Alright boyz, here we go!!! Eastside Hockey Manager 2007 First Impressions Thread!

[riz]

Originally Posted by Scholes

Quick question, does this work like FM, where, if I start out in a lower league like the QMJHL, will I be able to take NHL jobs (if I perform well enough) eventually??

Yes, it works like that. Read here for some interesting memoirs of some career recaps of users who played the 2005 version:http://community.sigames.com/eve/for...5/m/8682094652

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Scholes

Quick question, does this work like FM, where, if I start out in a lower league like the QMJHL, will I be able to take NHL jobs (if I perform well enough) eventually??

Yes, but it could take some time to get the required prestige to coach in the NHL.

[Icy]

Ok, i have some hockey newbie questions about contracts, specially about rights ownerships, minors movements and waivers as i see them really different from baseball for example.

I have started managing the Florida Panthers, i have two minor teams, Rochester in the AHL and Florida in the ECHL.

I saw there some guys who could be ready to play in the NHL team and i would like to test them in the training camps. I can't invite them so i guess my only option is to call them up to the NHL team. My questions are:

1- Once i end the camp, if i want to demote them again to the minors, do they need to pass waivers?

2- Is there any way to sign FA's or players from other leagues not the NHL and put them in the minors directly? any penalization for doing so? do they need to clear waivers? Else, how can i fill my minor teams with players?

3- What is the player status apropiate for players in the minors? only young prospects or can they be regular or fringe players without geting upset?

4- I see a lot of players listed as owned my me but unsigned. I guess are the players i drafted so i have their rights, but do i need to sign them to put them in my minors? is there any advantage/disvantage of having them in other teams (like in othe rleagues or countries) instead of in my minors? Do my rights over them end after X time or will them always be mine? I also see players with rights owned by me who are transfered betwen other teams (not NHL), if i own the rights, how could they be transfered between teams?

5- What is the reserve list?

6- Is there any place where to learn all this stuff and not needing to bother you guys with all my hockey noob questions?

Thanks in advance.

[Galaril]

Is there expansion in any of the leagues over time?

[twothree]

Just purchased it from the website. Thank you, for using elicense.

[Joe Canadian]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Is there expansion in any of the leagues over time?

Nope.

[Joe Canadian]

How does the networking play work?

[SirFozzie]

From what I've seen, like FM2006.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Icy

I saw there some guys who could be ready to play in the NHL team and i would like to test them in the training camps. I can't invite them so i guess my only option is to call them up to the NHL team. My questions are:

1- Once i end the camp, if i want to demote them again to the minors, do they need to pass waivers?

2- Is there any way to sign FA's or players from other leagues not the NHL and put them in the minors directly? any penalization for doing so? do they need to clear waivers? Else, how can i fill my minor teams with players?

3- What is the player status apropiate for players in the minors? only young prospects or can they be regular or fringe players without geting upset?

4- I see a lot of players listed as owned my me but unsigned. I guess are the players i drafted so i have their rights, but do i need to sign them to put them in my minors? is there any advantage/disvantage of having them in other teams (like in othe rleagues or countries) instead of in my minors? Do my rights over them end after X time or will them always be mine? I also see players with rights owned by me who are transfered betwen other teams (not NHL), if i own the rights, how could they be transfered between teams?

5- What is the reserve list?

6- Is there any place where to learn all this stuff and not needing to bother you guys with all my hockey noob questions?

Some of my answers here are based on my experience with last year's game. Others are educated guesses. People are free to correct me if I'm wrong, of course.

1- You don't need to worry about waivers until the season starts. As long as you demote the players before the regular season begins, they don't need to clear waivers.

2- Yes, you can sign players and assign them to the minors without penalty or waivers.

3- It's probably a little difficult to keep a "regular" player happy in the minors, but you can send them down. To use a real-life example from last year, the New Jersey Devils sent Alexander Mogilny to the minors early in the season. Mogilny was once considered a star in the NHL, and he ended up spending practically all of last season in the minors. I think he was pretty unhappy at first, but he finally dealt with it and played in the minors. Ultimately, you need to do what's best for your team, and if you have to send a regular player down, do it.

