Peekaboo

Round two: No regular season stats anymore because it is the second round of the playoffs.
 
#2 Red Tide vs #3 Dragons
Regular season series: 1W and 1OTW Red Tide, 2W Dragons.
 
The two best teams in the East face off. It was a close series in the regular season and it will likely be close in the playoffs so long as the goaltending for the Dragons holds up. If it doesn't this is very likely to be a short series.
 
#4 Battlin Bears vs #8 Nightmares
Regular season series: 2SOW Battlin Bears, 2W Nightmares.
 
The two wins by the Nightmare were the last two meetings between these two teams and the games weren't close. I still think this is going to be a close series though however the Battlin Bears are the underdogs in my mind as I think the Nightmares have the better team.
 
#1 Prairie Stars vs #5 Wolverines
Regular season series: 2W Prairie Stars, 2W Wolverines
 
The regular season series between the two was a split and the entire series was actually close. The Wolverines has the offense to keep pace if it becomes a scoring race. The real question is if the Prairie Stars can take control of the games with their more complete team.
 
#2 Hawks vs #6 Tomahawks
Regular season series: 2W Hawks, 2W Tomahawks
 
Another series that was split however the series was rather lopsided with a win for each team that wasn't close at all. The Tomahawks were a great 5 on 5 scoring team while the Hawks struggled to score 5 on 5. I think this is going to be another close series determined by whatever team happens to play better 5 on 5.

Just going to leave this here....
The Elite are the first GHL team to win TWO Relegation Playoff matchups!  
HA!  

On the final day of the regular season 3 teams were all within 1 point of each other fighting for 1st place in the league. It was all going to come down to the last game for each team to decide who would finish 1st. At the start of the day the Laporte Red Raiders were holding 1st with 177 points by virtue of goals scored at 382. They had 52 regulation wins on the season at this point. Tied with them was my team, the White Mountain Winterhawks, with 177 points. My team had 312 goals and 55 regulation wins up to this point. We were both in the same conference. The third team, in the other conference, was the Red River Rockettes with 176 points. They had 343 goals scored and 55 wins so far on the season.
 
If the Red Raiders won their last game of the season in regulation they would win 1st no matter what. In fact they just needed to tie in points to win because the first tiebreaker is goals scored. They were facing the 8th placed team in the East.
To get 1st I had to get at least a point and nobody else tie my team in points. I was facing the 14th team in the West.
For the Rockettes to get 1st they either needed to tie my team in points or get more points than the Red Raiders. They were facing the 8th team in the East.
 
The Red Raiders lost in OT 5-4. This meant that my team needed to win in OT to pull ahead of them and a win in regulation would mean that I would win altogether. My team would win in OT 3-2 after losing my 1st line C a minute and a half into the game. This meant that if the Rockettes could win their game outright that they would finish 1st. Win they did as they ended the game with a 5-1 victory tying my team for points while scoring more goals on the season thereby holding the 1st tiebreaker of more goals scored. Congratulations to Jonathan D on finishing 1st on a very exciting finish to a season that came down to the very last game.
 
A few extra notes; With that win on the last day the Rockettes held pretty much every imaginable tie breaker over me having more regulation wins and a better GF/GA differential as well. With 4 days left I was 9 points behind the Red Raiders and considered myself out as I had to win at least 3 of the last 4 just to tie whereas if the Red Raiders won even one game they would finish better than me by virtue of the first tiebreaker. The Red Raiders managed to go 0-0-1-3 in their final 4 games and 4-0-1-6 in their final 11 games of the season after beating my team 5-1 in game 68 of the season. My team went 7-1-1-2 over its final 11 after that loss. The Rockettes went 7-0-1-3 in their final 11.

