Thanks Minty for starting the thread
here are some answers to your questions:
Why a config.file??
because you can use these config.file with EVERY database you have. no need to "switch" anymore
Why are all the trades at the beginning of the year and not on the real dates they happend??
two reasons. i made a config.file with the real dates and tested it. most of the cpu controlled teams don't do the trades the file orders them to do. for example boston NEVER trades thornton away, they cancel this trade (don't know why

)
a trade file in which the changes you want don't occur is needless! so we (minty and i) need to find a way that makes sure the trades took place. the only time the cpu managers don't affect the game is the offseason. so i set all trade dates to 1st july 2005. second reason is that the in game trade deadline is set to 23 february. the real trade deadline took place at 9 March.
Why are the retirements at the beginning of the year?? (Lemieux, Palffy, Girard....)
if you set the date of retirement (in the config.file) after the beginn of the season, the game makes the message: "Player retires at the end of the season (middle 2006)". that's not what we wanted. so the same reason here, as for the trades.
Why are the waiver moves at the beginning of the year??
same reason like before
also the draft picks included in the trades are done with one missing. hurricanes traded vrbata to chicago for future considerations (not decided yet, so vrbata goes to the hawks for nothing

, best trade ever
here is a list of all moves i included into the file, if you find something missing or wrong please let me know
TRADES:
"Jason" "Wiemer" "Calgary Flames" "New Jersey Devils"
"Petr" "Taticek" "Florida Panthers" "Pittsburgh Penguins"
"Ric" "Jackman" "Pittsburgh Penguins" "Florida Panthers"
"Tim" "Jackman" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Los Angeles Kings"
"Eric" "Weinrich" "St. Louis Blues" "Vancouver Canucks"
"Tomas" "Mojzis" "Vancouver Canucks" "St. Louis Blues"
"Oleg" "Kvasha" "New York Islanders" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Martin" "Skoula" "Dallas Stars" "Minnesota Wild"
"Willie" "Mitchell" "Minnesota Wild" "Dallas Stars"
"Shawn" "Belle" "Dallas Stars" "Minnesota Wild"
"Niko" "Dimitrakos" "San Jose Sharks" "Philadelphia Flyers"
"Jim" "Dowd" "Chicago Blackhawks" "Colorado Avalanche"
"Tyler" "Arnason" "Chicago Blackhawks" "Ottawa Senators"
"Brandon" "Bochenski" "Ottawa Senators" "Chicago Blackhawks"
"Sergei" "Samsonov" "Boston Bruins" "Edmonton Oilers"
"Yan" "Stastny" "Edmonton Oilers" "Boston Bruins"
"Marty" "Reasoner" "Edmonton Oilers" "Boston Bruins"
"Brendan" "Witt" "Washington Capitals" "Nashville Predators"
"Kris" "Beech" "Nashville Predators" "Washington Capitals"
"Sandis" "Ozolinsh" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" "New York Rangers"
"Jamie" "Rivers" "Detroit Red Wings" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Mark" "Recchi" "Pittsburgh Penguins" "Carolina Hurricanes"
"Niklas" "Nordgren" "Carolina Hurricanes" "Pittsburgh Penguins"
"Jeff" "Friesen" "Washington Capitals" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim"
"Mika" "Noronen" "Buffalo Sabres" "Vancouver Canucks"
"Sean" "Brown" "New Jersey Devils" "Vancouver Canucks"
"Brad" "Lukowich" "New York Islanders" "New Jersey Devils"
"Todd" "Simpson" "Chicago Blackhawks" "Montreal Canadiens"
"Sean" "O'Donnell" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim"
"Joel" "Perreault" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Steve" "McCarthy" "Vancouver Canucks" "Atlanta Thrashers"
"Keith" "Carney" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" "Vancouver Canucks"
"Brett" "Skinner" "Vancouver Canucks" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim"
