AlexanderRasputin

I like you.

Will send you a DM.

I agree - we're at a point where a more complex search function that includes a number of different parameters (i.e. Salary, Contract Years, full statistics instead of just Top 20) is a must. Or at least a full data table with the ability to sort by these columns. It's extra work, but if we are vocal about it, will get done. @Steve, perhaps do a feature request post for Anders?

Congratulations to everyone on another great regular season! Good luck to the teams still in the playoffs, and productive off-season to everyone else. You know the drill. ART ROSS TROPHY (Most League Points) DAG ARNESEN (Dragons) - 82 points Theodore De-Nobile (Stealheads) Elouan Scott (Red Tide) OVECHKIN TROPHY (Top Goalscorer) DAG ARNESEN (Dragons) - 47 goals Zakary Stilly (Patriots) Ismael Sneed (Rage) GRETZKY TROPHY (Best Playmaker) RENE LUCIAK (Battlin Bears) - 48 assists Aleksandar Schaller (Prairie Stars) Theodore De-Nobile (Stealheads) VEZINA TROPHY (Best Goaltender) KWESI CUTTER (Prairie Stars) - RETAINED TITLE Osvald Lang (Minutemen) Renaud Pettigrew (Hawks) ORR TROPHY (Best Offensive Defenceman) NOAH-CHARLES MERIZZI (Masons) NORRIS TROPHY (Best Defensive Defenceman) MARTIN HARANT (Prairie Stars) ORR - Points leader among defencemen NORRIS - Calculated with the following formula among [+/- + BKS - GVA + TKA], PER also taken into consideration SELKE TROPHY (Best Defensive Forward) WARREN LAMOUREUX (Dragons) Elouan Scott (Red Tide) Jeremie Cline (Stray Cats/Stealheads) Calculated with the following formula among F: [PTS + BKS - GVA + TKA] LADY BYNG TROPHY (Most Gentlemanly Player) CHAD MCGRAW (Dragons) Tintin Petterson (Minutemen) Elouan Scott (Red Tide) Calculated with the following formula [PTS - PIM] HART TROPHY (League MVP) KWESI CUTTER (Prairie Stars) - RETAINED TITLE Dag Arnesen (Dragons) Noah-Charles Merizzi (Masons) CALDER TROPHY (Best Rookie) HERMANNI PENTTI (Prairie Stars) GOOD SAMARITAN AWARD (Most Giveaways) ANTHONY-JAMES SUNSHINE (Red Dragons/Masons) ROID RAGE TROPHY (Most Hits + PIM + MP) RADOVAN GIERTL (Steelers) *Notes: Calculations may not be entirely accurate due to limited visibility and inability to sort by position and outside Top 20 in GPHM stats format - if anyone sees mistakes, let me know and I will fix.

Great analysis! Good luck to all the playoff teams.

There are very clearly teams who slow down before the playoffs and teams who get hot at the right time, just like in real life. As usual, the why is a mystery)). Good luck, Paul.

^Agree, I also don't think your post was an outburst at all, Deadwing. I think all of this provokes interesting discussion at the very least, and uncovers things about this sim that are common between managers, as well as some key differences, as Paul mentioned above. Discussion is better than no discussion at all. I enjoy seeing more managers share any of their observations or complaints/proud moments, whether I agree with them or not, so keep it up! Spill your dirty water here, or just talk about your team, or compliment others - all of that makes for a very alive experience.

