Now that I have been professed by others as a guru, or genius or what have you, take this for whatever it is worth. HOMEWORK: There is always learning to do. Despite arguably having played more seasons of hls2 than anyone alive(there are another couple of sickoes out there who might be ahead of me), I still have not cracked down the sim completely. There are a few things I have learned, about lines and about rerates, so let's see what I can put together. Let me start with what has come across the wire in the last day or so: Rob, Sabres GM said: In a way it is different from real hockey, as you have to look at rerates when making lines, but one thing I have always noticed, the GM's I consider real hls2 geniuses, or teachers if you like, the Wayne T's, Tim Ks, Peter N's of the hls2 world, always play to win. At least I have come to that conclusion after talking to them. By that I mean as far as I have been told, they play their best players in an attempt to win as many games as possible. This is absolutely true as far as I am concerned. I have tested many seasons over the past few years, and one thing that may not have been mentioned anywhere, as everyone seems focused on rerates, is that I dtrongly believe a team's record will somehow affect their rerates. Not in as far as core categories go, those are etched in stone, but I do believe that a poor team record will result in a team that will "hit" on more of their possible ATB- rerates, and "hit" on less of their possible ATB+ rerates. Vice versa would be true for a team with a good record. One thing to look at here is to see what I mean by a possible ATB rerate. There are different charts out there on the net, that show different stats affecting the three main HLS2 categories.(PA-PC-SH). I will give you what I have learned from these and the thousands of test seasons. A player will not be subject to any type of ATB, + or -, unless he CHANGES in all 3 core categories. He could have an absolutely incredible season, but as an example, if his PA is already 9, and it stays at 9, he will not get an ATB. This tidbit can be taken to the bank. I have never seen an ATB happen when a player has one of his three core categories remain the same. More on rerates later, Steve, Leafs GM said: had heard stories read to me by my grandfather who told of these "sheep" who came out of no where to win the title. Alas, I was a few seasons too late to witness it in that league which its name does not get spoken hehe :) No knock on Rob, one clarification needed, they did not win the title, lost to a stacked Tokyo team in 6 games in finals. One thing that may have helped those Sheep, were great lines. I know that there was numerous hours of icq talk put into the lines the Sheep used for the playoffs that season, at least beginning in the round of 8 when a certain LA GM had nothig better to do , having been eliminated early, lol.(For those who may have heard of it, this was the year LA lost a protest series, and they were very mad and willign to help anyone kill Vancouver, thus the Sheep getting every bit of help with lines LA could offer) Are lines important in rerates? Can they help you win games? Absolutely in my opinion Steve, Leafs GM said: I want to find a way to win in hls2 without having to trade your way to do it. There has to be a way....must be...gotta be.I know the Wild and Canucks success is largely due to very shrewd trades, putting the right combination together and maximizing proper line combo's and maximizing your rerates. .I like a challenge myself, and to me, if there is a way to draft players, play them with the right combo, and rerate them up based mainly on your line decisions , without having to trade your way to success, I or someone else will eventually find it. I personally take a little issue with this one. The trades may have been won by Vancouver, the 2 that seem to be in everyone's radar, but they were made with some of the most knowledgeable hls2 people there is, with Chrispy and with the Peter N., mentioned in Rob's email. Neither trade approaches a rape in my eyes. A big part of Vancouver's success in PHL2 comes from the sheer jump they made from everyone else in rerates last season. As good as the Cacunks might have been in PHL1, they would have been killed by the Vancouver team now. Rerates, ATB+ rerates, on defensemen especially, made the Canucks very good. I can't find them now, but I beleive it was 3 blueliners that went up ATB+, Blake, Kubina, Bouwmeester. The blueline was able to trade off Blake for other parts and the cycle begins. Once again, more on rerates and lines later Steve, Leafs GM said: Shooting hand effects ***players playing with different shots then there assigned position IE RW with a L shot. How much does this matter? ***players playing with other players that have this offhand shot. IE A RW with a R shot, playing with a LW with a R shot? ***Dmen being paired with other dmen with the same shot vs the opposite shot. I will answer these as best as I can. I will answer each question twice in fact, once with theories I have heard of and whether they worked or not, second with my experience if any. RW with a left handed shot, vice versa. 