Steve

I will be behind this 100%. Pohl came super close last year - what a story that would be. Might even tell my players to shoot wide when we play each other  .

There's always next season!  ha!  Cutter really is a beast and should probably get the playoff MVP if they win the Cup.

There's always next season!  ha!  Cutter really is a beast and should probably get the playoff MVP if they win the Cup.

These kids today with their need for instant gratification!  :P

Gone but not forgotten:
 
1. Eric T (Fairbanks Union):  S1 - S2
2. Matt H (Brass Castle Berserkers):  S1 - S2
3. Mocha Wallace (Tionaga Red Thunder):  S3
4. Kim Vandaele (Deadwood Vandals):  S3
5. Torbjorn Johansson (Rycroft Red Thunder):  S4
6. Jiri Heikkala (Yonker Wolverines):  S1 - S4
7. Erzac (St. Thomas Stray Cats):  S1 - S4
8. Ferris Mason (Kegashka Prairie Stars):  S1 - S4
9. Jan Rosa (Various teams):  S3 - S4
10. Mocha Wallace (Tionaga Yellow Jackets):  S5
11. Ben/ (Vauban Tomahawks):  S1 - S5
12. Richard "bouncer" Feynman (West Chicago Hawks): S1 - S5
 
RIP

Agree.  And my dilemma is that during the regular season, there is no other goalie I would want on my team.  But during clutch moments, he's collapsed too many times for me to feel confident in him.  I also agree that many of the goals were not mostly his fault.  But in the end, you want a goalie that can elevate their game in the biggest moments and steal games for you.  That's what makes greatness... in any sport.  And that is not what I see from Rask.  In those moments, I'd rather have a goalie with a 3M salary and 4M spent elsewhere.
Just to go back to the Thomas Cup Finals for a second.  He may have cost Boston 1 game in that series, but look at the entire body of work.  In a 7-game series, he let in 8 goals.  From games 1-7 it went:  1-3-1-0-1-2-0.  That is simply insane!  And if you go back 1 game further, he got the shutout in game 7 of the ECF vs. Tampa.  So Thomas finished those playoffs by only allowing 8 goals in his last 8 games.  Absurd numbers.  Compared to Rask's 18 goals allowed in the 7-game series vs. St. Louis.  Choke job.
To me Thomas will always be the better Boston goalie.  If Rask eventually wins a Cup it will make it closer, but even still.
Thomas:  4x All Star, 2x Vezina, Conn Smythe
Rask:  3x All Star, 1 Vezina

He looked perfect last night against the Flyers.  The Flyers played far better than Boston for at least 40 mins of that game and Carter Hart had a damn near perfect game, but Rask was perfect and that is why Boston won.  

Guess he didn't learn anything from Tim Thomas. 

LOL!  I played my 83 OVR backup who hadn’t lost in regulation all season. Now 9-1-3. And he (computer) countered with his 78 OVR affiliate goalie. Another point of note - they tied the game on a SHG and the GWG was scored by a 78 OVR player with no offensive skills. It was a tough one for sure. 

I'll take a guess at it...the Alligators.

Does anyone know when exactly a scouting assignment is completed? Under the status of the assignment it has expected finish but does that mean that the scouting assignment can run beyond when it was expected to be completed?

I raise you my Buzzer GHL goaltender - 94 overall. The last loss was against a team near the bottom of the league in every category. He lasted 10 minutes. 

Game mechanics, imho - I've grown used to it. Identical consistency issues with my starters in both Cage and Buzzer.

Both 94 overall and both can last only about 3-4 games before they have a monumental collapse and a goalie rating in the red. This sim has a bit of black humour in it when it comes to goaltending  .

"Tomorrow is the Steal Heads, boys!  Everyone in AAHL is getting called up!"

"Tomorrow is the Steal Heads, boys!  Everyone in AAHL is getting called up!"

Energy line is about 60% of your answer. Shut down is that but only to the skilled players on the opposing team. The last 40% is the players you put on that line. Most managers seem to be wary of making such a line as the players in question typically lack skill for physicality and spirit.
 
Edit: The next thing is that you have to give the players enough time on ice to make a positive difference. I see a lot of 4th lines playing 6-8 minutes a night. That is too little time on ice to have a positive impact in the desired role. Don't be afraid to give your 4th line 10-12 minutes a night. So long as you have them in the right role playing the right line style and they are comfortable playing in your system they will do well. Case in point Matthew Stang. Remember when another manager was raging at the fact that Stang essentially won a playoff series for my team? His performance rating is in the green for a very good reason despite his apparent lack of skill.

