Keskustankeisari

Hi everyone,
 
I thought it would be cool to create national teams. I started off with Canada and USA as they have the biggest pool of players to select from. Please note that this is just a shortlist I created and what I thought are the best OVR players in Biscuit. I changed some centers to forward as they would be better in that position ofcourse.
 
Please feel free to change or discuss the teams. And if you want to create one of your own or from another country, that would be nice as well. So I always selected 6 centers, 10 forwards, 8 defenders and 3 goalies.
 
 
I wonder how these teams would end up in a best of seven :-)
 
CANADA
 
CENTER Collin McCarthy - 28 yrs old - 89 OVR (Protons) LAbbas Gelinas - 30 yrs old - 91 OVR (Protons) RNolan Daugherty - 36 yrs old - 94 OVR (Protons) LCurtis Luck - 30 yrs old - 89 OVR (Wolf Pack) RAndres Forest-Marin - 31 yrs old - 89 OVR (Sabercats) LZack Kite - 30 yrs old - 89 OVR (Trojans) L FORWARD Noah Arbour - 28 yrs old - 94 OVR (Vandals) RSimon-Pier Byers - 20 yrs old - 91 OVR (Volcano) LMarc Bozanic - 27 yrs old - 91 OVR (Grizzies) LAlex Howie - 33 yrs old - 90 OVR (Pegasus) LJulien Inukpuk - 30 yrs old - 93 OVR (Rebels) RJoseph Hatfield - 22 yrs old - 90 OVR (Sabercats) LIzaak Letemplier - 27 yrs old - 92 OVR (Sabercats) REloi McCoshen - 29 yrs old - 90 OVR (Elite) LSebastian Guyard - 32 yrs old - 91 OVR (Trojans) LJulian Lisi - 33 yrs old - 91 OVR (Trojans) R DEFENSE Adrien Berrouard - 28 yrs old - 95 OVR (Protons) LCarmelo Pregent - 36 yrs old - 94 OVR (Protons) LFelix Kiolet - 22 yrs old - 94 OVR (Vandals) LLoick Bulloch - 28 yrs old - 95 OVR (Minutemen) LGhali Tadros - 34 yrs old - 96 OVR (Volcano) RTomas Francois - 28 yrs old - 95 OVR (Grizzlies) LRichard Fahy - 34 yrs old - 94 OVR (Marauders) LJesse Fiore - 27 yrs old - 94 OVR (Wolf Pack) LElliot Holden - 28 yrs old - 95 OVR (Rebels) LNathaniel Poirier-Ladouceur - 19 yrs old - 94 OVR (Rebels) R  GOALIE Justin Yu - 21 yrs old - 95 OVR (Vandals) LElliot Birch - 35 yrs old - 93 OVR (Elite) LAdem Malette - 18 yrs old - 94 OVR (Miners) L __________ USA CENTER Alan Council - 23 yrs old - 90 OVR (Protons) RNicholaus Pearl - 32 yrs old - 89 OVR (Vandals) RDuran Doerr - 31 yrs old - 90 OVR (Marauders) LCruz Lopez - 25 yrs old - 90 OVR (Pegasus) LJoshua Eldred - 34 yrs old - 90 OVR (Elite) LEugene Villasenor - 32 years old - 90 OVR (Stray Cats) L FORWARD Bob Honda - 33 yrs old - 91 OVR (Protons) LCarson Corn - 28 yrs old - 90 OVR (Vandals) LJonathan Crossett - 32 yrs old - 88 OVR (Volcano) LAngelo Sledge - 28 yrs old - 92 OVR (Grizzlies) LRickey Mulhern - 31 yrs old - 92 OVR (Grizzlies) LAron Welcome - 28 yrs old - 88 OVR (Marauders) LBrett Arrieta - 24 yrs old - 90 OVR (Marauders) LNorman Mohan - 34 yrs old - 90 OVR (White Ice) RDougie Furman - 26 yrs old - 88 OVR (Sabercats) RMatthew Sontag - 29 yrs old - 90 OVR (Sabercats) R DEFENSE Ashton Lindsay - 27 yrs old - 91 OVR (Protons) LJeremy Hawks - 32 yrs old - 94 OVR (Protons) RGerald Cale - 29 yrs old - 89 OVR (Vandals) LNoah Bramble - 29 yrs old - 94 OVR (Vandals) LShane Helms - 19 yrs old - 90 OVR (Minutemen) LLeonardo Adame - 27 yrs old - 93 OVR (Minutemen) RSone Friedel - 21 yrs old - 91 OVR (Marauders) RLamont Teed - 28 yrs old - 90 OVR (Rebels) LZavon Mellor - 29 yrs old - 94 OVR (Elite) LZachary Rish - 29 yrs old - 90 OVR (Trojans) L GOALIE Jonathan Ormsby - 22 yrs old - 93 OVR (Minutemen) LJeffrey Hanrahan - 26 yrs old - 92 OVR (Marauders) LLenell Wax - 27 yrs old - 92 OVR (White Ice) L    * EDIT: Added Eugene Villasenor from Stray Cats in Team USA (replaced Boller from Sabercats)

I'm sure it is already common knowledge that teams get a boost when playing at home.  I decided to do some quick research into how much of an advantage the home crowd gives their team. I know there are many variables that could affect this such as injuries, starting goalies, etc - but my results seemed directionally consistent.
 
