EHM The Blue Line

kind of

i play the game in a basic way, signing, trading, setting traing and let the coach pick tactics and so on. my problem is when i find say a good winger from sweden, sign him and watch while the coach picks a lame dog ahead of him. i know the obvious answer is set the lines myself but im not that good and getting the right combinations etc but i can see a winger with an average of 15 for attributes is better than a 34 yr old with no pace or stamina and an average of around 10.
is there a way around this ? my coach has 16 for spotting potential and current

Honestly, the way around it is to set your lines yourself. Don't depend on the coach to do it for you. Set your lines and let the coach handle tactics still if you want. Just set your lines, then go to "GM Options". In there under "Coaching Options", just set both "Use current team selection when possible" and "Use current lines when possible" to "YES". This will use the lines you select but still keep you out of handling the tacts and such.

thanks for the answer, i had a feeling id have to try and do it myself. without trawling through the whole site do you know if theres a thread about line up combinations ? i tend to just dump everyone good on 1st line and end up with 2 lines that are useless

I can't recall one off hand but you could always do a search and see. I know a look of people like to make their lines with 1 passer, 1 scorer, and 1 physical guy. You usually want to try to at least balance your scoring power between 2 lines, sometimes 3.

thats exactly the type of thing im looking for, i end up with 2 passers and a grinder. thanks for the help. if i get the line ups right ill try to look at tactics one day

The tactics thread has a whole lot of useful info. If you decide to tackle tactics one day, you really should take the time and read through that thread. It's worth it!

I know exactly what your talknig about, I was the Vancouver Giants and the coach, Don Hay put him on the 4th line...hes my best center but Mr. Hay declares him 4th line material behind, Lance Bouma, Jason Reese and James Wright.

Beacause of this I do the main lines myself and let the coach take care of the PP/PK

had an idea about this, obviously the coach ignores the skills of the players so he must use something else. when i start a new game ill set a few random players to not needed and a few to whatever the highest is, see if that it what they use

I'm sure reputation factors into the coach's selections.

but they cant build their rep if they dont play does explain why someone thats bumbled around a higher ranked league gets in the team

goat10 wrote:... i know the obvious answer is set the lines myself but im not that good and getting the right combinations etc ...

Every combination set by you is better than coach's choice. Don't be afraid of setting lines by yourself Just use your brain and hockey sense
Couple of usefull threads:
Offical Tactics Thread: General / Even Strength
Offical Tactics Thread: Powerplay & Penalty Kill
Help! I need advice for my team/roster (Official Thread)