In addition to the series above, don't forget about the two battles to avoid relegation.  In some ways these are more intense as there's so much to lose.
East:  Former GHL champion Stray Cats vs. Patriots.
West:  and old Biscuit rivalry, Vandals vs. Elite
 

I haven't followed the West that much this season, but agree that Ricochet vs. Wolverines is probably the most exciting first round match-up.  Also, Rage is always my sleeper pick to turn it on in the playoffs.  Their coach is a lunatic and the players are downright scared to fail.
In the East, the Nightmares and Bulldogs are solid teams, but the Minutemen and Red Tide are firing on all cylinders.  Bears vs. Duhawks should be the most even series.  For some reason I have always confused these two teams, as far back as season 1, so it's funny they are matched up against each other. 
And my series with Peek's Dragons seems like a very even match-up on paper.  I like my team, but have come to realize we have some major holes to fix.  For starters, my goalie is already tired.  Jesus.  People talk about goalies blowing games for their respective teams this season, but I'd be willing to bet Amick has blow more games than every other goalie this season... games that the performance ratings and game stats suggest we otherwise would have won.  So my options are a tired/exhausted goalie... an anxious goalie... or a 79-rated affiliate goalie.  Again, I really like my team, but the past two seasons we've had the #2 seed and have won a combined 2 games, getting bounced by lower seeds.  This is also the 3rd straight season where we have been on a cold streak heading into the playoffs.  Would I be surprised if I win... maybe not.  But until the Stealheads prove they can win a playoff series, I don't have much confidence in them.  My only shot is if the Dragons goalies under-perform.
Either way, thanks for pulling this together, Rain.  Good luck to everyone!

If the assistant in the game reports isn't mentioning fatigue as a problem it isn't the problem. Personally I think the scoring at the GHL level is down a bit much. The best scorers struggle to reach a point a game pace here whereas at the NHL level you have Crosby, Malkin, McDavid, et cetera with regularity above that. Personally I wouldn't be too worried about his perceived down scoring stats. Granted this game doesn't have to strictly follow the NHL patterns of scoring. I just think it should be within the realm of possibility to see the best offensive players beat a point a game nearly every season. Currently it is a significant achievement to get a point a game by the end of the season.

Great stuff Rain
Here is my prediction
Minuteman - Nightmares 3-1
Red Tide - Bulldogs 3-1
Dragons - Stealheads 3-2 (a bit biased, cant go against my team haha)
Duhawks - Battlin Bears 0-3
 
Praire Stars - Outlaws 3-2
Hawks - Steelers 3-0
Rage - Tomahawks 1-3
Ricochet - Wolverines 1-3
 
And good luck to everyone!

Great stuff Rain
Here is my prediction
Minuteman - Nightmares 3-1
Red Tide - Bulldogs 3-1
Dragons - Stealheads 3-2 (a bit biased, cant go against my team haha)
Duhawks - Battlin Bears 0-3
 
Praire Stars - Outlaws 3-2
Hawks - Steelers 3-0
Rage - Tomahawks 1-3
Ricochet - Wolverines 1-3
 
And good luck to everyone!

East:
#1 Cedar Rapids Minutemen vs #8 Netherhill Nightmares.
45-7-2-26 151pts / 32-10-10-28 126pts
Regular season stats: Minutemen / Nightmare
Goals for: 255 (4th) / 237 (13th)
Goals against: 191 (3rd) / 220 (12th)
PP: 21.8% (8th) / 21% (11th)
PK: 86.1% (3rd) / 78.5% (18th)
Shooting %: 9.8% (1st) / 7.8% (18th)
Save %: 92.7% (4th) / 92.3% (12th)
PDO: 1.025 (1st) / 1.002 (12th)
CF: 1245 (24th) / 1342 (14th)
CA: 1151 (3rd) / 1321 (13th)
Corsi %: 52% (8th) / 50.4% (14th)
Season match up: 3 wins Minutemen, 1 OT win Nightmare.
 
Statistically this was a close match up during the regular season with only one game being decided by more than one goal. As a result, I expect this match up to be a lot closer than the statistics may otherwise say. The Nightmare are a solid overall team that aren't to be discounted due to their 8th seed. Combine that with the fact that the Minutemen played well above expectations for the season (especially with a shooting% and PDO so abnormally high when CF is taken into account) and I would give this match up a serious consideration for upset alert.
 