I agree with this - to an extent. We have some good tools - better even with advanced stats. The randomness Paul alluded to above is fine as well, and I completely buy his point that it makes the game more interesting and challenging, much like it would be in real life. Certainly I wouldn't complain about it or consider quitting GPHM because of some lack of transparency or challenge. That said, there are a few things in this game that simply do not make sense when they happen, and there simply are not enough tools or consistency in what is visible, to be able to make conclusions based on it. Now, GPHM is already fantastic and full of great features, so to me, this is just part of the future as Anders and co improve the game. But here are some things that currently, I just do not understand: 1. Periods of Poor Goaltender Performance: There are games and stretches of games when goalies are simply absolute trash. I expect this multiple times throughout the season now, and it can happen when they are fresh off a rest, when they are Heroic, when all tactical info is green (i.e. you perfectly match an opponent's tactics), and usually for 3-5 games at a time. Sometimes they simply lose you games and end up with a 50 - 60 rating for extended stretches for no particular reason. Some may say that in real life, goalies and players may go through similar stretches (i.e. Bobrovsky at the beginning of the current season). But in a sim like this, it would at least be good to know where this is coming from - i.e. is there a randomness element to player performance, and it just happens, or is this something we as managers can fix? 2. Team Winner Instinct Decreasing: This has happened to me multiple times, and I believe someone else mentioned this as well. A team's Winner Instinct will go down a level, usually from Heroic to Strong, over the course of a few games - and stay there. This happened to me during a) stretches of wins and good performances, b) without any trades or player moves, and c) on teams with an optimal, or close to, balance of player traits. Mystery. 3. Underestimating Opponent Teams: My teams have consistently underestimated conference leaders and teams on hot streaks higher than them in the standings, as well as teams with better reputation. What this makes me think is "Underestimation" is based on the OVR of a team's players/lines/squad, rather than their position in the standings. Given that there is a clear directive in the design of this game to treat OVR as a loose guideline, this seems like a poor design choice (if true), especially because it can impact games heavily. 4. And finally, the dreaded: "The team struggled to gain possession in the neutral zone and had to start all attacks in the defensive zone" assistant report item. I get this sporadically in games I lose, and usually lose comfortably, but I have no clear idea of what it means. I've gotten this when my defence played Aggressive Forecheck, and I've gotten this when I've played Spread, as well as all kinds of combinations of attacking tactics. I initially thought this had to do with an opponent playing Dump and Chase and keeping my team in our own zone, but I've also had this in games where my team had more O-zone time. All I know is that I inevitably lose games with this message, it seems to appear without rhyme or reason, and though there is clearly something going on here, I have not yet discovered what it is. Interested to hear more thoughts on these and any other specific items - whether the other managers here agree or not.

Example?

Buzzer GHL is different from Cage - considerably more parity between teams. It's a good challenge. My team is performing as expected, about .500. In unfamiliar territory, since I usually build from the front, but because of the FA availability and successful signings after promotion, my defence is very strong. My forward line...not so much - essentially being carried by Weichert, who has been my star player since BHL. I've had discussions on acquiring a top 6 C, which is my main gap, and have a few options there. I have plenty of pieces available after Trade Lock in 2 days, so a trade that benefits both sides is absolutely possible. After that, we will see. I am confident this squad has a high ceiling, but the revamp after promotion has been total - so it will take until mid-season to find the right combinations and good performers. But - that's the fun part . I have two similar edge cases on my Cage GHL team - Litvinchuk (81 OVR FW), and Jurak (83 OVR D). Both have been mainstays on my team for two seasons now, and Jurak in particular has been incredibly consistent and has successful stints on the top pairing often. They do have min-maxed stats though - 99 skating/94 physical for Jurak, and 93 skating/99 shooting/96 physical for Litvinchuk. I consider both indispensable parts of my team and they are never leaving. Having players like that is a crucial team-building element, imho.

Thanks for the compliment. It's been the most fun I've had in GPHM so far. As always, some luck with signings played a role, but promoting every season was my goal and I set my team up for that from the beginning. Complicated challenge - I had a goal of acquiring two lines of players that could move with me into every higher division, drafting well was essential too. Personally reaching out to and negotiating with other managers for assets was key - still sadly an under-utilized part of this game. Happy to answer any relevant questions. Basically, the most hands-on and rewarding manager experience possible in GPHM - I highly recommend going through it.

I am looking forward to facing your team, Wick. Following a similar template to yours (though with comparatively inferior players so far). Well done on assembling an impressive young squad, topped by Pattenaude falling to you this season. That said, my core took me straight to the GHL from the LIHL, with 4 straight seasons of finishing 1st, so I have plenty of confidence in staying competitive - especially after pulling in my new franchise G in Alenin.

Buzzer, SHL, Vermilion Black Devils - Unable to accept trade, window jumps to “Not so fast, something is wrong” page. Other team involved in trade is also unable to accept the identical deal. No salary issues that can be seen. I suspect one of the players involved in the trade is to blame, because he also does not show up in the Find Players filter for his position/overall etc.

