EHM 2005: Let's go Blues!!

[MizzouRah]

Besides four years in the military, I've lived in Missouri my whole life. Sports were popular with my dad, who thankfully, was able to take me to many football Cardinal games, many baseball Cardinal games, Blues games, Rams games, and Mizzou Tiger football games.

St. Louisans have been lucky enough to witness World Series Championships, a Super Bowl Championship, even an NBA Championship in 1958 via the St. Louis Hawks, but the one thing we've been lacking is a Stanley Cup.

Hockey has at times, been a favorite sport of mine. With the recent lockout, baseball has once again captured my #1 spot. I'm sure once (if) it starts back up again, I'll be back cheering for my Blues. The Blues have been to 24 consecutive playoffs, but have never won the coveted Lord Stanley's Cup. They went three years in a row 1968-1970 (I was born in '71), led by Coach Scotty Bowman, but lost all three times.

Hockey is back... and I've decided it's my job to take this team to a Championship!!


* The game arrives on 6/9 and after I install the patch and some add-ons, I'll get started on how I want to present the information from the game. As I can see from reading other EHM dynasties, I get a feeling it's going to be tough to get all the stats copied over to the forum for posting.. but I'll see what works best to follow along.

I'm still a little lost when it comes to SI's interface in their games, but by posting a dynasty, I should get familiar pretty easily.

[Joe Canadian]

Can't wait, I'll be reading!

What add-ons are you planning on installing?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Joe Canadian

Can't wait, I'll be reading!

Thanks, as I have been reading yours.


Todd

[condors]

looking forward to the updates!

[DeToxRox]

Ugh. All we need .. THE BLUES!

Keep me posted on my Wings.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by DeToxRoxDVHStyle

Ugh. All we need .. THE BLUES!

Keep me posted on my Wings.

Yeah, beating you guys in the playoffs will be a feat in itself.

[st.cronin]

curse you mizzourah

I don't have the $ in my budget for this game. Please stop this dynasty.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

curse you mizzourah

I don't have the $ in my budget for this game. Please stop this dynasty.

It's here!

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Yeah, beating you guys in the playoffs will be a feat in itself.

How many times will you have to keep resorting back to the save file for that to happen?

[MizzouRah]

After the St. Louis Blues make it official hiring me as the GM, Chairman Bill Laurie and President Mark Sauer sit down with me and tell me they expect me to improve the roster this year. Fair enough, I say, and I inform them I plan on keeping Mike Kitchen as the Head Coach and Don Lever as the Assistant Coach. I shake hands with the rest of the board and head out for my first order of business as the Blues GM.


I meet with HC Mike Kitchen and he tells me he prefers a straightfoward, attacking style of play, and he also likes to match lines with his opponents. Just hearing him speak I can tell he's learned a lot from mentor Joel Quenneville.. which makes me smile. We talk for a bit more and I tell him he's my man and I hope I can tighten this roster up a bit. He smiles when I tell him I plan on calling Al MacInnis as soon as possible. I also mention that I like his choice in Ass. Coach Don Lever. Don's more of a quiet, but firm and steady Assistant and I like his knowledge of the game.


I look over the rest of the staff and I don't plan on making any changes right now. I'm going to more or less make some roster moves, setup the roster, and pretty much hang in the shadows when it comes to everything else. My main interest is the team, affiliates, and shaping this roster for the upcoming season.

[MizzouRah]

Looking over our finances, I like what I see:

Total: $53,000,000
Player Budget: $67,000,000

That leaves me a decent amount of breathing room and a smile on my face as I pick up the phone and call Al MacInnis's agent.



MacInnis has recovered from a torn retina in his left eye and has made it clear he wants to play hockey this upcoming season. That's all I needed to hear and I made sure offering him a contract would be my top priority when I became GM.

As I approach to sign, I select: This player will be a core player on the team.

Al MacInnis wants $3,500,000 until Jun. 2006 plus a signing bonus of $190,000. My board will allow a salary up to $3,800,000 (p/a) for this contract.

I agree with his terms through discrete contact with Al and his agent. Hopefully he'll get back to me quickly so I can get him into camp.