A while ago someone had mentioned a high (non goalie) performance rating and I forget what it was.  Today, Terho Huhtala had a performance rating of 88.  That might be the highest single game performance I've ever had from a skater position.
Interesting story around Huhtala.  I acquired him in an early season 2 trade that sent an all star goalie out West in exchange for Huhtala, Amick and a GHL 1st.  The jury is still out on whether it was a bad trade or not as I still feel like the goalie doesn't perform up to his rating, but on paper I probably shouldn't have made it.  I was hesitant to acquire him given his low Defense and Spirit, but he quickly became one of my top scorers in season 2 and always seemed to score in big moments (I guess that Heroic trait means something afterall).  Going into season 3 free agency, one of the games best forwards, Joesph Rackley, became available via relegation.  I decided to make a play for him, but needed to clear some cap first.  Huhtala became the odd man out and the only option was waivers.  I knew it was a giant risk as it left me with a smidge over 10 million to bid.  But... I tried to be sneaky about it, thinking that I could put Huhtala on waivers for an hour or so and recall him if I didn't sign Rackley (I actually made a suggestion quite some time ago that players should stay on waivers for at least 2 days before being able to call them back so don't judge me 😀).  But being on the East Coast, USA makes that plan difficult as free agents happen sometime between 2-4am.  Well around 1am I threw on on waivers and within 10 minutes someone claimed him.   To add insult to injury, my 10.1M bid was not enough to get Rackley as someone else ended up bidding 12+M (thanks Peekaboo... jerk).  So my high risk, high reward plan backfired greatly.  My offense really struggled last season and that was a big reason as I never managed to replace him.  I think the team that put the waiver bid reached out the following day and asked why I had put him on waivers and I explained my reasoning.  I'm pretty sure the other manager either offered to remove the claim or offer some type of trade for him, but I refused stating that I knew it was risky and that I should live with it and let it play out.  Think he ended up with 7-8 bids and eventually went to another Eastern team.  That team ended up relegating last season and I jumped on the chance to get him back... and it's a good thing because over the first 8 games he leads my team in points (7+4) with a +5 and 80 performance.  We are currently 5-0-2-1, but would probably be 1-0-2-5 without him.
Good times.

I'd love a targeting option.  For instance, we already have Left Wing Lock, why not have a target for certain player, etc.  I also wish we could differentiate between lines the tactic they use.  Some I want to be assholes, others I want to only take a punch and walk away.  Having everyone on the team with the same tactic takes away the point of having different lines.  But realize I am nitpicking at this point!  But there are teams where all I really care about is hurting them as much as possible no matter the final score, haha.  Just give us THAT option and I'll be happy!

I'd love a targeting option.  For instance, we already have Left Wing Lock, why not have a target for certain player, etc.  I also wish we could differentiate between lines the tactic they use.  Some I want to be assholes, others I want to only take a punch and walk away.  Having everyone on the team with the same tactic takes away the point of having different lines.  But realize I am nitpicking at this point!  But there are teams where all I really care about is hurting them as much as possible no matter the final score, haha.  Just give us THAT option and I'll be happy!

I'd love a targeting option.  For instance, we already have Left Wing Lock, why not have a target for certain player, etc.  I also wish we could differentiate between lines the tactic they use.  Some I want to be assholes, others I want to only take a punch and walk away.  Having everyone on the team with the same tactic takes away the point of having different lines.  But realize I am nitpicking at this point!  But there are teams where all I really care about is hurting them as much as possible no matter the final score, haha.  Just give us THAT option and I'll be happy!

I'd love a targeting option.  For instance, we already have Left Wing Lock, why not have a target for certain player, etc.  I also wish we could differentiate between lines the tactic they use.  Some I want to be assholes, others I want to only take a punch and walk away.  Having everyone on the team with the same tactic takes away the point of having different lines.  But realize I am nitpicking at this point!  But there are teams where all I really care about is hurting them as much as possible no matter the final score, haha.  Just give us THAT option and I'll be happy!

On cue...

And that amazing performance gets him...

 

Eastern Conference
 
1. Slaughterville Red Tide (Alexander Rasputin)
OFF: 88,5 DEF: 88,7 SG: 93 OVR: 88,9
 
2. Sheshegwaning Dragons (Ives Pa)
OFF: 88,0 DEF: 88,8 SG: 91 OVR: 88,6
 
3. Big Delta Stealheads (Paul T)
OFF: 88,2 DEF: 88,3 SG: 88 OVR: 88,2
 
4. St.Thomas Stray Cats (Erzac Ray)
OFF: 86,1 DEF: 88,8 SG: 96 OVR: 88,1
 
5. Sault Ste Marie Battlin Bears (Joe Leconte)
OFF: 87,3 DEF: 88,0 SG: 88 OVR: 87,7
 
6. Lake Viking Bulldogs (Max Mol)
OFF: 86,1 DEF: 88 SG: 94 OVR: 87,6
 
7. Rome Trojans (Yann Rock)
OFF: 85,4 DEF: 88,5 SG: 92 OVR: 87,3
 
8. Maxville Vortex (Tyrod Gibson)
OFF: 86,7 DEF: 86,0 SG: 91 OVR: 86,7
 
9. Kingston Kamikaze (Antti Hänninen)
OFF: 85,0 DEF: 87,0 SG: 93 OVR: 86,5
 
10. Mango Duhawks (Dr. Jones)
OFF: 85,8 DEF: 85,3 SG: 91 OVR: 86,0
 
Tied 11. Bodmin Bangers (Sakari Lindholm)
OFF: 85,3 DEF: 86,2 SG: 87 OVR: 85,8
 
Tied 11. Cedar Rapids Minutemen (Richard Armour)
OFF: 85,5 DEF: 86,2 SG: 86 OVR: 85,8