"Jamie" "Lundmark" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Calgary Flames"
"Denis" "Gauthier" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Philadelphia Flyers"
"Josh" "Gratton" "Philadelphia Flyers" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Ken" "Klee" "Toronto Maple Leafs" "New Jersey Devils"
"Alexander" "Suglobov" "New Jersey Devils" "Toronto Maple Leafs"
"Jose" "Theodore" "Montreal Canadiens" "Colorado Avalanche"
"David" "Aebischer" "Colorado Avalanche" "Montreal Canadiens"
"Brent" "Sopel" "New York Islanders" "Los Angeles Kings"
"Mark" "Parrish" "New York Islanders" "Los Angeles Kings"
"Denis" "Grebeshkov" "Los Angeles Kings" "New York Islanders"
"Jeff" "Tambellini" "Los Angeles Kings" "New York Islanders"
"Ville" "Nieminen" "New York Rangers" "San Jose Sharks"
"Dwayne" "Roloson" "Minnesota Wild" "Edmonton Oilers"
"Joel" "Stepp" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" "Atlanta Thrashers"
"Cale" "Hulse" "Columbus Blue Jackets" "Calgary Flames"
"Cam" "Severson" "Calgary Flames" "Columbus Blue Jackets"
"Zdenek" "Blatny" "Boston Bruins" "Tampa Bay Lightning"
"Brian" "Eklund" "Tampa Bay Lightning" "Boston Bruins"
"Steve" "Reinprecht" "Calgary Flames" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Philippe" "Sauve" "Calgary Flames" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Brian" "Boucher" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Calgary Flames"
"Mike" "Leclerc" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Calgary Flames"
"Doug" "Weight" "St. Louis Blues" "Carolina Hurricanes"
"Erkki" "Rajamaki" "St. Louis Blues" "Carolina Hurricanes"
"Jesse" "Boulerice" "Carolina Hurricanes" "St. Louis Blues"
"Mike" "Zigomanis" "Carolina Hurricanes" "St. Louis Blues"
"Mike" "Sillinger" "St. Louis Blues" "Nashville Predators"
"Timofei" "Shishkanov" "Nashville Predators" "St. Louis Blues"
"Dick" "Tarnstrom" "Pittsburgh Penguins" "Edmonton Oilers"
"Jani" "Rita" "Edmonton Oilers" "Pittsburgh Penguins"
"Cory" "Cross" "Edmonton Oilers" "Detroit Red Wings"
"Jaroslav" "Spacek" "Chicago Blackhawks" "Edmonton Oilers"
"Joe" "Thornton" "Boston Bruins" "San Jose Sharks"
"Marco" "Sturm" "San Jose Sharks" "Boston Bruins"
"Wayne" "Primeau" "San Jose Sharks" "Boston Bruins"
"Brad" "Stuart" "San Jose Sharks" "Boston Bruins"
"Sergei" "Fedorov" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" "Columbus Blue Jackets"
"Tyler" "Wright" "Columbus Blue Jackets" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim"
"Francois" "Beauchemin" "Columbus Blue Jackets" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim"
"Petr" "Sykora" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" "New York Rangers"
"Maxim" "Kondratiev" "New York Rangers" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim"
"Jon" "Sim" "Philadelphia Flyers" "Florida Panthers"
"Petr" "Nedved" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Philadelphia Flyers"
"Dennis" "Seidenberg" "Philadelphia Flyers" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Eric" "Cairns" "Florida Panthers" "Pittsburgh Penguins"
"Luke" "Richardson" "Columbus Blue Jackets" "Toronto Maple Leafs"
"Jeff" "Taffe" "New York Rangers" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Martin" "Sonnenberg" "Phoenix Coyotes" "New York Rangers"
"Anton" "Babchuk" "Chicago Blackhawks" "Carolina Hurricanes"
"Danny" "Richmond" "Carolina Hurricanes" "Chicago Blackhawks"
"John" "Erskine" "Dallas Stars" "New York Islanders"
"Janne" "Niinimaa" "New York Islanders" "Dallas Stars"
"Radim" "Vrbata" "Carolina Hurricanes" "Chicago Blackhawks"
"Colin" "Forbes" "Carolina Hurricanes" "Washington Capitals"
"Stephen" "Peat" "Washington Capitals" "Carolina Hurricanes"
"Eric" "Chouinard" "Philadelphia Flyers" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Kiel" "McLeod" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Philadelphia Flyers"