First, I took a look at home winning percentages for all GHL, SHL & BHL teams.  For the purpose of a percentage, I considered OT/SO win a win and OT/SO loss a loss.  The average home record and win percentages are below.
 
GHL:  11 - 2 - 2 - 8 = 56%
SHL:  12 - 2 - 1 - 7 = 63%
BHL:  12 - 1 - 1 - 9 = 56%
 
Second, I took a look at my own team's history to determine how my home record compared to my overall record.  For example, my Win % this year is 80%.  My home Win & is 83%.  An advantage of 3%.  Last year, my Win % was 72% and my home Win % was 83%.  An advantage of 11%.  When averaged out from Season 1 - 11, my average home ice advantage was 6%.  This falls in line with the GHL/BHL results above where home ice seems to add a 6% advantage.  SHL seems to be the outlier.
 
Finally, I tallied all goals scored in BHL this year (I did BHL since that's the league I'm in).  On average, the home team is scoring 3.8 goals per game, while the visiting team is scoring 3.3 goals per game.  The home team is scoring 53% of the goals.  I did the same for GHL and the results were 2.66 Home for 2.27 Away.  The home team is scoring 54% of the goals.  These numbers seem a bit lower than the first two sets of results. 
 
For now, until I have a chance to do more research and understanding that there are many variables that could sway these numbers, I will conclude that the home team gains a roughly 5% advantage.
 

+1
 
Would love to see this in the general conversation because I've seen it in most every league...hate getting shutout by a guy who has to be carted off the ice after every match! I suspect a form of PED + Narcotic combo...only way to explain that!

Copying Paul T in biscuit, I thought it would be cool to see where everybody's teams are located! I only did the GHL, but I might do the SHL in the future. I definitely won't be doing the other leagues as they get changed quite a bit.
 

Looks like a northern and southern conference would be more appropriate for this league. A theoretical current Conference standings for Fishbowl gold would be something like this:
 
(x indicates playoff position)
 
Northern Conference
 
1.x Wildwood Violent Rush
2.x Montmorency Vortex
3.x Larson Knights
4.x Sellwood Spirits
5.x Hawkeye Revolution
6. Pinewood Lumberjacks
7. Wolfe Wolves
8. Batchawana Battlin Bears
 
Southern Conference
 
1.x Urbancrest Comets
2.x Horn Lake Hooligans
3.x Jolly Rattlers
4. Portland Cyclones
5. Cuba City Eagles
6. Cedar Rapids Panthers
7. Blenheim Pirates
8. Mississauga Masons
 
However, if playoffs were determined by conference standings instead, 6th place Hawkeye would miss the playoffs in favour of 9th place Portland.
 
Clearly the Northern Conference is the better conference on paper, boasting 5 out of the eight current playoff teams. However, historically the Southern Conference has been much better, with Jolly, Blenheim, Horn Lake, Cedar Rapids, and Cuba City awarding the South seven out of only nine cups ever awarded in Fishbowl. Larson and Wildwood have two cups representing the North.
 
Sigh, just like in real life, Canadian teams seem to completely struggle in the playoffs. Perhaps Canadian cities are cursed?

What about a max contract limit? Should also help cut down on exploiting the computer in trades. Example 4 poor players for 1 good player.
 
A full roster for a team is 20 players. Maybe a max of 25 contracts?

Notes:
* This is slightly different from other formulas used. I thought that the performance of goalies varies so much that I thought that their values weight shouldn't be changed. Here's what I used: Overall = (OFF + DEF * 2 + SG) / 25
* Like others, I went for 3 significant digits - however, I went to 4 whenever I needed to break a tie.
* This is based off day 3 teams after free agents were signed.
 
1.Larson Knights (GM: Kelvin .)
              OFF: 89.4 DEF: 92.2 SG: 92 OVR:  90.8
Previous finish: 1st
 
2.Horn Lake Hooligans (GM: Mike Grub)
              OFF: 87.8 DEF: 89 SG: 97 OVR: 88.72
Previous finish: 10th
 
3.Hawkeye Revolution (GM: Marcel Proust - MProust)
              OFF: 87.8 DEF: 89.5 SG: 89 OVR: 88.68
Previous finish: 3rd
 
4.Cuba City Owls (GM: Mare Maro)
              OFF: 87.8 DEF: 88.8 SG: 88 OVR: 88.3
Previous finish: 5th
 
5.Urbancrest Comets (GM: Noah High)
              OFF: 86.4 DEF: 88 SG: 93 OVR: 87.4
Previous finish: 12th
 
6.Cedar Rapids Panthers (GM: Mauri Nieminen)
              OFF: 88.8 DEF: 85.7 SG: 89 OVR: 87.3
Previous finish: 4th
 
7.Wildwood Violent Rush (GM: Juho Kainulainen - Keskustankeisari)
              OFF: 86 DEF: 88.2 SG: 91 OVR: 87.24
Previous finish: 2nd + Golden Cup
 
8.Pinewood Lumberjacks (GM: Matt H - MattLumberjacks)
              OFF: 87.1 DEF: 87.2 SG: 89 OVR: 87.20
Previous finish: 9th
 
9.Montmorency Vortex (GM: Peter T. - Ineffableleafs)
              OFF: 85.8 DEF: 87.5 SG: 93 OVR: 86.9
Previous finish: 7th
 
