Wick Schozen

Due to constraints, the free league of GPHM was not rolled out with v2.0.  No word on whether it will make an appearance in the future.
 
The monthly fee is pretty cheap though.

I agree with the problem this is trying to solve, but maybe not the proposed solution.  That being said, this topic of inter-league trading has come up a few times in the past and is one that needs active discussion.
 
To answer the initial questions:
 
Picks switching between promoting and demoting teams.  Uhm, whats the logic behind that?
As was already stated above, the logic is to reward the lower league team for promoting to an upper league and penalize the relegating teams.  I think this is a good thing.
 
Except its super abusable? 
100% agree and we need to come up with a solution to make it less abusable.
 
I mean, shouldn't relegated team (when losing his whole team most of the time)  have something to be happy about? And also something to build upon in the future?  This way most people just quit.
If people quit because of being relegated or having a bad team, they are missing the point of the game and it's their loss.  I stated in another thread somewhere that the managers I had the most respect for weren't the teams battling it out for the GHL Cup (sure, those managers are competent and deserve praise as well), but rather the managers who were being relegated and stayed with their teams.  Afterall, it's a manager game.  The main object shouldn't be to just win.  The object should be to make your team better and get them to perform well regardless of your starting point.  If you win in the process, cool.  But if I ever get relegated, I will look at that as a new, exciting challenge.  I'm not sure how long I will play this game, but if/when I decide to retire, it will probably be because of real life getting in the way, not because of having a losing team.
 
Another thing to mention, unrelated to upper league teams from "abusing" it, is that inter-league trading is also unfair to the lower league teams who don't trade with upper league teams.  I would advise all lower league teams to keep their picks as it will pay off greatly upon promotion, but when other teams are getting stacked around you, I can understand why some teams feel it necessary to do so.
 
Now that that is out of the way, what are the possible solutions.
 
1) Picks don't change upon promotion/relegation
 
Pros:  Upper league teams cannot easily secure top picks.
 
Cons:  No reward for recently promoted teams.  Even more difficult for recently promoted teams to compete.
 
 
2) Eliminate trading between leagues (I actually suggested this in the Focus Group).
 
Pros:  Upper league teams cannot easily secure top picks.  Lower league teams cannot easily stack their roster.
 
Cons:  Less communication/interaction between managers (game needs more, not less).  It will be harder for lower league teams to compete with recently relegated upper league teams that prepared for relegation (hence why I also suggested an earlier trade deadline, but that's another topic).
 
 
3) Hear me out on this one.  What if when a player is traded to a lower league, the player's salary was not adjusted?  So if they were in GHL for 500K on a 2-way contract and got traded to SHL, the contract was STILL 500K, not 125K (or whatever it would be).  I suppose this wouldn't totally solve the problem, but it would make it less abusable because lower league teams would think twice about acquiring players for picks.  As it stands, the lower league teams currently benefit in two ways.  First, they get elite talent for their league level, and second, they get that elite talent at a massive discount vs. what they would have had to pay for signing the player themselves.
 
 
4) Roster limits.  Haven't totally thought this through, but it would prevent managers from stacking 2-way contracts for the sole purpose of trading them.  At the very least, it would limit the number of trades.
 
5) Transaction and/or trade limit per season.  I get this would take some of the fun out of the game, but both 4 and 5 would make your moves a little more strategic.  Unlimited trading leads to all sorts of "abuse". 
 
 
Keep the discussion going...

Yeah, looks like the weakness of the current system is the vulnerability to abuse (which could easily be countered by disabling inter-league trades of picks) and not the switching of the picks itself. The first one to me seems obvious and the latter debatable.

I get what your saying and it looks appealing in that outline. The thing I get stuck on with this is once you extrapolate that to five seasons out the GHL is essentially 34 teams with the top 6 teams in the SHL being former GHL teams that have been going up and down and the remaining 22 SHL teams could never possibly accumulate talent to be able to compete with those teams. 

The point that Wendel made about prohibiting the trading of picks between leagues is the best solution to the abusable system. Removing the promotion-relegation pick switch is not, because the team relegating has the best chance to return to the GHL. They have the ability to retain a roster of GHL players on two-way deals, there is absolutely no reason to give that team the best prospect entering the game world. What is a reason to award a team with the best prospect entering the game world is the team at the greatest disadvantage which is the team that just succeeded in promoting. Give them the asset so then they can cultivate a team of GHL assets and attempt to stay in the league and if they can't compete then they have to be competent managers and better situate themselves for success further down the line. You cannot incentivise failure in a relegation/promotion league structure by allowing that team to retain a top draft selection because then no team in a lower division has any possibility of breaking through to the top. Eventually the top assets will just be circulated amongst GHL teams and the handful of teams that sit at the top of the SHL promoting and relegating season after season. 

The logic on the exchanging of picks is to give the promoting team the best asset that is being inserted into the league by means of one of the top players drafted. If the relegating team were to receive that pick, then the promoting team would not only be coming into a higher league with a constrained roster, but also with a draft selection that no longer offers value to the league they now compete in. It's understandably difficult in implementation because there is no relegation system in any sporting landscape that has a draft, but I think Anders has done quite a good job with this system. 
 
 
The relegating team should not be provided with "something to be happy about" because in a competitive league structure they failed and their position within the league was replaced. Now in fairness they actually do have something to build upon. If the relegating team prepared for the possibility of relegation or they were in a situation where they were guaranteed to relegate they still have a far greater foundation to build upon than any SHL team they will be competing against the next season. And that foundation is a roster of GHL players (we'll use GHL for this example, but this logic will apply to any division for a relegating team) that the team could utilize to trade for assets that can be retained after being relegating. This can be done by acquiring players on two-way deals, prospects or draft picks. Coming from the position of all GHL quality assets, that is a far better position of building for the future than any SHL team, even those promoting that will switch draft selections with the relegating team.
 
