EHM The Blue Line

What kind of tactics do you find work well with defensive lines? I have a good line with CBS, Pettinger / Pahlsson / Pyatt but they are consistently on ice for goals

Thanks

I've been rolling Brian Sutherby on my checking line practically since the dawn of time. I also seem to remember Ortmeyer doing a really good job on another file. In general I tend to look for guys with good positioning first, plus one guy with at least 17 faceoff.

My main issue is that I'm never sure how to set up the tactics for a good checking line. By the end of the year the players always end up in the minus and with lowish overall ratings and morale.

In EHM--the best defensive forwards are guys that can fight and win the fight regularly. Nick Tarnasky, Boogie man, even David Koci regularly end up on the positive end (or barely negative) plus minus for me, and always with mid 7 ratings because of the fighting.

That is why a guy like Sutherby ends up with weak ratings. In EHM ya gotta be at least 17 strength in order to be a good d-forward. And some agression helps too.

That explains a lot. I've been using the wrong type of player for grinding.

Not necessarily. Some of the third line guys who are capable of nothing more want to play top 6 forwards. But I find no matter how defensive oriented they are...if they ain't tough they ain't going to be happy playing that role. Darcy Hordichuk does better as a checker for me for example than does someone like Hagman in the original DB or Ortmeyer. Same for guys like Hollweg...he excels in the game at this d-role.

It does seem like my bigger checking line guys do well, yeah. Every time I pick up Grier he's coming up with ratings in the mid-7s.

Last time I tried playing as the Wings, though, I couldn't get Draper above 7 for the life of me. IS there a way to get the smaller Draper-type defensive-forward guys to play well? I haven't found one, if there is.

I have had Draper at 7.5 ratings but that is pretty much as high as he will get without beating the living daylights out of guys every 2nd or 3rd game. Won fights every 2nd or 3rd game provide huge momentum boosts for your team. Doing it every game is too much and the momentum does not swing the way it does.

The little guys (especially defensive) are tough to make happy....as are the guys who are wannabe goal scorers. Some big guys (Penner, Bernier, Pyatt) are soft as well and do not like playing 3rd line. And yes...I consider Penner soft. It is like Matt Cooke...hits alot but not hard...no rating increase..no fighting...no momentum change.

SniperCake0 wrote:, plus one guy with at least 17 faceoff.

Like Betts? I've always liked him.

I've actually never had the opportunity to use Betts. Inevitably I end up with a smaller-than-ideal checking line because my tactical style is to play skill-based offense and avoid taking stupid penalties. It makes running a checking line sort of tough.

axwel3221 wrote:

SniperCake0 wrote:, plus one guy with at least 17 faceoff.

Like Betts? I've always liked him.

I love Betts, sometimes when i see him in waivers, i always try to claim him. So much needed always! Makes best effort in third or fourth line.

My favorite line:

I love Betts, sometimes when i see him in waivers, i always try to claim him.

My third line consists of Mike Fisher, Arron Asham and Daniel Carcillo. Up until this season John Madden was the anchor of my third line but I had to let him go last summer because he was asking for around $3 million per year. I had to give big raises to Luke Schenn and Nikolai Kulemin so I couldn't afford to keep paying that much for a 3rd line player. Fisher on the other hand is only making $1.5 mil per year which is very good considering his skill. The line has been inconsistent so far this season but I still think they have potential to be a very good line.

My 4th line of Wayne Primeau, Colton Orr and Emil Kaberg has been awesome for me for the past few years.

Wayne Primeau has been the most consistent member of that line. He has had a positive +/- rating every year since the start of my game and always puts up 20-30 points a season. Unfortunetly this is probably his last season in Toronto since he is 37 and his contract expires at the end of the season.

Orr has been quite good as well. Last season he won 18 of 19 fights and so far this year he has won 8 of 11. He doesn't put up many points but he maintains a good +/- and throws a heck of alot of hits.

Kaberg has been a pleasant surprise. I brought him in a few season ago to help my AHL team but I had to call him up because of an injury. He seemed to have instant chemistry with Primeau and Orr and they have played together every game since (unless one of them is injured, of course).

axwel3221 wrote:My favorite line:

I love Betts, sometimes when i see him in waivers, i always try to claim him.

60% of the time, it works every time!