"Krys" "Kolanos" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Pittsburgh Penguins"
"Pavel" "Brendl" "Carolina Hurricanes" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Niklas" "Hagman" "Florida Panthers" "Dallas Stars"
"Steve" "Poapst" "Pittsburgh Penguins" "St. Louis Blues"
"Eric" "Boguniecki" "St. Louis Blues" "Pittsburgh Penguins"
"Patrick" "Sharp" "Philadelphia Flyers" "Chicago Blackhawks"
"Eric" "Meloche" "Philadelphia Flyers" "Chicago Blackhawks"
"Matt" "Ellison" "Chicago Blackhawks" "Philadelphia Flyers"
"Kristian" "Huselius" "Florida Panthers" "Calgary Flames"
"Steve" "Montador" "Calgary Flames" "Florida Panthers"
"Pascal" "Rheaume" "New Jersey Devils" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Ray" "Schultz" "New Jersey Devils" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"Brad" "Ference" "Phoenix Coyotes" "New Jersey Devils"
"Dave" "Scatchard" "Boston Bruins" "Phoenix Coyotes"
"David" "Tanabe" "Phoenix Coyotes" "Boston Bruins"
"Nathan" "Perrott" "Toronto Maple Leafs" "Dallas Stars"
"Alexei" "Semenov" "Edmonton Oilers" "Florida Panthers"
WAIVER MOVES:
"Todd" "Marchant" "Columbus Blue Jackets" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim"
"Jeremy" "Stevenson" "Nashville Predators" "Dallas Stars"
"Mattias" "Weinhandl" "New York Islanders" "Minnesota Wild"
"Ron" "Hainsey" "Montreal Canadiens" "Columbus Blue Jackets"
"Kevin" "Dallman" "Boston Bruins" "St. Louis Blues"
"Rico" "Fata" "Pittsburgh Penguins" "Washington Capitals"
"Colton" "Orr" "Boston Bruins" "New York Rangers"
"Josh" "Langfeld" "San Jose Sharks" "Boston Bruins"
"Mariusz" "Czerkawski" "Toronto Maple Leafs" "Boston Bruins"
"Aaron" "Downey" "St. Louis Blues" "Montreal Canadiens"
"Mike" "Morrison" "Edmonton Oilers" "Ottawa Senators"
DRAFT PICKS:
"Atlanta Thrashers" "Chicago Blackhawks" 4 2007
"New York Islanders" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" 2 2006
"Calgary Flames" "Phoenix Coyotes" 4 2006
"Tampa Bay Lightning" "Phoenix Coyotes" 2 2006
"Florida Panthers" "Phoenix Coyotes" 2 2006
"Los Angeles Kings" "New York Islanders" 3 2006
"San Jose Sharks" "New York Rangers" 3 2006
"Edmonton Oilers" "Minnesota Wild" 1 2006
"Carolina Hurricanes" "St. Louis Blues" 1 2006
"Toronto Maple Leafs" "St. Louis Blues" 4 2006
"Chicago Blackhawks" "St. Louis Blues" 4 2007
"Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" "Columbus Blue Jackets" 5 2006
"Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" "New York Rangers" 4 2006
"Florida Panthers" "Philadelphia Flyers" 6 2007
"Pittsburgh Penguins" "Florida Panthers" 6 2006
"Toronto Maple Leafs" "Columbus Blue Jackets" 4 2007
"Carolina Hurricanes" "Chicago Blackhawks" 4 2006
"Chicago Blackhawks" "Carolina Hurricanes" 4 2007
"New York Islanders" "Dallas Stars" 5 2007
"Dallas Stars" "New York Islanders" 2 2006
"Dallas Stars" "Florida Panthers" 7 2007
"Chicago Blackhawks" "Philadelphia Flyers" 3 2006
"Dallas Stars" "Toronto Maple Leafs" 6 2006
"Chicago Blackhawks" "Boston Bruins" 5 2006
"Florida Panthers" "Edmonton Oilers" 4 2006
PLAYER RIGHTS:
"Juha" "Alen" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" "Vancouver Canucks"
"Jani" "Hurme" "Atlanta Thrashers" "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim"
"Magnus" "Kahnberg" "Carolina Hurricanes" "St. Louis Blues"
"Tony" "Salmeleinen" "Edmonton Oilers" "Chicago Blackhawks"
"Dustin" "Johner" "Calgary Flames" "Florida Panthers"
"Andy" "Hilbert" "Boston Bruins" "Chicago Blackhawks"
RETIREMENT:
"Mario" "Lemieux" "Pittsburgh Penguins" 1 10 2005
"Zigmund" "Palffy" "Pittsburgh Penguins" 1 10 2005
"Ken" "Belanger" "Los Angeles Kings" 1 10 2005
"Jonathan" "Girard" "Boston Bruins" 1 10 2005
"Kevin" "Colley" "New York Islanders" 1 10 2005