EHM 07 - Part 11: "Wants a new challenge"

[Ub the Bub]

And looking at SI games' actual twitter feed, there were a lot of other hockey pundits that got tweets too. The list I copied was just what was posted on The Blue Line... Other people including managing editors for eliteprospects, hockeyfights, dailyfaceoff and a whole bunch of team specific blogs and other people with hockey ties. For some reason, especially Canucks fans... But whatever... It sure seems specifically hockey related in any case...

 

[archibalduk]

This probably warrants a new thread, but a new EHM is being released today! Seriously!

Here are the news items: http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=23

And here is a roster update for the new game (TBL Rosters v7.3): http://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13590

 

[kudymen]

I know this will not be a very informative post, but to all the information above...


What. What. WHAT. WHATTTT? WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

 

[Systemfel]

I know this will not be a very informative post, but to all the information above...


What. What. WHAT. WHATTTT? WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

There's already a thread on it. It's stickied in this very forum.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1862507

 

[kudymen]

There's already a thread on it. It's stickied in this very forum.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1862507

My only apology why I havent noticed the thread is because I have bookmarked this one and I fainted when seeing that info... Thanks for the heads up

 

[irunthepeg]

Mike, when you roll defensive systems, do you get bombarded with the "subpar" play messages about so and so sucking and then immediately have them asking for a trade? I've had about 4-5 guys do this already. A couple of them the messages have gone away but some have had the message for 2+ years and will leave once their contracts expire like Brian Sutherby, who is my perfect 3rd line C that I don't want to lose in 2 years.

My one offensive line is getting to 36 years old (Kariya - Arnott - Sullivan). I'm really bummed about losing Arnott. My second line C Josef Vasicek is good defensively but not Arnott good. I need to find a UFA that can be the defacto #1 C with good defensive ability. Jakub Voracek is actually progressing decently. At 20 he has all yellows except hitting and faceoffs for technical attributes. Scott Hartnell is busting though, but that's also probably due to my system. It's hard to get good offensive numbers when I'm trying to roll them defensively. In a perfect world, both of my top two lines would all have 50 points.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Mike, when you roll defensive systems, do you get bombarded with the "subpar" play messages about so and so sucking and then immediately have them asking for a trade? I've had about 4-5 guys do this already. A couple of them the messages have gone away but some have had the message for 2+ years and will leave once their contracts expire like Brian Sutherby, who is my perfect 3rd line C that I don't want to lose in 2 years.

My one offensive line is getting to 36 years old (Kariya - Arnott - Sullivan). I'm really bummed about losing Arnott. My second line C Josef Vasicek is good defensively but not Arnott good. I need to find a UFA that can be the defacto #1 C with good defensive ability. Jakub Voracek is actually progressing decently. At 20 he has all yellows except hitting and faceoffs for technical attributes. Scott Hartnell is busting though, but that's also probably due to my system. It's hard to get good offensive numbers when I'm trying to roll them defensively. In a perfect world, both of my top two lines would all have 50 points.

No, I do not get those messages. That's odd. It's been a while since I've gotten one of those messages at all really. Is his rating that poor?

Yeah, center depth the key. I'm a nut about having four strong centers. Or more...

 

[irunthepeg]

No, I do not get those messages. That's odd. It's been a while since I've gotten one of those messages at all really. Is his rating that poor?

Yeah, center depth the key. I'm a nut about having four strong centers. Or more...

Usually my bottom 6 is putting up 6.3-6.9s (overall season ranking). Do you have higher rating bottom 6 forwards? I'm not sure what to do. I think it's the low amount of points because in other DBs I would have guys with 7 ratings and the same amount of points and no complaints except if a guy is in the 5s. I swear, some things are dependant on a person's computer because I see these messages a lot, yet you don't, or the thing with people getting the U20 Canada GM while in the NHL whereas I can't.

And yeah same here. I'm at the point where regens are just starting to come in and I don't know if I'll be able to find one with good enough defensive stats and also be good offensively.

For top line players what sort of defensive attributes do you look for? (hitting, pokecheck, checking) And what other attributes do you look for usually in a strong defensive player? Positioning? The one on ones?

 

[Michael Farkas]

Usually my bottom 6 is putting up 6.3-6.9s (overall season ranking). Do you have higher rating bottom 6 forwards? I'm not sure what to do. I think it's the low amount of points because in other DBs I would have guys with 7 ratings and the same amount of points and no complaints except if a guy is in the 5s. I swear, some things are dependant on a person's computer because I see these messages a lot, yet you don't, or the thing with people getting the U20 Canada GM while in the NHL whereas I can't.

