Sharks Help

Knoeppel · Post by **Knoeppel** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 11:49 am

Okej iÂ´m turning to you now, my Gurus!
First Season with the Sharks just over, finished dead last in my conference. Second last i the Nhl. Now when i look at the team i quickly realize that it canÂ´t be their fault getting that position. So when iÂ´ve had a couple of minutes to calm myself down and accepting that iÂ´m for sure are the second worse couch in the nhl, then i start looking for help.

Just started the second season. I actually got the defence to work quite good now. but the Offence? were is it?
1. Line
Michalek - Marleau - Cheechoo
Carle - Ehrhoff

This line i would like to play a straight and fast attacking hockey. Anyone got any tips on how to do that?
Or do you think iÂ´m out wrong. Should i play them in a different way?

2. Line
Bell - Thornton - V.Kozlov
TjÃ¤rnqvist - Grant

This line i would like to play a bit slower and more psychical offensive hockey then the first line.
Again tips on how to do that, or am i wrong?

3. Line Checking (i use line matching)
Nieminen - Brown - Grier
Wallin - McLaren

This line actuallly works quite fine the second season.

4. Line
Mink/Kaspar - Goc/Stevenson/ - Bernier/Rissmiller

As you can see itÂ´s the two firstlines i need help with. iÂ´m getting quite frustrated. And somehow i can feel that my position last year are in the hardest way. The sharks should not finish dead last in the conference, not even with me as a coach....

By the way, iÂ´ve tried to let the headcoach take the team.... He fell the same way as me in the conference.. ItÂ´s a shame you canÂ´t see your headcoach tactics or the other coaches tactics. i think it could help.

Looking forward to your respons. hope you can help a frustrated EHM-player.

Post by **Shadd666** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:09 pm

First of all, put Joe Thornton as your first line center!. He is one of the best playmaker around the world, so you'd better have him on your top-line, along with good goal-scorer Johnathan Chechoo.

I don't know very well Michalek neither Bell, so i can't advice you for who to choose for the 1st line.

To play an straight and fast attacking hockey, you need fast forwards very skilled and offensive-minded. Then set your strategy with an offensive or very-offensive mentality (i suggest you an offensive one), your tempo to high or very high, and your passing to creative or adventurous. You should also have more counter-attack with a lower backchecking.

For a slow and physical offensive hockey, here's a possibility (feel free to tweak it according to who you have on your line!!!):
mentality: offensive
aggressivenes: hard
backchecking: hard
hitting: hard
tempo: slow
dumping the puck: normal/often

If you need extra-help about the tactics, check out the Tactical Guide in our download section

I'm sure you'll find help there

If after that you still need extra-help, feel free to ask in the forums

Hope that helps

Knoeppel · Post by **Knoeppel** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:40 pm

Thank you for the quick response. Yes i have the tacticsguide, and have looked thru it. I think my problem is that i have little own experience of hockey. Stopped playing when i was 10-12 maybe. So my experience with different playing system isnÂ´t that good. So even if i know what all the areas do i have trouble setting them together into a system =)
Well itÂ´s Trial and Error i guess =)

So thanks for the help, i will try it now and se what happens..

Another question! =)

How much do you fiddle with all the options under "Tactical System"?
for instance.
If I want to play my quick offensive hockey. Is i best to have the player go positional in the different zones or should they be more free with zickzacking?

Man the more questions i write the more pops out of me =)

Kris · Post by **Kris** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:29 pm

With my two first lines I play:

Mentality: Offensive
Aggressivness: Easy
Backchecking: Hard
Gap Control: Relaxed
Puck Pressure: Normal
Hitting: Normal
Tempo: High
Passing: Normal
Shooting: Heavy
Dumping the Puck: Rarely
.........................
Breakouts: Free Flowing
Neutral Zone Off. : Crisscross
Off. Zone: Overload Slot
Forecheck: Positional High
Neutral Zone Def.: 1-2-2
Def. Zone: Collapse
Off. Faceoffs: Point Shot
Def. Faceoffs: Basic

And on my two topwingers I play Shooting - Selective, Shoot/Pass - Shoot, Carry Puck - Yes.
And on the two wingers in the second line I play just Shoot/Pass - Shoot.

My suggestion is that you apply this unit tactic on the two top lines and form your team like this:

1st
Bell - Thornton - Cheechoo
TjÃ¤rnqvist - Ehrhoff

2nd
Michalek - Marleau - Kozlov
Carle - Grant

Hope it will help :)

I have played 4 whole seasons with diff. teams with this and I always ends up scoring most goals in the league. (Although I am conceading a whole lot, but my philosophy is "Score now - Defend later".

EDIT: Oh I forgot. On the "Team Tactics" I play:
Forward Usage: Overload
Defense Usage: Overload

This will make the 4th-liners a bit dissapointed as for example Brashear, while on the team-roster for all 82 games he only got credit for 55 and avaraged 28 seconds/match :)

Post by **Shadd666** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 2:36 pm

I base my tactics on the strength of the players that are on my lines, which means that i make some double-checks between my tactics and my lineup to get the best of my team. It's sometimes hard to do so, especially when you have few experience about tactics and/or few skilled players in your team, but it can gives strong results!

Know your players, know their strengths and weaknesses, build cohesive lines, know strengths and weaknesses of every line, and then build your tactics. That's the way i do, and it works fine for me.