 
 
This part I feel I am well equipped to comment on because I think it might be in reference to what I did. To be clear, it is not easy to gain promotion picks for three reasons. The first is that team that is in a guaranteed position to promote is not going to be interested in acquiring a bunch of players from a GHL team for their certain top pick. They have no incentive to trade their draft pick away for players they will have the ability to sign so almost always those teams would turn down a trade for their 1st or 2nd round picks. The second reason a promotion pick isn't easy to obtain is that the teams that would be willing to trade their potential promotion pick is not guaranteed to promote. So the team from the higher division that trades with that team is gambling that it pays off otherwise they have given up GHL level assets for a late SHL 1st or 2nd round pick. That's bad asset management and if done continuously will deplete a team. Finally the third reason it's not easy to do is SHL managers dictate whether they want to give up the pick. If the manager feels their roster is good enough to promote they will hold onto the picks. If they don't, they have to make the judgement of whether they receive more value in the players they acquire to be able to promote than what they will get out of the promotion picks. 
 
So to your question of what are you missing it's the end of your question before that of "their picks become crazy worth". If the team doesn't promote then no one would bat an eye, only the GHL manager would probably know his gamble fell short. The easiness of it is entirely hingent on it actually working out for the team that gave up assets for them. A lot of the times it doesn't. It's reliant on the manager of the SHL team desiring promoting over drafting a top player. Something a lot would not be willing to do. 
 
Losing a GHL pick upon relegation is not why most managers quit. Why I think most managers quit (I'll admit this is about to be a very loose assessment) is because they didn't have a long term plan for how they were going to build their team in a promotion/relegation league structure. So when they do relegate because of this they don't find the prospect of trying to rebuild their team to get back to where they were enjoyable.
 
Wick

Breaking News!
 
“Welcome to Hockey Night here on channel 684, in Blakely. I’m your Host Billy-Bob Bobbs with co-anchor Tina Bertha. We have some breaking news coming from the Black Flag’s stadium “Pandamanium” - It looks like this season is starting out with a pre-season delay due to a beer shortage!”
 
“This is a tragic scene Bobbs. Concessions stands are being raided and at least 5 servers walking the stairs have already died due to head trauma from ‘accidental falls’.”
 
“It sure is Bertha, how are we supposed to watch a game without some ale?!”
 
“Firefighters are on the scene fighting the blazes on the south end but we have seen some semis from Beerfilder heading North on I-75 towards the stadium.”
 
“Hopefully we can get this delay worked out as there is only 1 ref still alive and we would love to see a game sometime tonight!”
 
“You betcha Tina - let’s get those taps open! Have a great night everyone and remember, ‘when you need hockey news we’re the only ones in the 600s that’s still broadcasting at 3AM!’ Go get em Black Flag!”

Posing this question because I am not exactly sure how to train specific attributes. Spirit and endurance are the ones I am most unsure of but I was reading another tread that proposed some basic idea of which training settings trains what particular attributes.
 
I would like one of the developers to have some input on this. If this game is attempting to be realistic there should not be confusion on how to develop your players. As in real life if a player in an organization had a clear deficiency they would focus on developing that area of the players game. Player development should not be a trial and error procedure when we only have three criteria of player training. 

Does offensive training target: Speed, passing, puck control and shooting.
Does defensive training target: Defense, physicality, spirit and endurance.
Is general training an even distribution of all attributes?
 
Again, when skill development in real life is a concise and deliberate initiative it should not be a guessing game.

Hi
 
What skills/ratings that are included in the different training types depends on what tactics your team is using at the moment. In short you can say that offensive training will train your players to create and finish scoring chances on your current tactic. Defensive training will train them to defend using your current tactic. General training will combine the both types.
 
Take the Physical rating as one example, it will be trained when choosing offensive training if you are using Crash the net tactics. But not if you're using Puck Possession.
 
Hope that answers your question in some way at least.
 
We're also looking to include an update regarding the player training in one of the upcoming releases (perhaps after the summer, no promises though). The update will include the possibility to be more specific on what skills/ratings to train for a specific player.

Posing this question because I am not exactly sure how to train specific attributes. Spirit and endurance are the ones I am most unsure of but I was reading another tread that proposed some basic idea of which training settings trains what particular attributes.
 
I would like one of the developers to have some input on this. If this game is attempting to be realistic there should not be confusion on how to develop your players. As in real life if a player in an organization had a clear deficiency they would focus on developing that area of the players game. Player development should not be a trial and error procedure when we only have three criteria of player training. 

Does offensive training target: Speed, passing, puck control and shooting.
Does defensive training target: Defense, physicality, spirit and endurance.
Is general training an even distribution of all attributes?
 
Again, when skill development in real life is a concise and deliberate initiative it should not be a guessing game.

Posing this question because I am not exactly sure how to train specific attributes. Spirit and endurance are the ones I am most unsure of but I was reading another tread that proposed some basic idea of which training settings trains what particular attributes.
 
I would like one of the developers to have some input on this. If this game is attempting to be realistic there should not be confusion on how to develop your players. As in real life if a player in an organization had a clear deficiency they would focus on developing that area of the players game. Player development should not be a trial and error procedure when we only have three criteria of player training. 

