I don't think that's a lame question. I don't know, either.

It's Bear-ee

I'm glad I asked. I would've figured it was the other way around.

Oh, jeez, I just looked at the upcoming eligible draftees, and there's a kid who's played in 55 games this year who has 210 points. He's going to be playing college hockey at Minnesota next season. I have no intention of drafting him, but those numbers are through the roof.

Is it Phil Kessel?

He's the American Sidney Crosby...

What's his name?

Who would that be, Pumpy?

I have Kessel in my Caps dynasty. He is excellent. Exxxxxcellent.... I play him at RW rather than center, because his faceoff skill is so low (under 10). Hasn't slowed him down a bit.

Haha, I should've known that everyone would be asking. It's Kyle Okposo. In my dynasty, Kessel is having a marginal season at Minnesota, although I expect him to improve a little bit.

Back to my Russian goalie Tryanichev, I'm looking for some defensive help going into the playoff run. I'm on the day of the trade deadline, so I'll probably spend all my time today trying to work out a deal or two. Tom Preissing is having a decent season for a bad Washington team, and all the Caps are asking for is the rights to defenseman Marek Chvatal (a 2002 draft pick who'll never make my team) and the rights to good ol' Tryanichev. Now, as I said in my last post, it doesn't look like Tryanichev will ever play for me, just because he's not getting enough experience. I don't know if I want to make this deal, though. It's just Tom Preissing. Decisions, decisions.

Yeah, I didn't think it'd be Kessel since he's slated to play at the college level in 2005.

Alas, Kyle Okposo. In my Everett Silvertips game, we have his CHL rights, but he "Wants to play US college hockey" so we can't sign him. He looks like he could be good at this level though with 70 goals and 56 assists in 60 games! (and an average rating of 8.73) He is #2 rated Top Prospect on our team behind Peter Mueller, who is also wanting to play US college hockey.

As an aside, IRL Peter Mueller has broken his commitment to the University of Minnesota and is going to play for the Silvertips this fall. With he and Zach Hamill centering the top two lines, they might actually score some goals this year!

do you guys recommend to use the unfake 1.2 that came out?

Started a new season tonight w/ the Kings. My top two lines are:

Straka / Lindros / Dustin Brown
Robitaille / Conroy / Belanger

Nothing special, but decent.

So far, I'm 4-4-2

Here are the results:

0-2 (Loss)
2-3 (Loss)
2-3 (Loss)
2-2 (Tie) (Lindros goes down w/ Injury)
2-5 (Loss)
3-1 (Win)
4-3 (Win)
4-1 (Win) (v. #1 Colorado)
2-2 (Tie)
4-1 (Win) (v. #1 Colorado)

I'm thinking the coaching changes (3 or 4 areas worked on instead of all 7 or 8) have a lot to do with this.

Anyone have any tips for getting Sidney Crosby to produce? I took the Coyotes and wound up with the first and second overall picks in the '05 draft. We've steadily improved every year since, but it's mid-season 2008 and although the media seems to think Crosby is the shiznit, and my scouts rate him off the charts, here are his career numbers thus far:

Season GP G A PTS +/- AvR
--------------------------------------------------
05-06 81 28 32 60 17 7.73
06-07 71 26 26 52 10 7.70
07-08 52 19 18 37 02 7.54

Obviously those numbers aren't awful, but he's not really improving. Here are my forward lines:

Saprykin Crosby Brule
Nagy Nedved Perry
Dawes W. Primeau Okposo
Doan Latendresse Keefe

(If you're wondering why Doan is on the 4th line, we had a contract dispute and he has just come back to the lineup in the last week, so he's not in game-shape yet. I'm also trying to trade him as his new contract has pushed me over budget, so I don't want to mess up my top couple lines for what is likely only 10 or so games of action for him).

I've tried lots of different things, but currently the tactics for Crosby's line are:
Attacking
Mixed
Behind the Net
Neutral Zone Trap
Zonal
Hard
Easy
Normal
Mixed

His personal tactics are all defaults.

Anyways, anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to improve Crosby's numbers?

Fidatelo

the key is your practice screen. Be sure that coaches are assign to 3 or 4 areas only instead of the default 7/8 areas.

That and remember....

Is your team good offensively? How do you rate on a year-by-year basis in total goals scored versus the rest of the league?

I've managed the Buffalo Sabres for a couple years. We don't have any superstars by any means, yet I've led the league in goal scoring both years. I use an Attacking philosophy but use 'Passing' instead of 'Mixed' and 'Crash the Net' instead of 'behind the net'. This goes against the idea that you need big centres to run the Crash the Net system, as my Sabres pivots are all undersized (Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Tim Connolly).

However, I find that my team scores a LOT of rebound goals because of this system. You should give it a try for 10 games and see how it works.

Oh yeah, I'd also suggest playing a power forward with Crosby; Saprykin and Brule aren't the biggest guys in the world and Sidney would likely benefit from the open space a bigger guy could provide.

jb, how big of an impact do you really think that has? Yes, it has been mentioned that it's best to manually tweak this part of the game, but we're not talking about anything key. If it was key you can bet that riz would probably do something about it. We're only talking about maximizing a player's potential. Tactics have a *lot* more to with the production of a player.