1) I have heard numerous theories on them. Some saying it is better to have LW's with left handed shot, and vice versa, or a right handed center makes a RW better, passing more to him that his LW. 2) I have seen nothing that makes any of these theories work. Thousands of test seasons show me that this is about as useless as anything I have tested. I pay absolutely 0 attention to my forwards shooting hand, when trading, linemaking, or anything else. Onto the Dmen: 1) As goes the theory out there, you should try playing a r handed shot with a l handed shot. This has some merit to it as I will show in the next example. 2) For whatever reason, glitch, what have you, I have come to the conclusion that if you have two defensemen playing together, by placing the right handed shot in the LD position, and the left handed shot in the RD position, you will experience better than expected results with the LD. I have seen this often enough to think there is something to be gained here. Please keep in mind, I do not go out of my way to make sure that I have 3 right handed defensemen as I have seen some GM's do. If the situation arises where I have a choice of two identical defenseman in all core categories, I would lean towards the right handed one. When making lines I place the right handed defenseman in the LD position, which for those who are unaware is the first d position(when making lines it is C-LW-RW-LD-RD) Steve, Leafs GM said: streaks and slumps. This is a huge one in my books. How on earth can a player get 6 points be a +5 in 2 games and go -1?? Ive seen better stats attain a slump as well ***How does a player get one and why? How does a player shake a slump if he gets it? ***Do any category combinations of FA,PW,AG influence this even slightly? ***Does playing with a certain type of player increase or decrease the chances of one streaking or slumping. ***Does playing time effect these results? ***Do the same players tend to streak or slump more consistently? If so, why? This is a huge one, no doubt about it. The reason a guy can get a slump after a great stretch of games, or a streak when he has played horrible is easy to answer. Streaks and slumps are completely random in the simulator, as far as a guy going from 0 to anything in my views. The key is in maximimizing your guys who go to +1 and get them to +2, and to "shake" the slumps off of guys who have gone to -1 or -2. The million dollar question is how to do it. In my experience, you can shake a slump by giving the guy as much ice time as you can give him. This has worked extremely well for me in the past, especially with -2's. Most GM's reaction to slumps is to get the guy off lines as quickly as possible, thus negating this. Should I see a player go on a new slump, I will go out of my way to increase his ice time, at least somewhat. Should it be a star player, a Dionne in LA, a Hossa in Vancouver, a Barnes in Capreol, if he goes to -2, this could spell a huge blow to season aspirations.As all of these leagues have similar lines rules, these players, despite their -2, will likely be found on my top 5-on-5 line and 4-on-4 line, and likely double shifted(DS) from here on out on PP and PK lines. I have had good experience in this shaking player sout of slumps. It is up to the GM if it is beneficial enough to take the short term hit, using the -2, to get rid of the slump. Would I do this for a 3rd line RW? Not bloody likely, but if he is my first line guy, or someone who has been my rerate project for the season, I would consider it. Once again, to maximimize a +1, and try to get the elusive +2, I find PP time to have worked for me. A player goes to +1 for me, he gets some PP time, or more PP time if he was already there. Now for guys already DS on the PP, it is impossible to give him more PP time, so I will just move the lines around but keep him on as many lines as possible per the rules. FA,PW,AG affecting slumps. The main theory by some is that giving a player with low FA a lot of ice time will force him into a slump. It makes all the common sense in the world, but I don't agree with it. FA is a useless category in my eyes. I believe a guy going from 0 to anythign is random. Playing with certain types of players has no effect on a player starting a streak or slump. None at all in my opinion, going from 0 to anything is completely random. Playing time, as you see does affect what happens after they are on a