[MizzouRah]

Next up on my agenda is to sign an Assistant GM. Since I'm just learning, I need all the help I can get.. at least until I'm more comfortable with evaluating players.

I talk with several canidates, but one sticks out. That man is former player Curt Fraser.

Curt began in 1989 as an assistant with the IHL's Milwaukee Admirals and later took over as head coach in 1992. In 1995, Fraser was hired as the bench boss of the Orlando Solar Bears and guided the club to an appearance in the Turner Cup finals. He was hired as the first coach of the NHL's expansion Atlanta Thrashers in July 1999 and was subsequently relieved of his duties midway through the 2002-03 season.

He has a 14 rating in both judging player ability and judging player potential. He wants a total of $1,800,000 for four years. I cut his offer in half and tell him we'll give him $900,000 for two years. I really don't want an assistant GM tied up for four years, but I might be willing to go three.

[MizzouRah]

Looking at today's hockey notes and news, I notice Curt Fraser gets offers from Colorado and Montreal. Colorado would like him to be their scout and Montreal would like him to be their assistant GM, just like us. I wonder if they are offering him what he is asking for? I'll wait to hear from him or a news source confirming where he plans to sign before I look elsewhere.

Eric Lindros was offered a contract from San Jose. Can the frail once superstar play on a physical team like the Sharks?


As the news continues to come in, I see once again Fraser has been offered a job by the LA Kings to be a scout.

Maxim Linnik seems to be getting some offers from Ekaterinburg and Lipetsk. We own the rights to him, so interest in him is a good thing.


Wow, Fraser gets two more offers. This time the Flyers offered him a job as a scout and Anaheim offered him a job as assistant coach. It's starting to look like maybe I should start the hunt for an assistant GM once again. I expect Curt to sign somewhere, anyday now.

Recent rumors are suggesting that Chicago Blackhawks are looking to acquire Derek Morris from the Phoenix Coyotes.


Morris is a hard-working defenseman born in Edmonton, Alberta in 8/24/78. He shoots right-handed, weighs in at 213 lbs, and is 6 ft tall. He was taken in the NHL draft in 1996 by the Calgary Flames as a 1st round (13th overall) pick. The Phoenix Coyotes currently own his NHL rights.

[MizzouRah]

What a night! I get a phone call from Al MacInnis's agent and I can tell by his "hello" that MacInnis is returning to hockey the St. Louis Blues. I really didn't think he would turn down my offer.. especially considering I gave him exactly what he wanted, but since the offer wasn't made public, I didn't know if any other team had contacted him.


I step up to the podium for my first annoucement as the Blues GM. "On behaf of the entire St. Louis Blues organization, we are pleased to announce the signing of defenseman Al MacInnis. We are extremely pleased to see Al back in a Blues uniform and know the fans will be estatic on his decision not only to return to the NHL, but to come back to the Blues.. I know we are." and with that I exit the podium and MacInnis starts taking questions.

As I go over Al's profile, I notice he has interest in staying with the team after his playing career is over. I'll note that.

Once I fill my assistant GM spot, I'll be ready to dive into camp.

[Joe Canadian]

Great read... keep it up!!

[Izulde]

I concur. Excellent beginning.

[jbmagic]

great dynasty.

[MizzouRah]

I appreciate all the kind words, thanks!

[MizzouRah]

Free agent Eric Lindros has accepted a Sharks offer. He's signed a deal worth $10M that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2006.

Eric suffered the eighth recorded concussion of his career last January 28 in a game against Washington when he was hit by Jason Doig. That turned out to be his last game as a Ranger.

The Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player in 1994-95, Lindros spent his first eight years with the Flyers and had 290 goals and 369 assists for 659 points in 486 games for them.

* It will be interesting to see what line they put Lindros on.



In other news, Montreal Canadiens hired Dave King as an assistant coach. He's signed a deal worth $1.3M that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2008.

Dave King has 30 years of coaching and managing experience and a reputation as one of the game’s most respected figures. Dave was named the first head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2000. Prior to joining the Blue Jackets he spent three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, where he served as an assistant coach from 1997-99

* Looks like Montreal is re-tooling their assistants, going after Curt Fraser for assistant GM and now signing Dave King as assistant coach.