Does offensive training target: Speed, passing, puck control and shooting.
Does defensive training target: Defense, physicality, spirit and endurance.
Is general training an even distribution of all attributes?
 
Again, when skill development in real life is a concise and deliberate initiative it should not be a guessing game.

Was pushing this about a year ago for prospect development. One thing that used to baffle me was players would be playing out of position. I'd have top defensemen prospects playing as centers because they were the highest overall on my affiliate while my center prospects were playing wing.
 
As far as I'm aware the only way to improve faceoff rating is by the player taking a high volume of faceoffs. So my centermen would always be left in my affiliate longer because I could get them almost 800 faceoffs in the minors as opposed to only 300 when playing in my bottom six. 

As for players getting stuck behind bums in your affiliate. If you have the ability to create a second affiliate I'd be sending the older players to the bottom affiliate while having only top prospects on the top affiliate. That allowed my top prospects to all get top 6/top 4 minutes. 

Sorry. I don't specifically know how much of a difference it makes to have them playing a lot vs a little. I don't think anyone does outside of Anders because testing that would be impossible. Outside of the known note that they get better faster if they are happy with their performance I am not sure that it matters. That said if you are concerned about playing time try not to have too many players above them on the minor team is the best that you can do. That said I think the easiest solution would be just having the ability to have an organizational depth chart and the minor team would go off of that.

The way I look at it with a simulation game is that it's all about odds (albeit without knowing how it is weighted). I feel that the tactics you choose improve the baseline that your players are able to best utilize there attributes. So even if your team may be better at a different tactic, if you switch to it your team will not be familiar with it and not receive any bonus to their play for it. 
 
I don't know for certain but I don't think the advantage of having a tactical advantage over your opponents system although without any familiarity would have the same benefit of getting a bonus for familiarity yet not in the capacity that your team would excel in. So for the question of just one day left I would leave it every time. 
 
Now if the other team had an absolute advantage against your team tactically then that would be a whole other question. Because maybe switching to what counteracts your opponents tactics could offset the advantage they have to where it is now just whos player perform better on the day. 
 
Still though, in a simulation game of weighted odds in which randomness has a large factor I don't think we can get a difinitive answer without knowing how it is weighted (which would ruin the fun).
 
Wick

I collect data of all the teams top 20 players (12 forwards, 6 defensemen, 2 goalies), add them all up and compare what the league is looking like every year. This year I thought I’d share my data (players on waivers were NOT counted even if they were better than some players dressed, I DID include players on IR if they were better than a dressed player at their same position, I DID NOT include players in the minors).
Legend:
-number before team name is total team overall
-number in parentheses to the left of the team is their ranking in terms of overall
-list is in order of league position at the time when data was collected
- +/- number to the right of team name is how many overall points away from the average total overall they are
-number to the right in parentheses is teams average overall
 
(8) 1845 Pittsboro +3.3 (92.25)
(2) 1877 Stony Brooke +35.3 (93.85)
(1) 1903 Unity +61.3 (95.15)
(4) 1856 New Castle +14.3 (92.8)
(7) 1848 Burnside +6.3 (92.4)
(5) 1853 Forest Park +11.3 (92.65)
(12) 1819 Mountain Lakes -22.7 (90.95)
(3) 1862 Palm Harbour +20.3 (93.1)
(6) 1851 Nottingham +9.3 (92.55)
(10) 1838 Parkland -3.7 (91.9)
(9) 1840 Victoria -1.7 (92)
(7) 1848 Goderich +6.3 (92.4)
(14) 1799 Wyoming -42.7 (89.95)
(14) 1799 Tahsis -42.7 (89.95)
(11) 1820 North Atlanta -21.7 (91)
(13) 1809 Northdale -32.7 (90.45)
 
Total overalls: 29,467
Average: 1841.6875
 
320 players
Average overall: 92.0

Well that seems realistic to me. In the NHL if a captain is injured you don't see another player take the letter, it's just your captain is injured and out of the lineup, still the leader in the dressing room though. So if you gave the letter to another player, there'd be a ripple effect in the room and once the captain is back and the letter is returned there is now a player who had that leadership taken away. 
 
I haven't had my captain injured *knocks on wood* but I have had alternates go down and I usually just wait for them to return.

I find trades interesting. You can add a player to your lineup that is an improvement, but better results won't come straight away. I find it can take anywhere from 10-15 games for my team to either feel normal or show improvement. I think it has to do with the player coming in with just 'ok' confidence. As a result I pretty much never make trades that affect my main lineup in the final 20 games of the season. 

In regards to teamwork and winner instinct I feel they are about managing players traits in your roster, confidence is a whole different ball game but I'll get to that in a bit. I had to make some roster moves at the start of this season to get my teamwork back up. Too many arrogant and cocky players on my team seemed to take my teamwork in the wrong direction and I wasn't willing to test how much of an impact that would have on my team's record. 

Simply signing more heroic or determined players won't affect winning instinct as much as creating a better balance among your team in terms of the trait. Adding more players that push the teams winner instinct in the right direction while also subtracting those that don't will obviously have a greater impact.
 
I know some feel that teamwork, confidence and winner instinct doesn't have that much of an impact but I feel it does in a relative sense. For example, a player that is 95 overall will need to produce far more than a player that is 85 overall to feel confident in their game. So it is the same for a team, if a team has the potential to win the cup that means the players rostered on that team are all going to be really good. So if those players aren't producing at elite rates their confidence will reflect that as will the teams. 

On that point I keep seeing the Biscuits GHL win referenced. The way I see it, if that team was capable of winning the cup, they had elite players on that team. So even though they beat teams that were feeling more confident, their superior player overcame inferior teams that were playing at the top of their game. 

