first test with a fully player-populated NHL in 2 or 3 weeks.

[XenHL]

20 of 30 NHL teams are now done!

I noticed I'll have to clear out and redo all the draft histories...

Also I got the teams adjusted for the Major Junior leagues, so now we have:

Western Hockey League
Billings Bighorns
Brandon Wheat Kings
Calgary Wranglers
Edmonton Oil Kings
Flin Flon Bombers
Great Falls Americans
Kamloops Junior Oilers
Kelowna Wings
Lethbridge Broncos
Medicine Hat Tigers
Moose Jaw Warriors
Nanaimo Islanders
New Westminster Bruins
Portland Winter Hawks
Prince Albert Raiders
Regina Pats
Saskatoon Blades
Seattle Breakers
Spokane Flyers
Victoria Cougars
Winnipeg Warriors

Ontario Hockey League
Belleville Bulls
Bloomington Junior Stars
Brantford Alexanders
Cornwall Royals
Detroit Junior Wings
Guelph Platers
Hamilton Steelhawks
Kingston Canadians
Kitchener Rangers
London Knights
Niagara Falls Flyers
North Bay Centennials
Oshawa Generals
Ottawa 67s
Peterborough Petes
Port Huron Fogcutters
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Sudbury Wolves
Toronto Marlboros
Windsor Spitfires

QMJHL
Beauport Cascades
Cape Breton Metros
Charlottetown Abbies
Chicoutimi Sagueneens
Drummondville Voltigeurs
Granby Bisons
Halifax Atlantics
Hull Olympiques
Laval Voisins
Montreal Juniors
Plattsburgh Pioneers
Quebec Remparts
Shawinigan Cataractes
Sherbrooke Castors
Sorel Black Hawks
Springfield Olympics
Trois Rivieres Draveurs

[Manimal]

Smart move to implement the American teams in the O and the Q. I never thought of that.
What leagues are they from? (Bloomington, Port Huron, Plattsburgh and Springfield)

[XenHL]

Plattsburgh actually was in the Q for a while in the early-mid 80s, Bloomington was in the USHL, Port Huron was in the Great Lakes Junior Hockey League (though, folded in 1976), and Springfield was in the New England Junior Hockey League.

[XenHL]

Only three more NHL teams left to populate, and then first test run! Hooray!

So a question... while I'm not going to get to them until I've done populating the AHL, ECHL, CHL and Major Junior teams, I'd like to be prepared... can anyone point me to good sources for European rosters for 79/80?

And I decided, that the two East German "professional" teams, Dynamo Berlin and Dynamo Weisswasser, will be in the DEL.

[nino33]

can anyone point me to good sources for European rosters for 79/80?

For the 1974 database I used the hockeydb for the European/Russian rosters, and then use eliteprospects to check for spelling/use of special characters.
When it comes to European/Russian rosters from over 30 years ago I've found more on the hockeydb site http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues.html

MAYBE when you get to them I'll be able to help. I have the 1979-80 IIHF Guide filled with filled with European/Russian rosters! Includes world junior rosters, club team rosters and more! My problem is lack of freetime...in the last 2.5 months there is a lot of editing work I'd also like to do that has been on hold since I've been helping with the TBL Rosters (and I'm still working on updating the OHL/QMJHL)

[CJ]

can anyone point me to good sources for European rosters for 79/80?

For the 1974 database I used the hockeydb for the European/Russian rosters, and then use eliteprospects to check for spelling/use of special characters.
When it comes to European/Russian rosters from over 30 years ago I've found more on the hockeydb site http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues.html

MAYBE when you get to them I'll be able to help. I have the 1979-80 IIHF Guide filled with filled with European/Russian rosters! Includes world junior rosters, club team rosters and more! My problem is lack of freetime...in the last 2.5 months there is a lot of editing work I'd also like to do that has been on hold since I've been helping with the TBL Rosters (and I'm still working on updating the OHL/QMJHL)

Those 2 sites I've also used.
Check out this site also, there should be european leagues also for player stats. And they can easiley be copied to Excel also. http://www.dropyourgloves.com/Stat/Play ... petition=0

[XenHL]

Thanks for the tips, guys!

So: finished populating the NHL, including the appropriate head coach for 1979/80. There are:

619 players in the NHL;
178 NHL-contracted players in the AHL;
7 NHL-contracted players in the CHL;
3 NHL-contracted players in the ECHL;
2 NHL-contracted players in each of the OHL, WHL and US College East;
1 NHL-contracted player in each of the QMJHL, US College Eastern, Central and West

Plus, there are 3 players in Slovakia with NHL rights - I took the liberty of giving the rights of the Stastny brothers to the Nordiques. Another liberty I took is to apply some of the more major trades that took place during the season, which IMO helped to define certain teams for the following decade. Things like the Leafs trading Lanny away, Beck to the Rangers, Tiger Williams and Darcy Rota to the Canucks and a couple of others. Of course, the end user can undo this if they wish.

Here are a couple of screenshots (never mind the Oilers logo, it'll be fixed yet, I still have the '74 logos in my game folder):









Now that that's all checked out, on to populating the minor leagues!

[XenHL]

15 of 27 AHL teams are done, and I've been adding a whole slew of minor-league players. You'll probably never see any of these guys unless you manage in the minors, but at least they're there and so, hopefully, the minors for a good amount of game-play time will be filled mostly with real names. Names nobody recognises, but real names anyways...

So far:

618 players in the NHL
400 players in the AHL (NHL and AHL-contracted)
23 players in the ECHL (NHL contracted)
9 players in the CHL (NHL contracted)
7 players in the OHL (NHL contracted)
4 players in the QMJHL (NHL contracted)
3 players in Slovakia (NHL rights)
3 players in the WHL (NHL contracted)
2 players each in US College East, Central and Eastern (NHL contracted)
1 player in US College West (NHL contracted)