4- Yes, you need to sign a player before you can put him in the minors. In many cases, it's better to leave them wherever they are. If you draft a foreign player, he may be playing against better competition overseas than he'd be facing in your minor leagues. Also, he'd be more comfortable in his home country. Unless you're bringing a guy over for your NHL team, it's generally better to let him grow up and develop in a place that he's familiar with. Also, you don't have to pay him. As for the player being transferred within other leagues, you only have his NHL rights. If he's in another league, he can switch teams without any input from you. As far as I know, your NHL rights do not expire. If you finally feel ready to bring the player over (even if it's 5 years after you drafted him), you can try to sign him to a contract. There's no guarantee that he'll accept, but you can try.

5- I don't know what the reserve list is. Maybe it's the injured reserve list, in which case a player has to stay on the list for a certain number of days before he can be reactivated. It's certainly nothing like a reserve team in soccer, if you're wondering about that.

6- I don't know if there's any place to find all this information. I kinda just figured it out through trial and error, so I may not be 100% correct on all this.

[Joe Canadian]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

From what I've seen, like FM2006.

How does it work in FM?

[SirFozzie]

one person creates a game, selecting "Run as server"

He gives you the IP address (and the password to connect)..

you connect, create your coach, and you're off. Usually they have rules to prevent one person from delaying the whole group (for example, in our FM2006 Netgame, CW has a rule that once 50% of the people are ready, the rest have 1 minute to get their work done before it forces a continue.

[Joe Canadian]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

one person creates a game, selecting "Run as server"

He gives you the IP address (and the password to connect)..

you connect, create your coach, and you're off. Usually they have rules to prevent one person from delaying the whole group (for example, in our FM2006 Netgame, CW has a rule that once 50% of the people are ready, the rest have 1 minute to get their work done before it forces a continue.

Could you give me a rundown of how a network game usually runs? Like when do you play, what does each GM have to do, etc.

[SirFozzie]

Ok, in our net game, The usual hours are 8 PM-10PM CDT (the hours CW sets for the game)

about 15 minutes before hand, he'll load the game, and announce it here, so we can connect.. If we can't make a session, our 2nd in command controls the team.

Once we connect, at 8 PM the designated start time, CW sets it so we can continue, and we go through the days as normal, making any changes necessary to our teams, playing games (if humans are playing on a certain game day, and if you're not playing, you can watch any game in progress or just work on your team).

When 10 PM CDT comes around, CW announces the server's closing, and then at the next opportunity, saves the game.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Some of my answers here are based on my experience with last year's game. Others are educated guesses. People are free to correct me if I'm wrong, of course.

1- You don't need to worry about waivers until the season starts. As long as you demote the players before the regular season begins, they don't need to clear waivers.

2- Yes, you can sign players and assign them to the minors without penalty or waivers.

I don't believe either of this are correct, fwiw. Once you've played enough games / spent enough time on a roster, you become eligible for waivers, and must clear waivers to go back down. At the end of the preseason (RL and in the game) you'll see a slew of waiver moves as eligible players get sent to the minors. That continues throughout the season. Andy Hilbert, for example, was traded by Boston to Chicago last year when Boston knew they wouldn't be able to send him down without waiving him. Chicago later tried to send him down and Pittsburgh claimed him.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors View Post
Some of my answers here are based on my experience with last year's game. Others are educated guesses. People are free to correct me if I'm wrong, of course.

1- You don't need to worry about waivers until the season starts. As long as you demote the players before the regular season begins, they don't need to clear waivers.

2- Yes, you can sign players and assign them to the minors without penalty or waivers.

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

I don't believe either of this are correct, fwiw. Once you've played enough games / spent enough time on a roster, you become eligible for waivers, and must clear waivers to go back down. At the end of the preseason (RL and in the game) you'll see a slew of waiver moves as eligible players get sent to the minors. That continues throughout the season. Andy Hilbert, for example, was traded by Boston to Chicago last year when Boston knew they wouldn't be able to send him down without waiving him. Chicago later tried to send him down and Pittsburgh claimed him.

I'm not sure yet for 2007 how the preseason is going to work. I did notice though that the player card says someting like

waivers: eligible for regular season waivers

I don't have a 2005 game to look back at (unintalled) but I don't recall it being worded that way (though it may have been).

