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

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.

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.

Ah, Rackley... Yeah, I like Huthala, he's on my (well, not too short) shortlist for quite some time. I think I did try to claim him last season as well, hehe. Anyways, nice performance and rarely (if at all) seen by skater

Good memory. Stang had a career series against me in the season 2 playoffs. Slight misperception, though, as I don't rage. At least not a serious rage as I tend to enjoy when non-standard events occur. I do remember pointing it out and giving my team the hairdryer treatment because of it. But at this point I've come to realize that a CHL team would take us out in the playoffs (specifically 3 games to 1). Fairly certain the game coding goes something like =IF(AND(Manager="Paul T",Game="Round 1 of Playoffs"),Lose series 3-1,jump to rest of code)