CAGLS: Official NHL 14 Online Franchise - Random Rosters - Play ALL Human Opponents - Schedule Section #5 Due 4/9!

After the game internet went out as I was looking to trade. Might have traded Crosby for petro. Only trade that I might have been able to get to work. Rest start with a green check only the teams won't make the trade and when I try to trade what they're looking for I get a red x and a message about only being able to retain half the cap. Can't look to see what the full message is right now.
 
Nate and Gary, I have you this block. There's UFC and a Kings/Ducks game tonight, but what are your schedules looking like for tomorrow? I can play at or after 6 P.M. Eastern with the possibility of being able to play earlier if we schedule it today.
 
Crap, I didn't see that til now. I can play at 6 unless you meant you had to sign off by 6.

Don't we have tomorrow to play as well? Maybe we can play sometime after you get home from work? If not, that's cool. But I can work to try to accommodate your schedule.
 
I should be home at about 4 ish EST. Anytime after that works for me. If not, let me know buddy. Thanks for trying to accommodate my schedule. :)
 
Just had a really competitive game with Matt, and now I'm playing CPU Winnipeg. I'm up 4-0 at the end of the first period...with 4 goals on 5 shots, lol. Right away, I'm like "Who missed??? That son of a bitch is fired!" Crazy game, haha.

 
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Gary and I played a great game. He beat me by scoring a goal with 2.3 seconds remaining. And guess who scored it? Teddy Purcell. This came after Nate scored his game winner with Dustin Brown. It appears that anyone who has worn a Kings shirt in real life is my kryptonite on this game.
 
That game was intense. I honestly thought we were going to OT. I saw Purcell streaking down the ice but I can't believe with 2.5 seconds left, he made that tip in. Also, That was the AI celebrating and gooning it up. I went for hits that would matter and not just stupid hits for no reason. Hopefully we keep this league around for awhile. The salary cap is what kills me because it would take so much space to call Druoin up. If we are doing it for one season, no use in him getting called up only to make it up to a 70.
 
Vulcan2422 said:
That game was intense. I honestly thought we were going to OT. I saw Purcell streaking down the ice but I can't believe with 2.5 seconds left, he made that tip in. Also, That was the AI celebrating and gooning it up. I went for hits that would matter and not just stupid hits for no reason. Hopefully we keep this league around for awhile. The salary cap is what kills me because it would take so much space to call Druoin up. If we are doing it for one season, no use in him getting called up only to make it up to a 70.
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Yeah, in hindsight, I kind of wish we would have turned the salary cap off too. I just never would have imagined the salaries wouldn't have been balanced a little better. If the purpose of "random rosters" is to put everybody on an even playing field, then what sense does it make to give one team $19M in cap space and another team $40K? But that's EA for you. If only we would have known that you have to turn off every setting that tries to make the game more realistic to make it actually enjoyable, lol.

I will say though, I'm definitely glad we turned off injuries. With the way the bounces go in this game sometimes (including penalty calls), when you find yourself losing badly, I feel like it's just a natural instinct to want to crush somebody. And it's nothing malicious or that you want to hurt your opponent's players. It's just taking out frustration. And I've been on both sides of that situation. So, being able to do that without having to feel bad about making your opponent lose a couple guys is nice.

As for multiple seasons, realistically, we won't get through this season until about June. So...people are really going to need to assess how they'll feel about playing NHL 14 in those summer months. And once and for all, EA needs to get rid of this fixed season 82 game length shit for NHL 15. It's horrible and really limits what you can do.

I guess with random rosters we could trust that our teams are balanced enough to sim more if we wanted to. But seriously...you can do an NBA 2K14 league and play less than 82 games (hell, you could do that with an NBA 2K6 league, lol). There's no excuse to not be able to do that with NHL. It's just laziness on EA's part.

 
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I was wondering if injuries were off with some of the hits made. Its sad that a middle ground can't be found with them. Seems like they have to be set to an extreme of stupidity or not on at all in the game. Its sad the game has to become such an arcade game to be played.

After giving it some thought I know I'm out after this season, maybe sooner. With the games that are out or coming out and when or if the weather gets nicer I won't be playing much at all. I wanted to but with the way this game is it just has nothing keeping me.

With that said once I do drop from the league feel free to send me a message on live if you want to play a game. I know it sounds odd me saying that but I'm not sure about scheduling a game once the weather gets nice. I'll most likely only be on live if I'm just killing time till I head out or if the weather is bad. It'll be easier to just play if I'm on than to try and make time.
 
sendme said:
I was wondering if injuries were off with some of the hits made. Its sad that a middle ground can't be found with them. Seems like they have to be set to an extreme of stupidity or not on at all in the game. Its sad the game has to become such an arcade game to be played.

After giving it some thought I know I'm out after this season, maybe sooner. With the games that are out or coming out and when or if the weather gets nicer I won't be playing much at all. I wanted to but with the way this game is it just has nothing keeping me.