I'm not sure if I perfectly explained the idea I'm trying to convey but basically I see confidence as the ceiling of a players performance. Like so:

---------Players Peak----------
Elite player high confidence
 
Good player high confidence
 
Elite player ok confidence
 
Good player ok confidence
 
Average player high confidence
 
and so on......
 
--------Player slump-------
 
 
Basically I see it as how much of would a good player performing at his peak outperform a great player playing ok relative to his skill level.

Player Awards:
 
Top Forward: Pasi Eskola - Forest Park Lumberjacks (4)
The leagues leading point scorer with 62 points takes out this seasons top forward award. Eskola with four votes beat out last years winner of the award Alexandr Gavrikov who came in second with two votes. Season 23 saw Pasi Eskola set a new career high in both goals and points. An achievement even more impressive when done on a non-playoff team.
 
Top Defensemen: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Pedar Andreasen was the talk of the year for the first half of the season. Andreasen’s breakout year had him lead all defensemen in points and finish 6th in overall league scoring. With five votes Andreasen takes home the top defensemen award handedly over last years recipient Dalibor Kosegi who finished with two votes. 
 
Top Goaltender: Thor Landstrom - Stony Brook Steel (5)
There’s no split decision this year. After sharing the award in season 22 Thor Landstrom wins the Top Goaltender award for the second straight season. Landstrom's save percentage of .929 was second in the league even with the second largest workload of any goaltender playing 2674 minutes. This is also while receiving the fifth most shots against, there is no doubting that Landstrom had his work cut out for him to retain Top Goaltender.
 
Most Outstanding Player: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Along with receiving Top Defensemen honours, Pedar Andreasen was voted the Most Outstanding Player of Season 23.  One of three new categories to the ballot this year, Andreasen is crowned with the most impressive performance of all players for this year. The hulking 6’7 defender, taken outside of the top 10 at 11th overall at the season 18 draft has developed in a game breaker for the Burnside Bombers. Spending most of the year leading all players in points, it wasn’t until the last quarter of the season that forwards were able to catch up to his production. 
 
Most Desirable Player To Build A Team Around: Anir Vigneault - Newcastle Fighters (3)
Goaltender Anir Vigneault takes out the Cornerstone Award for season 23, narrowly edging out the emerging star center Filips Birznieks. Vigneault, 24 years old, has consistently finished in the top 5 for save percentage since entering the league in season 17. Finishing 5th in save percentage this season and having the leagues best save percentage in Season 20, Vigneault’s size, age and intangibles endeared him to voters this  season.  
 
Best Under 21: Artem Belyakov - Pittsboro Predators (3)
Artem Belyakov is the first recipient of the Best Under 21 award. With the intent of highlighting the top up and coming player the first overall pick from the Season 20 draft helped guide the Pittsboro Predators to their second consecutive appearance in the GHL playoffs posting 36 points from the blueline. While this is his last year of eligibility of the award his previous performances of 40 points as an 18 year old and 35 at 19 years of age could have seen him sweep this award since his debut into the league. Belyakov with have to settle with being the inaugural recipient of the award before he ages out of contention. 
 
First Overall Consensus of Previous Draft: Dylan Diop - Goderich Goblins (6)
There was little deliberation with who the top choice of last season draft was. Dylan Diop who was selected first overall retains that opinion at the end of his first season in the league. The 18 year old centerman transitioned into the GHL well putting up 28 points. At 6’4 and displaying maturity beyond his years Diop looks like the real deal as he looks to be the cornerstone of the Goderich Goblins who narrowly missed the playoffs this year in only their second season in the GHL.
 
 
Manager Opinions:
 
Most Important Position: Goaltender (4)
Goaltending is still the most valued position by the GHL managers receiving the highest number of votes for the second straight season. Only one team got into the playoffs without a goaltender ranked in the top 8 for save percentage and the play of Daniel Crapper almost propelling Goderich into the playoffs, there is a clear correlation between team success and the performance of their goaltender.
 
What Team Will Win The Most Cups Over The Next 10 Seasons? Stony Brook (4)
Stony Brook again is considered to be the best contending team for the next 10 Seasons. Stony Brook is chasing down their third consecutive GHL cup and fourth in five seasons. Unless Stony Brooks is hit with a flood, the GHL cup doesn’t look to be in any hurry to leave the grips of that town.
 
What Team Will Need To Rebuild In The Next 5 Seasons? Burnside (3)
The Burnside Bombers have enjoyed at healthy run in the GHL with either a 4th or 5th place finish for the last seven seasons. The voting managers in the GHL believe that health is on it’s last legs as Burnside is this years recipient of the rebuild kiss of death. Last years ‘winner’ Palm Harbor Legends saw there team regress this season to an 8th place finish, just narrowly holding onto a playoff spot.
 
What Team Do You Not Want To Meet In The Playoffs? Stony Brook (6)
It’s no surprise if your considered to be the most dominant team for the next decade you’ll be the most feared in the playoffs. Stony Brook received almost a unanimous decision for the second straight season. This comes on the eve of just stamping their ticket to the second round after defeating Palm Harbor in games one and two of the first round. Regardless of the regular season workload, Landstrom will likely gets lots of opportunities to familiarise himself with the bench in meaningless game three during the playoffs.
 
Are You Satisfied With The Current Playoff Format? No (6)
A new question presented to the managers this year and dissatisfaction with the current playoff format was almost a unanimous decision. Ranging from a desire for an extended series to wanting meaningless games eliminated after qualifying for the next round, a playoff reform looks to be a hot topic moving forward. 
 
