NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007

[Toe]

Washington is definitely one of the most fun teams to play as in the game as with one more key piece they become unbeatable. Plus, Ovechkin. Ovechkin is cool.

Another interesting one is Columbus because by the time you get good, you find all you're young players want mad moolah and suddenly you're shitting yourself trying to figure out who to keep.

[SeanDMan]

I'm doing a rebuild/reconstruction of the New York Islanders, and 59 games into my first season... things don't look good. I think the prospect of me getting fired is very, very real. 59 games in, we're 22-30-7, 16 points out of the playoffs. I think I have the team that making a run for that last spot, especially given how bad some of the teams ahead of me are, is possible, but that I also have to resign myself to focusing on the draft (with 7 picks in the top three rounds). Here's the team:

Steve Sullivan - Matt Cullen - Ryan Smyth

Marco Sturm - Jason Blake - Matt Cooke

Blair Betts - Andrew Brunette - Jeff Tambellini

Chris Simon - Ben Simon - Stephen Peat (GYS' favourite line!)

Chris Pronger - Mattias Norstrom

Derek Morris - Brendan Witt

Mike Commodore - Chris Chellios

Rick DePietro - DUBIE

Scratches: Wade Belak, Joel Kwiatkwoski

Originally, I was content to tank and get the first overall draft pick, so once I traded everyone except for Witt, Hill, Aaron Asham and DePietro, I was left with Matt Cooke, Andrew Brunette, and Matt Cullen as my top line. We... sucked, early on, with no defense especially... Commodore was at the time a second pairing guy, playing both powerplay and penalty kill. I was under the salary floor, too, so I started making moves to add more salary. Derek Morris was the first guy I brought in and I just never stopped... I have a glut of forward prospects so I started moving some of them in order to get players for this and next year. Ryan Smyth almost got me fired, since I gave up a first plus Robert Nilsson to get him, and right near the deadline, I picked up Pronger since the Ducks suck. For some reason, despite all of the additions, my team still kind of sucks. I think after this year Ted Nolan can go fuck himself and I can bring in a new coach who can better inspire the team. I got Paul Maurice as an assistant, but I don't know if he's the obvious choice to jump up and be the main man. After this year, Betts, Blake, Chelios, Kaiser, and Dubie are UFAs, and Betts and Dubie are probably gone. Chelios might get resigned, might not. Blake is for sure a keeper... I traded him for the Red Wings first round pick, which I traded away in the Smyth trade, but when Detroit was struggling I picked up Blake and Chelios for Rhett Rakhshani and a third.

As a rebuilding team I felt it was important to make sure my farm was looked after, so I have manual control of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Luciano Aquino has the most points per game at 54 points in 49 games, but I think the best forward prospects are Masi Marjamaski, with 52 points in 51 games, and Jeremy Colliton, with 49 points in 52 games. Both need more work on the technical skills before they make the jump to the NHL but both saw some time in the pros this year, though both were pointless in their call ups. The scouts project all three as third line players on average (some of them called Colliton a second liner, but I have doubts), so I may need to wait a few years for guys like Sergei Ogorodnikov, who is wicked fast and just needs to learn how to play offense, Ryan O'Marra, who is ripping the OHL a new asshole, and Jesse Joensuu, who will come over next year and start in the AHL after Assat, despite heading for relegation, refused a transfer order to send him to Bridgeport this year. All three look like future NHLers, but O'Marra is maybe the only one who makes it next year.

On the defensive side of things, I traded Alexei Semenov (who wouldn't have cleared waivers) for Noah Welch (who didn't need to), who has become my number one farm defensemen. He does project in EHM as the NHL offensive defensemen he looked like at the time, somewhere between the unrealistic projections of him as a bona fide number one world class offensemen he had after he was drafted and the well cock we need a bottom two lines AHL fill in projections he has now. He'll be my first line AHL defensemen next year. Cam Barker has better potential and a better skill set, but needs to round out his game, since he's about on par with Commodore and Commodore wins the tie by having better hair. He'll probably keep working in the AHL as a number one line guy for another season, maybe half a season. Dustin Kohn is probably ready for the NHL now, but is currently in the WHL on the IR, and will likely split time between New York and Bridgeport, probably on direct rotation with Cam Barker. He was good when was up with the club to start the year but, like O'Marra, I wanted to play it cool, and not rush anything. Either way, the future looks good, this draft should provide some more good tetriary pieces for future years. Next year might be another "smoke em if you got em" season, where I more or less play with what I have. My big offseason target is a better backup goalie, as DePietro is too inconsistent to play 15 games in a row and Dubielweichz(sp) has only one win in 11 games played. Dunham is good, but he's been in the AHL all year, playing every single Bridgeport game with a 36-14-4 record. Dunham probably leaves, I dunno how he would feel about a two way deal. I might try and trade DiPietro for Luongo in the offseason... we'll see how that goes. >_>

[Toe]

I decided to rebuild with the St. Louis Blues, but apparently, didn't need to do much.

