Lidas Rosters 2008/09 - Version 1.0 out now!

[Lidas]

Due to hard coded league structures, some teams are not in the same leagues as they are in real life. Two AHL teams (Lake Erie Monsters and Rockford Icehogs) have been placed in ECHL, and UHL has received a WHL team (Edmonton Oil Kings) and three dormant ECHL teams (Toledo Walleye, Colombia Inferno, and Pensacola Ice Pilots).

I've posted before as have others and I want a discussion. It is not fair to the Avs or Hawks organization not to let them have an AHL affiliate. The ECHL has a different league structure towards veterans and I really think the COL/CHI guys needs to be i the AHL to develop correctly. I would let them have a shared affiliation dspite their irl-teams not being in the AHL.

Any thoughts?

It's definitely a case of fitting a square peg into a round hole (just like with the hardcoded Aug 2006 startdate). We just have to do the best we can within the limits of the game.

Could we perhaps take away some AHL afils from teams that have two AHL afils and put those in the ECHL? Then we could give those spare AHL places to the likes of Colorado and Chicago?

Currently there are no NHL teams which have two affiliations. 29 of the NHL teams have an AHL Affiliation IRL (Dallas doesnt). IRL AHL has 29 teams, but in the DB it can only host 27, and thus I placed 2 teams in ECHL. I picked Lake Erie and Rockford because they are not in AHL in the default database (Rockford are in UHL, Lake Erie I created). The problem is that ECHL has a maximum player limit, so these two teams will unfortunately suffer from that. Regarding development I dont think it should differ that much since I did set Lake Erie and Rockford's team info (reputation, training facilities etc.) similar to the other AHL teams. If I were to use shared affiliations, the players would suffer from very limited or no ice time.

The best way to get around the roster regulation when playing CHI or COL is to take control of the ECHL affiliate(s) and release the players that are there. That should give sufficient spots for the players who don't make the 23 player NHL roster. I dont want to use shared affiliations because that would give the players reduced ice time, and make the experience unbalanced for a user who wants to manage an AHL team.

[Manimal]

I've posted before as have others and I want a discussion. It is not fair to the Avs or Hawks organization not to let them have an AHL affiliate. The ECHL has a different league structure towards veterans and I really think the COL/CHI guys needs to be i the AHL to develop correctly. I would let them have a shared affiliation dspite their irl-teams not being in the AHL.

Any thoughts?

It's definitely a case of fitting a square peg into a round hole (just like with the hardcoded Aug 2006 startdate). We just have to do the best we can within the limits of the game.

Could we perhaps take away some AHL afils from teams that have two AHL afils and put those in the ECHL? Then we could give those spare AHL places to the likes of Colorado and Chicago?

Currently there are no NHL teams which have two affiliations. 29 of the NHL teams have an AHL Affiliation IRL (Dallas doesnt). IRL AHL has 29 teams, but in the DB it can only host 27, and thus I placed 2 teams in ECHL. I picked Lake Erie and Rockford because they are not in AHL in the default database (Rockford are in UHL, Lake Erie I created). The problem is that ECHL has a maximum player limit, so these two teams will unfortunately suffer from that. Regarding development I dont think it should differ that much since I did set Lake Erie and Rockford's team info (reputation, training facilities etc.) similar to the other AHL teams. If I were to use shared affiliations, the players would suffer from very limited or no ice time.

The best way to get around the roster regulation when playing CHI or COL is to take control of the ECHL affiliate(s) and release the players that are there. That should give sufficient spots for the players who don't make the 23 player NHL roster. I dont want to use shared affiliations because that would give the players reduced ice time, and make the experience unbalanced for a user who wants to manage an AHL team.

OK. Seems fair enough.
Great work, btw

[archibalduk]

Currently there are no NHL teams which have two affiliations. 29 of the NHL teams have an AHL Affiliation IRL (Dallas doesnt). IRL AHL has 29 teams, but in the DB it can only host 27, and thus I placed 2 teams in ECHL. I picked Lake Erie and Rockford because they are not in AHL in the default database (Rockford are in UHL, Lake Erie I created). The problem is that ECHL has a maximum player limit, so these two teams will unfortunately suffer from that. Regarding development I dont think it should differ that much since I did set Lake Erie and Rockford's team info (reputation, training facilities etc.) similar to the other AHL teams. If I were to use shared affiliations, the players would suffer from very limited or no ice time.

The best way to get around the roster regulation when playing CHI or COL is to take control of the ECHL affiliate(s) and release the players that are there. That should give sufficient spots for the players who don't make the 23 player NHL roster. I dont want to use shared affiliations because that would give the players reduced ice time, and make the experience unbalanced for a user who wants to manage an AHL team.