So as I'm just starting my first training camp I'm hoping that they don't have to clear in preseason. If they do then lesson learned for when I start my serious dynasty.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

I don't believe either of this are correct, fwiw. Once you've played enough games / spent enough time on a roster, you become eligible for waivers, and must clear waivers to go back down. At the end of the preseason (RL and in the game) you'll see a slew of waiver moves as eligible players get sent to the minors. That continues throughout the season. Andy Hilbert, for example, was traded by Boston to Chicago last year when Boston knew they wouldn't be able to send him down without waiving him. Chicago later tried to send him down and Pittsburgh claimed him.

I guess I was thinking about a player who was in the minors last season (like Mogilny or Dan McGillis). I would imagine that the Devils could bring them up for training camp or the preseason, but they would not have to clear waivers again if they get sent back to the AHL before the season starts. I may be wrong about that, too, but it may have looked like I was saying that you can send anybody down to the minors without waivers in preseason. That's not what I meant, but I may have been wrong anyway.

I didn't know about the Hilbert situation, but I was thinking about signing free agents. Can you sign a free agent and immediately assign him to the minors without putting him through waivers? That's what I'd meant, but that could be wrong.

Thanks for bringing these things up, though, because I was thinking of specific cases, and I'm sure that Icy needs more complete information, so every little bit helps.

[Galaril]

http://archibalduk.ehmtheblueline.com/site/index.php

This is guide put together by a guy for EHM 2005 version.It is a good elaboration on th manual.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I guess I was thinking about a player who was in the minors last season (like Mogilny or Dan McGillis). I would imagine that the Devils could bring them up for training camp or the preseason, but they would not have to clear waivers again if they get sent back to the AHL before the season starts. I may be wrong about that, too, but it may have looked like I was saying that you can send anybody down to the minors without waivers in preseason. That's not what I meant, but I may have been wrong anyway.

I didn't know about the Hilbert situation, but I was thinking about signing free agents. Can you sign a free agent and immediately assign him to the minors without putting him through waivers? That's what I'd meant, but that could be wrong.

Thanks for bringing these things up, though, because I was thinking of specific cases, and I'm sure that Icy needs more complete information, so every little bit helps.

they both would have had to clear waivers to go to the AHL. Once they did, they aren't eligible for waivers again until, iirc, they play in 10 NHL games or spend 30 days on an NHL roster. That, at least, is how it is in EHM 2005. I have no idea how that corresponds to real life or 2007.

as for the free agent - if you are the GM of an NHL team, I think if you sign him to a contract, it's an NHL contract, so yes he'd have to be waived (if eligible) to go to the AHL. Now, if you were an AHL GM, you could certainly sign him to an AHL contract.

now, take my posts with a ginormous grain of salt, as all of it is just my interpretation, mostly based on 2k5. Hockey roster rules are bizarre.

[Draft Dodger]

the waiver rules are in the manual (section 11.2), but are too confusing to paraphrase. plus, I've had several glasses of wine.

[bhlloy]

The way I see it DD is pretty close. Certainly in EHM 2005, and from what I have seen also this year.

It all comes down to pro "experience" IIRC... if a guy has only played in juniors then he can be sent down without being waived, but once he has a certain number of games in a pro league you are pretty much SOL. However, I believe if he doesn't have the pro experience, he can be signed and sent straight down to another league.

Complicating matters is that certain players can't be sent to the AHL at all, they can only be kept on the NHL roster or sent back to juniors. I'm not sure what the threshold is for this, but I suspect it may be years of junior experience (from what I remember if a guy is "overage" but still has years of eligibility, he can play in the AHL or juniors) This may be completely wrong though.

[Draft Dodger]

it's age for juniors / AHL. players drafted from the juniors either a) play in the NHL or b) junior hockey until they are 20 (and once they play 10 games in the NHL, they cannot go back to juniors). Once a player reaches 20, he can go the AHL.

or something.

[Draft Dodger]

(time for more wine - that's almost making sense)

[bhlloy]

Makes perfect sense... thanks

[Draft Dodger]

btw, speaking of the game, I did a fantasy draft today, and then when I advanced to the next day, all the rosters were the original rosters.