10.Jolly Rattlers (GM: computer, previously Jaryn Barnes)
              OFF: 85.5 DEF: 86 SG: 90 OVR: 86.7
Previous finish: 8th
 
11.Sellwood Spirits (GM: Misco Grossi)
              OFF: 86.1 DEF: 86.6 SG: 89 OVR: 86.6
Previous finish: 6th
 
12.Mississauga Masons (GM: computer)
              OFF: 86.9 DEF: 85.5 SG: 88 OVR: 86.3
Previous finish: 14th
 
13.Batchawana Battlin Bears (GM: Joe Leconte)
              OFF: 85.7 DEF: 86 SG: 87 OVR: 85.9
Previous finish: 2nd SHL
 
14.Wolfe Wolves (GM: Marcel Cloutier)
              OFF: 85.1 DEF: 86.2 SG: 90 OVR: 85.8
Previous finish: 11th
 
15.Portland Cyclones (GM: Zach Furness)
              OFF: 84.1 DEF: 84.7 SG: 91 OVR: 84.7
Previous finish: 1st SHL
 
16.Blenheim Pirates (GM: Martin J.)
              OFF: 84.3 DEF: 83.3 SG: 92 OVR: 84.4
Previous finish: 13th
 
According to the overalls;
Best Offense: Larson Knights at 89.4
Best Defense: Larson Knights at 92.2
Best Goaltending: Horn Lake Hooligans at 97
 
I'll probably edit this in a little bit to show how much salary each team is spending on their top roster.

1. West Chicago Protons (Richard "bouncer" Feynman)
OFF: 89 DEF: 92 SG: 91 OVR: 90,6
 
2. Harrisonville Sabercats (Hurja "Hurjaherra" Herra)
OFF: 88 DEF: 90 SG: 93 OVR: 89,2
 
3. Deadwood Vandals (Kim "koekefix" Vandaele)
OFF: 88 DEF: 89 SG: 96 OVR: 89,1
 
4. Cedar Rapids Minutemen (Richard "rainsilent" Armour)
OFF: 87 DEF: 89 SG: 94 OVR: 88,6
 
5. Canmore Grizzlies (Matt "themattinthehat" Muffett)
OFF: 87 DEF: 89 SG: 92 OVR: 88,3
 
6. Thetford Mines Pegasus (Anthony "Pingu" Grauwels)
OFF: 87 DEF: 88 SG: 95 OVR: 88,1
 
7. Portland Oilers (Xavier "xZhou" Zhou)
OFF: 87 DEF: 89 SG: 91 OVR: 88,0
 
8. Richford Rebels (Jusu Manager)
OFF: 86 DEF: 90 SG: 90 OVR: 88,0
 
9. Eldred Elite (Steven "sbb11578" Bennett)
OFF: 86 DEF: 89 SG: 93 OVR: 87,9
 
10. Rome Trojans (Yann Rock)
OFF: 87 DEF: 89 SG: 88 OVR: 87,8
 
11. Pascoag White Ice (Nicolas Senet)
OFF: 87 DEF: 88 SG: 91 OVR: 87,5
 
12. Oshawa Dynasty Heroes (Kris "Euph" Zenatik)
OFF: 87 DEF: 88 SG: 87 OVR: 87,1
 
13. Violet Volcano (Soupy Salez)
OFF: 85 DEF: 88 SG: 94 OVR: 87,1
 
14. York Wolf Pack (Jiri "jiihee" Heikkala)
OFF: 85 DEF: 88 SG: 91 OVR: 86,8
 
15. Buckingham Breakouts (Jussi "jusatin" Ahonen)
OFF: 86 DEF: 86 SG: 93 OVR: 86,5
 
16. Pinehurst Miners (Phoenix "phoenixtf" TF)
OFF: 85 DEF: 86 SG: 91 OVR: 85,9
 
 
Calculated on day 5 of S11, using:
 
Team OVR = (OFF + (DEF x 2) + (SG x 2))/26
 
where
OFF = Combined overall of 12 best centers/forwards
DEF = Combined overall of 6 best defenders
SG = Overall of starting goalie (best overall goalie in team)