#2 Slaughterville Red Tide vs #7 Lake Valley Bulldogs
46-4-3-27 149pts / 35-10-4-31 129pts
Regular season stats: Red Tide / Bulldogs
Goals for: 266 (2nd) / 255 (5th)
Goals against: 200 (6th) / 245 (21st)
PP: 19.8% (16th) / 22.8% (5th)
PK: 79.1% (16th) / 81.1% (12th)
Shooting %: 9.2% (4th) / 9.7% (2nd)
Save %: 93.2% (1st) / 91.2% (24th)
PDO: 1.024 (2nd) / 1.008 (10th)
CF: 1535 (1st) / 1302 (19th)
CA: 1202 (7th) / 1420 (21st)
Corsi %: 56.1% (2nd) / 47.8% (21st)
Season match up: 3 wins Red Tide, 1 win Bulldogs.
 
The season series was notably in favor of the Red Tide as one game was on the verge of a blowout while another was an out right blowout. The Bulldogs are going to have to find a way to improve their 5 on 5 play defensively or this could be a short series. The middle of the pack special teams for the Red Tide could potentially keep the Bulldogs in the series and appears to be the most likely reason for the series to drag on.
 
#3 Sheshegwaning Dragons vs #6 Big Delta Stealheads
44-3-11-22 149pts / 36-7-7-30 129pts
Regular season stats: Dragons / Stealheads
Goals for: 263 (3rd) / 239 (12th)
Goals against: 205 (8th) / 199 (5th)
PP: 24.9% (2nd) / 16.6% (22nd)
PK: 86.3% (2nd) / 83.9% (6th)
Shooting %: 8.9% (7th) / 8.8% (8th)
Save %: 92.4% (9th) / 92.3% (10th)
PDO: 1.013 (4th) / 1.012 (5th)
CF: 1466 (3rd) / 1313 (18th)
CA: 1261 (9th) / 1098 (2nd)
Corsi %: 53.8% (4th) / 54.5% (3rd)
Season match up: 1 win Dragons, 3 wins Stealheads.
 
This matchup is my official upset alert for the East. Outside of the poor powerplay of the Stealheads these two teams are statistically near mirror images. The question is if the current goaltending for the Dragons can hold up to the quite potent offense of the Stealheads? The Dragons shipped out the goalie they had as their starter for most of the season. This is going to be either a lopsided series due to poor goaltending or one heck of a close series.
 
#4 Sault Ste Marie Battlin Bears vs #5 Mango Duhawks
43-4-3-30 140pts / 37-7-6-30 131pts
Regular season stats: Battlin Bears / Duhawks
Goals for: 232 (14th) / 226 (16th)
Goals against: 209 (9th) / 216 (11th)
PP: 19.1% (18th) / 19.8% (17th)
PK: 85.9% (4th) / 77.1% (23rd)
Shooting %: 7.9% (16th) / 8.1% (13th)
Save %: 91.8% (16th) / 92.1% (15th)
PDO: .997 (17th) / 1.002 (13th)
CF: 1388 (9th) / 1382 (10th)
CA: 1293 (10th) / 1323 (14th)
Corsi %: 51.8% (9th) / 51.1% (10th)
Season match up: 2 wins Battlin Bears, 2 wins Duhawks.
 
This is very likely to be a close series. The regular season games were. Based upon the regular season stats I think it is most likely to be decided by the PK of each team. The Battlin Bears had one of the best. The Duhawks had one of the worst. In every other way these teams are very close statistically. It could be a short series due to the PK difference but the Battlin Bears PP is too iffy for me to fully buy into the poor PK of the Duhawks as being as significant a drawback as it likely should be.
 
West
#1 Kegashka Prairie Stars vs #8 Eastern Outlaws.
47-11-2-20 165pts / 34-7-7-32 123pts
Regular season stats: Prairie Stars / Outlaws
Goals for: 246 (10th) / 214 (18th)
Goals against: 164 (1st) / 204 (7th)
PP: 22.3% (7th) / 18.5% (19th)
PK: 82.6% (8th) / 77.8% (20th)
Shooting %: 8% (15th) / 7.7% (19th)
Save %: 93% (3rd) / 93.1% (2nd)
PDO: 1.010 (7th) / 1.009 (9th)
CF: 1403 (6th) / 1344 (13th)
CA: 1223 (8th) / 1181 (5th)
Corsi %: 53.4% (5th) / 53.2% (6th)
Season match up: 2 wins and 1 SO win Prairie Stars, 1 wins Outlaws.
 