And yeah same here. I'm at the point where regens are just starting to come in and I don't know if I'll be able to find one with good enough defensive stats and also be good offensively.

For top line players what sort of defensive attributes do you look for? (hitting, pokecheck, checking) And what other attributes do you look for usually in a strong defensive player? Positioning? The one on ones?

I mostly do not have guys in the 6's, and if they are, it's high 6's as far as I can recall...players at 6.3 would not dress probably...

If you go to Player Search and look at Attributes -> Defensive. It gives you the attributes that matter for defense. So, I use those and anticipation, that one is big for me, and look for those. But yeah, Checking, positioning, anticipation, pokecheck, work rate, determination, strength, etc. All good things to look at.

 

[irunthepeg]

I mostly do not have guys in the 6's, and if they are, it's high 6's as far as I can recall...players at 6.3 would not dress probably...

If you go to Player Search and look at Attributes -> Defensive. It gives you the attributes that matter for defense. So, I use those and anticipation, that one is big for me, and look for those. But yeah, Checking, positioning, anticipation, pokecheck, work rate, determination, strength, etc. All good things to look at.

Weird. I wonder what I'm doing so differently that is causing my bottom 6 to suck so much.

 

[irunthepeg]

Never had a season like this 153 GA! 54 wins for the President's Trophy by 1 point. Watch, I'll get swept in the first round

Niittymaki 29-9-5 1.92 GAA 0.929 SV%
Khabibulin 25-10-4 1.61 GAA 0.940 SV%

Insane goaltending from Khabi in his last two years as BACK UP and he turned 38 this year. Sullivan, Kariya and Arnott are all starting to slow down. I don't know how to replace them so I hope I win the Cup and get them something for their years of defensive service.

Yup, out in the first round as per usual. Niitty injured in game one and so are a few other guys. Sick of this underachieving team I have. That's one thing that irks me about this game. If you manage to win the Cup once, your team will keep rolling years after (at least in my experiences) but if you can't get there, it will take forever. I made the conference final one year as a 7th seed.

 

[Michael Farkas]

That's great goalie stats and defense. Sub-2 goals per game wins often. Awesome stuff!

 

[irunthepeg]

That's great goalie stats and defense. Sub-2 goals per game wins often. Awesome stuff!

Yeah I'd never seen my starter do that well... I guess it's the defensive system. But what's weird is my starter always seems to end up with a .910-.918 SV% and the back-up goes REALLY high like .930+ but this was the one year where they were similar.

Even when I got Niittymaki back, my team sucked out loud. I get that things change in the playoffs and teams play tougher but this was stupid. It's like my team forgets how to play once playoffs hit Oh well, at least I got a defensive minded team the President's Trophy.

Now I've got to let guys go. I traded for James Neal, got rid of Niklas Hagman (he wanted out) and I'm going to have to let Sutherby go after this season (which kills me). I traded for the rights to Malkin, because he was upset in Pittsburgh and was 3 stars (I gave up 1st round pick players etc.). In a way maybe I cheated since Malkin would never go in real life but he's never been more than a 50 point player in the game thus far. He will be the heir to Arnott's first line duties. I've got Jakub Voracek and Scott Hartnell (as well as Neal) finally starting to increase in stats so they will likely get to play there eventually. My mission is to find good bottom six players now.

Edit: Holy crap, Arnott just retired at 36... he had a one year deal. Khabibulin also retired. As if. Good thing I traded for Malkin or I would be so screwed.

 

[axepig]

So now that the new EHM is out, do you think you guys will keep playing the 07 version? Of course the new EHM is still early access but it really looks promising and much better than 07

 

[irunthepeg]

So now that the new EHM is out, do you think you guys will keep playing the 07 version? Of course the new EHM is still early access but it really looks promising and much better than 07

It's definitely hard for me. To be honest, I hate the lack of side bar. It's the single biggest issue with me. I feel like it's less intuitive to get from menu to menu. If they had the side menu back, I would transition easily. I LOVE EHM 2007... I can't simply just leave it (I'm playing right now ). If I can warm my mind up to the new UI, it might happen. Love the new contracts, new progression, and the room for customization. I just need my side menu

I bought it though. Even if I don't play it much, I'm proud to support that team.

