EHM The Blue Line

Hi Guys

I would like to know if you have any tactics to suggest for a succesful Power play and Penalty Killing ?? In training section, i have about 30-35% allocate for both PK & PP. I also have very good offensive guys on PP (Kovalev, Briere, Samsonov, Bondra, Turgeon, Ryder) and same thing on PK units with good defensive guys. But i can't find the good tacticts to make them sucessful. Right now after about 30 games my PP is around 14.5% and my PK 71%....which are not good at all......plz help

i dont know. im trying to figure it out myself. my pp is around 16% and pk is around 82%. its not terrible, but i want it to be better. i know umbrella doesnt work. once i start to play a game it automatically gets changed to funnel or something. when i look at the tactic screen before a game its listed to be umbrella and the positioning of the players is umbrella. when i start the game it says umbrella but the player positioning has changed to somethink i think is funnel. its annoying as hell. it may be a bug. i dont know.

My special teams are always completely random.

They are either off or on each game.

Sometimes I have games where I go 50% on the PP and other times I go 0%.

My PK is consistently good though.

I've used umbrella to win two Cups with Challenge teams It's what I'm currently using with Columbus and we're 2nd in the league in PP after 20 games. However, I know that's what I'm planning to play so I bring in the personelle for it, with a big playmaker at center set to pass and snipers on the wings set to shoot. It helps to have ad-man with a big shot back there too and a stay-at homer who is set to not carry the puck, not join the rush and pass to cover for any rebounds from the point shots. Downside is those rebounds occassionally do end up in shorthanded breakaways if your shooters miss the net.

On the PK make sure you have your guys not playing too much aggressively or try to put on too much pressure, think of games you've seen the PK always gets in trouble when it starts chasing the puck.

With any tactics question the most important thing is to be sure you are giving your game long enough to actually gather enough data to know if something isn't working or if it's other factors or just coincidence. 10 games minimum, 20 games better. Make small changes so you know for sure that the changes you've made are responsible for the effects (positive or negative). If you start changing everyhing every three games you have no idea what is working because of what change or what isn't. I thought I had everything set for my Columbus game but I lost the first five games. I swapped left wings between my 1st and 2nd lines and we won the next six. We're now 13-8-1.

It's a very complex game and there's tons of factors for why things go the way they do; you have to be patient and focus on trying to find real solutions instead of chasing ghosts, so to speak.

I've also found that setting personal tactics makes a huge difference. bruins72 made a good point on one of his posts on the SI forums, that having someone like Kariya set to selective shooting on the PP makes a lot more sense than having him hurl pucks randomly at the net. Also making sure your good passers are set to creative can make a big difference.

question: wich players do i want to carry the puck. i have allways thought it has to be players with good speed and stickhandling, but is there anything else. and can it hurt you to set a d-man at carrying the puck.

one more thing. do you think its a good idea to set your d-men to shot selective on the pp.

one more question. minstrel i see you are using umbrella. has it happened to you that your pp tactic gets changed when you start playing a game. this allways happens to me when i use umbrella.

Stickhandling, deking, creativity, flair and speed are all important attributes to look at when you set whether or not someone carries the puck. The first two are, in my experience, the most important, but usually when those two are high the other ones tend to be (usually, not always). Defensemen can and should carry the puck if they are strong in these attributes. A guy like Niedermayer is a wizard with the puck so if you have that kind of offensive defenseman, definitely let them carry it in and join the rush.