The Outlaws are a solid team with very good goaltending and team play. Everything else about them is below average. On the other side is the Prairie Stars with the best record in the league but rather underwhelming stats for a team that more or less ran away with the best record by 14 points. Almost everything about them is good but only the 5 on 5 goals against is truly great. I would have expected more statistically with such a record. In terms of the match up the big question is can the Outlaws score and can their special teams be better than it was in the regular season? Against the Prairie Stars it is going to be tough as their two wins were big ones over the Outlaws.
 
#2 West Chicago Hawks vs #7 Scandinavia Steelers
42-7-8-23 148pts / 35-9-5-31 128pts
Regular season stats: Hawks / Steelers
Goals for: 249 (8th) / 200 (25th)
Goals against: 183 (2nd) / 194 (4th)
PP: 24.1% (3rd) / 20.2% (15th)
PK: 82.5% (9th) / 87.2% (1st)
Shooting %: 7.6% (20th) / 7.4% (22nd)
Save %: 92.5% (6th) / 92.5% (7th)
PDO: 1.001 (14th) / .999 (16th)
CF: 1448 (5th) / 1184 (25th)
CA: 1389 (16th) / 1160 (4th)
Corsi %: 51% (11th) / 50.5% (13th)
Season match up: 4 wins Hawks.
 
The Steelers are a bit of a mystery to me. They have a very good group of forwards but the team struggles mightily offensively. They didn't do well against the Hawks in the regular season because of it losing all four games. On the same token the Hawks offense under performed as well 5 on 5 with a very poor shooting percentage themselves. This could be a series dragged on by the stingy defense of the Steelers facing off against the lackluster 5 on 5 offense of the Hawks but the Steelers have to find a way to score to do it. This series is going to come down to if the Steelers can find some offense or not.
 
#3 Enigma Rage vs #6 Vauban Tomahawks
42-5-5-28 141pts / 36-9-6-29 132pts
Regular season stats: Rage / Tomahawks
Goals for: 248 (9th) / 253 (6th)
Goals against: 230 (15th) / 222 (13th)
PP: 22.9% (4th) / 17.7% (21st)
PK: 83.3% (7th) / 81.8% (11th)
Shooting %: 8.8% (9th) / 9.5% (3rd)
Save %: 92.1% (14th) / 92.3% (11th)
PDO: 1.009 (8th) / 1.018 (3rd)
CF: 1354 (12th) / 1319 (16th)
CA: 1198 (5th) / 1313 (11th)
Corsi %: 53.1% (7th) / 50.1% (15th)
Season match up: 1 win Rage, 2 wins and 1 SO win Tomahawks
 
This series is my upset alert for the West. The Rage are a very good statistical team overall. Its one statistical blemish is its 5 on 5 goals against. The Tomahawks are a good team themsleves with one very good strength. 5 on 5 goals for. It is the biggest weakness of one team against the biggest strength of the other team. This has the potential to be a very close series that could also go heavily one way or the other. If the Tomahawks can continue their 5 on 5 excellence it will be trouble for Rage. The Rage have the special teams to otherwise win the series if not keep the games close.
 
#4 Ithaca Ricochet vs #5 Yonker Wolverines
40-7-4-29 138pts / 41-4-3-32 134pts
Regular season stats: Ricochet / Wolverines
Goals for: 253 (7th) / 269 (1st)
Goals against: 213 (10th) / 241 (20th)
PP: 21% (12th) / 22.8% (6th)
PK: 80% (14th) / 75.2% (27th)
Shooting %: 8.4% (11th) / 9.1% (5th)
Save %: 91.6% (18th) / 90.6% (27th)
PDO: 1.000 (15th) / .997 (19th)
CF: 1452 (4th) / 1474 (2nd)
CA: 1503 (25th) / 1541 (27th)
Corsi %: 49.1% (17th) / 48.9% (18th)
Season match up: 3 wins Ricochet, 1 win Wolverines
 
This is the series that I am most looking forward to. It has the greatest potential for some wild games. Each of the four games in the regular season was. For one team you can forget about defense. It doesn't exist. Its not a thing. The other team is a team that plays a high tempo style of play given the lot of shots for and against 5 on 5. I'm excited for this series simply because it is very likely going to be a lot of speed, shots and general back and forth, high tempo action. Who is going to win? Who cares? It is going to very likely be one heck of a show.