 
 
 
Thank you to all managers that participated in the second annual GHL managers poll. We saw submissions from a couple new faces this season but failed to receive ballots from returning managers, we’ll place the blame on the postal service and hope for more engagement next season. Best of luck to the teams in the playoffs and all teams in their preparations for next season. 
 

You're a deadset genius. Funny thing, when I was doing the rebuild with my team I used to take screenshots of every page in the assistants report. Ended up having a folder that was almost a GB in just photos. 

Player Awards:
 
Top Forward: Pasi Eskola - Forest Park Lumberjacks (4)
The leagues leading point scorer with 62 points takes out this seasons top forward award. Eskola with four votes beat out last years winner of the award Alexandr Gavrikov who came in second with two votes. Season 23 saw Pasi Eskola set a new career high in both goals and points. An achievement even more impressive when done on a non-playoff team.
 
Top Defensemen: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Pedar Andreasen was the talk of the year for the first half of the season. Andreasen’s breakout year had him lead all defensemen in points and finish 6th in overall league scoring. With five votes Andreasen takes home the top defensemen award handedly over last years recipient Dalibor Kosegi who finished with two votes. 
 
Top Goaltender: Thor Landstrom - Stony Brook Steel (5)
There’s no split decision this year. After sharing the award in season 22 Thor Landstrom wins the Top Goaltender award for the second straight season. Landstrom's save percentage of .929 was second in the league even with the second largest workload of any goaltender playing 2674 minutes. This is also while receiving the fifth most shots against, there is no doubting that Landstrom had his work cut out for him to retain Top Goaltender.
 
Most Outstanding Player: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Along with receiving Top Defensemen honours, Pedar Andreasen was voted the Most Outstanding Player of Season 23.  One of three new categories to the ballot this year, Andreasen is crowned with the most impressive performance of all players for this year. The hulking 6’7 defender, taken outside of the top 10 at 11th overall at the season 18 draft has developed in a game breaker for the Burnside Bombers. Spending most of the year leading all players in points, it wasn’t until the last quarter of the season that forwards were able to catch up to his production. 
 
Most Desirable Player To Build A Team Around: Anir Vigneault - Newcastle Fighters (3)
Goaltender Anir Vigneault takes out the Cornerstone Award for season 23, narrowly edging out the emerging star center Filips Birznieks. Vigneault, 24 years old, has consistently finished in the top 5 for save percentage since entering the league in season 17. Finishing 5th in save percentage this season and having the leagues best save percentage in Season 20, Vigneault’s size, age and intangibles endeared him to voters this  season.  
 
Best Under 21: Artem Belyakov - Pittsboro Predators (3)
Artem Belyakov is the first recipient of the Best Under 21 award. With the intent of highlighting the top up and coming player the first overall pick from the Season 20 draft helped guide the Pittsboro Predators to their second consecutive appearance in the GHL playoffs posting 36 points from the blueline. While this is his last year of eligibility of the award his previous performances of 40 points as an 18 year old and 35 at 19 years of age could have seen him sweep this award since his debut into the league. Belyakov with have to settle with being the inaugural recipient of the award before he ages out of contention. 
 
First Overall Consensus of Previous Draft: Dylan Diop - Goderich Goblins (6)
There was little deliberation with who the top choice of last season draft was. Dylan Diop who was selected first overall retains that opinion at the end of his first season in the league. The 18 year old centerman transitioned into the GHL well putting up 28 points. At 6’4 and displaying maturity beyond his years Diop looks like the real deal as he looks to be the cornerstone of the Goderich Goblins who narrowly missed the playoffs this year in only their second season in the GHL.
 
 
Manager Opinions:
 
Most Important Position: Goaltender (4)
Goaltending is still the most valued position by the GHL managers receiving the highest number of votes for the second straight season. Only one team got into the playoffs without a goaltender ranked in the top 8 for save percentage and the play of Daniel Crapper almost propelling Goderich into the playoffs, there is a clear correlation between team success and the performance of their goaltender.
 
What Team Will Win The Most Cups Over The Next 10 Seasons? Stony Brook (4)
Stony Brook again is considered to be the best contending team for the next 10 Seasons. Stony Brook is chasing down their third consecutive GHL cup and fourth in five seasons. Unless Stony Brooks is hit with a flood, the GHL cup doesn’t look to be in any hurry to leave the grips of that town.
 
What Team Will Need To Rebuild In The Next 5 Seasons? Burnside (3)
The Burnside Bombers have enjoyed at healthy run in the GHL with either a 4th or 5th place finish for the last seven seasons. The voting managers in the GHL believe that health is on it’s last legs as Burnside is this years recipient of the rebuild kiss of death. Last years ‘winner’ Palm Harbor Legends saw there team regress this season to an 8th place finish, just narrowly holding onto a playoff spot.
 
What Team Do You Not Want To Meet In The Playoffs? Stony Brook (6)
It’s no surprise if your considered to be the most dominant team for the next decade you’ll be the most feared in the playoffs. Stony Brook received almost a unanimous decision for the second straight season. This comes on the eve of just stamping their ticket to the second round after defeating Palm Harbor in games one and two of the first round. Regardless of the regular season workload, Landstrom will likely gets lots of opportunities to familiarise himself with the bench in meaningless game three during the playoffs.
 
Are You Satisfied With The Current Playoff Format? No (6)
A new question presented to the managers this year and dissatisfaction with the current playoff format was almost a unanimous decision. Ranging from a desire for an extended series to wanting meaningless games eliminated after qualifying for the next round, a playoff reform looks to be a hot topic moving forward. 
 
