Paul T

Both relegation playoffs are going 5 games. That's gotta be emotionally intense.

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

Good!! As with all good managers, I was bummed to see you go. Glad you're back!

+1000

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

And I will likely find out how the Pens feel. Early season favorites, find out you aren't that good as the season rolls along, swept.

Awesome work! I was thinking about doing something similar, but I'm glad someone beat me to it. Great to see a Leopard win one. Helluva season, Souders!

I totally didn't mean it that way (so don't cancel those trades)! My comment was not in response to anything I've seen recently. As Steve said, we used to chat about this topic a lot in Biscuit and I only brought it up again because it seems some managers with really good players have left recently. The specific player I was thinking of was Piercy (Dman - Brass Castle). He's actually untouchable, so that's good, but I was thinking how easy it would be to acquire him if he wasn't. A gentleman's agreement is a pipe dream since not all managers are around the forums enough to make that happen. I guess either computer trading needs to be locked down by the admins or we just allow and accept it.

Same

Not sure... very surprised to see him go. Think he had a really good team, just got a bit unlucky. This has me thinking though. Do we all (especially the higher league managers) make a gentleman's agreement not to trade with computer controlled teams - or is it a free for all? Would prefer the former, but can live with the latter.

Looks like Matt is out. Tough loss for Cage.

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

Wish I had more time to do a more in depth analysis, but here's the round 1 matchups. EAST #1 Union vs. #8 Duhawks (Union won season series 3-1) #2 Leopards vs. #7 Bulldogs (Leopards won season series 3-1) #3 Stray Cats vs. #6 Minutemen (Stray Cats won season series 3-1) #4 Red Tide vs. #5 Nightmares (Nightmares won season series 3-1) WEST #1 Prairie Stars vs. #8 Tomahawks (season series tied 2-2) #2 Hawks vs. #7 Rage (season series tied 2-2) #3 Ricochet vs. #6 Outlaws (Ricochet won season series 3-1) #4 Pirates vs. #5 Wolverines (season series tied 2-2)

Totally agree. Just something about it that draws me in.

Really competitive first season in Cage. Looking forward to seeing how the playoffs shake out. Heading into the final day of the regular season, the seedings look something like... EAST 1. Union 2. Stray Cats / Leopards 3. Leopards / Stray Cats 4. Red Tide 5. Nightmares / Minutemen 6. Minutemen / Nightmares 7. Bulldogs / Duhawks 8. Duhawks / Bulldogs WEST 1. Prairie Stars / Hawks 2. Hawks / Prairie Stars 3. Ricochet 4. Pirates / Wolverines 5. Wolverines / Pirates 6. Outlaws 7. Rage / Tomahawks 8. Tomahawks / Rage Lots of potential movement still to happen.

This is funny because I am typically the exact opposite. It's the Big Games trait that usually draws me in. Something about that Green Heroic or Determined - and a strong opposition to Nervous and Anxious. Lately I've been trying to put more emphasis on Ego. Those Cocky and Arrogant players can boost your Winner Instinct, but I've found my team plays better when my players are mostly Friendly and Compassionate. Could be all in my head. Other than picking my 3 captains I don't really care about Leadership. Ambition is another that doesn't really sway me one way or the other.

Figured I'd go ahead and start posting a few questions here and there that may (or may not) start discussions and get the community engaged. When building a team, which traits make a player appealing and which traits do you not factor in as much when looking for a player (if you had to pick one)? I know a lot of managers are drawn in by that Green Heroic Big Games trait and others mainly go for Friendly and Compassionate players to boost Teamwork (or Arrogant/Cocky to boost Winner Instinct). I figured I'd exclude the Dirty trait since most of the managers I've talked to seem to be split on that one.

Question for the community. I've wondered this for a while. Let's say you take over a team on the last day of the season and are in a must win game (for whatever reason). You notice that all your players are a perfect fit for a Dump and Chase offense - however - the team has been set to Crash the Net with a full green familiarity bar. Changing to Dump and Chase would go full red. Do you: A ) Keep your Off tactic set to Crash the Net (Pro: your team is familiar, Con: your players don't fit). B ) Change your Off tactic to Dump and Chase (Pro: your players fit perfectly, Con: your team is unfamiliar). Which would have the bigger positive/negative impact? Obviously B is better long term, but for 1 game only. Not sure if there is a correct answer here, just interested in what other managers would do and why.

Here's some alternate jersey ideas I came up with.

Finally had a chance to sift through all the jerseys. There's a lot of good ones, so I'll just mention my absolute favorites. GHL - Scandinavia Steelers - something about the color combination just pops and the tiny bit of orange on the logo matches the sleeves. SHL - Rocky Mountain House Owls - color scheme reminds me of Boston College - Canuck Red Dragons - love the color combo BHL - Summertown Six Pack - this is just brilliant. Not so much the jersey itself, but probably my favorite team name + logo CHL - Birnamwood Silver Bullets - LOL - loving the "whatever" vibe here IHL - Coulter Wild Fire - great color/logo combo LIHL - Fillmore Hill Cats - another good color/logo combo - Continental Steel - Goldville Knights *Honorable mention to about 40 others.

Erzac - how do you continue to bait my team into penalties. I remember our GHL/SHL playoff series from Biscuit where I took 50 more PIMs in a 3-game series. Now in Cage over 4 games the PIMs are 44-20. Something about the Stray Cats send the Leopards into a rage.

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

0 - 4 since taking over 1st place. It's a curse, I'm telling ya.

Congrats to whoever gets to play the Leopards in round 1. You'll get a 2 day rest before you advance to Round 2. Bunch of overrated divas.

/\ Very true. I suppose it would be cool to see a handful (or two) of players in every league developing faster than they currently are. But with veteran players now decreasing earlier, I just don't see how you could balance the two. Vets get the performance bonus, but younger players would become much more valuable than older players from a trade perspective. Right now it looks like the best 21-22 year olds are improving at a rate of 1-2 overall per season, while the lesser developers are lucky to gain a single overall in 2-3 seasons.