EHM 2005: Where the heck is Elmira?

[Booj]

[out of character]
I decided to scrap the CHL dynasty I (sorta) started and go the UHL route. I figure the fake players don't affect me since I don't know anyone in the league anyways. Due to the lack of exportable reports, I will be using a bunch of screen shots which will make less work for me copying everything, and give you an opportunity to look at what you want to see.

I will be borrowing format and things from the other EHM dynasties, because I think Joe Canadian and MizzouRah are doing a great job, and they have great ideas, hope you guys don't mind!

First, before I begin, a little bit of rules/background since the UHL is a relative unknown (I knew nothing about it before starting the dynasty)

There is a $260k salary cap (my team was at $300k). I'm not sure how it works (soft/hard) but I started player movement trying to get under it. I guess I'll learn as I go on. They play an 80 game season. There are 14 teams in 3 divisions (2 5 team divisions [West and Central] and one 4 team division [East].

Two-line passes are not allowed, but they do use no-touch icing. Games that are tied after regulation do not go into overtime, and a shootout is used right away. (At least thats what the game says).

There are some very interesting roster and lineup rules used as this is for all intents and purposes a developmental league. Teams can only have 7 veteran players on their roster at any given time. Veterans are players who have played in 280 or more professional games. All veterans on the roster can play in the game. Teams must also dress a minimum of 3 rookies (players with 40 or less professional games played) every game. Eligibility is determined before the season starts, and does not change during the year.

And, for the record, the reason I chose Elmira is because in real life they finished last in the league, and they started off with only a head coach and assistant coach hired so I could go out and get my own staff.

As for the format of the dynasty, I won't go into detail through training camp as I was going through evaluations of my team, and don't want to bombard you with names I didn't even end up signing or releasing. The first roster you see will be the one after training camp ended.
[/out of character]

I had recently lost my job due to layoffs at the company I was working at. I do not wish to disclose what I was doing, but it was legal, and did take quite a bit of credentials... I had to graduate from high school to be looked at! All that aside, I did go to University in Canada and graduated with a degree so I am a qualified person.

My friends and family told me about Monster, the job-listing site, and I decided to check it out because the bills weren't going to pay themselves. The site gives you an option to search for jobs you want, I decided to type in things that I was entirely not expecting to be up there... and stuff I wouldn't really want to do or wasn't qualified for: Garbage collector, teacher, doctor... general manager of a hockey team.

The last one, however, actually got back an ad. It was a hockey team in Elmira, NY who was looking for a general manager. At first I couldn't believe it was real, and I haven't even heard of the team... it was in some league called the United Hockey League... I decided to apply, and sent my resume after some changes to it (under volunteer work I put helping Hockey Night in Canada's ratings).

Fast forward two weeks later to late August. I recieved a call from the team's chairman Tim Olson who wanted me to come in for an interview. I was flabbergasted, and immediately accepted and drove down from Montreal. The interview went well and one of my favorite questions was when he asked me what I would do to improve my favorite team, the Montreal Canadiens. I could tell he liked my answer by the way he was circling my name on the interview list. He said not to bother going back home, as he would have a contract for me to sign by the end of the week after he was done with the rest of his interviews.

So here I am on September 2nd, just signing the contract. I look at the staff and see a head coach who might be one of the worst I have ever seen. His name is Matt Fudge. I don't even bother meeting with him. I called him into my office to fire him... and before I'm working for 2 hours, I already killed one coach. To add insult to Fudge's injury, I decide to keep is assistant coach, John Christian. While he is nothing special, he does know how to coach goaltenders and don't want to start with a completely empty cupboard.

I'll have work to do later, as I have a whole staff to hire and a whole lot more of potential workers to look through.

It's going to be a long day.

[MizzouRah]

Ok, you have me.

[Izulde]

Poor Matt Fudge. That's a horrible name to have, too. You should keep track of him just to see if he manages to latch on anywhere else.