[Draft Dodger]

I also had the Brodeur bug, but that seems like it's already a known issue, as is the fucked up Avalanche affilations and retired jersey info.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

btw, speaking of the game, I did a fantasy draft today, and then when I advanced to the next day, all the rosters were the original rosters.

That happened to me once. I decided to start up another game and try again and it worked. I've sinse had five or six drafts and haven't had the problem recur.

[SackAttack]

So I bought the game and started a league with fictional names.

Devils are shopping around a 29 y/o defenseman with every rating in the red except for a 17 in 'determination.'

He's understandably not happy about that.

[Galaril]

Though I hate to do this I am coping someone else's post from another forum to see if others agree with this and too also, call attention to these issues for Riz.

My initial impressions are that the new 2d game engine is pretty good but the rest of the game feels very rough.

For a game that has an NHL license, the scant few pictures is very odd. I wonder if other NHL licensed games suffer from the lack of player photos? This is a big immersion killer.

The game also could use a better front end page. The GM page is ok, but an overall league front page ala OOTP2006 would have been a much better design. Riz should have a chat with Markus concerning this. I also don't like how there is no ability to view more than 1 NHL division at a time in the standings page.

The 2d engine could also use the following:

1. A pop up screen stating who scored and who assisted.
2. a pop up screen stating who received a penalty and what type of penalty it is.
3. Some sort of horn or siren when a goal is scored.

There are also a lot of icings and goalies tend to be a bit too passive when handling the puck which causes too many play stoppages.

On the plus side of things, the AI logic for powerplays is very nice and you will actually see teams form the box fairly often and pass the puck around the perimeter. The players scate and move realisticly and goals occur from good plays as well as mistakes by the other team. Watching games in the 2d screen is pretty fun if not time consuming. It will bring back memories of the old Wayne Gretzky Hockey game.

The game as it stands right now will probably need several patches and a major photo pack as well as some sort of roster editor since many of the player attributes look out of place.

Thats all for now.

[Mota]

So far I'm loving it. Although in the game view screen, I'd appreciate if the PBP line was closer to the rink, with all the stats seperating the two, you either have to pick one or the other to follow. If the PBP were right below the rink view, you might have a better chance of following both at the same time. As it stands, I don't even read the text at all because the view is much more captivating.

[Hurst2112]

you can use photos that are available for EHM 2005.

I think my file is several hundred megs. That would suck to download with the game.

[Joe Canadian]

Originally Posted by Mota

So far I'm loving it. Although in the game view screen, I'd appreciate if the PBP line was closer to the rink, with all the stats seperating the two, you either have to pick one or the other to follow. If the PBP were right below the rink view, you might have a better chance of following both at the same time. As it stands, I don't even read the text at all because the view is much more captivating.

"... if someone happens on the 2D screen and you want to know who was involved, by the time you look down... that part of the PBP has disappeared, even when there is a wistle blown.

[Joe Canadian]

This business about the player pics, while a very minor problem, is very confusing to me. I've never seen a recent video game with a pro league licence come out where most players had blank pictures.

[Icy]

I have downloaded all the available picture packs from 2k5 and like 95% of the players have pictures now so it's not that big issue for me.

I agree about the pbp being hard to read as it's too low in the 2D screen.

One thing i have not seen mentioned but that bugs me is the waivers wire screen. I would like to see there all the different views as in the other screens with players (roster view or player search view) as right now i need to click on every player to see his ratings and it's hard to find a good player that way, too much time consuming.

I would like also the players names in the tactics lineups screen to be clickable and linked to the players info like in any othe rscreen.

Overall i'm enjoying the game a lot and have not seen any important bug.

[Marc Duffy]

Originally Posted by Joe Canadian

This business about the player pics, while a very minor problem, is very confusing to me. I've never seen a recent video game with a pro league licence come out where most players had blank pictures.

Although we are licensed, this doesnt entitle us to get free player photos. you have to purchase them from Getty and it's very expensive. In the end, we decided the budget we had remaining was spent better elsewhere.

Apologies.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Marc Duffy

Although we are licensed, this doesnt entitle us to get free player photos. you have to purchase them from Getty and it's very expensive. In the end, we decided the budget we had remaining was spent better elsewhere.