Good series @Peekaboo
Good luck in round 2.

I don't know, but a wild guess would be a slight yes. I've noticed a difference between big games traits per line for sure. Have them all nervous and you can count that the line will freeze in the playoffs, but have a heroic, stable and nervous/anxious and it works like a dream. Balance seems to be the key. 3 x heroic doesn't work either.. they just falter and die to put it in an exaggeratingly dramatic form. My guess is that personality traits might and could work in a similar way. I guess the biggest thing is to not be all afraid of red traits. They are needed as well as the greens.

whiskey

Part of the reason my Buzzer team started at the bottom was that it gave me the chance to play with that stuff. From that the conclusion that I have come to is don't bother worrying about it.  Team composition and talent is so much more an important thing. Start of the season for my Cage team my WI was blue. Now it is green and I never made a trade. No clue as to why that happened. Don't care either as I don't see it as that relevant. Especially following me messing with it for 4 seasons with my Buzzer team.

Hey Kim,
I understand you totally. I would suggest that you stay for next update at least, where there will be more micromanagment. I am all for more activity on forums/chat, but that should be integrated in game better.
Speaking of season, Paul, there is still open race for top point player. DeNobile vs Andersen. Lets see what happens today, funny how regular season ends on new year's eve

Hey Kim,
I understand you totally. I would suggest that you stay for next update at least, where there will be more micromanagment. I am all for more activity on forums/chat, but that should be integrated in game better.
Speaking of season, Paul, there is still open race for top point player. DeNobile vs Andersen. Lets see what happens today, funny how regular season ends on new year's eve

If there's one thing that is a complete mystery in GPHM it is how to raise your team's Winner Instinct (WI).  Although I thoroughly enjoy the fact that the Admins have only shared a fraction of the information, leaving managers to figure it out for themselves... I also enjoy the conversations it creates - so why not try to crack the code together... or use the information contained here to crack the code on your own and keep it to yourself 😜
I feel like getting this value perfect is like piecing together a puzzle.  There are many factors and you need the perfect balance of those factors, including: Big Games trait, Ego Trait, Team Captains, Reputation of Players & Certain attributes of players. 
 
Below are the "official" notes from the Help Files.
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/10834-team-spirit-done/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/10844-roster-captains-and-lineup-done/
 
Here's what I gather from the two links above:
- WI is mostly impacted by the Big Games trait.  You need quite a bit of Heroic/Determined players, but not too many as it will create disputes within your team.  You will also need some Anxious/Nervous, but not too many.
- In line with the above, you also need some Arrogant/Cocky players to boost your WI, but too many will negatively impact your Teamwork.
- Team Captains have a large influence on WI.  From other help files, it is known that Player Reputation and the Spirit Attribute factor into the Captains influence on a team, so if your Captains have a larger influence on your WI, then those values may also have an impact on your team's WI.
 
Other personal observations, related to the above:
- I always struggled with WI (couldn't get it above a blue rating) as I mostly focused on Teamwork being Harmony (Friendly/Compassionate players).  It wasn't until I acquired some Arrogant & Cocky players that my WI rose to a green rating. (Others have shared this opinion - see links below).
- When I have more Stars (players with higher reputation) on my team, my WI is higher.
 
Below are some other links to various conversations around WI that have been created over time.  As you can see... if you are confused about this rating, you are not alone!  There are some interesting opinions in these threads, so if you are truly interesting in this topic, be prepared to do some reading.
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/7564-q-about-winner-instinct/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/7400-teamwork-winner-instinct/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/9702-improve-winning-instinct/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/7242-winners-instinct/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/10669-trait-preference/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/7461-winner-insticnt/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/8247-traits/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/7957-team-spirit/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/9702-improve-winning-instinct/
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/8759-so-nervous-i-peed-a-little/
 
Below are a few opinions from the link above that stood out to me.  I can't confirm whether they are true or not.  They could be 100% correct or way off.
- Captains with Heroic or Determined Big Games trait increase WI.
- Only players in the immediate lineup impact WI, not affiliate or scratched players.  In another thread, the exact opposite was also stated.
- Big Games of Goalies factor more than Skaters.
- Don't worry about WI at all.  It is not required to be successful.
- WI is established over time as players get to know each other.
- Big games is overrated.  An Anxious/Nervous player can be just as clutch as a Heroic/Determined player.
- Line placement matters (i.e. 1st line players impact more than 2nd line and so on).
 