[Booj]

Ok, you have me.

Good to hear. I'm reading your dynasty as well... us hockey guys have to stick together

Poor Matt Fudge. That's a horrible name to have, too. You should keep track of him just to see if he manages to latch on anywhere else.

Yeah, you should have seen his ratings... I don't think he had a single one in double-digits. I doubt he'll be hired anywhere... but I will check every now and then.

[Booj]

September 2, 2004

I forgot to mention; the board expects me to improve the team's roster. We aren't expecting big things in my first season.

After pouring through a number of unemployed staff members, I decided to send out offers.

Because I already had John Christian as assistant coach, I decided the set-up would ideally be as follows:

1 Assistant General Manager
1 Head Coach
2 more Assistant Coaches
4 Scouts
1/2 Trainers

I give out offers to:

HC: Chris Terreri
AC: Brian Skrudland
AC: Shawn Dineen
S: Pat Carpenter
S: Scott Dobson
S: Bill Wolfe
S: Joe Stephens
T: Mike Carlson
T: Teri LaSalle

World Cup scores:
Czech Republic 6 Germany 1
Sweden 3 Finland 1

September 3, 2004

I finally make an offer for an Assistant GM; Steve Richmond.

September 4, 2004

World Cup scores:
Canada 2 Russia 2
USA 2 Slovakia 3

September 5, 2004

Teri LaSalle (trainer) and Joe Stephens (scout) both sign contracts with Elmira.

Trade D John Labelle to Quad City for C Brock Herman

I was over the salary cap, and got 11 years younger in the deal. I saved 15k in salaries (22k-7k)

World Cup scores:
Germany 4 Finland 4
Sweden 3 Czech Republic 6

September 6, 2004

Good News! My scouting staff gets a nice boost. Pat Carpenter, Scott Dobson, and Bill Wolfe all sign contracts.

Also, Steve Richmond, a former scout, signs to be my assistant general manager.

Trade LW Derek Duncan to Kalamazoo for LW Jeff Cormier

....Another salary dump. They are both similar in ratings and age.

World Cup scores
Quarterfinal Czech Republic 6 Germany 1

Eric Lindros signs a 2 year deal worth 10.25M with San Jose [interesting...]

September 9, 2004

After a bit of a scare, and fielding other offers, former New Jersey Devil goaltender Chris Terreri joins the Elmira Jackals as head coach.

September 7-14, 2004

World Cup scores
Quarterfinal USA 2 Russia 6
Quarterfinal Finland 3 Sweden 4
Quarterfinal Slovakia 0 Canada 4
Semifinal Sweden 2 Czech Republic 8
Semifinal Canada 5 Russia 2
Championship Czech Republic 3 Canada 5

September 12, 2004

Montreal signs Paul Kariya to a 3-year, 11.75M deal.

September 13, 2004

I have still not heard from Brian Skrudland. I see that he has recieved many other offers, including one as an assistant general manager so I decide to withdraw my offer on him and offer a contract to Shaun Barrett as assistant coach.

September 15, 2004

Some NHL news...

Zigmund Palffy signs with Toronto on a 2-year contact worth 11.25M
Alexei Kovalev signs with Chicago for 2 years, worth 8M

September 16, 2004

My staff is now complete as Shaun Barrett signs the contract offered to him.

Here is how the staff looks.

Contracts:


Attributes:

[Booj]

Thoughts on the 2004-05 Elmira Jackals Staff:

I am ecstatic to have Bill Wolfe as my head scout... he has great ratings in both judging potential and ability. The rest of the scouting staff is strong considering the league I'm playing in.

Chris Terreri gets to start his coaching career, and he has pretty good ratings, including a 14 in adaptability, 12 in man management and 14 in tactical knowledge. He is also an expected high 16 in coaching goaltenders.

Dineen and Barrett are both good assets. Dineen is excellent with youngsters (19) which is essential in a developmental league. Barrett is a very good 16 with coaching forwards so they won't get lost. Christian is a 9 in man management and 12 in coaching goaltenders.