streak or slump, in my opinion. Same players streak or slump consistently? Some swear by this, I disagree with them. I beleive the reason this happens, and have seen this happen often, is that one GM will consistently try using the same player with the same type of players, and follow the same thing when the player hits a slump. Through numerous test seasons, if it didn't work before, chances are it won't work now. Some of these so called perennial slumpers, once traded to a new team, or taken over by a new GM, thrive. I believe it is something that may appear to happen, but is more because of the GM in question than anything else. Steve, Leafs GM said: ---Jersery number ---PN , makes sense if your player is in the box too much instead of on the ice. ---Length of name....ya really, ive heard about this one once. ---Having a Poor PK, enabling more chance for reg strength goals scored for your squad thus giving you a better +/-??? ---Team name--happened in the DHHL, a few teams jumped on the "W" bandwagon, thinking maybe it influenced things lol...hey i tried it. ---CHK based teams fair better...this one actually is very interesting and has merrits. ----Teams run by guys named Glen, Steve,Chris, Jim and a few others can never win in the sim :). Jersey numbers; have tested it a little bit. I see it having no effect whatsoever, PN, it certainly affects the amount of PIMS a player takes, but I find it more as in relation to the rest of your team than anything else. PN is not an overly important thing in my eyes, Traditionally my teams have taken more than the league average in PIMS, often leading the league in that category. I think it may happen as I place almost no thought to a player's PN rating when making trades. I do find that should you have a team where every player has a 9 in PN, and a team where every player has a 5 in PN, and a team where every player has a 1 in PN, at the end of the season, their PN totals are much closer than you would imagine. A player with a 1 PN, on a team filled with 8's and 9's in PN will take lots of minutes. It's almost real life, the ref will even out the calls to each team, and basically if you have a goon with a "bad rep" he gets the bulk of the minutes. If you have a bunch of angels, they just split the minutes more evenly. Length of name? I hadn't heard this one, and never tested it. Personally I would seriously seriously doubt it does anything. Poor PK. yes, believe it or not, it could help your +/- stats. However the PP goals you give up could adversely affect the team's overall record, thus affect the chance of "hitting" on ATB+ or -, and is more hurt than harm in the long run. I sincerely believe that any time you purposely try to make your team weaker, or to try and lose, you hurt the team more than you gain(this of course is in the sim itself, I guess if you are losing to get first pick in a draft or something, it could be beneficial) Team name; LOL, I love this one. I was th eone that had to change all the team names in the DHHL. It doesn't work, no relation to how the team performs at all in my opinion. This is the long thought of Echo Bay sucked, and Waco was good, so becoming Waco was the key. They just came of age at the right time. CK--defintely has merits. The CK stat is in my opinion underestimated by far too many in the hls2 world. The reason it happens is you will often hear about how offense is better than defense in hls2. That is true, but if you have far better CK than a team with a little bit better offense, you will win the majority of the time. I find that the GM's who do take CK into consideration more than others usually have a more successful team in the long run. Steve, Leafs GM said:Teams run by guys named Glen, Steve, Jim, Chris, can't win. LMAO, I believe a Chris"py" has a TWHL title, and I know a Jim won a NSHL or TAHL title, I can't remember which. I also know a Steve won some PHL titles in the old PHL. But it is absolutely true in the case of a Glen. A team run by a person called Glen can never win a title. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alright, this email has gone on a long time, and some of you may be sleeping already. I have divided the rest into what will be 3 more long parts. Some will enjoy it, some will be intrigued, some of you will delete it, feel free to do with it what you will. RERATES In the three leagues in question, TWHL,DHHL, PHL, rerates are the most important component of improving your team. A quick word about each, as the league rules change how to look at things. TWHL: Bodies are plain and simple super important. The more you have, the more options you have to put on the 25 player list at the end of the season. If you are rebuilding, get lots and lots of bodies. DHHL: More or less the same as TWHL, but you must keep in mind the