1. St. Thomas Stray Cats (Erzac "Erzac" Ray)
OFF: 85 DEF: 85 SG: 90 OVR: 85,2
 
2. Collegeville Rhinos (BOT)
OFF: 84 DEF: 85 SG: 91 OVR: 84,9
 
3. Cuba City Tomahawks (Benoit Desvignes)
OFF: 81 DEF: 83 SG:88 OVR: 82,1
 
4. Parkville Guardians (Matthew Henke)
OFF: 81 DEF: 83 SG: 85 OVR: 82,0
 
5. Lake Viking Bulldogs (Max Mol)
OFF: 82 DEF: 81 SG: 83 OVR: 81,8
 
6. Horseheads North Thundering Herd (Bear Doggit)
OFF: 81 DEF: 82 SG: 83 OVR: 81,7
 
7. House Aristocrats (Eetu "Arkko" Arkko)
OFF: 81 DEF: 82 SG: 81 OVR: 81,7
 
8. Sault Ste Marie Admirals (Jacques de Gatinau)
OFF: 81 DEF: 82 SG: 84 OVR: 81,7
 
9. Natashquan Mohawks (Brutality "BFGore" Fullgore)
OFF: 81 DEF: 82 SG: 85 OVR: 81,4
 
10. Blakely Black Flag (Xavier "EXXEO" O'Connor)
OFF: 81 DEF: 82 SG: 82 OVR: 81,3
 
11. Wildwood Thunder Cats (Torbjörn Johansson)
OFF: 81 DEF: 80 SG: 86 OVR: 81,0
 
12. Kingston Senator Kings (Ed "Edm" Matthews)
OFF: 80 DEF: 81 SG: 80 OVR: 80,6
 
13. Webbwood Victors (Juho "Keskustankeisari" Kainulainen)
OFF: 81 DEF: 80 SG: 83 OVR: 80,4
 
14. Bodmin Bangers (Sakari Lindholm)
OFF: 80 DEF: 80 SG: 81 OVR: 79,8
 
15. Fair Play Angels (Matt Atkins)
OFF: 80 DEF: 80 SG: 80 OVR: 79,7
 
16. Wintersville Union (BOT)
OFF: 78 DEF: 77 SG: 78 OVR: 77,7
 
 
Calculated on day 5 of S11, using:
 
Team OVR = (OFF + (DEF x 2) + (SG x 2))/26
 
where
OFF = Combined overall of 12 best centers/forwards
DEF = Combined overall of 6 best defenders
SG = Overall of starting goalie (best overall goalie in team)

Why would it be a bad idea? It would let us control best of our prospects and have to decide which to keep, instead of just hoarding players with salaries that lowerleague teams can't offer for eg. 5x and still paying them half the salary (5x*0,1=0,5x) than a lowerleague would have had they gotten him without you, because they were assigned to aahl.
 
Rest of them will never be in line with GHL. IHL will always be handicapped, because of this compared to others, since they can't offer lowerleague players like the rest and GHL teams will never have upperleague teams taking their players to their affiliates.
 
and why should someone keep their GHL place over somebody just because they have played longer and can hoard players from all the others?

The Coquitlam Tribune
 
Savage Storm upend Timberwolves 5-2
 
SLAUGHTERVILLE, OK. The Savage Storm handily beat the visiting team last night, and boy was it a rough one. Credited with 23 hits, the home team spanked the Coquitlam Timberwolves on the boards and in the corners, and skated away from most of the physical play initiated by the visitors. After the first period, the Storm took a one goal lead and ground out the last two periods to a 5-2 final score.
 
Storm defenseman Lucas Calello shared the team lead of 3 hits last night and pitched in with a helper. "It's nice to be able to contribute on the gamesheet, but I feel better about beating on those wimpy SHL wannabees." 
 
'Wolves backup goalie Joen Berg put on a brave face after the game, having let 5 out of 35 shots get by him. "Coach let me know with 10 minutes to go that I'd be playing, and I guess I just couldn't find my angles in time." Shortly after the buzzer sounded, Berg's twitter account listed a post that read, "Hey @BergerFries -- I found you this protractor goo.gl/ZzHVZs. Luv Mum."
 
While the Coquitlam coach was quick to get on the bus to their next game at Pinehurst -- a 1,200 mile trip -- their assistant manager, Notta H. Uman, was happy to comment on the game. "The team had some tactical difficulties offensively against our opponent's defence. The opponent's defense and goalie was superior to our team's goal scoring in today's game. The opponent's defense was superior to our team's offense in today's game. The body checking of our opponent's offense was superior to our team's defense in today's game." The guy did not shut up. "At least the team did very well tactically during powerplay against our opponent's penalty killing." Also, the Wolves did not score one powerplay goal.
 
The Storm's coach liked their compete level. "I think that we..." The rest of his statement was boring and had five spelling errors.
 
The Timberwolves play the Razorbacks at 12am tonight. Maybe we'll think about broadcasting it.

A pre release of the affiliate teams feature has been made on the UAT today! Check below for more info. Please report back any bugs to this topic (not the bugs section). Have fun!
 The pre release contains the followingAffiliate leagues AAHL, AAHL 2 and AAHL 3 (new) Create up to two affiliate teams. Affiliate team levels Professional, SemiProfessional or Amateur. (Eligible levels depend on your team level) Affiliate teams will be using the same tactics as your own team. Assign and recall players to your affiliates. Only players with two way contracts (not having the one way contract clause) may be assigned. Salary cap impact. Assigned player’s salary will only count as a tenth against your team’s salary cap when assigned. New user setting on how to display assigned players on your roster. Assignments and recalls generates transaction logs  Other improvements and bug fixesThe previous AMHL and AMHL 2 (American Minor Hockey Leagues) has been renamed to USMHL (United States Minor Hockey League) to not be mixed up with the AAHL leagues. Simulator improvements to fix the delayed simulation problems.  How to get going with affiliate teamsCreate and view affiliate teams by using the Action menu on your team page Assign/Recall players by using the Action menu on that player’s page

Hi!
 
My league (Lower Iron League) is also very exciting. The Michigan Center Fury has an enormous point advantage, but there is a fierce battle for the 2nd position. The Edgewood Reapers, the Prince Rupert Raiders, the La Marque Topcats and my team the Torrington Thunderbolts competing for this position. After 45 matches the Reapers and the Raiders had 90 points and the other two had 89...
 
This is my first season, but this game gives me a great experience!
 