 
 
 
Thank you to all managers that participated in the second annual GHL managers poll. We saw submissions from a couple new faces this season but failed to receive ballots from returning managers, we’ll place the blame on the postal service and hope for more engagement next season. Best of luck to the teams in the playoffs and all teams in their preparations for next season. 
 

Player Awards:
 
Top Forward: Pasi Eskola - Forest Park Lumberjacks (4)
The leagues leading point scorer with 62 points takes out this seasons top forward award. Eskola with four votes beat out last years winner of the award Alexandr Gavrikov who came in second with two votes. Season 23 saw Pasi Eskola set a new career high in both goals and points. An achievement even more impressive when done on a non-playoff team.
 
Top Defensemen: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Pedar Andreasen was the talk of the year for the first half of the season. Andreasen’s breakout year had him lead all defensemen in points and finish 6th in overall league scoring. With five votes Andreasen takes home the top defensemen award handedly over last years recipient Dalibor Kosegi who finished with two votes. 
 
Top Goaltender: Thor Landstrom - Stony Brook Steel (5)
There’s no split decision this year. After sharing the award in season 22 Thor Landstrom wins the Top Goaltender award for the second straight season. Landstrom's save percentage of .929 was second in the league even with the second largest workload of any goaltender playing 2674 minutes. This is also while receiving the fifth most shots against, there is no doubting that Landstrom had his work cut out for him to retain Top Goaltender.
 
Most Outstanding Player: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Along with receiving Top Defensemen honours, Pedar Andreasen was voted the Most Outstanding Player of Season 23.  One of three new categories to the ballot this year, Andreasen is crowned with the most impressive performance of all players for this year. The hulking 6’7 defender, taken outside of the top 10 at 11th overall at the season 18 draft has developed in a game breaker for the Burnside Bombers. Spending most of the year leading all players in points, it wasn’t until the last quarter of the season that forwards were able to catch up to his production. 
 
Most Desirable Player To Build A Team Around: Anir Vigneault - Newcastle Fighters (3)
Goaltender Anir Vigneault takes out the Cornerstone Award for season 23, narrowly edging out the emerging star center Filips Birznieks. Vigneault, 24 years old, has consistently finished in the top 5 for save percentage since entering the league in season 17. Finishing 5th in save percentage this season and having the leagues best save percentage in Season 20, Vigneault’s size, age and intangibles endeared him to voters this  season.  
 
Best Under 21: Artem Belyakov - Pittsboro Predators (3)
Artem Belyakov is the first recipient of the Best Under 21 award. With the intent of highlighting the top up and coming player the first overall pick from the Season 20 draft helped guide the Pittsboro Predators to their second consecutive appearance in the GHL playoffs posting 36 points from the blueline. While this is his last year of eligibility of the award his previous performances of 40 points as an 18 year old and 35 at 19 years of age could have seen him sweep this award since his debut into the league. Belyakov with have to settle with being the inaugural recipient of the award before he ages out of contention. 
 
First Overall Consensus of Previous Draft: Dylan Diop - Goderich Goblins (6)
There was little deliberation with who the top choice of last season draft was. Dylan Diop who was selected first overall retains that opinion at the end of his first season in the league. The 18 year old centerman transitioned into the GHL well putting up 28 points. At 6’4 and displaying maturity beyond his years Diop looks like the real deal as he looks to be the cornerstone of the Goderich Goblins who narrowly missed the playoffs this year in only their second season in the GHL.
 
 
Manager Opinions:
 
Most Important Position: Goaltender (4)
Goaltending is still the most valued position by the GHL managers receiving the highest number of votes for the second straight season. Only one team got into the playoffs without a goaltender ranked in the top 8 for save percentage and the play of Daniel Crapper almost propelling Goderich into the playoffs, there is a clear correlation between team success and the performance of their goaltender.
 
What Team Will Win The Most Cups Over The Next 10 Seasons? Stony Brook (4)
Stony Brook again is considered to be the best contending team for the next 10 Seasons. Stony Brook is chasing down their third consecutive GHL cup and fourth in five seasons. Unless Stony Brooks is hit with a flood, the GHL cup doesn’t look to be in any hurry to leave the grips of that town.
 
What Team Will Need To Rebuild In The Next 5 Seasons? Burnside (3)
The Burnside Bombers have enjoyed at healthy run in the GHL with either a 4th or 5th place finish for the last seven seasons. The voting managers in the GHL believe that health is on it’s last legs as Burnside is this years recipient of the rebuild kiss of death. Last years ‘winner’ Palm Harbor Legends saw there team regress this season to an 8th place finish, just narrowly holding onto a playoff spot.
 
What Team Do You Not Want To Meet In The Playoffs? Stony Brook (6)
It’s no surprise if your considered to be the most dominant team for the next decade you’ll be the most feared in the playoffs. Stony Brook received almost a unanimous decision for the second straight season. This comes on the eve of just stamping their ticket to the second round after defeating Palm Harbor in games one and two of the first round. Regardless of the regular season workload, Landstrom will likely gets lots of opportunities to familiarise himself with the bench in meaningless game three during the playoffs.
 
Are You Satisfied With The Current Playoff Format? No (6)
A new question presented to the managers this year and dissatisfaction with the current playoff format was almost a unanimous decision. Ranging from a desire for an extended series to wanting meaningless games eliminated after qualifying for the next round, a playoff reform looks to be a hot topic moving forward. 
 