[MizzouRah]

Ekaterinburg signed defenseman Maxim Linnik as a free agent. He's signed a deal worth $35K that will keep him with the team until Apr. 30 2006.

LW/C Jon Waibel has joined the Blues on a tryout basis for the training camp. The tryout will end on Friday September 17 2004.

G Ben McMullin has joined the Blues on a tryout basis for the training camp. The tryout will end on Friday September 17 2004.

C Guy Loranger has joined the Blues on a tryout basis for the training camp. The tryout will end on Friday September 17 2004.

LW Dominic Leveille has joined the Blues on a tryout basis for the training camp. The tryout will end on Friday September 17 2004.

LD/RD Jesse Lane has joined the Blues on a tryout basis for the training camp. The tryout will end on Friday September 17 2004.

* None of these players look particular great on paper, but you never know.


Jonas Johnson's agent has rejected the offer of a tryout with the Blues. This stinks as even at 34, Jonas looks like he could have an outside shot to make the team. He's played 362 games so far in his Swedish Elitserien career, scoring 96 goals and 125 assists for 221 points. He's also spent 268 minutes in the box. He has 9 goals and 11 assists in 73 international games for Sweden.

St. Louis Blues training camp begins tomorrow. A total of 31 players are expected to participate. This year, there are 5 tryout players attending the camp.

* I'll give Curt Fraser a little more time before I pull my offer to him and sign another assistant GM. I would like to get a good team report via assistant GM, so time is starting to become a factor.

Since I've been reading about the issues with leaving training camp up to your assistants, I plan on doing some cleanup to make sure I get the results I want.

[MizzouRah]

Maple Leafs hire Hall of Famer Billy Smith as a scout. He's signed a deal worth $775K that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2008.


Kariya missed 31 of the first 38 games with a sprained wrist and was able to play in only one playoff game last year after spraining his ankle in Colorado's season finale. In 51 regular-season games, Kariya had a career-low 11 goals and 36 points.


Several hockey publications have named Hersey as favorites to win the Calder Cup title this season. A writer at one newspaper claimed the team has the right balance of offensive and defensive talent, combined with the intangibles found in a winning team.

New Jersey Devils offered a contract to Glen Murray.

Atlanta Thrashers offered a contract to Alexei Kovalev.


Day One of St. Louis Blues training camp included physicals to evaluate the fitness of each player. Reporting to camp in the best shape were Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis. Both Guy Loranger and Jon Waibel left something to be desired.

At St. Louis Blues training camp this morning, Team Blue claimed a victory in their scrimmage against Team Red with the final score of 6-1. The coaching staff was rinkside evaluating the players and said that Bryce Salvador put in the best performance, and also had positive comments about Jamal Mayers and Eric Boguniecki.

* That's good news about Mayers and Boguniecki. I like them both and would love to see both of them make the team. I'll keep my eye on them.
* Still no word on Curt Fraser.

[MizzouRah]

Boston Bruins offered a contract to Pavol Demitra.

Phoenix Coyotes offered a contract to Pavol Demitra.


Free agent Chris Osgood has accepted an offer from the Vancouver Canucks. He's signed a deal worth $10.75M that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2008.

In 2003-04, Chris went 31-25-8 in 67 games as the Blues made the playoffs for the 25th straight season. Chris posted a 2.24 GAA, a 91.0 save percentage, and three shutouts. He was also the NHL’s Defensive Player of the Month in March. On March 20, in a key match against the Oilers down the stretch, Chris posted a shutout in a 1-0 victory. In the playoffs, the Blues lost in the opening round against the Sharks.


Devils named Paul Baxter as assistant GM. He's signed a deal worth $2.1M that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2008.


Wild signed veteran Corey Schwab as a free agent. He's signed a deal worth $2.8M that will keep him with the team until Jul. 1 2006.