The Fury is the strongest team in the league, I think they will give a great challenge for the other teams in the Iron League next year, Nolasco and Arena leads the charge while the giant Jussilla blocks the attacks, this team has also the best offensive defenseman.
 
The Reapers has a very good roster with great veteran players.and with an also veteran manager. Sennevile is a great goaltender, and he is helped by the league's best teamwork and winner instict. They are very strong as a team.
 
The Raiders has three excellent players Germain, Thelland and Cape. Cape (like Nolasco) is a Bronze League level player, this season he has a lot of problems with injuries, but he is a terrific defender with excellent attacking skills.
 
The Topcats has a very experienced manager, and they have a very solid defence led by Zemancik, a great offensive defenseman.
 
The Minnesota City Mustangs is a great danger too. They play a cruel physical hockey with a giant center. This team can be very dangerous and they can also reach the 2nd spot.
 
My team is the youngest in this league (and maybe in the Biscuit world), and I must spend a lot of time with thinking about my lineups if I want to give a challenge for these excellent teams and managers. I am a rookie but my experience with other manager games can give my team a great boost.
 
I wish good luck to you all for the next matches!

Nice idea i would like a few new place names added to the list i come from Swindon in the UK and it would be great to call my team Swindon Wildcats after our local team and maybe some new shirt styles also.

Maybe we could do some sort of TSN-like weekly power rankings update (based on that weeks results and such). Either you could just do them every week, or we could set up some sort of poll where people can post their own opinion and then we just take the average. Very interesting list and predictions (even though I don't see myself finishing 14th). Good luck this season guys!

Would it be possible to add a shootout lineup option into the mix?

"We are here live at the season 19 Game Plan Hockey draft, Boy has it been a good one so far Tim!"
 
"Yeah Joe, the draft has been a deep one full of great talent. Oh, and it looks like the #20 Overall pick from Slaughterville Savage Storm is in, let's head down to Commissoner Granberg to see who they went for after drafting a great Goalie in the 1st Round!"
 
"For the 20th pick of the Season 19 Game Plan Hockey Draft the Savage Storm select Goalie, Cory Fulmer."
 
"Wait Tim, they chose who?"
 
"Yeah Joe, they took another goalie who was slated to be the 167th pick. This is a real shocker - what were they thinking?"
 
"Tim, look over at their planning suite, their GM, O'Connor, is sound asleep on the couch - this is not a good look for them as they have already been struggling to keep alive in the GHL."
 
"Boy oh boy - what a crappy pick - they really just flushed that one down the toilet!"
 
"Yup, I think one of their fans just set their mascot on fire out of pure rage - I'd hate to be in their GM's shoes when he wakes up- ouch!"

As per Keskustankeisari's request, here are Game World Fishbowl's GHL Power Rankings for season 9.
 
I calculated the averages the exact same way that Erzac did in his post, so if you want the calculation rules, visit this thread: GHL s10 power rankings.
 
This is based on the lineups after the first preseason game, or early day 5.
 
A Couple of Notes:
Pinewood doesn't have 12 forwards, I assume they sign an 84 rated center/forward. I may have missed someones forum name, if I have, post below and I'll add it. All predictions are unbiased, no prediction I made or calculation is meant to favour any team, including mine. Simply my opinion. Any star (*) indicates a tie in position in terms of overall. The team rated higher in the power rankings had a stronger finish last season. Alright then, the teams are listed best to worst in terms of overall:
 
1. Larson Knights (GM: Kelvin)
      OFF: 89 DEF: 92 SG: 91 OVR: 89.8
Previous Finish: 1st, Eliminated first round 
 
2. Cedar Rapids Panthers (GM: Mauri Nieminen)
      OFF: 88 DEF: 87 SG: 88 OVR: 87.9
Previous Finish: 8th, Eliminated semi finals 
 
3. Horn Lake Hooligans (GM: Mike Grubb - Mickg34)
      OFF: 87 DEF: 88 SG: 96 OVR: 87.7
Previous Finish: 3rd, Eliminated semi finals 
 
4. *Hawkeye Revolution (GM: Marcel Proust - Haradrim)
      OFF: 87 DEF: 88 SG: 90 OVR: 87.5
Previous Finish: 4th, Lost Golden Cup finals 
 
5. *Cuba City Eagles (GM: Mare Maro)
      OFF: 87 DEF: 89 SG: 87 OVR: 87.5
Previous Finish: 2nd, Eliminated first round 
 
6. Jolly Rattlers (GM: Jaryn Barnes - JBizzle)
      OFF: 86 DEF: 86 SG: 90 OVR: 86.4
Previous Finish: 7th, Golden Cup Winner
 
7. Sellwood Spirits (GM: Misco Grossi)
      OFF: 86 DEF: 87 SG: 89 OVR: 86.1
Previous Finish: 13th, Survived relegation playoff 
 
8. Montmorency Vortex (GM: Peter T. - IneffableLeafs)
      OFF: 86 DEF: 86 SG: 90 OVR: 85.9
Previous Finish: 1st, SHL
 
9. Wynyard Wildfire (GM: Matthew Berntsen)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 87 SG: 86 OVR: 85.7
Previous Finish: 12th
 
10. Canuck Mighty Rhinos (Computer)
      OFF: 86 DEF: 85 SG: 84 OVR: 85.6
Previous Finish: 9th
 
11. Pinewood Lumberjacks (GM: Matthew Henke - MattLumberjacks)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 85 SG: 89 OVR: 85.4
Previous Finish: 2nd, SHL
 