 

[axepig]

Yeah it's hard for me too, I haven't bought it yet but I definitely will. I'm not too keen on the top menus and the new look and I've got a lot of saves that I'm attached to on 07... On the other hand, I know for sure that I'll do some online stuff since it's back to 30 players Is the loading speed better than 07? It's on my SSD and I still find it pretty slow.. And does it have a decent windowed mode? I feel like those 2 settings will probably make me either stay on 07 or move on to the new one

 

[irunthepeg]

Yeah it's hard for me too, I haven't bought it yet but I definitely will. I'm not too keen on the top menus and the new look and I've got a lot of saves that I'm attached to on 07... On the other hand, I know for sure that I'll do some online stuff since it's back to 30 players Is the loading speed better than 07? It's on my SSD and I still find it pretty slow.. And does it have a decent windowed mode? I feel like those 2 settings will probably make me either stay on 07 or move on to the new one

I play windowed 07 on my PC but I guess my screen is a fair size. I couldn't on my laptop, which always peeved me haha. Yeah it seems a bit faster to me, not 100% sure.

Nolan Yonkman got a hat trick for me LOL! Adjusting to life without Jason Arnott, I traded Brian Sutherby (who has hated me for years, I hate trading him because he's such a good PKer) and... Steve Sullivan. Giving Voracek a chance to get into the top 6. I picked up Corey Perry off waivers too, although he's not the real life Perry in this game (original DB).

 

[axepig]

I just lost in the WCF with my best defensive ever. Here's some of my team stats http://i.imgur.com/lQslRWR.png GFG, I did pretty well and I'm glad I got to the WCF without being an offensive powerhouse! The Cats were scary but they lost in the semi finals.

http://i.imgur.com/r1WYzO6.png Shots for. I always end up #1 for some reason.. I'm impressed the Cats were so close to me, I'm usually in a big lead with this stat.

http://i.imgur.com/RXBM4wf.png GAA, I went to overtime quite a few time so it lowered my GAA but I'm still tied for 1st! I wasn't even using any sort of defensive system either, just roll with 2 decent goalies that I drafted and developed in hope of getting a franchise goalie (they didn't quite reach that level but I'm glad to have them)

Here's a bug. http://i.imgur.com/AqKunT8.png It says I have 198 GAs but I'm sure it's not the case... http://i.imgur.com/dmBQgFB.png Here it says 204. Which screen do I believe? (Rangers had 199 in the standings and 198 in the team stats screen) Either way I consider myself #2 in defensive and very close to the #1 defense of this year, the NYR

http://i.imgur.com/gIEV70X.png Here's what I hate. Such a low shots on goal against I want my goalies to face more shots! Oh well I guess it just means I have good possession and/or blocked shots. The Cats were truly scary.

http://i.imgur.com/2vfOKy1.png Pretty good PP, I've had issues with it for the last few years I'm glad it's working now

http://i.imgur.com/mXWae6Y.png PK, not great, not bad. I like when I'm middle of the pack or higher, never expected much of my PK.

Now for the skater stats: http://i.imgur.com/5ZfO2uO.png My top forwards scored less than usual but my depth decided to show up so I'm happy. I usually have atleast 1 guy at 100pts+ or close to 100 with fewer than 82 games, not this year.. Notice the TOI, I roll with 4 equal lines so my "4th line" still gets 10min of TOI. Only 1 minus player and he's a young FA that I signed this summer, not signing him back.

http://i.imgur.com/qAYvwEm.png Defensemen, nothing too impressive they've been alright but did expect better than them, not a single 8 in AVR

http://i.imgur.com/LeWfb1q.png Goalies, for some reason my starter never gets more than 30 shots on goals while my backup can get 40 sometimes.. I think I'll keep rolling with 2 goalies next year, if I can.

Now I'm in June and I've just learned some very, very horrible news... http://i.imgur.com/wRlqKkz.png My starter doesn't want to negociate a new contract. Atleast Shestak wants a 2 year term so it's not *so* bad but it still sucks.
http://i.imgur.com/IxYrdGM.png My top defensemen, my general! He doesn't want a contract! This definitely hits hard. If I were to lose him, I would only have one true top pairing in my 34 years old Lehto.
http://i.imgur.com/9nUOEgr.png One of my most polivalent defenseman I've ever had. He's a stud defensively, he can play with whoever and be great and make the other guy look great, he puts up decent numbers. I've always liked this guy but he doesn't want to negotiate either...