To celebrate the beginning of the 2019/20 NHL season today, the second annual Cage Awards are up! I added some categories based on feedback from last year, split the D-men awards, and adjusted ratings for others (i.e. removing +/-). It was once again tough to get into detail, as it is impossible to sort lists bottom up, and only top 20 players by each category are visible, but this should be accurate nevertheless. Including runner-ups as usual. Scoring was down this season in general, so competition was tighter than last, but goalies still seem to rule the Cage world. Have at it. ART ROSS TROPHY (Most League Points) SAMUEL LUMPKIN (Nightmares) - 75 points Vendelin Jaros (Minutemen) Tintin Petterson (Minutemen) OVECHKIN TROPHY (Top Goalscorer) ELOUAN SCOTT (Red Tide) - 38 goals - RETAINED TITLE Theodore De-Nobile (Leopards) Quinton Goff (Battlin Bears) GRETZKY TROPHY (Best Playmaker) YAN SHARSHIN (Red Tide) - 47 assists Joaquim Harter (Union) Jeremy Lawhorn (Wolverines) / Riyad Lassiseraye (Minutemen) VEZINA TROPHY (Best Goaltender) KWESI CUTTER (Prairie Stars) - RETAINED TITLE Philipe Haywood (Union) Renaud Pettigrew (Hawks) ORR TROPHY (Best Offensive Defenceman) YAN SHARSHIN (Red Tide) NORRIS TROPHY (Best Defensive Defenceman) MAREK KOCH (Prairie Stars) ORR - Points leader among defencemen NORRIS - Calculated with the following formula among D: [PLUS/MINUS + BKS - GVA + TKA], PER also taken into consideration SELKE TROPHY (Best Defensive Forward) ALEKSANDAR SCHALLER (Prairie Stars) Elouan Scott (Red Tide) Chad McGraw (Dragons) Calculated with the following formula among F: [PTS + BKS - GVA + TKA] LADY BYNG TROPHY (Most Gentlemanly Player) TINTIN PETTERSON (Minutemen) Ian Frerot (Wolverines) Cherif Jackson (Union) Calculated with the following formula [PTS - PIM] HART TROPHY (League MVP) KWESI CUTTER (Prairie Stars) - RETAINED TITLE Samuel Lumpkin (Nightmares) Philipe Haywood (Union) CALDER TROPHY (Best Rookie) RADOVAN GIERTL (Steelers) GOOD SAMARITAN AWARD (Most Giveaways) ADOLFO DURHAM (Owls) ROID RAGE TROPHY (Most Hits + PIM + MP) RICHARD YILDIRIM (Tigers)

This is common with both of my teams - goalies become Swiss cheese every 5-6 games as a rule, no matter how well the team plays or how good they are. Just seems to be a fact of life within the GPHM universe. I commiserate.

You've got a deep young squad, they will rebound. Could use a better keeper though, if you aim for the top half of the standings.

Understood, not a problem. Thanks for the comment!

In Buzzer IHL Season 2 League History, the wrong champion (Winterhawks) is showing, instead of Vermilion Black Devils.

Look good to me as well, not too many of those colour schemes around. Why North Haven?

Ah yes, hasn’t updated yet. Will send you a Pm in-game.

Is this Buzzer? I don't see your team in the BHL.

Whoever gets on a 10+ game win streak first

+1 for Roster Limits, Paul. I am in favour of keeping the main elements of pick switching and making smaller adjustments, something similar to what Paul suggested above. We should be continuing to give managers MORE avenues to improve their team, not fewer, and that goes especially for communication and interaction between leagues, which is limited enough as is. I moved up to the GHL from the IHL in GPHM 1.0, and am doing so from LIHL now in Buzzer, and grabbing picks from a higher tier league was one of the main reasons I was able to stay competitive upon promotion. It wasn't easy to get them, but ultimately, this should be dependent on the manager's skill and willingness to negotiate and find the right deals - after all, isn't that what this sim is about? To the original question that Peekaboo asked - yes, there have been cases of that being abused, but handicapping the ability of managers to negotiate deals and setting stricter rules makes this sim less interesting, challenging, and realistic, not more. If we want to limit abuse in terms of trading picks, my solution is to define how much a pick is worth - the "agreed upon" value. Right now, there is no good way to do this in GPHM, aside from a thread where we all verbally agree on this. This also applies to player values. We have the board-set value ratings, but this is murky because an "Excellent" trade value seems to vary dramatically when trading between leagues (i.e. an SHL "Excellent" =/= GHL "Excellent") - we just don't know exactly by how much. For SHL picks, a solution would be to have their value increase during the season with the ranking of the team that owns them, similar to how Team Reputation currently works. That way, if a GHL team wants to take a gamble on an SHL pick at the beginning of the season, they can - but if they want to do it on Day 40/50/60 when that pick is likely to switch for a GHL pick, the value of it should be built-in to be significantly higher, preventing new/inattentive players from accepting shit deals. In my opinion, it's time to take the "board" valuations a step further, or make them become more granular, because the main complaints about trade abuse etc usually stem from a lack of clear understanding of the market value for a player or a pick.

I had a similar type of issue in GHL Cage. Had a 1+1 player that I acquired with a contract extension already in place that just went to FA. Assuming there are a few contract bugs still being worked on.

Should be a lot easier now that I don't have to play (and lose to) your team 3x a season . Good luck and I expect you in the CHL soon!