Apologies.

that makes a lot more sense - but does that imply you had to just pick certain photos to put in the game?...because, if so, you guys chose poorly.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Marc Duffy

Although we are licensed, this doesnt entitle us to get free player photos. you have to purchase them from Getty and it's very expensive. In the end, we decided the budget we had remaining was spent better elsewhere.

Apologies.

A license from both the league and players union doesn't get you pictures?
I did not know that. I would have thought either the league or the players owned the pictures and they came with the license, live and learn.

Like anything else in life they get you coming and going.


But a good decision on your part as a place to save money since it's easily "fixed" by the community.

[Draft Dodger]

and, I spend about 3 hours playing today. get through to my first exhibition game...and it crashes. I'm right back to day one. yay for me.

[Honolulu_Blue]

As per usual, me thinks HB will be waiting for the first patch or two before investing his time and energies into the game. I've always done this in the past and have usually been quite pleased.

I do salute you brave, noble pioneers and trailblazers.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I do salute you brave, noble pioneers and trailblazers.

I swear I heard the "Real Men of Genius" jingle playing in the background while reading this.

[SackAttack]

Mr. Text Sim Early Adoooooooopter?

[SackAttack]

Okay, this is a gamebreaker if what I just saw is really happening.

I'm in a fantasy draft, and I had the #1 overall selection. Gravy.

Pick two rolls around, and Roberto Luongo appears to still be on the board. I take him, the game pops up with the usual dialog about "Take Joe Blow now?" Same thing with Jarome Iginla in the third round. Yeah, seemed odd that they were still on the board, but hey.

I notice on the "My Team" screen that only my #1 pick is actually on the team. I look at the 'drafted' screen, and the players in question went #10 and #12 in the first round - which is more in line with expectations - and the game not only didn't NOTICE this, as the players were still listed in the pool of available players, but it didn't prompt me with a notice that the players weren't actually available, nor did it warn me that I would, in essence, lose my 2nd and 3rd round picks because the players weren't actually available to draft.

I'm going to try again. If I see this happen again, I am going to be very upset.

[SackAttack]

Dola,

I auto-completed the draft so I could exit the game and try this again, and the 'my team' screen does in fact start with the first round, and then show no 2nd or 3rd round pick before picking up in the 4th round with auto-selections.

[Draft Dodger]

same thing happened to me. it's a known issue (has to do with the filters or something).

[SackAttack]

I wasn't USING the filters, though. That's the part that has me pissed, and why I'm trying again to make sure it wasn't just a one-off.

[Joe Canadian]

Originally Posted by Marc Duffy

Although we are licensed, this doesnt entitle us to get free player photos. you have to purchase them from Getty and it's very expensive. In the end, we decided the budget we had remaining was spent better elsewhere.

Apologies.

No need to apologize, I just thought it was strange...

[SackAttack]

Looks like it was a one-off, as it didn't happen this time.

It's neat being able to get so many different opinions on a player in the draft, though. That's handy.

[TroyF]

Yeah, the draft is a bit off. It works sometimes, doesn't work sometimes. I've only had a couple of problems through a lot of drafts. Still debating on this, but I'll probably pass and spend the extra cash to get FM sent to me opening day instead of opt for this.

[Joe Canadian]

I just noticed for the first time re-entry waivers... Biron was the player, and the Penguins picked him up... and since it was the re-entry waivers they only have to cover half of his salary. Not sure if this is a new feature or not, but it's cool anyways.

[Joe Canadian]

How are player name's generated for "new" players, and by that I mean what determines if a player has a French of English name, for example.

I'm glancing through the QMJHL draft rankings, and pretty much all the players from Newfoundland (which is a QMJHL territory) are French, when I would guess 90% of Newfoundlanders have English names.

[Johnny93g]

As i am coming to the end of my first season, i have noticed something a little off. Here is a screenshot


Defense scoring is extremly low!!!
2 defensmen have over 10 goals, and both players scored more goals last season.
McCabe has about 30 fewer points, and Nik Lidstrom has about 50 fewer points.

I'm hoping this is an isolated issue, but if not, it needs to be looked at