Personally, the questions I keep asking are "when does WI come into play?" and "how much does it even impact gameplay?".  I have seen nervous goalies play lights out in the playoffs and win it all.  I have also seen team's with Heroic WI get relegated.  But I am sure the opposite happens much more, so it is yet to be known exactly how much this rating matters overall.  As with most things in this game, it is chance based, so I'm sure it does have an impact.  Managers just need to figure out for themselves how much emphasis to put on getting the perfect team chemistry.
Enjoy.
 

/\
I will add to the above, which I have stated before, that I STRONGLY feel there is an element of randomness to this game.  As there should be!  I think some of the information that you are looking to obtain just isn't as simple as it seems (like rainsilent said), and that you're going to end up not enjoying the game as much as you should.  So I don't mean to imply that you aren't enjoying the game, but I think that your current mindset will lead you to not enjoy the game.
The randomness that I talk about could be anything from:
  - puck luck (that crazy biscuit takes some weird bounces sometimes).
  - players just having off games (they do in real life)... Ovechkin had a game a few nights ago where he scored 3G + 1A, then followed that up with 3 games of 0+0 and a -1.
  - the fact that the player ratings aren't as far apart as most people view them.  A sub-90 rating doesn't mean the player sucks at that specific skill.  Even an 85 rating in certain skills is considered a natural for certain roles.
  - there's probably 5-10 other things I could list here, but I'm losing my train of thought.
Sometimes inferior teams beat more dominant teams.  Sometimes teams with low winner instinct win close games.  By the way, Winner Instict is something that I have NEVER been able to figure out.  I've had a Heroic team, at most, for a couple of games, before it slid back down the bar.  I'm going to be pumped when I finally figure it out, but I hope it's by chance... I don't want someone to give me the magical formula.
And after seeing your second comment about you implying that you aren't enjoying the game, here's some reasons why you SHOULD enjoy the game
  - you are current GHL champ
  - you are currently in 1st place
  - you have a great team now and into the future (this doesn't mean that sometimes you won't get beat by an SHL team here and there... it happens).
  - despite it's minor flaws, the game is still REALLY F*CKING COOL 😜
You are a good manager.  I like the league being filled with good managers.  Simple as that.  I was bummed out when Eric left (Fairbanks Union)... I was bummed out when Matt H left (Brass Castle Berzerkers).  It was clear to me that they both left because their teams weren't doing as good as they wanted them to.  But in the end, nobody really cares.    To me that is just insane.  The object of the game is to win.  Sure.  I want to win.  But that's not why I enjoy the game.  It's the escape from real life that I enjoy.  Just as much as winning, I also enjoy scouting the draft, developing players, trying players in new roles and positions, chatting with Wendel and Naekfor about various things.  There are times I get BS after a loss to an inferior team, but then I step back and have a "who gives a sh*t" moment.  Failure isn't losing a game or having a losing record or getting relegated.  Failure is getting upset in real life about fake game failure and not being able to just enjoy it for what it is (that isn't directed at anyone in particular... it's directed at EVERYONE!).
See - I went off on another tangent again.  Take from it what you will. 
 
 
 

I didn't mean to imply that.  Sometimes when I start writing my posts, I continue to expand on them based on where I am with my own thoughts.  I try to give others a glimpse of the logic behind my thinking as opposed to trying to attack what the other person is saying.  I've been doing that since the beginning of time... check some of my posts from 2017 😁
So, sorry if it came across that way.  I enjoy having analytical discussions about the game, but don't enjoy when it becomes argumentative.  There's plenty of room for that in other aspects of my life... like work... and marriage 😝  I think at this point we are just thinking about the game differently.