12. *Wildwood Violent Rush (GM: Juho Kainulainen - Keskustankeisari )
      OFF: 84 DEF: 86 SG: 90 OVR: 85.3
Previous Finish: 5th, Eliminated first round 
 
13. *Blenheim Pirates (GM: Martin J.)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 86 SG: 90 OVR: 85.3
Previous Finish: 6th, Eliminated first round 
 
14. Urbancrest Comets (GM: Noah High - Noah)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 85 SG: 87 OVR: 85.1
Previous Finish: 10th
 
15. Wolfe Wolves (GM: Marcel Cloutier)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 84 SG: 90 OVR: 84.9
Previous Finish: 11th
 
16. Merrick Thunder (GM: Matt Jaworski)
      OFF: 84 DEF: 85 SG: 86 OVR: 84.3
Previous Finish: 3rd, SHL, promoted via promotion playoff 
 
So there you go fishbowl GHL, use this information as you'd like.
 
8 Predictions for Season 9 in the GHL
 
1. Canuck Mighty Rhinos relegated - The only computer controlled team in the league, is likely to suffer the same fate as the computer teams in season 8, Red River Dragons and the South Township Spartans. Owning by far the worst starting goalie in the GHL, at only 84, they should have a dismal season as human managers pick off their stars.
 
2. It's the same old contenders - The talent gap after the Cuba City Eagles is immense. The contenders: Larson, Cedar Rapids, Horn Lake, Cuba City, and possible Jolly, should all clinch playoff spots due to the talent difference. Expect Larson to bounce back after winning three league titles in a row and being beat by Cedar Rapids, who will likely finish higher than 8th this season.
 
3. Tight battle for 7th and 8th - After playoff runs, Wildwood and Blenheim both regressed, due to old age, and expiring contracts. However, they will both be expected to finish 7th and 8th due to their experience. However, the emergence of the Sellwood Spirits should not be ignored, and the Montmorency Vortex and Wynyard Wildfire both look to make the playoffs as well, possibly the first for both managers in Fishbowl.
 
4. Emergence of new talents - At season 9, the stars that fist emerged in season 1, such as Ivar Lund, Eser Heinze, Dominik Svidran, and Nilo Strinberg, all are on the verge of declining, making room for new stars to step up to the plate, starting with season 4 and 5 draftees: Jeffrey Richardson, Joen Jacobsen, and Bo Welker.
 
5. Emergence of new playoff teams - After teams such as Hawkeye, Wildwood, and Canuck, who came out of lower leagues and established themselves in the GHL, with managers Matthew Henke, Matt Jaworski, and  Peter T. building formidable teams directly after promotion, and Sellwood also having a great offseason, expect new playoff teams. This will be the first taste of human competition to stay in the league for some established teams, and don't be surprised if a formidable team goes down instead of the recently promoted. Also, the Jolly Rattlers' offense is ageing, and will start to regress, and along with a poor defensive corps for a playoff team, even a 90 rated goalie may not save them from a mid table finish this season.
 
6. A decent draft - Analysis of major junior teams throughout the world shows that this draft will be pretty strong, and should have an above average top 10, with okay depth. Early in the season, no game-breakers have emerged yet, but in the USA, goaltender Chris McCready is surprising many scouts with his superb ability, notably his athleticism. He looks like a GHL star for sure.
 
7. Expect Batchawana back - The prime favourite for the SHL title, Batchawana should solidify the GHL as a completely human division next season, assuming Canuck is relegated, and their reputation as a 'battlin' team should pull them a long way, especially in hopes of landing them Chris McCready in the upcoming draft.
 
8. Team spirit will be important - Looking at the league, other than contenders, the rest of the standings will be anyone's guess. Many are expecting that winner instinct, teamwork, and most importantly confidence will greatly influence the table this season, with such even teams.
 
Hope you guys found this useful or interesting 

This is neat, I might do this for Fishbowl and Howitzer sometime.

To combat some Monday boredom, I went ahead and calculated some average overall stats from GHL teams. Overall doesn't of course paint the full picture of a player's capabilities, and thus is only a vague approximation of what a team can do, but it's the only easily available number for comparison.
 
Team overalls here are comprised of the average of a team's best 18 skaters (12 centers/forwards, 6 defenders) and the starting goalie. OFF/DEF come from the same players, but are simply rounded up/down to the closest full number for clarity. SG is simply the assumed starting goalie (best overall). Calculations made on day 5 of S10.
 
Here are the numbers - teams are in order starting from best OVR.
 