But here's the REAL problem.
http://i.imgur.com/DuQGVRL.png I expected this guy to be my 1st line and PP guy. He was mediocre on the 3rd line+PP for 2 years but he's finally good this year but now all of sudden he wants out too! This really sucks

http://i.imgur.com/OyDGnX2.png The face of my franchise (with Lehto) and the only player (with Lehto again) that stayed on the team since I took over. He's my captain, a true leader, a great player who puts up great numbers every year, wins faceoff like no other! At 38 years old, he doesn't think he can last another year... I'm losing my #1 center here. The Ducks won't be the same without him.

http://i.imgur.com/yhKTcdB.png I acquired Pavlov last year at the trade deadline and he's been by FAR the best player I've ever acquired by trade. He's helped be win my first Stanley Cup with this team and We also won the Presidents. Sadly he is also getting old and I expect him to retire. So that means my #1, #2 and #3(supposed to take over #1) will leave my team. This is horrible.

It gets even worse. http://i.imgur.com/DJ2yQEC.png This guy is my goal leader this year and he's my 2nd best offensive player and I don't have much scorers beside him and my #1... So I'm also losing one of my best wingers... Great

So with this **** luck, you might have predicted it but YES I DO LOSE MY BEST WINGER TOO. http://i.imgur.com/r5HuKnf.png Constant 40+ goalscorer for 7 years straight. Almost PPG for 7 years straight. he hit 109 pts once. He's my stud, my best offensive player and he's still young. I love this player so much but he decided he doesn't like my team anymore... Are you ******** me? I gave this guy a cup and quality minutes! Sigh...

So yeah my roster is depleting and I'm losing my #1 RW, #1,2,3 C, #2 RW #1 D-man, #3 D-man and my #1 goalie. I don't think this ever happened IRL but I'm almost crying.. I've spent time building my perfect team and while it's not complete I'm so damn proud of what I built. I cant find any logical reason why they would all want to leave at the same time, right after a WCF. I hate going in the FA for good players so I might have to tank next year and use more young guys...

To end this wall of text I'm going to show you some fun stuff of my savefile, here's my absolute favorite player I've ever seen: http://i.imgur.com/ELWAhfD.png I think he's the first Spanish guy to do well in the NHL, I picked him up as an undrafted FA. Here's his stats http://i.imgur.com/RlBNxJL.png he was supposed to be my 3rd liner energy guy but I had to put him on 1st line because of injuries and whatnot and he produced a lot so I kept him there. I've always liked to compare my EHM players to IRL players and this guy right here is my Brendan Gallagher. Always working hard as hell, kinda small size but he plays bigger than he is, not much pure talent offensively but he sure knows how to put the puck in the net. Before getting him there were only few foreign players in the league, 1 or 2 italians, 1 or 2 hungarians, 1 or 2 slovenians a few icelanders were in the CHL but few made it to the NHL (they absolutely dominated the CHL though, I've seen 130-160pts I think) but after getting him I've seen a lot of spanish players joining, a lot of hungarians, a few polish players and I LOVE it! Sadly I don't seen anymore icelanders in the CHL and nothing really good in the Iceland league.

For those wondering how the hell am I developing foreign players, I've modified the 12-13 (I think) DB to have every player have 200PA. So literally every player can become Gretzky or Lidstrom or Orr, no matter their size, their country or whatever! I really prefer this compared to the typical regen where all the good players are canadians and swedish, it kinda makes it more realistic even though I doubt we see spanish players in the NHL

Edit: If anyone want to see the World tournaments, olympics, stanley cup winners and all that jazz let me know I'll happily post them (and this time without a 3 page essay )

 

[irunthepeg]

Edit: If anyone want to see the World tournaments, olympics, stanley cup winners and all that jazz let me know I'll happily post them (and this time without a 3 page essay )

Love seeing all the screenshots. Nice to see your team stats and all that.

For my PP, if I'm running an offensive style team, I will set the practice 40-10-50 (general/PP/PK) and that will usually get my PP to top in the league. For some reason if you have high offensive players you can put it to low actual time practicing the PP and they will do work anyways.

That sucks your team is leaving. But sometimes I find that fun. You get a chance at a fresh start and you can give some of your other guys a shot at the big time.

For my team right now, I lost Arnott to retirement, traded Steve Sullivan and lost Khabibulin to retirement. I've made a few trades this year actually and I'm at $32 mil in salaries and my budget is up to $53 mil so I'm set for a while to let guys get raises and keep my team. I'm trying to see if I can get a lot of out Jakub Voracek next year.