age(YIL) of the player. Once he hits a certain age, is it worth protecting him? PHL: Different as almost everyone is subject to rerates. Also, with the full farm system, you have to take time to try and get a couple of farmers to improve to replace the pro guys who will be useless to you next season. Core categories are PA, PC, SH-- the rest of the categories are secondary ones. A player will not rerate ATB(across the board) up or down, if one of his core categories remains the same, no matter how good or bad his season is. At least I haven't seen it in the tons of test seasons and leagues I have been in. Another bonus to remember is a player will not have any of his ratings change if he plays 7 games or less. He will remain exactly as he was rated. A player(unless you are in a league that gives you bonus rating points for awards, etc.) will not have any category change by more than 1, either way. Up 1, down 1 or remain the same, Ok, onto the core categories. Easiest one is PA. 5 assists equals one PA. That is the easiest way to explain it. So if your player has a 7PA, he needs 35 assists to keep his 7 PA. It is not a assist per game thing either. 34 assists in 28 games or 34 assists in 80 games, he still will see his PA go down by one. To get his PA to go up, he needs 40 assists. Once again, getting 45 or more assists will not get his PA to go up to 9, he can only go up one, remain the same, or go down one. Let's do SH next. SH is completely attached to shooting percentage. I don't care how many goals a player scores. It is simply shooting percentage that affects SH. And it is also a mathematical formula that I have shared with some before, and now it can be out there for all to see. 1.7%= 1 SH. It is as simple as that. I realize there is another chart that is out there on the internet, where the magin number for a 9 SH is 14.5%. I disagree with that chart completely. I did use it when I first started playing hls2, but I have seen too many instances where it did not work. This chart seems to be completely accurate in the thousnads of seasons I have tested with it. 15.3% = 9SH 13.6% = 8SH 11.9% = 7SH 10.2% = 6SH 8.5% = 5SH 6.8% = 4SH 5.1% = 3SH 3.4% = 2SH 1.7% = 1SH If your player has a 7SH, he needs to have a shooting percentage of 11.9% to keep his 7SH. He needs a shooting percentage of 13.6% to go up to 8 in SH, and even if his % is 25.5% , he can once again only go up 1, remain the same, or go down 1. One disclaimer here though is the(and Jim will love the MATH involved here), a player who is at exactly 15.3, or 13.6 or 11.9 might not have the necessary percentage to do so. I came across this by accident, so I ran some tests to make sure it was in fact what was happening. Here is an example. Joe Blow is rated like this, and had a season like this 21 Joe Blow 0 L C 3 8 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 7 8 83 P # Player GP G A PTS +/- PP SH GW GT S PIM PCT F 9 Joe Blow 71 35 67 96 44 23 0 8 0 229 101 15.3 So in this case, Joe would keep his 9PA, he has 45 assists or more, and his SH would go up to 9, cause he has the 15.3% shooting. Unfortuantely he wouldn't, and here is why; 35 goals divided by 229 shots = 15.2838% so in team stats you will see his % as 15.3 as it rounds it to nearest decimal. When it comes time to rerates, the sim will not give out the 9 SH unless he has 15.3% or higher. I have seen guys at 15.2838% not get the 9, or have their 9 reduced to 8. Weird but true PC is the third category, and at least for me, the most difficult to ascertain. I know that shots are one of the key components for the rerate, +/- also affects it, especially for defensemen. There is some different charts out there that show varying amounts of shots to gain whatever in PC. I disagree with those charts, but have not taken the time to study it enough to crack the code. The main reason being, that the leagues I am in all send out test rerates to be looked at. With these test rerates, you can look at what happens to a guy's PC. Although you will see test rerates are different than the real rerates when they get done, you can see that every single player's core categories remains the same in all rerates. If the test shows he goes up in PC, he will go up in all rerates, test or real, and vice versa. PC on defensemen is majorly affected by their plus minus total. Magic numbers are 0, +1, and +10. There is no difference in the percentages between +10 and +35. I believe the +/- is also very important when it comes to whether or not a player will hit on an ATB +/-. The plus minus there works two ways. If you have a weaker team, where everyone is mired as a minus, but one player is a -10 or -15 rather than a -35 like the rest of the team, I believe that it will help in stopping that player from going ATB-. I do still strongly believe that