1.  West Chicago Protons (GM: Richard Feynman - bouncer)
OFF: 89 DEF: 91 SG: 95 OVR: 89,5
 
2.  Deadwood Vandals (GM: Kim Vandaele - koekefix)
OFF: 87 DEF: 89 SG: 96 OVR: 88,4
 
3.  Harrisonville Sabercats (GM: Hurja Herra)
OFF: 88 DEF: 89 SG: 88 OVR: 87,6
 
4.  Rome Trojans (GM: Yann Rock)
OFF: 87 DEF: 88 SG: 91 OVR: 87,5
 
5.  Cedar Rapids Minutemen (GM: Richard Armour)
OFF: 86 DEF: 88 SG: 93 OVR: 87,1
 
6.  Eldred Elite (GM: Steven Bennett)
OFF: 86 DEF: 89 SG: 93 OVR: 87,0
 
7.  Canmore Grizzlies (GM: Matt Muffett - themattinthehat)
OFF: 86 DEF: 87 SG: 91 OVR: 86,9
 
8.  Moapa Valley Gothic Knights (GM: David Chaw - FTW)
OFF: 87 DEF: 87 SG: 90 OVR: 86,9
 
9.  Richford Rebels (GM: Jusu Manager)
OFF: 86 DEF: 89 SG: 89 OVR: 86,9
 
10. St.Thomas Stray Cats (GM: Erzac Ray - Erzac)
OFF: 87 DEF: 87 SG: 90 OVR: 86,8
 
11. Portland Oilers (GM: Xavier Zhou - xZhou)
OFF: 86 DEF: 88 SG: 91 OVR: 86,6
 
12. York Wolf Pack (GM: Jiri Heikkala)
OFF: 85 DEF: 87 SG: 93 OVR: 86,2
 
13. Violet Volcano (GM: Soupy Salez)
OFF: 85 DEF: 88 SG: 92 OVR: 86,1
 
14. Thetford Mines Pegasus (GM: Anthony Grauwels - Pingu)
OFF: 85 DEF: 86 SG: 89 OVR: 85,5
 
15. Oshawa Dynasty Heroes (GM: Kris Zenatik - Euph)
OFF: 85 DEF: 85 SG: 86 OVR: 84,7
 
16. Collegeville Rhinos (BOT)
OFF: 85 DEF: 82 SG: 90 OVR: 84,4

For the first ever player of the day, I have decided to nominate the first player drafted in the Fishbowl universe, Jeffrey Richardson.
 
http://www.gameplanhockey.com/player?gpid=34572
 
Drafted: 1st overall, season 4
Drafted by: New Hartford Rangers
Current Team: Larson Knights
 
Age: 21
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 214lbs
Shoots: Left
 
For his only minor league year, Jeffrey played 37 games for the Regina Condors in the CAJHL and posted an incredible 97 points, including 71 points (a career high) and 26 assists. His ridiculous amount of goals earned him both CAJHL goal scorer of the year and point getter of the year.
 
After going first overall to the New Hartford Rangers, he immediately signed with the team in hopes of elevating the recently promoted Rangers and win the Golden Cup. Unfortunately, the season did not go as planned and Jeffrey played abysmally and Rangers remained near the bottom of the league. In a last ditch effort to avoid relegation, Richardson was traded to the league leaders Larson Knights in return for a few average players in their prime. The trade failed and the Rangers went on to be demoted in the SHL where they are still currently playing today.
 
For his first season in the GHL, he posted 13 points in 47 games for the Rangers and 5 points in 4 games for the Knights.
 
Over the next few seasons, his play has been improving and in season 6, lifted the Golden Cup with the Knights. In season 7, Richardson put up his GHL career high 54 points in 52 games. He also extended his contract to an astonishing contract of 3.2mil for 10 seasons.
 
Currently, in season 8, Richardson has posted 46 points in 38 games putting him 2nd in the scoring race, 3 points behind 1st.
 
 
 
 
 
 
*note: I doubt that I will actually do this every day, If you have an interesting player, please post about him for me. 
 
 

Ok guys, 30 games gone, and here's a look at what's happened:
 
In the GHL:
 
Larson leads the pack, as expected (by me at least)
 
Sellwood surprisingly is in 12th with the league's 2nd best offense.
 
There is a 10 point gap between 2nd (Hawkeye) and 8th (Cuba City).
 
After winning the cup last year, the Pirates find themselves in third.
 
Newly promoted CPU South Township has only managed 9 points through 30 games, and are a sure fire relegation candidate.
 
Cedar Rapids have rebounded after a disastrous finish last season and sit in 5th.
 
As for players, Larson leads the way with the top 3 scorers in the league. Leading the way is sniper Hubert Ferster, who has 25 goals and 40 points in 30 games.
 
SHL:
 
My team Montmorency Vortex sits in 1st, comfortably. We lead 2nd place Rocky Mountain House by 12 points.
 
Merrick, who have an excellent defense, Pinewood, and Portland, who sit 3rd-5th, are separated by 2 points.
 
6th place Tahsis sees a dropoff in points with 10 less than Portland, at 49, with a few teams close behind.
 
The relegation battle includes 4 teams. Mississauga, sitting with 14 points in last, needs a miracle, as they are 10 points behind 15th placed Ellisville. The difference between 12th and 13th is 10 points.
 
As for players, I have 5 of the top 25 scorers, with Pavlecka leading the way with 17 goals and 38 points in 30 games.
 
BHL:
 
Pierrefonds Predators have an astonishing 16 point lead in 1st place, and look like a sure fire promoted team, barring a major collapse.
 
As for the relegation battle, the 2 relegated teams are set in stone, with 21 and 11 points respectively. 15 place is 15 points behind 14th.
 
Louis-Vincent Banning, on the 6th place Alligators, leads the league in scoring with 18 goals and 44 points in 30 games.
 
IHL:
 
The title race at the top is fierce, with 1 point separating 1st and 2nd.
 
Palm Beach Shores have collected 0 points through 30 games, and are probably in the IHL. They need 35 points to get out the the relegation zone.
 