Unless you are a big believer in the butterfly effect, it's not that big of a deal.

I have 3 assistants plus my head coach. Here are their practice settings:

T. Nolan -> Skating, Tactics, Off Skills
J. Barlow -> Conditioning, Def Skills
D. Lane -> Conditioning, Shooting
K. Owens -> Conditioning, Goalies

However, I did have "Let head coach take control of practice" set to yes... so what does it mean that he won't handle everything on the screen? Everything looks ok to me...

We are not good offensively at all. We tend to be in the bottom 1/3 of the league all the time. My leading scorer has only once has more than a point-per-game total (Nagy last year with 84), and most years is in the 60-65 point range. Doan has frustrated me as much as Crosby, with 33, 34, and 48 point campaigns since I started as GM. He should be getting 60+ consistently.

On your advice I have moved my lines around a bit, they now look like this:

Nagy Crosby Doan
Saprykin Brule Perry
Nedved Primeau Okposo
Dawes Latendresse Keefe

I have also moved to the "default offensive" tactic, and then switched my lines to all use "Passing + Crash the net". I'm going to leave it like this for the rest of the season (15 games left) and post back the results.

I drafted him in the first round and despite putting up big numbers in Minnesota, my scouts didn't consider more than a depth player. Being stacked at RW, I shipped him off.

Everyone's big on Kessel. Is anyone afraid of the low work rate? When I see prospects with 'red numbers' in areas like work rate, determination, positioning for defencemen, or anticipation, I just shy away.

His low work rate made me concerned as well, but he's been nothing short of spectacular for me. He won the Hart, the Con Smythe twice, and almost won the scoring title a few years. I even have had him kill penalties. He has consistently scored 40+ goals and around that in assists. He plays very well in "pressure" games (see the Con Smythe trophies). I've never had a problem with him personality wise either.

Sounds a lot like FM (or old CM) where you'd have young players whose ratings where crappy, yet played like world-beaters.

my reason why i say it, because on default the practice screen is not correctly set up right. there assigning 8 areas to a few coaches only. and it best to do 3 to 4 areas.

some new people playing the game assume if you have the head coach handle practice automatic, then they will handle everything on the practice screen. but its not true.

to get the best out of players the practice screen is important too.


yes tactics are important, but so is practice.

classic :)


just want to apologies for over saying the practice screen.

i was just trying to help and i think i went overboard on it.

Make no mustake, while Kessell has "crappy" ratings in certain mental skills, his physical, offensive, and defensive skills are off the charts. Well above 15 in most and 20's in some. He just appears to have a weak character is all. That and he sucks in face-offs.

A $56 million cash infusion for the Flames. We already have a $76 million player budget. WTF?

The 2006 draft is coming up in my career, and I have the 17th pick. I really want James Sheppard or Ben Maxwell. Atlanta has pick #1 while Minnesota has pick #2. I've tried to pry the first pick out of the Thrashers, but that hasn't worked (I offered the rights to goalie Aleksander Tryachinev and the 17th pick). I think I'm gonna offer that same deal along with Jamie Langenbrunner, but I doubt that'll help. If I can't drag the first pick out of Atlanta, I'm going to turn to Minnesota and try to get pick #2. I know I'm trying for a miracle here, but why not give it a shot, right?

I just started playing as the Penguins and would like to sign Malkin for the 2004-2005 season. It is mid September during training camp but it says the transfer won't happen until July 1, 2005. Am I out of luck in trying to sign him for this season?

Yup. European players have to be signed before August 15 (changing to July 15 next year, apparently.)

That's too bad since the game start date for me was September 2nd.

OK, I finished up the 2008 season using the ideas suggested above to try to get Crosby going. Unfortunately, he got injured for 2 weeks during the stretch drive and ended up only playing 6 games before the playoff on those settings. In those games, he had 6 points and was a -2. In the playoffs we lost in 6 games, during which Crosby 6 more points.

Encouraged by the increase in scoring, I have since moved to the next season and he as 35 points in 37 games, basically maintaining his point-per-game pace. Furthermore, as a team we are 11th in goals-per-game average, after finishing in the bottom 1/3rd every year previously.

I still want him to improve more (I'd like to see 100+ points out of him), but I do need to remember he's still only 21 (and the average age of my roster is only 23, so we aren't close to peaking yet). I've changed head coaches (Ted Nolan is out, Dave Lowry is in) and that will hopefully help his practices.

So thanks everyone, and if there are any more suggestions I'd love to hear them!

I've just started out a new game with the Canadiens.. I've tried to ship off most of the players I either don't like or don't need. I traded Brisebois, Dykhuis, Dagenais, a future 2nd round pick and 3 prospects I don't see helping us out to the Rangers for a 2005 1st and 5th and I traded Rivet and Sundstrom to Colorado for a 2005 1st.

It leaves a bunch of holes in my lineup, but I figure I have so many young prospects that I could pick up some guys in the Waiver Draft and see what happens.