Teri LaSalle is a great physio with a 20 in physical therapy which is all that matters, really. She has a high determination (14) and a 10 in working with youngsters is also good enough. For purposes of this dynasty, I am assuming Teri is a woman.

Training Camp

This is a hard task for teams in financial trouble and with no league to send extra players. With that in mind, I offer enough tryouts to have enough players on 2 scrimmage teams (not filled, but 2 goalies on each team and 2-3 lines on offense and defense.)

I offer tryouts to CIS athletes (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) as they are ecstatic for the opportunity to play professional hockey. Key players include Patrick LePage and Mathieu Poitras, two goaltenders from Concordia and McGill respectively. Another key player who my scouts absolutely love is Jonathan Gautier, a forward from Concordia. The rest are filler who I have no intention of even looking at... unless they perform well.

The team scrimmages went well with the blue team going undefeated (2-0-2).

The scores were 3-3; 3-1; 3-2; and 2-2.

I decide not to sign either goaltender, and had all intentions of signing Gautier but he wanted 32,000 which is way too much for a team in this league. I will definitely keep an eye on him though.

Up next: UHL season preview


Editors note: I am going to go a lot more in-depth with my team, and slow down, once I get to the regular season and you and I both get to learn my players, etc... I wish I could step into it like it was an NHL dynasty but that would, in my opinion, get a lot of people lost before we even started.

[Booj]

I actually lost the screenshot and mail item that had the season preview in it... sorry.

I was slated to finish last (and 14th) though.

Here are the UHL's top-10's as decided by the media...







As you could probably tell by his placement on the LW list, Sean LeRose is the team's superstar and best player.

[Booj]

October 9, 2004

Traded D Maris Macijewski to Richmond for C Ben Kraft

.... This trade is a result of me looking at my roster and noticing I had 8 defencemen and only 10 forwards. This gets me to a more respectable 7/11 ratio. I also managed to lower my salary total again to 250,000 and under the 260,000 cap.

October 10, 2004

With the team's first (and only) exhibition game today, it is time to meet the Jackals.

Without further adieu... Your 2005 Elmira Jackals...

[RPI-Fan]

If you have a goalie who played at Rensselaer (or Cornell... I think there is a data error where RPI players were listd as Cornell), stay away from him, as he's a total schmuck.

In real life, he's on the Elmira team.

edit: Probably Adam Nelson, from your above roster post.

[Booj]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

If you have a goalie who played at Rensselaer (or Cornell... I think there is a data error where RPI players were listd as Cornell), stay away from him, as he's a total schmuck.

In real life, he's on the Elmira team.

edit: Probably Adam Nelson, from your above roster post.

I *think* that most players on UHL and CHL teams (AAL-3 or AAL-4) are fake names. I wouldn't know who is real and who isn't... but as soon as I get the game loaded up, I'll check to see if Nelson is indeed the guy.

Nelson is only my backup anyways, so hopefully I do have the choice to stay away from him

[Booj]

Initial thoughts on the roster:

Well, they aren't good. That's for sure, but hopefully I could make some money and improve the team through trades. My focus will definitely be on improving towards the future, which I am succeeding on so far. My team has an average age of 25.4. Expect this team to play very defensively. We simply do not have the talent to play any other style and expect to surprise.

October 10, 2005 (con't)

Now that you have met the team, let's try and see how they can play. I have an exhibition game at home against Motor City (I don't know why they didn't call the team Detroit-- assuming there isn't a real Motor City).

Terreri starts backup goalie Nelson who doesn't do too badly, making 18 saves on 20 shots.

Sean Larose shows how good he can be, scoring the team's only goal with less than 5 minutes left to make it 2-1. They eventually add an empty-netter to win 3-1. Anders Bergkvist has a great game and is named the game's first star.