On 12th place Yucca, Maximus Angus can be found leading the league in scoring with 41 points in 30 games.
 
LIHL:
 
No highlights found.
 
Draft Status:
 
Looking good, Ulysses Stalker (lol that name) ranks 1st, with 47 goals in 21 games, along with 8 assists.
 
84 rated Swedish defender Ake Broman also is point per game, looking like an excellent pick.
 
87 rated Cornelius Chao ranks 7th somehow, but only has a .908 save percentage in the USJHL.
 
Overall roundup:
 
There hasn't been much trade activity this season, one GHL team has 3 first round picks.
 
No player has been extremely dominant in their league unless you include the junior leagues.
 
In almost every league, the promoted/relegated and GHL playoff teams are more or less set in stone.
 
Good luck in the second half all!

I usually try to stay away from the trade drama around here because the managers that have abused the system either think they didn't do anything wrong, don't care or are not willing to fix their mistakes. I feel like nothing will change unless more drastic measures are implemented by the game in prevention of abuse of CPU trades.
 
That being said, I find the sense of community in our game world a little lacking. I may be wrong, but it seems we all chat here with each other when there is a conflict over a trade others disagree with, but we never actually chat about our teams, our league, players, potential trades,direction of the game, etc.
 
 
Just my two cents, back to lurking now

A pre release of the upcoming v1.1.8 has been installed on the UAT environment. The release contains the following features and improvements:
 
Pending contracts
A complete rework of player contracts extensions. An extension will no longer replace the current contract. Instead it will take effect after the player's current contract ends. This also means that you now have the possibility to handle both this and the next season's finance situation. Once your team has promoted or relegated you'll have the new leagues salary cap available for next season signings. This also comes with a limitation where contract extensions will only be allowed on the last year of the player's current contract. But it you will now be able to offer a contract to player's playing in Europe or in other non playable leagues once the regular season ends. If the player accepts he will join your team next season. Player that you own the rights to will be able to accept a contract offer during the complete season. Note that pending contracts also will be accounted for when releasing a player and they will be included in trade offers just like a normal contract.
 
General happiness
The contract happiness has been removed and is replaced by General happiness. This will be extended in the future to include more happiness factors, such as likes and dislikes in the team. But for now it will handle the contract happiness situation and will give more detail regarding if the player wants to move to a bigger club or just is unhappy with his salary.
 
Computer trading AI improvements
In a further attempt to prevent cheating or abusing computer teams in trades the following has been done:
Computer teams will be less likely to agree on trades involving a large number of players and picks Computer teams will be less likely to agree on trades if already been involved in a large number of trades the current season Computer teams will value incoming draft picks less There is also a new feature introduced where newly signed free agents will be on a trade lock for 20 days before being able to include them in a trade offer.
 
Transactions loading speed*
Improved loading speed for transactions on the transfer page. Also includes extended filtering for world leagues.
 
Note. This is quite untested features so please report back any oddities you might find. Just add to this topic. Thanks

Computer trading in of itself isn't cheating no but I have pointed out too many times in this forum that exploiting flaws in a game to your advantage is cheating. That means that exploiting computer teams via trades is cheating. That is exactly what you are doing in your trades.
 
 
Your point is massively flawed, poorly thought out and exceptionally weak as a result.
 
A new manager doesn't need to make trades with computer teams unless there are too few human managers to try to trade with. Unless you are in the GHL (which a new manager will never be able to be in) or on the brink of reaching the GHL you should not be concerned about the GHL, top teams or top players. They are completely out of your reach in every way. You should only be concerned about your league and what you can do in it. Also the edge will never get bigger unless you stop learning the game and resort to things like what you are doing to "catch up" to a perceived gap that isn't there to begin with.
 
Regarding new teams getting to the GHL it is completely within the realm of possibility to have a very competitive team your first year there. I am the perfect example of that. To my knowledge I am the most recent team, and one of the very few, so far that has made the playoffs their first year after promotion in the GHL for this game world and it wasn't by fluke. No it wasn't easy. It was rather difficult. It should be. You are a SHL team promoting to the GHL. Be realistic with your expectations. Honestly I still think that I would have been better off team wise staying in the SHL for one more season but I made my very unexpected promotion to the GHL work. Every offseason there are a number of quality GHL players to grab for the at least 2 teams that rank up into the GHL. Yes the top talent is maybe a total of 3 to 5 players but you only need 2 maybe 3 such players. My first year I grabbed 3 such players out of about 6 or 7. Two forwards and a defender. I then grabbed a few role players to fill out my team and my team played well enough to get into the playoffs. On the way I traded 2 of those top players for a top goalie and 2 lesser skilled forwards. Yes the trades were with computer teams but notice that I traded 2 top talent players for one top talent player and two lesser talented players in return. I didn't try to finagle top talent away from computer teams via giving a number of lesser players in return.
 
Trading with computer teams is not a problem. Exploiting the computer in trades to get an unfair advantage is a problem. No exploiting the computer in trades is not an answer to a bigger problem. There is no bigger problem. The only problem there may be is your own inability to learn and improve yourself as a manager and exploiting the computer in trades is not the solution to that problem. Never, in any multiplayer game, is using in game exploits of any kind to your advantage an "answer" to a "problem" perceived, proven and known or otherwise.