 
 
 
Thank you to all managers that participated in the second annual GHL managers poll. We saw submissions from a couple new faces this season but failed to receive ballots from returning managers, we’ll place the blame on the postal service and hope for more engagement next season. Best of luck to the teams in the playoffs and all teams in their preparations for next season. 
 

Player Awards:
 
Top Forward: Pasi Eskola - Forest Park Lumberjacks (4)
The leagues leading point scorer with 62 points takes out this seasons top forward award. Eskola with four votes beat out last years winner of the award Alexandr Gavrikov who came in second with two votes. Season 23 saw Pasi Eskola set a new career high in both goals and points. An achievement even more impressive when done on a non-playoff team.
 
Top Defensemen: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Pedar Andreasen was the talk of the year for the first half of the season. Andreasen’s breakout year had him lead all defensemen in points and finish 6th in overall league scoring. With five votes Andreasen takes home the top defensemen award handedly over last years recipient Dalibor Kosegi who finished with two votes. 
 
Top Goaltender: Thor Landstrom - Stony Brook Steel (5)
There’s no split decision this year. After sharing the award in season 22 Thor Landstrom wins the Top Goaltender award for the second straight season. Landstrom's save percentage of .929 was second in the league even with the second largest workload of any goaltender playing 2674 minutes. This is also while receiving the fifth most shots against, there is no doubting that Landstrom had his work cut out for him to retain Top Goaltender.
 
Most Outstanding Player: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Along with receiving Top Defensemen honours, Pedar Andreasen was voted the Most Outstanding Player of Season 23.  One of three new categories to the ballot this year, Andreasen is crowned with the most impressive performance of all players for this year. The hulking 6’7 defender, taken outside of the top 10 at 11th overall at the season 18 draft has developed in a game breaker for the Burnside Bombers. Spending most of the year leading all players in points, it wasn’t until the last quarter of the season that forwards were able to catch up to his production. 
 
Most Desirable Player To Build A Team Around: Anir Vigneault - Newcastle Fighters (3)
Goaltender Anir Vigneault takes out the Cornerstone Award for season 23, narrowly edging out the emerging star center Filips Birznieks. Vigneault, 24 years old, has consistently finished in the top 5 for save percentage since entering the league in season 17. Finishing 5th in save percentage this season and having the leagues best save percentage in Season 20, Vigneault’s size, age and intangibles endeared him to voters this  season.  
 
Best Under 21: Artem Belyakov - Pittsboro Predators (3)
Artem Belyakov is the first recipient of the Best Under 21 award. With the intent of highlighting the top up and coming player the first overall pick from the Season 20 draft helped guide the Pittsboro Predators to their second consecutive appearance in the GHL playoffs posting 36 points from the blueline. While this is his last year of eligibility of the award his previous performances of 40 points as an 18 year old and 35 at 19 years of age could have seen him sweep this award since his debut into the league. Belyakov with have to settle with being the inaugural recipient of the award before he ages out of contention. 
 
First Overall Consensus of Previous Draft: Dylan Diop - Goderich Goblins (6)
There was little deliberation with who the top choice of last season draft was. Dylan Diop who was selected first overall retains that opinion at the end of his first season in the league. The 18 year old centerman transitioned into the GHL well putting up 28 points. At 6’4 and displaying maturity beyond his years Diop looks like the real deal as he looks to be the cornerstone of the Goderich Goblins who narrowly missed the playoffs this year in only their second season in the GHL.
 
 
Manager Opinions:
 
Most Important Position: Goaltender (4)
Goaltending is still the most valued position by the GHL managers receiving the highest number of votes for the second straight season. Only one team got into the playoffs without a goaltender ranked in the top 8 for save percentage and the play of Daniel Crapper almost propelling Goderich into the playoffs, there is a clear correlation between team success and the performance of their goaltender.
 
What Team Will Win The Most Cups Over The Next 10 Seasons? Stony Brook (4)
Stony Brook again is considered to be the best contending team for the next 10 Seasons. Stony Brook is chasing down their third consecutive GHL cup and fourth in five seasons. Unless Stony Brooks is hit with a flood, the GHL cup doesn’t look to be in any hurry to leave the grips of that town.
 
What Team Will Need To Rebuild In The Next 5 Seasons? Burnside (3)
The Burnside Bombers have enjoyed at healthy run in the GHL with either a 4th or 5th place finish for the last seven seasons. The voting managers in the GHL believe that health is on it’s last legs as Burnside is this years recipient of the rebuild kiss of death. Last years ‘winner’ Palm Harbor Legends saw there team regress this season to an 8th place finish, just narrowly holding onto a playoff spot.
 
What Team Do You Not Want To Meet In The Playoffs? Stony Brook (6)
It’s no surprise if your considered to be the most dominant team for the next decade you’ll be the most feared in the playoffs. Stony Brook received almost a unanimous decision for the second straight season. This comes on the eve of just stamping their ticket to the second round after defeating Palm Harbor in games one and two of the first round. Regardless of the regular season workload, Landstrom will likely gets lots of opportunities to familiarise himself with the bench in meaningless game three during the playoffs.
 
Are You Satisfied With The Current Playoff Format? No (6)
A new question presented to the managers this year and dissatisfaction with the current playoff format was almost a unanimous decision. Ranging from a desire for an extended series to wanting meaningless games eliminated after qualifying for the next round, a playoff reform looks to be a hot topic moving forward. 
 
 
 
 
Thank you to all managers that participated in the second annual GHL managers poll. We saw submissions from a couple new faces this season but failed to receive ballots from returning managers, we’ll place the blame on the postal service and hope for more engagement next season. Best of luck to the teams in the playoffs and all teams in their preparations for next season. 
 