Knoeppel · Post by **Knoeppel** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 2:57 pm

Well finally they sacked me, not a day too late if you asked me =)
So now i will try both your suggestions with the Rangers. (not at the same time

)
And see if i canÂ´t get this sometime

Powerslave · Post by **Powerslave** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 4:52 pm

Congrats on the Rangers, you won't be disappointed. I'm far from a guru but I've done really well with them. If you still have Lundqvist you're all set. I suggest building up your defensive corps first using defensive team tactics. Unit tactics never worked well for me, using team tactics won me 7 cups. I'd like to know what the Rangers look like, try to get Michalek and Bell if you can!

Knoeppel · Post by **Knoeppel** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 8:56 pm

Well i havenÂ´t really started yet. but since iÂ´m swedish Lundqvist will be the last man who will be traded =)
must say that going with a team tactic never crossed my mind. Maybe iÂ´ll give it a go.
Anyway i have gotten 3 good options today, and for that i thank you.

IÂ´m free tomorrow so maybe iÂ´ll play then, and keep you updated.

Post by **Shadd666** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:39 am

Team tactics is the most general way to set tactics... But an opponent should counter it more easily and just destroy your team if he find a good combination of tactics between his lines.

Furthermore, you'll never get the best of your team by using team tactics, as you can't really ask Jagr to play the same way as Ortmeyer...

Powerslave: if you have difficulties with tactics, get a look at the Tactical Guide in our download section, i'm sure you'll find interesting stuff there

After, you'll need some reflexion, and try different possibilities. Your problem may also come from how you build your lines. A guide for that we'll really soon be out (tomorrow if all runs well).

Hope that helps

Powerslave · Post by **Powerslave** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:41 pm

Shadd666: Now with the new patch I might give unit tactics another go around, I just had much better results with the team tactics. At first I tried the units, playing each line to their strengths, applying line matching and creating a solid shutdown line. However, when I watched the games in the 2D game view, the lines were all jumbled, line matching completely ignored, allowing a ton of shots, and generally geting killed. What I tried next was using an overall defensive strategy so it wouldn't matter if the lines got jumbled, players would be interchangeable, and tweaking personal tactics so the shooters shot, passers passed, and defensemen defended. I also tried to make sure each line had a balance of grit and scoring ability. It's worked really well for me, always have lowest GA in the league and still maintain a potent offense. I really would prefer to use unit tactics, I enjoy setting each line's playing style, hopefully they'll work better with the new patch.

Post by **Shadd666** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:21 pm

Powerslave: It really works better!

All the problems you mentionned are solved now. And it's a lot more fun to play with the patch, as all the game is more realistic (maybe not perfect yet, but it's a huge step ahead!!!)

I agree that it was a bit painfull to see what goes right and what goes wrong with the tactics before patch 3.0.2 That's why i firstly stopped to play, waiting for the patch, but now i really enjoy the game and spend all my time on it

Powerslave · Post by **Powerslave** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:58 pm

I'm glad all those problems have been worked out. It's much more realistic to have two scoring lines and two defense lines, I'm looking forward to setting them up that way. Can't wait to start using line matching again, too.

I know how you feel, I spend waaaaaay too much time playing this game, but isn't the first step toward recovery admitting you have a problem?

Post by **Shadd666** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 11:33 am

Powerslave wrote:I spend waaaaaay too much time playing this game

Too much time, really?

I can't play it enough, no matter the number of hours!

Post by **inSTAALed** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:53 pm

Shadd666 wrote:
Powerslave wrote:I spend waaaaaay too much time playing this game
Too much time, really? I can't play it enough, no matter the number of hours!

You can't spend too much time playing EHM.

That's like saying you spend too much time being alive!

Post by **Shadd666** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:56 pm

inSTAALed wrote:
Shadd666 wrote:
Powerslave wrote:I spend waaaaaay too much time playing this game
Too much time, really? I can't play it enough, no matter the number of hours!
You can't spend too much time playing EHM.

That's like saying you spend too much time being alive!

Isn't it the same thing?

Post by **inSTAALed** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:23 pm

Shadd666 wrote:
inSTAALed wrote:
Shadd666 wrote: Too much time, really? I can't play it enough, no matter the number of hours!
You can't spend too much time playing EHM.

That's like saying you spend too much time being alive!
Isn't it the same thing?

That was exactly my point.

Powerslave · Post by **Powerslave** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 3:41 pm

I just started using the unit tactics again and it seems to be working good so far. My top 2 lines are scoring machines (my 19 yr-old rookie is leading my team and all other rookies in goal scoring) lately getting between 4-6 goals a game. My other lines aren't faring as well since they aren't really geared for defensive roles, gonna take some tweaking in the off season to have a roster suited for line matching. Good to see the units are staying together in the 2D game view, might try my hand at being a GM/coach for a change.

Knoeppel · Post by **Knoeppel** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 5:00 pm

hey everyone.
i just wanted to thank you all for the help. IÂ´m currently playing the Islanders. It took me a while to decide team to manage since my failure with the sharks.

Well i started the season and asked my scouts to scout every player on the team, and also all the player i had right to.
When i knew all the players (I tought i did at least) i picked the team and tactics.

So far itÂ´s going quite okay. Not really good, but i guess realistic for the islanders.

maybe someday i will master this game. and then i wonÂ´t forget your help =)

Post by **Shadd666** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:30 pm

A bit of help from us... A big determination on your side... And you're on the good way to the Stanley Cup!