(usually I would export the Game report from the game, but it isn't working properly (team names don't show up, wrong final score is displayed), so in the mean time I am going to be using screen shots-- I think I am covering everything here... if you'd like to see anymore info just let me know)

[jbmagic]

great dynasty.

i recommend more than one trainer. good to have 3 trainers from what i read in the si fourm.


when you get to the regular season, i hope you can show your line tactics, team orders and individual tactics and lineups your going to use.

thanks

[Booj]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

great dynasty.

i recommend more than one trainer. good to have 3 trainers from what i read in the si fourm.


when you get to the regular season, i hope you can show your line tactics, team orders and individual tactics and lineups your going to use.

thanks

Thanks for reading.

I have an offer for another trainer right now, but I do think I will try and get another one.

I have my coach doing all the tactics and lines but I will post what he has done starting with the 2nd regular season game. I don't think I will manually change any of the orders or lines yet-- I'll wait until I get to know my team more and get more accustomed to the game.

[Booj]

October 15, 2004

Alright... Opening night. I'm starting to get a little nervous, everyone thinks we're going to be embarrassed all year long, but I think we have a pretty solid young nucleus as well as a well rounded coaching staff. We're headed to Flint, Michigan to face the Generals.

Well, what a surprise! We pull out the 3-1 victory on the road. Joel Arsenault had a tremendous game scoring the first two goals and adding an assist on the third.

We get some VERY bad news though, as Sean Lerose strains his groin and left the game. We find out after the game that he'll be out 3 weeks. A tough loss, especially since we're already short on forwards and don't have much financial wiggle room. I'll have to try to sign someone to a tryout while Lerose is out.

Darrell Murray is also injured, and will miss one week with a sprained wrist.

[Booj]

RPI-Fan, Adam Nelson did play 4 seasons for Renssalaer-- it is listed correctly as well.

October 15, 2004

After the game, and after I got the news about Larose being out 3 weeks, I go to Jonathan Gautier and try to offer him a 4-week tryout. While going through my scouted list, I notice LW/RW/D Matt Hoppe I like what I see, and decide to offer him a tryout as well. Hoppe's is only 3 weeks.

October 16, 2004

Much to my dispair, RW Jon Tejchma leaves the morning practice after getting a puck in the face. He gets stitched up, and should be good to go for the game later today.

We're facing division rival Adirondack who lost their opening game to pre-season favorite Danbury. We only have 19 players dressed, and two are listed day-to-day so we're shorthanded for this one.

The short bench ends up not hurting us though, as we surprise everyone and win our second straight game, 5-3. We were down 2-1 going into the 3rd period where we score 2 quick goals to take the lead, but they tie it up just as quickly. We score 2 more late goals, including an empty netter and ride the 4 3rd period goals to victory.

Defenceman Janis Ivanovs had 2 assists, forward Steven Morrison had a goal and an assist and newcomer Jeff Cormier had a goal and an assist-- even though he was our 10th forward.

Goaltender Darcy Cain saved 24/27 shots he faced in the victory.






I will go talk about my tactics in the next post.

[Booj]

Like I said before, I have my head coach, Chris Terreri handling practice and tactics, so I can't really go into the reasoning for them.

That being said, here were my tactics for the Adirondack game (keep in mind, I only had 7 d-men and 10 forwards dressed)

Cain
Nelson

Francis-Ivanovs
Stevens-Vigilante
Kemp-Ignatovics
Murray [dtd but dressed]

Arsenault-Morrison-Foster
Coles-Kraft-Bergkvist
Parrish-Herman-Tejchma
Cormier

The mentality for the 1st line was "Normal" and for every other line it was "Defensive" which emphasized Terreri's coaching preference. Mentality for PP was "Attacking", PK was "Defensive" and 4 on 4 mentality was "Normal".

