Peekaboo

I've noticed that when I play 4 forwards on a power play - even if the forward has 90-99 defensive ability - that I give up more SHGs.  Just wondering if there is an out of position penalty.

Just setting the stage for a dramatic reverse sweep...

The #1 Union sweep the Duhawks and the #4 Red Tide sweep the Nightmares, which sets up a Battle of the Titans in Round 2.  Union currently lead 2-0, but I'd be surprised if the Tide don't make a push in game 3 to extend the series.
 
The other matchup is #7 Bulldogs vs. #2 Stray Cats, where the Bulldogs look to continue their domination over feline teams.  Series currently sits at 1-1.
 
Out West we have the #1 Prairie Stars, who won the President's Trophy facing off against the red hot Wolverines.  The P-Stars just evened the series at 1-1 in an offensive slugfest.
 
And the #2 Hawks (Legends of game world Biscuit) take on the #3 Ricochet.  The Hawks continue their defensive domination and lead the series 2-0.

Similar here.  I figure I'll just wait for everyone to trip over themselves when these players become FAs, hahaha.  It's more sporting that way anyways!  

Well, we didn't agree on anything and... well, no point in agreement if all are not in.
 
So, feel free Paul
 
That being said, I decided I won't trade against CPU teams

Gratz Steve!
 
And to all who got trough. And to Wendel

My vote for Manager of the Year goes to Steven Bennett, Eldred Elite.
 
Sitting at 8-3-3-32 over half way through the season and well into relegation, he somehow turned his team around and clawed his way back into the GHL relegation playoffs and won a decisive Game 5, 1-0, to stay in the big leagues.
 
Well done, Steve.

Good luck to the remaining teams in the playoffs.  The Leopards will be watching from the golf course.  Actually, I hate golf. 
 
Just be aware that the 1st round exit has lit a fire under our a$$es are the Leopards are angry heading into Season 2.
You've all been warned.

I'm not done with the game, I've just been busy with life. Honestly I've been checking about once a week so Im not sure why I was booted. Myabe its because I havent checked my fast team in so long that I got booted from both worlds.
 
 
 
I should add, I'm a little bit peeved I didn't have time to make deadline deals  and also I'm glad my team wasn't immediately raided.

And to state the obvious, TOI is the first place to start, so set your lines so your heaviest shooters spend the most time on the ice.  But again, no guarantees as I often will have a 3rd or 4th liner randomly lead my team in shots that game from time to time.  

+1000

Since (most) of us can take a good joke on here, it'd be great to also see more creative awards.  For instance, rookie of the year would be a good legit one for a player that is in his first season in GHL (no matter the age) who leads in points or whatever stats you want to toss in.
 
Some other funny ones could be:
Best/Worst Goals Per $ spent
Worst Plus/Minus
Swiss Cheese Award for Goalie that meets minimum games played requirement (~10) and lowest Save %
Broken Stick Award for the player with the most Giveaways
 
Open to other suggestions, but whatever award people come up with, please explain your methodology just so we know.  

Ofc, will do it today

I'm 100% behind the legacy aspect - building the history of the world is what makes this awesome. 
 
If you can grab the images and store them on an external site (i.e. Imgur), I can link them back in here. Team effort

This probably isn't the best thread to post in as it is the exact opposite of trash talk, but it seems to be the only Cage discussion, so what the heck...
 
First, congrats to the Bangers, Plastic Attack, Patriots and Owls for promotion from SHL to GHL.  I am personally looking forward to battling with the Bangers and Plastic Attack again (BHL/SHL Biscuit days).
 
Second, good luck to the Flame, Savage Storm, Dragons, Defenders and Giant Strikers in your playoff quest for promotion.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pulling for the Flame as I enjoy competing with active managers.
 
Third, good luck to the Elite, Blue Thunder, Battlin Bears and Supersonics, who are all currently battling to stay in GHL.  That's gotta be nerve-wracking.  It's amazing the way the Elite were able to turn their season around.
 