teams with better records get a higher chance of getting ATB+, and lesser chances of getting ATB-. That goes right back to my original theory that you should try and win as many games as you possibly can. ATB is directly tied to PA,PC, SH. Once again, if one of those three categories stays the same, the player will not have an ATB rerate of any kind. Once all three of those categories are changing, he is open to a possible ATB + or -. The ATB as I said is tied to many things, and I have not come to any full conclusions I could give some one. The main reason for this is part of the ATB formula, and I am quite sure of this, is the total league rerates. It means to test it would take more hours than any one person has in a lifetime, or a knowledge of computer programming that far surpasses mine. This is also the reason that someone will see 3 or 5 or 10 sets of test rerates where their player goes up in PA, down in PC and SH, and does not go ATB-. They figure he is safe to rerate as he did not go ATB- in any tests. However, especially in TWHL and DHHL, when teams send in protection lists to the respective commissioners of those leagues, they will often protect their players from going ATB-. Thus those players are protected(by moving them to the farm team in hls2 files) and in my opinion, the sim searches out other people to hit with ATB. Another major component of ATB's is team record. The better your record, in the league, overall, and in your division, the better than chances of getting ATB+, and less chance of getting ATB-'s. One note about ATB's. I have seen, and then tested, it seems to happen on a 5% chance, players who go up in all three core categories, and then rerate ATB-. So I would guess that you could get an ATB+ if you went down in all three categories, but it would be rare as well. Going up in 2 and down in one, doesnt guarantee ATB+ either. It could turn out to be ATB-. Once again, rerates are so key to a team's future, that I beleive they are, at least in the rules these 3 leagues use(TWHL,PHL,DHHL) easily the single most important component to a team's success. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RATINGS This one has changed a little thoroughout my experience with hls2, and is never left etched in stone, but I have used these ideas for awhile. Each position, c, w, d, g, has a different value for each rating. All I can do is show you what I value most for each position. Keep in mind, these are my personal opinions, based on my research. One of the people who might have tested hls2 even more than myself, is David Easton. I have been told that he and Darren Hall have spent a lot of time on tests, etc,, as well. I know that David and I disagree on some of the following ranks for each category, especially when it comes to defensemen, but these are what I use. Ag Qk Pw Fa In Pn Sk Pa PC Ck Sh Ttl Those are your 11 hls2 ratings. Strange that those 11 ratings, somewhere between 0 and 9, have kept so many so entertained and perplexed for son long. Centers first, PA-PC-SK-QK-SH-CK-PW-AG-PN-IN-FA Those are my rankings for a centerman. PA is of utmost importance to me on a centerman. You will see that I likely value SH far less than some would think. A center scores most of his goals on special teams to begin with. Protecting his SH at rerate time is always a pain as all centermen take too many shots in the sim too. Great PA on centers means better numbers for the rest of the team. I believe every hls2 team should be built from the pivot position on out. I have seen and managed some teams that were weaker everywhere but center, still win because they had great centers. (Once again, these are my personal opinions). PC is next, and after saying they get too many shots, you would think it is lower, but in my eyes it isn't. Somethign with a C's PC helps the rest of the line in my opinion. SK and QK are the skating categories, centers that can skate are better than those that can't. Then SH, that oen is self explanatory. CK is nice on a center, especially to kill penalties. Then PW, which has some effect, but not much on a center. The what I consider the more or less useless categories, AG-PN-IN-FA. I put little value in any of them Left Wingers SH-PC-QK-SK-PW-PA-CK-AG-PN-IN-FA SH is the main category for wingers. They don't get as many shots as centers, and need a good SH to score goals consistently. PC is next, the more shots, the more goals. QK and SK are equals, and near equal to PC. I can't stress how important they are, especially when looking for a player to try and ATB+. Those in PHL, take a look at a guy like Vancouver's Korolyuk. Despite him being a 7/6 winger in usual jargon, I value him very highly, as his great skating makes him play beyond most expectations. PW is another category important to wingers, but