Corey Schwab was drafted 200th overall in the 1990 Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils. In 1995-96, he made his NHL debut and posted a 2.18 goals-against average in ten games. On June 22, 1996, Corey was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Jeff Reese and a pair of draft picks (second and eighth rounds). That season, Corey joined the NHL ranks full time and went 11-12-1 in 31 games. In 1997-98, Corey played 16 games with the Lightning. In 1998-99, Corey played 40 games and posted a 3.52 GAA. On June 25, 1999, Corey was claimed in the Expansion Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers. On October 29, 1999, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for a fourth-round draft pick. That season, he played six games for the Canucks.

On October 3, 2001, Corey signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Cory played behind Curtis Joseph, posting a 12-10-5 record in 30 games. In the playoffs, he saw action in one game as the Maple Leafs reached the Eastern Conference final before losing to the Hurricanes.

On July 8, 2002, Cory signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Devils. As he did seven years earlier, Cory played behind goaltending partner Martin Brodeur. Cory posted a 5-3-1 record in 11 games as the Devils improved 13 points in the standings to win their fifth Atlantic Division title in seven years. In the playoffs, Cory first helped the Devils win the Prince of Wales Trophy by knocking off the Bruins, Lightning, and Senators. The Devils then defeated the Mighty Ducks to win their third Stanley Cup championship.

In 2003-04, Corey played three games and went 2-0-1. The Devils, meanwhile, won more than 40 games for the eighth-straight season.

[MizzouRah]

I'm tired of waiting on Curt Fraser and I offer Yvon Gendron basically the same contract Curt originally wanted, $450,000/4 years. Yvon is a tad better with evaluating potential (15) and working with youngsters (15), and I really want my assistant GM to get started.

Maple Leafs hired Todd Heartly as a scout. He's signed a deal worth $750K that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2008.

Well well.. Canadiens named Curt Fraser as assistant GM. He's signed a deal worth $1.9M that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2008.

* Monteal thought the same thing I did, except they gave Curt a tad more money and two more years.

Panthers hired Phil Myre as an assistant coach. He's signed a deal worth $975K that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2008.

Mike Kitchen has reminded me that he expects me to make some of the first cuts of training camp today.

Kitchen is extremely unhappy with the performace of Mark Rycroft in camp. He feels Rycroft is a little out of shape and hasn't been putting forth much effort in the scrimmages. I feel a warning is deserved and I warn Rycroft for poor performance - I DO NOT want my new tenure to start off with players thinking they can take it easy in preparation for the new season.

Rycroft responds, telling the media he felt my warning was unfair. Various reporters call and I tell them this Blues team will NOT have players going through the motions at any time, and if they do.. well, they can always play elsewhere. I also added, I'm here to manage a hockey team, there are plenty of players would love at shot on the team.. with that I'm finished with this incident.

[MizzouRah]

Calgary Flames have offered Yvon Gendron a job as a scout.

Blackhawks hired Don Jackson as a scout. He's signed a deal worth $675K that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2008.

NY Rangers chairman James Dolan has dismissed speculation linking Jamomir Jagr with a move away from the team. He described recent stories in the press as nothing more than a groundless speculation that should be treated with the contempt they obviously deserve.


Free agent Alexei Kovalev has accepted a Thrashers offer. He's signed a deal worth $8.25M that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2006.

Alex Kovalev was drafted 15th overall in the 1991 Entry Draft by the New York Rangers, becoming the first Russian player even selected in the first round of the NHL Draft. He made his debut one season later on October 12, 1992 with his first NHL goal against the Whalers. In 2003-04, Alex was traded to the Montréal Canadiens on March 4 for Jozef Balej and a fourth-round draft pick. In 78 games between the two teams, he scored 45 points. Despite playing just 66 of those games with the Rangers, he ranked second on his old team at season’s end with 29 assists and 178 shots on goal. The Canadiens, meanwhile, posted their highest win total (41) in eight years and made the playoffs for the second time in three years. In the playoffs, Alex helped the Canadiens reach the second round before losing to the Lightning. In the opening round against the Bruins, he scored five goals in seven games.


Devils signed veteran Glen Murray as a free agent. He's signed a deal worth $7M that will keep him with the team until Jun. 30 2006. A typical power forward, Murray is at his best when he is barreling down the right side, looking to take and maintain position in front of the net. Has an instictive feel for the net and can get his shot off without really aiming. Is a major threat on thepenalty kill. Represented Team Canada in the 1998 World Championships.