Last, and definitely not least.  Huge kudos to both Fango and Antti (Claws & Kamikazee).  Currently in relegation, but sticking with it.  Too often the only managers that get recognized are the top of the standings, but there's a huge something to be said when things aren't going your way and you stay with the team and keep battling.  I see too many managers who just bail if their team starts losing.  Think more people need to really enjoy the game for what it is.  It's a manager game with a huge element of luck/randomness/chance, whatever you want to call it.  It is just as fun, if not more, when you actually have to put more effort into it or get creative.  The only unsuccessful managers are the ones who leave.  Their loss.  Regardless if your team is doing well or not, you still get to enjoy what the game has to offer.  It's cool to win, but I personally have much more respect for the managers who still have fun even when they don't.

With the end of the season here, I decided to create an awards list for best players in GHL Cage, using NHL template as example - to make it more of a lived-in world, and simply because I think the players deserve some individual recognition for all the work they have done for us this season.
Calculations are shown where relevant. Runner-ups for each category are also included. Enjoy!
 
 
 
ART ROSS TROPHY (Most League Points)
 
IAN FREROT (Wolverines) - 91 points    (https://gameplanhockey.com/player?gpid=10043-A)
 
Elouan Scott (Red Tide)
Jeremie Cline (Stray Cats)
 
 
 
ALEX OVECHKIN TROPHY - (Top Goalscorer)

ELOUAN SCOTT (Red Tide) - 46 goals                  (https://gameplanhockey.com/player?gpid=3196-A)
 
Ian Frerot (Wolverines)
Jeremy Lawhorn (Wolverines)
 
 
 
SILVER PLATTER TROPHY (Best Playmaker) 
 
PATRICK GORNELL (Red Tide) - 56 assists           (https://gameplanhockey.com/player?gpid=1776-A)
 
Jeremie Cline (Stray Cats)
Marek Koch (Prairie Stars)/Ian Frerot (Wolverines)
 
 
 
VEZINA TROPHY (Best Goaltender)
 
KWESI CUTTER (Prairie Stars)                (https://gameplanhockey.com/goalie?gpid=324-A)
 
Gregoire Wright (Stray Cats)
Renaud Pettigrew (Hawks)
 
 
 
NORRIS TROPHY (Best Defenceman)
 
TENHO SUOMI (Ricochet)                       (https://gameplanhockey.com/player?gpid=4037-A)
 
Marek Koch (Prairie Stars)
Clemens Andresen (Union)
Calculated with the following formula among D: [PTS + Plus/Minus + BKS - GVA + TKA], PER also taken into consideration  
 
SELKE TROPHY (Best Defensive Forward)
 
WESLEY SOUDERS (Leopards)                   (https://gameplanhockey.com/player?gpid=8314-A)
 
Elouan Scott (Red Tide)
Jeremie Cline (Stray Cats), 
Calculated with the following formula among F: [PTS + Plus/Minus + BKS - GVA + TKA]  
 
LADY BYNG TROPHY (Most Gentlemanly Player)
 
IAN FREROT (Wolverines)               (https://gameplanhockey.com/player?gpid=10043-A)
 
Jeremie Cline (Stray Cats)
Ondrej Valabik (Hawks)
Calculated with the following formula [PTS - PIM]  
 
HART TROPHY (League MVP)
 
KWESI CUTTER (Prairie Stars) - 80 PER        (https://gameplanhockey.com/goalie?gpid=324-A)
 
Elouan Scott (Red Tide)
Clemens Andresen (Union)
 
 
 
 
*Notes: Calculations may not be entirely accurate due to limited visibility and inability to sort by position in GPHM stats format - if anyone sees mistakes, let me know and I will fix.

Great idea and great work. I would suggest that we add screenshots of players, at least overview.
 
I can crop them so you can fit them easily.

Player roles and line set ups. Snipers and power forwards seem to be the biggest shot takers. Having the line they are on be offensively focused will encourage more offense. Beyond that, it comes down to how your team plays relative to your opponent.

Decided to tweak mine in time for playoffs to get more merchandise revenues!

Take shots away is a rather poor way of looking at it. Explaining why would be getting real deep into probability mathematics that doesn't go into answering your question so I won't give you a full explanation. Suffice to say the answer is no with a short explanation that the shot a given player takes no one else was going to take.
 