not for themselves. I feel that the better PW a winger has, the better the center with him will perform. This is the result of numerous test seasons. Maybe it is a factor that he goes in corner, opens more ice for the center, whatever it is, I believe in it. PA is valued much more on wingers by other people than it is with me. I feel you can get the necessary PA from your blueline, and that is how I usually choose to build my team. CK is next, better to have it than not have it. Then the same 4 crappy ones as always, AG-PN-IN-FA Right Wingers SH-PC-QK-SK-PW-PA-CK-AG-PN-IN-FA Same order as LW, for all the same reasons. One strange theory that was given to me by a former fellow GM, is that PW is even more important in a RW than his QK-SK. Test seasons I ran were not conclusive, but this GM, respected by me, swears by it. Defensemen CK-PA-PW-QK-SK-PC-SH-AG-PN-IN-FA First thing people will notice is how low SH is. While as defensemen get so few shots on the whole, their percentage is of marginal importance to me. Great CK on defensemen leads a team to victories(on this one, Easton and I will agree, look at any of his teams, he always wants 6 9CK defensemen). I have PA 2nd, which is much higher than some of the other people that have been called hls2 gurus. I strongly believe, based on past experiences, that PA on a defenseman is near as important as PA on a center. It makes the wingers score more, it makes the team win more, It helps the PP. PW is a defensive category in my eyes, and once again important to a defenseman. QK-SK are the skating categories, with QK being slightly higher rated than SK in my eyes. Qk is on par with PW. PC is valued much more on defensemen by others than it is by me. I feel it is a fairly easy thing to rerate up as well, as a +10 is usually enough to gain in PC some 90% of the time. SH is low, they jus tdont get enough shots. Than the 4 useless categories. Goaltenders There are two trains of thought here, and I haven't done enough test seasons to prove the second one, but early results show there is some value to it. PC-QK-all the rest PC-QK-SK-FA- all the rest some will tell you that the only categories that matter are PC and QK. I went with that for awhile, but in the world of icq chats, it was mentioned to me the 4 category rating system. I haven't done enough tests on it, but as I said early results would indicate they are one to something. PC-QK are definitely 1-2, but SK-FA are 3 and 4. The rest of them are completely meaningless to a goaltender. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lines **who do you play with who and why? Do you play a high AG PW player with someone who isnt to balance it out? Or perhaps high AG /PW are more for checking lines? **Do you play high PA wingers with great shooting Centremen? Or vise Versa? What about Dmen? **Power play.....why do centremen seem to score a ton on the PP, regardless of their shot number? ** does the sim play one teams first line 5 on 5 against the other teams 5 on 5 3rd (checking) line? or is it first against firsts, 3rds against 3rds? **does playing players on the PP or PK out of position effective or a waste of time? EG having a DMan with a 9 shot on the wing or in centreman position? ** why does the sim seem to reward forwards who are dressed but not playing in lines, with unassisted goals? quick answers to Steve's questions, than I will try and explain how I do lines. 1)AG/PW arent important enough to structure linemaking around. 2)Vice versa for sure. Great PA centermen with great SH wingers is perfect in my opinion. 3)on the pp and on the PK, it just is, I don't think ther eis a rhyme or reason to it. My educated guess on it, seeing as how ths old program(hls2) is all probabilites and percentages, is that the wrong percentage was inputted when it came to searching for special teams goals, and the center position gets the majority of goals in those situations. 4)using +/- stats as my basis, I feel, that at least for the vast majority of play, 1st lines play aginst 1st lines and so on down the line 5)the age-old question of where to play guys on PP and PK units. 