Player Awards:
 
Top Forward: Pasi Eskola - Forest Park Lumberjacks (4)
The leagues leading point scorer with 62 points takes out this seasons top forward award. Eskola with four votes beat out last years winner of the award Alexandr Gavrikov who came in second with two votes. Season 23 saw Pasi Eskola set a new career high in both goals and points. An achievement even more impressive when done on a non-playoff team.
 
Top Defensemen: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Pedar Andreasen was the talk of the year for the first half of the season. Andreasen’s breakout year had him lead all defensemen in points and finish 6th in overall league scoring. With five votes Andreasen takes home the top defensemen award handedly over last years recipient Dalibor Kosegi who finished with two votes. 
 
Top Goaltender: Thor Landstrom - Stony Brook Steel (5)
There’s no split decision this year. After sharing the award in season 22 Thor Landstrom wins the Top Goaltender award for the second straight season. Landstrom's save percentage of .929 was second in the league even with the second largest workload of any goaltender playing 2674 minutes. This is also while receiving the fifth most shots against, there is no doubting that Landstrom had his work cut out for him to retain Top Goaltender.
 
Most Outstanding Player: Pedar Andreasen - Burnside Bombers (5)
Along with receiving Top Defensemen honours, Pedar Andreasen was voted the Most Outstanding Player of Season 23.  One of three new categories to the ballot this year, Andreasen is crowned with the most impressive performance of all players for this year. The hulking 6’7 defender, taken outside of the top 10 at 11th overall at the season 18 draft has developed in a game breaker for the Burnside Bombers. Spending most of the year leading all players in points, it wasn’t until the last quarter of the season that forwards were able to catch up to his production. 
 
Most Desirable Player To Build A Team Around: Anir Vigneault - Newcastle Fighters (3)
Goaltender Anir Vigneault takes out the Cornerstone Award for season 23, narrowly edging out the emerging star center Filips Birznieks. Vigneault, 24 years old, has consistently finished in the top 5 for save percentage since entering the league in season 17. Finishing 5th in save percentage this season and having the leagues best save percentage in Season 20, Vigneault’s size, age and intangibles endeared him to voters this  season.  
 
Best Under 21: Artem Belyakov - Pittsboro Predators (3)
Artem Belyakov is the first recipient of the Best Under 21 award. With the intent of highlighting the top up and coming player the first overall pick from the Season 20 draft helped guide the Pittsboro Predators to their second consecutive appearance in the GHL playoffs posting 36 points from the blueline. While this is his last year of eligibility of the award his previous performances of 40 points as an 18 year old and 35 at 19 years of age could have seen him sweep this award since his debut into the league. Belyakov with have to settle with being the inaugural recipient of the award before he ages out of contention. 
 
First Overall Consensus of Previous Draft: Dylan Diop - Goderich Goblins (6)
There was little deliberation with who the top choice of last season draft was. Dylan Diop who was selected first overall retains that opinion at the end of his first season in the league. The 18 year old centerman transitioned into the GHL well putting up 28 points. At 6’4 and displaying maturity beyond his years Diop looks like the real deal as he looks to be the cornerstone of the Goderich Goblins who narrowly missed the playoffs this year in only their second season in the GHL.
 
 
Manager Opinions:
 
Most Important Position: Goaltender (4)
Goaltending is still the most valued position by the GHL managers receiving the highest number of votes for the second straight season. Only one team got into the playoffs without a goaltender ranked in the top 8 for save percentage and the play of Daniel Crapper almost propelling Goderich into the playoffs, there is a clear correlation between team success and the performance of their goaltender.
 
What Team Will Win The Most Cups Over The Next 10 Seasons? Stony Brook (4)
Stony Brook again is considered to be the best contending team for the next 10 Seasons. Stony Brook is chasing down their third consecutive GHL cup and fourth in five seasons. Unless Stony Brooks is hit with a flood, the GHL cup doesn’t look to be in any hurry to leave the grips of that town.
 
What Team Will Need To Rebuild In The Next 5 Seasons? Burnside (3)
The Burnside Bombers have enjoyed at healthy run in the GHL with either a 4th or 5th place finish for the last seven seasons. The voting managers in the GHL believe that health is on it’s last legs as Burnside is this years recipient of the rebuild kiss of death. Last years ‘winner’ Palm Harbor Legends saw there team regress this season to an 8th place finish, just narrowly holding onto a playoff spot.
 
What Team Do You Not Want To Meet In The Playoffs? Stony Brook (6)
It’s no surprise if your considered to be the most dominant team for the next decade you’ll be the most feared in the playoffs. Stony Brook received almost a unanimous decision for the second straight season. This comes on the eve of just stamping their ticket to the second round after defeating Palm Harbor in games one and two of the first round. Regardless of the regular season workload, Landstrom will likely gets lots of opportunities to familiarise himself with the bench in meaningless game three during the playoffs.
 
Are You Satisfied With The Current Playoff Format? No (6)
A new question presented to the managers this year and dissatisfaction with the current playoff format was almost a unanimous decision. Ranging from a desire for an extended series to wanting meaningless games eliminated after qualifying for the next round, a playoff reform looks to be a hot topic moving forward. 
 
 
 
 
Thank you to all managers that participated in the second annual GHL managers poll. We saw submissions from a couple new faces this season but failed to receive ballots from returning managers, we’ll place the blame on the postal service and hope for more engagement next season. Best of luck to the teams in the playoffs and all teams in their preparations for next season. 
 

Add recall / assign actions to player popup for 2w contracted players like there is shortlist/remove from shortlist actions