Here is how the rest of the tactics looked:

Offensive System: Dump and Chase
Offensive Zone: Crash the Net
Forecheck: Left Wing Lock
Defensive Coverage: Zonal
Backcheck: Hard
Pressing: Normal
Hitting: Hard
Board Battles: Power

On the Power Play, the tactics were:

Offensive System: Dump and Chase
PP System: Umbrella
Forecheck: High forecheck

The rest was the same as Even Strength

And Penalty Killing was:

Offensive System: Dump and Chase
PK System: Tight Box

The rest was the same as Even Strength

[Booj]

October 16, 2004

After the win against Adirondack, Jonathan Gautier agrees to the tryout offer. It will end November 13th. Meanwhile, Matt Hoppe rejected the offer. Gautier will debut October 20th.

October 20, 2004

Today we face the top team in the UHL, Danbury. They won their previous 2 games and have a top player at every position, including former NHLer Stephen Peat who played with the Washington Capitals.

We lose the game 3-1. Gautier played well in his debut, and got an assist. Bergkvist continued his good play with the team's only goal. Peat starred for Danbury getting two assists.

Darcy Cain played alright, making 20 saves on 23 shots.






October 21, 2004

Danbury placed D Michel Williams on the trading block, and I decide to inquire in him just to see what they would want.

October 22, 2004

Game day. We play Adirondack again, on the road.

We will be using the same lineup as we did against Danbury. Darcy Cain will get his 4th consecutive start.

We lost this game 4-2. We fell behind 3-0 going into the 3rd period. We fought back and tried to tie it back up. We made it 3-2, but they added an empty netter.

No one really stuck out in this one- except Darcy Cain only made 17 saves on 20 shots- and it is becoming apparent that goaltending is a weakness. I'll have my scouts check out goaltenders and see what they can find.






After the game, a surprise. Danbury has been looking for a number one goaltender in return for Williams, and want Cain from me, but because I don't have a backup plan yet in goal, I can't afford to trade Cain, and I would want more than Williams. So I reject the counter-offer but keep it in the back of my mind.

[Booj]

October 22, 2004

I offer Heidi Janz the 2nd trainer position. She has good determination and working with youngsters as well as the 20 in physical therapy.

October 23, 2004

We travel to Richmond to play the last-place team in the division. Darcy Cain gets another start- backup Adam Nelson has yet to play a game.

Our defense is stellar throughout the game as we win 3-1. We only allow 14 shots on Cain and defenceman Tom Kemp gets 2 points on the powerplay, a goal and an assist.

Right wing Joe Foster, who was listed as one of the top-10 RW in the UHL recorded his first point, a goal. Jonathan Gautier had another assist, on Kemp's goal.






October 24, 2004

We play our third game in three days against damn Danbury. They still haven't lost a game. Darcy Cain gets the start (perhaps to showcase him).

The line up Peat/McPherson and Gallant absolutely killed us racking up all 3 goals and getting 4 assists. Peat had 2 of the goals and he leads the UHL in scoring.

Darcy Cain saved 19 of the 22 shots he faced. We now have 5 off days to rest.

[Booj]

October 26, 2004

Heidi Janz joins the team as trainer agreeing to a 2 year, $30k contract.

October 29, 2004

The extended roadtrip (so far being the entire start of the season) is finally coming to an end as this is the last road game before we go back home. Darcy Cain coming off a 5 day rest gets another start.

We win another one, 3-2. Defenceman Maris Ignatovics scores 2 goals and Steven Morrison adds another (his 3rd of the year). Cain saves 19 of 21.






October 30, 2004

Finally home! The bad news? We're playing Danbury... who is still undefeated. Good news, though. Sean Larose is in the lineup for this one. We're dressing 12 forwards and 6 defencemen for the first time this season. Adam Nelson is getting the start giving Darcy Cain a well-deserved day off.

We WIN! We WIN! We defeat evil Danbury! Joe Foster and Maris Ignatovics both get a goal and an assist and Jonathan Gautier gets his first UHL goal.

Sean Larose played 21:24 in his return to action while Adam Nelson made 25 saves on 28 shots in his first start of the season.