 

[axepig]

For some reason if you have high offensive players you can put it to low actual time practicing the PP and they will do work anyways.

You know what's funny? I've been rolling 60-0-40 My powerplay is always 15%+ and is usually near 20%~ while I'm used to a 79%~ PK... So I've decided to go all on PK and for the last 3 years I got 84%, 82,5%, 85% and decently low GA.

I'm currently playing through June and I managed to sign Runnarson to a 1yrs deal and Gavilanes to a 3 yrs 7mil deal thank god! I think I may be able to sign Sildre(d-man) and maybe Magosi(other winger) but I gave up on centers.

World champs: http://i.imgur.com/IXaZPve.png
WJ U-20: http://i.imgur.com/wzBcvdn.png
World Cup: http://i.imgur.com/9yNf1Pl.png
Olympics: http://i.imgur.com/QVBKPxg.png
World rankings: http://i.imgur.com/AyqsjY4.png What a mess
Stanley Cups: http://i.imgur.com/ZA9d23A.png Lots of back to back! The Isles were so dominant for 6 years straight and I'm amazed to see the Cats never won the Cup... They are usually super strong, here's their team history for funsies: http://i.imgur.com/SNhhXMf.png

 

[axepig]

traded Steve Sullivan

I just noticed that I love Sullivan he was my first favorite player because he was a speedy monster in my first NHL game, can't remember which year it was.

 

[irunthepeg]

I just noticed that I love Sullivan he was my first favorite player because he was a speedy monster in my first NHL game, can't remember which year it was.

Yeah I was sad to let him go. Unfortunately he's sucking on an offensive dynamo Washington team too. Wow, I thought I was going to be way worse this year but I'm over 100 points and my GAA is still quite low (although it will probably be higher than last year). Niitty is having a year 33-16-7 with 1.71 GAA and 0.935 SV% with 6 games remaining in the year. I got Ryan Suter to hit 40 points! I picked up Corey Perry off waivers earlier in the year and got him to get 37 points in 63 games. He started with like 25 in 22 games, it was crazy.

Question for anyone: do you guys give guys days off of practice when they're not tired? I've started using the days where I have 2-3 days off without games to give them at least one "maintenance day" and it seems to be working.

 

[axepig]

I'm a tyrant when it comes to practice, I make everyone work intense everything and never let them take breaks. I don't think it's the best way to do it but it is working.

Lead-up question: Do you guys think the coaches really affect the team? I have a lot of yellow ratings coaches who have an history of winning (with lower level teams) and they seem to do better than when I had Babcock who had greens everywhere

 

[irunthepeg]

I'm a tyrant when it comes to practice, I make everyone work intense everything and never let them take breaks. I don't think it's the best way to do it but it is working.

Lead-up question: Do you guys think the coaches really affect the team? I have a lot of yellow ratings coaches who have an history of winning (with lower level teams) and they seem to do better than when I had Babcock who had greens everywhere

I feel like it matters less if you set the tactics and lines for a team. If you let the coach choose, I bet it makes more of a difference.

First round of the playoffs: (4) Anaheim Ducks vs. (5) Nashville Predators ... Game 1: 2-0 Nashville, Game 2: 3:0 Nashville, Game 3: 4-3 Ducks OT, Game 4: 3-0 Nashville... Game 5: 4-0 Nashville... Holy ****. Antero Niittymaki is doing what I've always tried to do in files with him. He had 10 shut outs in the regular season and 4 in the first round of the playoffs 0.69 GAA 0.971 SV%.

Holy ****, we won the Cup as a 5th seed! Niittymaki WOW... 16-7-0 with 1.32 GAA and 0.948 SV% and EIGHT shut outs. James Neal with 9G13A in 23 games, Corey Perry with 9G12A as a waiver pick-up who gets injured in game 7 but scores the GWG in a 2-0 win over the Sabres in game 6. They are 2/3 of my second line with Josef Vasicek or Artem Anisimov switching in the C position. The Sabres were back to back Cup champs already too and lost in the finals the other 3 years I've had this file. Perrs is a beauty Captain Paul Kariya finally gets his Cup, too bad that Sullivan and Arnott were a year too late Malkin with 8G12A, Hartnell with 9G10A and 61 points in the regular season after 8 points in 51 last season and being a regular scratch. Now he's my first line RW.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Now your games are starting to resemble my games...nice job, men!