I see. I don't see how you could possibly do it better than you already have, then

[m0fownz0r]

Lidas, any chance you save what you've done 'till now and release it already as a 1.0b or something ?

[archibalduk]

Lidas, any chance you save what you've done 'till now and release it already as a 1.0b or something ?

Have patience. It's better to wait for a quality project than see a half-arsed version released.

[Starcrasher]

Hey, was wondering, does anyone help Lidas with the Canadians Juniors Hockey teams update? Thats a big chunk of the game I think.

Cant wait to play the new Junior de Montréal team!

[archibalduk]

Hey, was wondering, does anyone help Lidas with the Canadians Juniors Hockey teams update?

Yep, this was detailed in the first post of this thread:

Manimal @ TBL for researching OHL (not yet implemented).
SteveBonus @ TBL for researching WHL (not yet implemented).
Falkky @ TBL for researching QMJHL (not yet implemented).

[batdad]

If the Montreal team is an expansion team...not sure you will be able to play it. We cannot add into the game any extra teams per league. Number of teams in each league are hard coded. But...you could always on your own set it up to have the MOntreal team once it is out.

[Starcrasher]

Mmm... You're right, when its an additional team. Concerning the QJMHL Montreal Junior Team, it should'nt be a problem to update, cause its actually the St-Johns team that have been remove to Montreal. Its basicaly just changing the team's name and the logos. I should be able to play with my hometown

[Lidas]

Mmm... You're right, when its an additional team. Concerning the QJMHL Montreal Junior Team, it should'nt be a problem to update, cause its actually the St-Johns team that have been remove to Montreal. Its basicaly just changing the team's name and the logos. I should be able to play with my hometown

True, St-John are out and Montreal are in. They are totally playable

[batdad]

Kay...I had not paid attention to that. Was just concerned if it was expansion!

[Manimal]

Have you made Nittymäki more human? Like he is IRL

[m0fownz0r]

Lidas, any chance you save what you've done 'till now and release it already as a 1.0b or something ?

Have patience. It's better to wait for a quality project than see a half-arsed version released.

It's hard, especially with the awaiting of the NHL 2009 release. Anyway, half-arsed or not, I will spend much time tweaking it like every other update made for ehm. Like the original EHM 07 DB. Detroit and in particular Zets and Dats were a joke while Bertuzzi or Horcoff etc were beasts.

[Tasku]

Nittymäki

It's a never ending battle!

[Manimal]

Nittymäki

It's a never ending battle!

What do you mean? I have never used him on EHM so no 'power-gaming´ here. I want reality

[joehelmer]

Manimal: He means the spelling of the name N-I-I-T-T-Y-M-Ä-K-I. Check above his avatar.
Tasku has been correcting people for a half a year or even longer.

[Tasku]

Like I said: it's a never ending battle.

[Manimal]

Ah, I see!

[Manimal]

Here is another idea:
Instead of having non-active teams in the UHL/IHL (PEN,CBA,TOL) and CHL (YNG,AUS). Turn Austin to Rapid City and add the Oil Kings and for the IHL add the EPHL teams (all new for the year) Danbury Mad Hatters, Jersey Rockhoppers, Brooklyn Aces and Hudson Valley Bears.
Their training camp rosters can be found here
EPHL rosters

[Lidas]

Have you made Nittymäki more human? Like he is IRL

Yep, he is downgraded.

I just finished the Swiss National League A. Roster, head coaches + 50 new players.

Gonna head to work now, then Ill work on the forums, and then on to OHL

[Owenay]

Here is another idea:
Instead of having non-active teams in the UHL/IHL (PEN,CBA,TOL) and CHL (YNG,AUS). Turn Austin to Rapid City and add the Oil Kings and for the IHL add the EPHL teams (all new for the year) Danbury Mad Hatters, Jersey Rockhoppers, Brooklyn Aces and Hudson Valley Bears.
Their training camp rosters can be found here
EPHL rosters

Not a bad idea. I was thinking something similar.

As it stands right now with the addition of Rapid City there are 18 teams in the db in the Central League, but the game only supports 17. Austin suspended operations for the year and Youngstown folded bringing the current number to 16. I would recommend leaving Austin (since they return next year) and remove Youngstown leaving the required 17.

The Central League also needs minor re-alignment. Rapid City to the NW division, Oklahoma to the NE.

I would then put the Oil Kings into either the USHL or whatever Canadien junior league is below WHL/OHL/QMJHL. It just seems wrong to put a junior team in a league with pros. Since non-playable leagues have no limit on amount of teams...