My team looks something like this now

Theodore
Tarasov (outplayed Danis and Huet in scrimmages/exhibitions)

Souray-Nolan Pratt
Markov-Bouillon
Hainsey-Sauer

(Shasby)

Zednik-Koivu-Ryder
Bulis-Bonk-Riku Hahl
Begin-Ribeiro-Ward
Hossa-Plekanec-Perezhogin

(Higgins and Kostitsyn switch in and out)

The defense is weak but with Theodore I am still expecting to be close to the playoffs by seasons end, and with 3 1st rounders in 2005, I feel I could have the makings of a very young team (my team is currently one of the youngest in the league at 24.58 years).

I hope I don't end up getting Crosby in the draft because then I'd feel I cheated the Rangers... but I hope I do get some familiar names in the draft (part of the reason I chose to get 1st round picks in 2005 was to get to know some of the talent since the game more or less has the same ISS order as in real life).

Good to hear you're on the right track.

Now I'd suggest you slightly tweak the team orders and individual instructions. I always set shots under team orders to 'Barrage' and 'Aim Low', which both work hand in hand with the 'Crash the Net' Tactic. Low shots equal more rebounds which equals more scoring chances.

Make sure you have one offensive defenseman on each line and set him to 'join the rush'; make sure that his defensive partner is set to a 'Defensive' mentality to make up for this. You can also do things with your forward lines, like ensuring there's at least one of the three set to 'passing' and at least one guy who's set to 'shoot'.

Lastly, you can then experiment by slightly changing your tactics on a game-to-game basis. For instance, for home games against opponents with a slow, immobile defense corp, you might go to a high forechecking, high press system in the first period to put some pressure on them early. Or try a 'hard hitting' style to get the crowd into the game and hopefully help cause some turnovers.

So many different ways of playing...what a great game! :)

If you restart a game you can always choose to have one of the leagues (European Mostly) that start on the first possible date running and select that date as the start date. This will give you about 2-3 weeks to sign players from europe before the transfer deadline closes. I did this when I started my game with the Cane's and signed a european player so I know that it works.

I suck so badly at this game. I am a "broad-view" type of player who isn't much into details. I love drafting, free-agency, etc., but the daily pratice and tweaking of tecniques just isn't fun to me. Is there any way a person like me will ever be able to succeed at this game?

Also, one other question: I notice that my players change physically and technical , but never mentally (except teamwork). Is this always the case? I mean I have drafted guys that are supposed to be great, but never increase in important areas such as anticipation and workrate. I really hope that the mental attributes aren't static.

This is how I play. I won the Cup with the Oilers in 2008, so I'm sure you will be able to succeed as well.

That's the way I play. I don't manage tactics at all. I've managed 2 finals appearances, winning one, and back-to-back President's Trophies.


I have never seen mental attributes change other than teamwork. That's why I really try and stay away from guys with <10 in anticipation, bravery, determination and work rate.

Can anyone report on how the new "unfake" patch is holding up?

I am playing with Penguins and I can't seem to keep Lemiuex rested. His stamina rating is 18 and it doesn't say he is injured, but every couple of games his condition is down to 80%. I think he isn't playing well in these games. I have also tried to have him not practice, but it doesn't seem to help. Any thoughts or is this the product of a hidden rating because of his injury history?

I have had a number of players like that. There were a couple that I could never get to 100% condition no matter what I did. Annoying.

Then he is now unhappy because I don't treat him as an important player.

While I am sure it's obvious... Among the many changes coming with the Super Patch(tm), it will probably be necessary to have a section on the "Trade "Screen" showing the cap effect of the trade, similar to what you have in FOF. Most likely, not only the effect for the current year, but projected into the future as well.

question for Riz or Jeff or anyone who might know: is the "Super Patch" going to include these signings that are taking place right now in the pre-season or will it just have the (nearly empty) rosters with the rolled-back salaries. I'm not sure which I'd prefer, although I think I might like the rosters mostly empty, so that I have a chance to build the team in the way that I want it...

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/foru...&postcount=897

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/foru...&postcount=898

awww jb...you so nice. i shoulda known to ask you. thanks man. musta just missed it in this massive thread :)

Average salary over the length of the contract is what counts against the cap in the new CBA. So it doesn't matter how you structure a contract, the impact will be the same.

I'll see if we can get something on the trade screen to help with the cap as well. Cannot promise too much but we'll try as usual :)

I know that much, but it would be it would be helpful to have (on the trade screen) how the trade would effect your cap this year and current years bsaed on all of your current contracts. Granted, the value of the contracts you're acquiring/trading don't change from year to year (b/c they are averaged), but your cap level may (because of expiring contracts).

There's gonna be much more math involved in trading and it will be a pain in the ass to have to keep going back and forth between screens to see if a trade would be viable under your cap and your trading partern's cap.

I understand the issue though. Not a lot of time. And so much is so very, very different. So very... very... different. Pronger to Edmonton? Satan to the Islanders? Holik to Nashville? Foote to Columbus? All these free agent splashes and narry a word from the beloved Wings.

Given that we can expect a little more offense when the NHL comes back later this year, will you be tweaking NHL scoring in the NA patch?