Basically, unless you have a way of finding out if your team is doing this:

Don't worry about who specifically is taking however many shots.

Yeah, the answer to this is a complicated one.  You could always test it out.  Review a few game logs with defensemen set to Offensive vs. Two Way/Stay Home and gauge the shot allocations.  You would probably need a large sample size to properly evaluate the results - and the results are highly subjective.
 
I would think that offensive defensemen would take "some" shots away from forwards, but that they would also generate MORE offense.  That being said, here's my non-verified, "best guess" at what would happen, using a completely made up scenario. 
 
Offensive:  Team shots 35 (Forwards 23, Defense 12)
Not Offensive:  Team shots 30 (Forwards 25, Defense 5)
 
Personally, I think of that as 5 more shots, not 2 less shots from forwards.
 
*As with most things in this game, I use the "feel test" rather than fact based logic.  It's just more fun that way.  Try both scenarios and go with whichever one gives you better vibes.

I am playing same off tactic trough the whole season.
 
Switched between 2 def tactics, but lately just sticking to one.

Hey,
 
I am still somewhat a n00b, but here is what I collected so far after the new game started (season and some little in Buzzer and almoust a season in Cage)... as I said, take it with a grain of salt, maybe someone more experienced will have some more things to add.
 
In no particular order...
 
 
- Development of players: They seem to progress too slow. Especially the young ones... I would expect them to grow a bit more. Can't say I have older players regress quick, as I don't have too many.
 
- Underestimation and overall performance of players: Now, regarding this I already notified Anders, but current Buzzer GHL season is really weird. Top team on Eastern division is performing way above their players skill (even the goalkeepers). There is also team in Western that is 5th or 6th, that has even worse players (both teams are promoted from SHL). Also, players on Buzzer with most points are 80 to 82 rated, with some serious flaws in their skills (like shooting for example, but still topping the charts). Now sure what is going on there, looks like a bug to me.
 
- Signing free agents during season: I was one of those who asked for that to be removed, however I do think that whole idea would be better if there would be a player or two that showed on free agents. I would keep them in lowish average rating tho. No superstars popping up. Just a journeyman, now and then. That way, people could patch a whole or two, without unbalancing the whole league, or devalueing players too much/if any.
 
- Trading when playoffs start for non playoff teams: Now, here is the tricky one. I almoust wanted to get knocked out of playoffs last season (eventually I did, but due to being outplayed by better team) so I can start trading as soon as possible and having advantage over those who are still there and want the same players I do. Not sure how to approach this one, but current system is somewhat abusable. For example, the best player in Cage GHL (Elie-Breton) is in possibilty of getting relegated trough possible playoffs and manager could trade him to some teams for picks or prospects before he losses him due to 1w contract. Teams that are out of playoffs can move in for him if he relegates, since they will have small chance of signing him for free later due to team reputation, while many other teams are still locked in playoffs. Its just a stupid example, but its abuseable. Maybe to allow all teams to trade when playoffs start, but those trades would start being effective last day of the season when everything is played and before relegated people lose players to contracts.
 
 
 
now to suggestions... (I am sure someone already suggested some of those, but still...)
 
- Chemistry between the lines: We need more micromanagment, please. To give more control in putting our lines/teams togeather. Maybe even of personality effect of how certain people blend with each other.
 
- More tactical options: Possiblity to set playstyle individially, like for example, telling players individually to go tough or gentle. That way we could have certain lines doing that, or even just players. Not just entire team. This is just an example, but I would get things complex here, I dunno, FM style The more we feel in control of our team, the more we will dive into the game.
 
 
Thats just it, from top of my head. Sry for spelling mistakes

I'm not sure about international leagues, but the NHL has only averaged a single fight every 5 games for the past two seasons.  I enjoy the fights more than the average fan and would hate it if the league ever banned it, but there's so much more to the sport.  Fighting is only a small fraction of the entertainment.  Wouldn't boxing or MMA be a better option for those who are just tuning in to see a fight?

Simply a territorial dispute - Leopards can't handle Stray Cats wandering into their zone.