99.9999999% of the time I will use guys in their normal positions. Occasionally, near the end of a season, I will look at rerate possibilities, and if a decent PA winger needs assists I might stick him on the point of a PP. Or if a defenseman needs a couple of goals to get his % up, I will use him on the wing. Testing full seasons with lines like that indicates to me that players do not perform well when out of position, so it is somethign I use sparingily. I may also use somethign like that if I get 2 lw's or 2 rw's or 2 centers on plus ones the same day, and want to try and maximize their ice time to try and get them to +2. It isn;t somethign that I use often, 6)Every so often the sim spits out a goal by a 4th liner, often of the unassisted variety. I think it is simply because in the program there is a percentage for those gusy to score and sometimes they hit. Usually when it happens for me it pisses me off, cause my 4th liners are hardly guys I am trying to help rerate. Another quirk is a larger than average percentage of these unassited 4th line goals are game winners. Another little glitch thing Some of you may have read a posting on the internet about a "China Syndrome" That involved dressing players out of position, and is not legal in any of the three leagues, so I will not discuss it. That is a highly successful technique that was learned by someone else runnign a bunch of test seasons, and like I said, it works, so well in fact, that it is illegal in the three leagues being discussed. I have grabbed the Sabres seeing as how Rob spurred the email Team : SABRES Coach : Ken Hitchcock # player's name St Inj H Ps Ag Qk Pw Fa In Pn Sk Pa PC Ck Sh Ttl 19 Saku Koivu 2- L C 6 7 5 8 4 6 8 6 9 6 6 71 3 Jamie Lundmark 2+ R C 7 7 7 6 6 5 6 5 7 7 6 69 13 Don MacLean 1+ L C 5 6 7 7 7 7 8 7 7 6 6 73 38 Patrick Sharp 1- R C 7 6 8 7 8 4 6 6 6 7 7 72 31 Joe Thornton 2- L C 9 7 9 9 7 3 7 7 9 6 7 80 7 Denis Hamel 1- L LW 5 6 7 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 6 71 99 Steve Larmer 1- L LW 3 7 3 9 9 9 7 7 9 6 8 77 40 Scott Pellerin 2- L LW 5 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 7 8 5 66 28 Brian Sutherby 0 L LW 7 6 6 6 7 5 7 5 6 7 5 67 21 Richard Zednik 1- L LW 5 8 7 8 8 7 8 5 8 5 7 76 32 Marian Gaborik 0 L RW 4 9 5 8 6 8 9 7 9 5 7 77 26 Bill Guerin 2+ R RW 8 8 9 9 8 3 8 8 8 6 7 82 5 Alexander Ovechkin 0 L RW 3 5 8 6 7 8 7 7 7 8 8 74 30 Richard Park 0 R RW 5 7 5 6 7 9 8 5 5 8 4 69 73 Michael Ryder 2- R RW 6 7 7 7 8 5 7 6 8 6 7 74 24 Steve Webb 2- R RW 8 5 8 4 7 5 7 6 6 7 4 67 20 Keith Carney 2+ L D 7 7 8 7 5 5 6 5 5 8 4 67 41 Nathan Dempsey 0 R D 4 8 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 7 72 23 Sean Hill 1+ R D 6 7 6 9 8 6 6 8 7 6 7 76 25 Tim Ramholt 0 R D 4 8 8 5 2 6 7 8 6 8 6 68 8 Mike Weaver 1- R D 5 5 7 6 7 8 7 7 7 7 5 71 29 Ian White 0 L D 5 6 8 6 5 2 9 7 5 8 9 70 45 Eric Fichaud 0 L G 8 7 7 6 8 7 7 7 7 - - 64 18 Curtis Joseph 1+ L G 8 8 6 7 5 8 9 6 8 - - 65 1 J-P LEVASSEUR 2- L G 5 9 5 9 5 4 8 7 9 - - 61 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 ---Team Average--- 5 7 7 6 7 7 7 7 7 6 7 73 Alright, first thing when making lines,(I am looking at all of these teams, as if there was no streaks on anyone, and it is the beginning of the season), first thing I will do is determine the "core" of my team. I consider the core to be the 3 top centers, rw's, lw's and top 6 d I am going to use. So with the Sabres, I will go with Thornton-Koivu-McLean Larmer-Zednik-Hamel Gaborik-Guerin-Ovechkin(Ovechkin's low QK means you could substitute Ryder here) There is only 6 d, so I guess they are the core, I need to dress 2 goalies so LEvasseur and Joseph are the 2 best ones, in they go leaves me with 3 guys to dress. Seeing as how these guys wont see any ice time, who cares who they are. Use retirees, who cares if they rerate down. Call up shitty farmers if you have room and let them play 4th line. Makes no difference. With this team I would choose Sutherby, Pellerin and Park. A little extra about the last three guys to dress at end of line discussion. Next we have to pick someone we want to try and rerate ATB+. Ramholt with an ATB+ would be beautiful, having the three defensive categoris of SK-SK-CK going to 9 and his SK to 8, if he went up ATB+, so he is my defenseman choice. Gaborik with great QK-SK stats and only a 7 in SH would be the forward, but to go ATB , he would have ot let his PC go down to 8 from its current 9 so he is out. Means either Guerin or Zednik is the choice. Zednik has a much lower PA, meaning easier to get assist totals, so he is the guy. Ramholt and Zednik. ( I try and choose one forward and one blueliner every season---for the Wolves this season I have only the D, Ferrence, for the Canucks, it was Korolyuk and Rathje--Korolyuk screwed it up by just not performing, Rathje will go up ATB+ this season, and Staal's great start meant he became the forward project.) But for this team we have Ranholt and Zednik The team is weak overall, first thing I would likely do is move one of the top 4 wingers, preferably a RW for help at center, but we go with what we got, Thornton would be the first line center, he is the only one I reasonably like, so let's say he will play 5-on-5 line 1, 4-on-4 line 1 and lines 1 and 3 on the PP. Some will think even to put him on lines 1 and 2 on the PP, but I believe that the sim uses line 1 the most, then 2, then 3. And you have to give some ice time to others so they arent all slumping after game day 3. Koivu is the next best