Yes, you have to have puck possession to get a shot. However that isn't really what corsi is telling you. Going back to Carolina as for why. Carolina, since they became "good" statistically corsi wise, has had the mentality of shoot the puck from anywhere, anytime. They weren't dominating possession of the puck so much as they were throwing a lot of bad shots at the net. The net result of that was averaging ~35 shots a game for with ~27 against. This served to heavily bloat the corsi and offensive zone face-off numbers of the team even though they were actually mid pack, at best, puck possession wise. Thus Carolina was gaming the statistical system to look good when they really weren't that good at all. This is why I think the actual puck possession % is the most important team tracking stat. It will actually tell you if you are getting dominated, if the game is close or if you happened to be playing "Carolina" that game.

I don't have a strong opinion on it, but here's why I wouldn't necessarily agree with this.
1) High Corsi doesn't necessarily mean that team is dominating games.  It could be as simple as, the team goes down early and plays Offensive when trailing.  This could lead to more shot attempts, but not necessarily quality chances.  Or the team could play Defensive and just not allow many shots, but not get many quality scoring chances.  Either way, in this specific case, the Red Dragons are facing relegation so the high Corsi isn't helping.
2) The game has an element of randomness to it, much like the sport itself.  That's a good thing.  Sometimes certain outcomes just don't make sense, other than the element of randomness.  Overall, the game is directionally accurate and the "better" teams tend to place higher in the standings/have better stats.
3) If we had the tools to determine exactly why stuff like this happened, then every manager would use the same tactics, build the same roster, play the same focus.  That would get pretty boring.  I like the fact that every manager is given a clean slate and able to customize their team to their liking without there being a "right" or "wrong" way to do it.
4) Personally, I think statistical outliers add fun to the game.  It's fun when an inferior team is high in the standings - or a completely stacked team isn't as good as everyone thought.  Although I would admit that this isn't necessarily fair... but sometimes sports aren't fair (or life for that matter).
5) If you take a close look at this specific team, they have a very unique set up.  An Offensive Defenseman playing 1st line wing.  A Two Way D playing 4th line wing.  That would definitely screw with the simulation.  But I think we all agree the game needs more micromanagement, so I see that as a good thing.  Figure out unique ways to set your lineup.
If you compare their defense to mine, they are actually better.
Red Dragons - 90 89 88 88 88 85 (528)
Stealheads - 92 88 88 87 86 81 (522)

Not necessarily true. Remember that corsi is strictly counting shots for and shots against. It actually has nothing to do with puck control directly. It is a statistical assumption that the team taking more shots has the puck more.
 
As for how this applies here? The same as it applies to my team. My team isn't near as talented as yours or the many others that sit at the top of the standings. Yet I have good corsi numbers too. That team is another example, just like mine is, of getting the right players that they need for their system but with two flaws sinking that team. Lack of goaltending and lack of scoring. They have a talented enough team to fight for a playoff spot if they had a good goalie. I have yet to look at the games that team has played so I can't say if they are true puck possession monsters but they have a good enough group talent wise that they can be a solid puck possession team.

So, there is a good chance Rackley will again hit the FA
*makes cap space quickly*

I'm starting this thread so managers can post about game performances that should be acknowledged.  Whether it be a high performance rating you've never seen before, a hat trick, a multi-point game, a high-save shutout, whatever.  Not every manager sorts through every box score for their league every day.  Consider this the NHL Network for game world Cage where the analysts discuss the top plays and performances.
Anyways, I'll start.  There was a specific performance today that sparked this and the player is not even on my team.
---------
Season 3 - Day 51 - Enigma Rage vs. Eldred Elite.
Rage center, Brendan Rowlett, notched a Gordie Howe Hat Trick... and then some.  He registered 3 goals, 2 assists, a fight (which he WON), was also a +5 with a hit and a blocked shot.  And he did it with only 15 min TOI.
---------
I'm not sure if this will be topped any time soon, but the purpose of this thread is not a competition.  Just post what you feel deserves to be recognized.

Truly epic.  In fact, my team was so impressed they kept stopping and watching him skate right on past!

????????????, don't remind me of my age :DDD