The UHL (IHL) is a mess because the game requires 10 teams but it is currently only a 6 team league. You've got Flint, Bloomington, Port Huron, Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo, and Muskegon. Four more teams needed. Manimal, your idea of merging the new EPHL is one I hadn't thought of and is absolutely an easy option. However, I fear that doing this degrades the quality of the league because it is my impression that EPHL is very low skill level (lower than SPHL). UHL is actually much closer in quality to the CHL & ECHL. Also, UHL has a more flexible veteran limit rule (but a small roster size).

I understand that the goal of this project is to make this database as real as possible. I fully respect that. At the very least perhaps my ideas will inspire others to experiment to create a database suitable to their tastes. This is what I am doing, take from it what you will.

First I put Pensacola back into the ECHL and added the Toledo Walleye (start next year). Then I moved Lake Erie & Rockford to the UHL. Coulumbia is currently in the UHL - I deactivate them. To fill the final holes in the UHL I created two fictional teams. Kansas City Outlaws & Omaha Knights and I primary affiliate KC with Dallas Stars. This makes UHL alignment as : EAST- Flint, Port Huron, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, & Lake Erie... WEST-Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Rockford, Kansas City & Omaha.

Now I adjust the reputations of the leagues. I bumped up the AHL +1 from 11 to 12. This puts them on par with CzEL, SNL-A and FinnSM (who I change to 13) and one above DEL. Then I bump the ECHL +1 from 9 to 10 and the CHL +1 from 7 to 8. Now (and here is where I'm really gonna lose you guys) I bump the UHL +3 from 8 to 11. This fills the gap between the AHL (27 teams) and the ECHL (25). Now every NHL team has a primary affiliation. I remove shared secondary affiliations and assigned these: Bruins-Toledo, Hurricanes-Pensacola, Jackets-Dayton, Wild-Austin, Predators-Omaha.

My affiliation setup looks like this now:
Anaheim-Iowa-Bakersfield
Atlanta-ChiWolves-Gwinnett
Boston-Providence-Toledo
Buffalo-Portland-Bossier(CHL)
Calgary-QuadCity-Vegas
Carolina-Albany-Pensacola
Colorado-LakeErie(UHL)-Johnstown
Columbus-Syracuse-Dayton
Chicago-Rockford(UHL)-Fresno
Dallas-KansasCity(UHL)-Idaho
Detroit-GrandRapids-Flint(UHL)
Edmonton-Springfield-Stockton
Florida-Rochester-FloridaEverblades
L.A.-Manchester-Ontario
Minnesota-Houston-Austin(CHL)
Montreal-Hamilton-Cincinnati
Nashville-Milwaukee-Omaha(UHL)
N.J.-Lowell-Trenton
NYI-Bridgeport-Utah
NYR-Hartford-Charlotte
Ottawa-Binghamton-Elmira
Flyers-Phantoms-MississippiSeaWolves
Phoenix-SanAntonio-Arizona(CHL)
Pittsburgh-WilkesBarre-Wheeling
St.Louis-Peoria-Alaska
SanJose-Worcester-PhoenixRoadrunners
Tampa-Norfolk-Augusta
Leafs-Marlies-Reading
Vancouver-Manitoba-Victoria
Washington-Hershey-SouthCarolina

[Darkfire423]

i still like my suggestion about using the AAHA to fill out the UHL. It makes since, with it being alot of the same markets.

[Mo9]

Hey Lidas, I'm not sure how many leagues you want updated and what not, but if you would like me research the Canadian Junior A Hockey League (BCHL, AJHL, SJHL, MJHL, SIJHL, NOJHL, OPJHL, CJHL, MJAHL) and the
Ligue de Hockey Junior AAA du Québec. Also I could do the PJHL (Junior B) league in Saskatchewan and other junior B leagues across Canada. Its alot of work and would take some time, but I wouldnt mind. Lemme know what you want, so I can get started if you do.

[Lidas]

i still like my suggestion about using the AAHA to fill out the UHL. It makes since, with it being alot of the same markets.

Its an interesting idea for sure. What does everyone think, and where can I found the rosters for those teams?

[Lidas]

Hey Lidas, I'm not sure how many leagues you want updated and what not, but if you would like me research the Canadian Junior A Hockey League (BCHL, AJHL, SJHL, MJHL, SIJHL, NOJHL, OPJHL, CJHL, MJAHL) and the
Ligue de Hockey Junior AAA du Québec. Also I could do the PJHL (Junior B) league in Saskatchewan and other junior B leagues across Canada. Its alot of work and would take some time, but I wouldnt mind. Lemme know what you want, so I can get started if you do.

Hi Mo! I want as many leagues as possible updated... its just a matter of time. I havnt done much research by myself lately, just adding other users data, and I have plenty of more data waiting for me... If you decide to take on this project, I will gladly add it to the database as long as I dont need to do any research by myself.