center, so he gets RS(regular strength) line 2's and the other spots on the PP. This means McLean will be the 3rd line center for ES. I will likely have to try and get him some PK time to keep him from a slump. Onto wingers, Larmer and Gaborik are the team's top wingers, but I would not use both on the top line. (Example, in Vancouver Hossa has always been on second line) I want Zednik to rerate ATB+, so I want him to play with as great as players as I can get him, Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik Koivu-Larmer-Guerin McLean-Hamel-Ovechkin For 4-on-4 lines, some GM;s swear by using only RW's in their scheme of things, I will use a RW if everything else is equal, but I don't overweight it. Thornton-Zednik Koivu-Gaborik McLean-Guerin(Larmer would not go here as he is protected as the HOF guy in PHL at rerates and won't need stats.) PP--I almost always use the same set for 5-on-3 as 5-on-4, sometimes, will go with using the unit that DS on 5-on-4 as only line 2 and the line 2 unit form 5-on-4 DS on lines 1 and 3 on the 5-on-3) With the Sabres team here, I would use exactly the same units on both sets of PP, thus, Thorton's unit would be on 4 of the 6 pp lines Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik Koivu-Larmer-Guerin Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik PK (back to the extra 3 guys you dress, some will dress a PK specialist here. I have done it too before, but now usually reserve that for a guy who will play 6 or 7 games. I would rathe rhave an extra guy I dont have open to rerates, playing 7 games or less, than a better PK) Thornton-Guerin McLean-Ovechkin Thornton-Guerin Without a great set of checkers on the wings, Ovechkin can get a bit more ice time and maybe avoid a slump. Then for 3-on-5, we could go with Guerin Thornton Guerin Alright, leaves us with the blueline, which I always do at the end when making lines Now Ramholt will get lots of ice time, remember he is the rerate project for the season, 5-0n-5 Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik-Ramholt-Carney Koivu-Larmer-Guerin-Hill-White McLean-Hamel-Ovechkin-Dempsey-Weaver Ramholt has decent numbers, but goes first line mostly because he is rerate project. Carney is good defensively so hopefully he helps the line's +/- numbers. Carney has the added bonus of having a lower PA number than the other choice which is White. Carney's lower PA number means more assists for Ramholt and we want him to get 45 this year to get PA to 9. No sense havign White steal asssist from him. Ramholt takes the left side becuase he is the r handed shot, as mentioned a long time ago in this email. White's 8 CK gets him on second unit, Hill's 8 PA gets him there, Hill on the left side, cause he has the right handed shot. Dempsey and Weaver are left. 4-on-4 Thornton-Zednik-Ramholt-Carney Koivu-Gaborik-Hill-White McLean-Guerin-Dempsey-Weaver I will use the same pairings on these ES units, for the same reasons. 5-on-4 and 5-on-3 Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik-Ramholt-Hill Koivu-Larmer-Guerin-Dempsey-White Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik-Ramholt-Hill I want lots of goals from the unit that is on there 4 of 6 times, so they get the 2 8PA's. This works cause Ramholt is the rerate project anyways. Dempsey and White are the bext offensively of the rest so they get the other spots. PK defensemen can be done two ways, depending on your team. 4 defensemen spread out, either 3 and 3 shifts of the 6, or 4 and 2, like I did with the PP. However, some times, you will only have 3 good defensemen, much like this Sabres team. So you maximize what you ahve. Ramholt, White and Carney are the 8 CK's, they get all the PK duty, as I can DS each of them. 4-on-5 Thornton-Guerin-Ramholt-Carney McLean-Ovechkin-Ramholt-White Thornton-Guerin-White-Carney 3-on-5 Guerin-Ramholt-Carney Thornton-Ramholt-White Guerin-White-Carney Leaves you a goalie to pick, stick Levasseur in net. Lines look as such. Thornton-Koivu-McLean Larmer-Zednik-Hamel-Sutherby-Pellerin Gaborik-Guerin-Ovechkin-Park Ramholt-Carney-Hill-White-Dempsey-Weaver Levasseur-Joseph Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik-Ramholt-Carney Koivu-Larmer-Guerin-Hill-White McLean-Hamel-Ovechkin-Dempsey-Weaver Thornton-Zednik-Ramholt-Carney Koivu-Gaborik-Hill-White McLean-Guerin-Dempsey-Weaver Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik-Ramholt-Hill Koivu-Larmer-Guerin-Dempsey-White Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik-Ramholt-Hill Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik-Ramholt-Hill Koivu-Larmer-Guerin-Dempsey-White Thornton-Zednik-Gaborik-Ramholt-Hill Thornton-Guerin-Ramholt-Carney McLean-Ovechkin-Ramholt-White Thornton-Guerin-White-Carney Guerin-Ramholt-Carney Thornton-Ramholt-White Guerin-White-Carney Levasseur