Before the season, I traded Manny Legace and Doug Weight away, getting Steve Bernier and a 1st round pick in return plus some other picks and spare parts. Tried to move Tkachuk and Kariya, but I wasn't going to get much for them, so I kept them. Stole Micheal Blunden from Chicago, and plan to plug him into the line-up in the 08/09 season.

Anyways, Toivonen was a rock in the regular season, and although my team only got 87 points, we just beat the Kings for the final playoff spot. Kariya had 30 goals, Stempniak had 30, Tkachuk was awesome all year. The best player for my team, though, was Brad Boyes. He exploded, scoring 32 and getting 56 helpers in 74 games. My two year extension for $2,500,000 is sounding pretty good right now.

Erik Johnson was in the minors for the year, but even with him I lack a true point man. My powerplay was 19th in the league, which needs to improve.

I get to face the top ranked Minnesota Wild, and have a two to one lead over them in the series so far. I am hoping for an upset, because that would just be funny.

[Ruki]

...I really hate being poor and not buying this game. How much is it now?

Edit: And if anyone knows how to work the online mode, we should start a 2005 League (since that is the one I have >.>)

Edited November 12, 2007 by Ruki

[Toe]

I want to see how fast I can have Toronto rebuilt while still remaining competitive. To that end, I have made four trades three days into the game.

Jason Blake and my third round pick in 09 for Zack Parise from New Jersey was my first deal. Pavel Kubina was sent to Detroit for Cory Emmerton, straight up. Then I sent Raycroft, Ondrus and my 08 third rounder to San Jose for Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski. My last trade saw Staffan Kronwall and my 4th and 5th picks this season go to Chicago for Jack Skille.

[Toe]

Ummmm....does anyone know of an update for this game for the 2008/09 season?

[Ruki]

Slight bump, but I wanna talk about this.....

....I AM PISSED OFF. Sundin, top points producer in the regular season, then the post season comes around, I go 8-0 to reach the eastern finals....first game we win AND HE GOES DOWN FOR 3 WEEKS! Fuck. I need him

Edit: Apparently I didn't need him, I won the cup! I swept the Sharks, and Sundin was even nice enough to come back for the last 3-4 games.

Edited January 15, 2009 by Ruki the Driller

[SeanDMan]

"Despite your teams financial security, the board of directors are very concerned with your poor performance and low league standing."

EHM: Excellent hockey simulator, poor simulator of the Toronto Maple Leafs ownership.

[Ruki]

In the upcoming draft, I have a #7 overall pick, and ranked #14? A D-man, who I am pretty sure can play in the NHL now, has the potential to be 1-2 guy, as good/better than Jay Bow.

[Toe]

In the upcoming draft, I have a #7 overall pick, and ranked #14? A D-man, who I am pretty sure can play in the NHL now, has the potential to be 1-2 guy, as good/better than Jay Bow.

I hate that. If you draft him at 7 and he doesn't pan out, then your screwed. But if you wait, your might lose him.

[Ruki]

So he was actually number 8, went number 6, but I traded for him.

[Cactus Drags]

Is there going to be a new EHM or am I best off just picking this one up, since it'll no doubt be insanely cheap by now?

[Toe]

This is it. They decided it was not profitable and stopped development into the series.

[Ruki]

And not really much cheaper....and it sucks that there is no online play anymore.,

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

And their reasoning for making no more was that there's too much piracy going on - which, as we can all attest to, is bunk

[Plubby]

I paid sixty bucks to be able to play this, so they're full of crap.

[Ruki]

You paid sixty bucks so you and MPH could play

[Toe]

Someone needs to post about how awesome their team is right now...

[Ruki]

After I move into the regular season, then it will clear my roster up of the younger players.

[Plubby]

You paid sixty bucks so you and MPH could play

Not true. Sure, it ended up that way, but you're implying that I bought it for two people. I had no intention of buying it for "me and *someone*" when I bought it, I was just buying it for me. MPH just happens to be someone I consider a friend who didnt have it and wanted it. I never even gave it a second thought, I just shipped him my licence code.

EDIT: I just started a Hawks game, i'm $5 mill over the cap, and I don't like spending 10mil on goalies. Anyone got any ideas on where I can move Khabibulin? (Huet has a NTC)

Edited January 25, 2009 by Credence Plubby Revival