With that said once I do drop from the league feel free to send me a message on live if you want to play a game. I know it sounds odd me saying that but I'm not sure about scheduling a game once the weather gets nice. I'll most likely only be on live if I'm just killing time till I head out or if the weather is bad. It'll be easier to just play if I'm on than to try and make time.
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Well, if you ever want any tips on ways you could improve before you decide to quit, just let me know. I know the last couple times we played, the score was pretty lopsided. Part of that was the game...but part of it was things about your defense that I was able to take advantage of fairly easily. I'd rather help people get better than make them quit becuase they're not having any fun.

It's one thing to give up goals on rebounds, stupid bounces, or other things you have little control over. But if you're giving up clean goals on strong scoring chances (breakaways, 2 on 1's, etc), then there are definitely areas where you can improve defensively.

 
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I just don't have fun with this team. I'd rather have games be 10-0 and lose every game with a team I like playing than win ever game with a team I hate playing with. I will appreciate any and all tips to get better, but still will hate this team. I think the biggest part is I'm so close to the cap. Having the cap so unbalanced just pisses me off. Go from unbalanced teams to unbalanced caps. Sort of again pick your evil and I hate that. Hell we might as well have had a draft. If that can even be done.
 
sendme said:
I just don't have fun with this team. I'd rather have games be 10-0 and lose every game with a team I like playing than win ever game with a team I hate playing with. I will appreciate any and all tips to get better, but still will hate this team. I think the biggest part is I'm so close to the cap. Having the cap so unbalanced just pisses me off. Go from unbalanced teams to unbalanced caps. Sort of again pick your evil and I hate that. Hell we might as well have had a draft. If that can even be done.
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I get that. I guess I just don't see where you think your team is really lacking. We've all looked at the rosters, and the Blues are still pretty stacked. I think the lowest rated forward on your top line was like an 87. That would be the best player on several teams.

About the cap...I agree. But the regular rosters were like that too. In our last season, I had a terrible Preds team and only $250K cap space. I could barely call a player up from the AHL without putting somebody on waivers. Like I've said before, you can make moves...but you're going to have to dump a big contract for a smaller contract. It's not necessarily going to be easy and will take some thought. But it's not impossible. I opened up $3M with one trade. You just have to look at it like a puzzle and find the solution.

And sadly, we can't have a draft. We definitely would have gone that route had it been possible. The game doesn't have a fantasy draft option. Maybe next year! Yeah...

As for tips, personally, I think you're a little too aggressive on defense. Sometimes you'll lose your positioning from going for a hit with one guy, and then if he misses, switching to another guy to try the same thing. It creates a situation where players are left wide open (often in front of the net). I felt like our past couple games, I was getting a lot of high percentage scoring chances as a result.

Unlike last year's game, being 1 on 1 with the goalie or having a 2 on 1 SHOULD result in a goal a lot of the time. Letting people get past you is just deadly in this game. Keeping the puck carrier in front of you and anticipating his move can make a world of difference to your overall defense. Lunging at hits from a mile away makes them easy to avoid. Unless you get a really good feel for where the puck carrier is going to go (and even then, people can still surprise you), you're probably better off keeping moderate pressure on him with stick checks rather than trying to flatten him.

 
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My biggest issue with the team outside of cap is passing. I just think it sucks with the players I have. Before it did feel like a team however now it just feels like good players that just don't work well with each other. I'm sure most of it is just getting used to the players. I think its also that I just feel like I'm stuck because of cap and not being able to trade. It just seems like no matter what I do chances are I'm not going to be able to make a trade. I also feel its pointless having a player that I know chances are high after this season I won't be able to afford. Issue is trying to find replacements I can afford that the system will accept. I think that's the biggest issue I have with the trading. If it was winter and weather was going to be crap I'd say the hell with it and just deal with it as I will be inside anyway might as well play.

Add to that the pick your poison aspect of it. It seems to me like last season we all knew the way ea made league play it sucked. We dealt with it and did what we could to make the best of things just to finish. Then instead of continuing with what we didn't like we started over in what we hoped would be a little better. What happened is something else that has its own issues.

I'm to the point I'd rather just get a message if someone sees me on asking if I want to play. If I have the time then we play if I don't then we don't. If I might not have the time to finish then we play till then and that's it. No league just play. No trying to set up times just if we can get any time in we play if not then maybe next time. The league just seems like its to much BS. Hell I'm thinking I'd rather us just make our own teams and play. The to me seems like it would be more fun than the league and BS from ea.
 
I like the league and my team. It seems to me you're too caught up with not having your original team. I have Chara and Praisie on the same line most of the time and those two have no chemistry, but yet I make them work perfectly together. Hell, I brought up guys from the AHL to just make some cap space. It's part of being a GM. It's a challenge but one I like dealing with. Sure, I wish I had Stankos, but I don't so I'm making it the best with the team I got.
 
Ok, we have advanced to the next section of the schedule. All pending trades have been approved since there seemed to be no objections.