13. Mount Airy Savage Storm (Jason New)
OFF: 84,3 DEF: 85,3 SG: 86 OVR: 84,9
 
14. Frains Golden Bears (Computer)
OFF: 79,8 DEF: 84,2 SG: 82 OVR: 82,0

 
Western Conference
 
1. Kegashka Prairie Stars (Ferris Mason)
OFF: 87,8 DEF: 91,3 SG: 94 OVR: 89,9
 
2. West Chicago Hawks (Richard Feynman)
OFF: 87,0 DEF: 88,2 SG: 95 OVR: 88,2
 
3. Scandinavia Steelers (J Jono)
OFF: 87,3 DEF: 88,0 SG: 92 OVR: 88,0
 
4. Vauban Tomahawks (Ben \)
OFF: 87,5 DEF: 87,7 SG: 92 OVR: 87,9
 
5. Eastern Outlaws (The Champ)
OFF: 86,3 DEF: 88,2 SG: 92 OVR: 87,6
 
6. Eldred Elite (Steven Bennett)
OFF: 87 DEF: 87,8 SG: 87 OVR: 87,4
 
7. Ithaca Ricochet (Marc S)
OFF: 84,6 DEF: 89,2 SG: 93 OVR: 87,3
 
8. Enigma Rage (Wendel Clark)
OFF: 87,4* DEF: 86,7* SG: 88 OVR: 87,1
(*Used two D as F)
 
9. Yonker Wolverines (Jiri Heikkala)
OFF: 85,7 DEF: 87,8 SG: 88 OVR: 86,8
 
10. Rycroft Red Thunder (Torbjörn Johansson)
OFF: 86,8 DEF: 85,2* SG: 87 OVR: 86,1
(*Used 13th C/F as 6th D, since there is only 5 D)
 
11. Richibucto Masons (Dr. Wendt)
OFF: 84,3 DEF: 85,8 SG: 90 OVR: 85,5
 
12. Pittsboro Plastic Attack (Makate Naekfor)
OFF: 83,8 DEF: 86,8 SG: 86 OVR: 85,4
 
13. Blenheim Pirates (Martin J)
OFF: 82,1 DEF: 84,7 SG: 88 OVR: 83,7
 
14. Thetford Mines Pegasus (Jeff Hamm)
OFF: 82,3 DEF: 82,0 SG: 83 OVR: 82,2

 
Calculated on day 8 of S4, using:
 
Team OVR = (OFF + (DEF*2) + (SG*2))/26
 
where
OFF: ovr sum of best 12 centers/forwards
DEF: ovr sum of best 6 defenders
SG: ovr of starting goalie

Truth be told I was going to trade Lang either this season or next. The core of my skilled forward group is almost all 30+ right now and he was the best trade piece I had to address it. While I could have asked for Lamoureau or Chene in return, as I would have wanted a center back if I got a player, I wanted to go the more diverse route that gave me more options. I have Grimard at where Lang was at S1 with a, for the moment, better team in front of him than Lang did during S1. I'm not expecting quite the same miracle play from Grimard like I got from Lang as the league is better as well but I am hoping to get something between last season and the season before in terms of performance from Grimard. If he gets off to a good start I should be fine relative to my expectations. If he doesn't, this could be a difficult season.
 
While the picks I got for Lang don't add up to Lamoureau or Chene themselves the loss in the performance from not having Lang should take me lower in the standings which should improve my own draft picks. I'm hoping to pick around 12th in the draft with my pick and no higher than 25th with the other 1st round pick. If the upcoming draft is as good as the last that potentially means I will have a crack at a mid 80s overall player with my first 1st round pick. If I pick below 16th with my pick either I got shafted in the draft order or... Well, to be blunt, you all suck. Edit: I joke. If my team does end up in the middle of the playoff bracket I would be amazed at the performance from my team to have done that but I am not expecting that. I wasn't expecting to finish 1st in the conference and 2nd in points overall last season with the ~20th ranked team talent wise either though so who knows?
 
Then again I did try this vaguely similar thing with my other team. It was looking fine with 10 games left in the season and more than 10 points up on the team in 11th place. However the players inexplicably quit playing after a sudden drop in team confidence from blue 'ok' to yellow 'concerned' after losing to a top team in a fairly respectable manner. The prior 3 games were all wins, with one being against another one of the better teams in the league, and my team had a positive record over the last 10 games, including those 3 wins. Yet for some reason the game said, "Nope, screw you" and I said "ok" as nothing I did changed anything. Granted, that team I intentionally built flawed from the outset with no proper playmakers what so ever and I went rather cheap on a few fill in players as well. However, after starting off very poorly I did actually sign a playmaker from FA and my team was above .500 from that point on until the final 10 games of the season where the players altogether stopped playing. Such is how it is. It actually doesn't bother me that much as I get to play a few players on my main roster this season that I really like and couldn't play in the SHL.