I cut G Ben McMullin and LW/C Jon Waibel, although I offer LW Dominic Leveille a contract. Leveille is blazing fast in the rink and after two years in the QJAHL, Leveille has scored 98 goals, 171 assists, and 269 total points in 84 total games. I'd like to see him at Peoria.

[MizzouRah]

Toronto Maple Leafs offered a contract to Pavol Demitra.

Los Angeles Kings have offered Yvon Gendron a job as a scout.

At St. Louis Blues training camp this morning, Team Blue claimed a victory in their scrimmage against Team Red with the final score of 5-4.

The coaching staff was rinkside evaluating the players and said that Doug Weight put in the best performance, and also had positive comments about Barret Jackman and Keith Tkachuk.

I've also been informed by my staff that they are upset with Peter Sejna over his game readiness and poor attitude in the last few training camp scrimmages. Once again I'll let a player know I don't like this kind of behavior one bit. Not only do I warn Sejna for his poor performance, I also let Eric Weinrich know I'm not pleased.

* This position spots can be easily replaced with hungry players who want to play.

Both players fire back that they think I'm being too hard, especially being a new GM, and that they don't agree with the warnings.

[MizzouRah]

VISITORS: Boston Bruins

0

Game Summary Tuesday September 14 2004 Attendance:11,404 Venue:St. Louis Place

3

HOME: St. Louis Blues

---

Scoring Summary:
G	Per	Time	Team	Scorer	First Assist	Second Assist	Info
1	2	24:31	STL	Mark Rycroft	Peter Sejna	Ryan Johnson	-
2	3	43:46	STL	Peter Sejna	Ryan Johnson	Eric Weinrich	-
3	3	58:12	STL	Peter Sejna	Mark Rycroft	Andy Roach	-

Penalty Summary:
Per	Time	Player	Team	PIM	Penalty
1	04:03	Ashton Rome	BOS	2	Slashing
1	14:01	Jonathan Girard	BOS	2	Charging
2	34:09	Bryce Salvador	STL	2	Cross-checking
2	36:29	Martins Karsums	BOS	2	Charging
3	48:13	Jesse Lane	STL	2	Roughing
3	48:13	Martins Karsums	BOS	2	Roughing
3	50:19	David Kaczowka	STL	2	Roughing
3	50:19	P.J. Stock	BOS	2	Roughing
3	51:45	Reed Low	STL	2	Roughing
3	51:45	Martins Karsums	BOS	2	Roughing
3	58:20	Ben Barr	BOS	2	Roughing
3	58:20	Reed Low	STL	2	Roughing

Shot Attempts		Shots On Goal		Penalties-Min		Powerplay (Chances - Goals)		Faceoffs (Won - Percentage)
BOS	STL	BOS	STL	BOS	STL	BOS	STL	Total	BOS	STL
35	57	23	30	3-14	1-10	1 - 0	3 - 0	54	25-46%	29-54%

[jbmagic]

looks like the talk to Peter Sejna help

he did well in that game.

[MizzouRah]

Blues 3-0 Bruins

The St. Louis Blues battled to a well-deserved 3-0 win against the Boston Bruins in their exhibition game at the Savvis Center..

But after dictating the flow of play for much of the game, only coming away with the 3-0 final score was a disappointment.

* Not much of a headline from the paper, disappointed? Blah!


It's only exhibition, but I wanted to see how a game would post and also say a little fire might have helped. Rycroft and Sejna score three goals total and Weinrich had an assist? Nice..

[jbmagic]

will this dynasty continue? or another dynasty tease again

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

will this dynasty continue? or another dynasty tease again

Sorry, work has been hectic and this weekend is busy.. I'll try to get some playing time in tonight.

[jbmagic]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Sorry, work has been hectic and this weekend is busy.. I'll try to get some playing time in tonight.

will this dynasty continue? or its over?


your one of the best in doing dynasties for various sports sim games. but there never complete.


your such a tease