The deadline for this next section will be 3/23!

 
Vulcan2422 said:
I like the league and my team. It seems to me you're too caught up with not having your original team. I have Chara and Praisie on the same line most of the time and those two have no chemistry, but yet I make them work perfectly together. Hell, I brought up guys from the AHL to just make some cap space. It's part of being a GM. It's a challenge but one I like dealing with. Sure, I wish I had Stankos, but I don't so I'm making it the best with the team I got.
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That's not it. I can think of only one player from St. Louis I would like back and that's Petro. Sure it would be nice to have some others, but the one that I planed on making a trade for was him. I really didn't wan't to bring up AHL guys yet, and if I did it looked like most the players on the team would be lost to waivers for moving them down. I'd rather just put out notice that they are up for trade to attempt to get something for them. That's why I spent time trying to trade them only to see that it's damn near impossible.

 
Yes, waivers are off. And from what I've seen, moving players works exactly as I had hoped. The guy just instantly goes to the AHL, without anybody being able to put a claim on him.

 
Worst case scenario pathway get sent down below the ahl and it's a bitch to call them back. (Dude with Slater Koekoek) Not like I really needed him, but I had him as a scratch to balance out my cap.
 
Vulcan2422 said:
Worst case scenario pathway get sent down below the ahl and it's a bitch to call them back. (Dude with Slater Koekoek) Not like I really needed him, but I had him as a scratch to balance out my cap.
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That's a good point. I didn't think about that. I guess you have to watch out for the guys that are still eligible for Juniors. But other than that, it should be pretty straight forward.

 
Most of those guys are either 2 red stars or 3 yellow which means a 60 or low 70 at best. Also, thank you phone for the horrendous Auto Corrects. You got my drift though.
 
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Vulcan2422 said:
Most of those guys are either 2 red stars or 3 yellow which means a 60 or low 70 at best. Also, thank you phone for the horrendous Auto Corrects. You got my drift though.
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I didn't even notice. I thought you were trying to type "Sloan Kettering" :lol:

 
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It was doing that to me for the first set of games.  I think you and I have a game.  I won't be able to play tonight, but I'm free any other night. If it has to be after 8pm central I can only do that Friday or Saturday.

 
If anyone has any games against St. Louis I should be able to be on tomorrow.  Today is going to be to hit and miss with me being home to try and get any games in. 

 
Looks like things are going to be hit and miss for me for the next few weeks.  I'm thinking this is going to have to be a winter league for me.  Next time I get a chance to log on to the game I'm going to drop as trying to set up games is going to be an issue.  If you would still like to play a game outside of the league, feel free to message me and see if I have time to play.  If I have any time to play even the first period I'll play.  For right now that seems like the best way for me to play.  I have liked playing against those that I have been able to play so I would like to play again, and if I haven't played against you I would like to.  I just don't know how much I'll be on to keep going with the league.  I'm not even sure when I'll be able to get to what's in my backlog.

 
Yay....it's Friday, so I can finally advance the league, lol. Sorry, guys. I haven't touched the game since Saturday. It's probably realistic to expect a once a week advancement at this point...but I'll just keep setting the date for 5 days and do the best I can. I'm not sure what it says that Goat Simulator is more appealing than NHL 14 at this point, lol. :lol:

 
Trade with the CPU Ducks:

G Martin Biron ovr 77 age 36 0.965 million from Colorado

G Al Montoya ovr 75 age 28 0.610 million from Anaheim

Just looking to drop a little salary as both are in the minors.  Signed Biron to be my backup but decided to stick with Bachman as he is much younger.  Was actually looking to drop more salary but this was the only trade I could get accepted.

 
We have advanced to the next section of the schedule. Sorry again for the delay, guys.

The "deadline" for this next section will be 4/9...but like I said, another Friday advance is probably more likely, haha.

 
Forgot to post about it last night, but I did advance us again. I then tried to make a trade for a better goalie, but the couple teams I tried to trade with kept being dicks and even when I was offering them Schneider (86 OVR) and two other players in the 80s (that they were allegedly interested in) for their 91 OVR goalie, they'd tell me the value wasn't high enough. So, yeah...that was fun.

Anyway...the deadline for this next section of games will be 4/16.

 
I just saw your post. I can play tonight. Wanna play right at 6:30 MST or later? Just name a time.
 
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Good grief EA really needs to learn how to program goalies.  After a 1-1 1st period Fleury forgets how to play and totally screws Matt.  The second and third he lets in everything and the game ends up a blowout.

 
I think I'm going to drop from the league. Although the 8-1 loss to Brandon didn't help matters, I just haven't been interested this season. I played almost all my CPU games last season, but I think the problem this time is that I just hate my team. The appeal of playing as the Kings was what was keeping me going. And it wasn't because they were a good team; it was because that's the team I'm a fan of. I haven't had any desire to play CPU games this season, and those games make up 83% of the schedule.
 
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