Personal Tactics: Shoot/Pass?

vissia · Post by **vissia** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:07 am

Hey guys,

I don't see this being discussed often, and I am not finding anything from search.

As the topic says, Shoot/Pass?

I am wondering how you are setting up this options for your players? I had this on Pass for almost everyone except a couple Dmen on the PP. I always Fast Forward my games so I didn't pay much attention to it. Couple days ago, I decided to watch a full game at normal speed, and I am noticing a big problem with my players in the offensive zone and at times, neutral zone.

I noticed that when they go through the netrual zone into the offensive zone, they love to pass to players all over the ice even if they have a clear and better path towards the net. I once had a winger on a 2 on 1 and he'd pass it back to a D men at the blue line. Another time, I had a rushing Dmen on a clear breakaway in the slot and he passed it off to a winger that just crossed the blue line.

Is there anyway to make them smarter with the puck? I am wondering if the Shoot/Pass will help. How do you have it for your winger/centre/Dmen? on Even/PP?

I run criscross/grouped and positional for my netural zone / offensive zone tactics respectively.

P.S. I play the NHL.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:28 am

I think most of us have our Centers pass and the Wingers shoot. Also set the best passers of each line as the play makers. Most of the time its the centers but not always.

You should have your best passers pass and your shooters shoot.

Post by **CatchUp** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 5:35 am

Yep, general rule would be Centers pass, Wingers shoot.

But if you want to get real specific, scan all your players and compare their passing/shooting ratings. If they have a great shot, let them use it - otherwise have them dish it off. Simple.

Cheers and welcome to TBL!

vissia · Post by **vissia** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 7:13 am

Hey guys, thanks for the reply.

Does the description in position matter much? ie. Bobby Ryan is listed as a playmaking forward, but his shooting skill is better than his passing right now. Eric Staal, on the other hand, is listed as a power forward, but he is 19 creativity and 20 pass as well as 20 wrister.

If I following their rating, then it goes Ryan (shooter), Staal (passer). If i follow the position description, then its the otherway around.

Also, what do you do with your dmen on 5 v 5? obviously a big point shot is always useful when the opportunity opens up; however, I don't want them to take shots or hold on to the puck too long when there is a winger right in front of my D. How do you setup in your tactics?

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 2:27 pm

If I can, I like to pair a shooting and passing defenseman on each line. The shooting defenseman is usually set to "barrage". As for my forwards, I usually go with my center set to passing and wingers set to shoot, like the other guys have said. Look at their ratings, better passing set to passer, better shooting, set to shooting. Sometimes I like to go with 2 out of the 3 forwards set to passing. That way I've got one shooter at the point and one shooter down low. Also, if my center is also a very good shooter, I'll set him to "selective" shooting. Try playing with the shooting with your wingers too. Sometimes I'll set a fast winger with good stickhandling to barrage shooting and the other winger with a great wrister to selective. Overall, my best advice is to just play around with things and see what happens. Just make sure you give it about half a dozen games to see how your changes work.

Post by **Tasku** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 2:38 pm

Hey vissia! Welcome to TBL!

I've watched the games at extended highlights since EHM 2005 and I'd say part of the problem with your player passing it away at the wrong time is AI related - it happens to both sides. But this can also be reduced by the right tactics: for one, I've noticed using simple passing instead of creative will make the play more straight forward.

I personally like to keep good shooters shooting and good passers passing regardless of their position. (Same thing with hitting: good hitters hit hard, others normal, or easy. And also with carrying the puck: players who're lightning on the ice - quick and agile, carry the puck.)

vissia · Post by **vissia** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:09 am

Thanks all for the replys!!

It looks like the common factor in all the posts here are fairly specific personal tactics for each player. This is something I didn't want to do for the most part. I have a general tactic setup for the whole line and generally only modify very little on their personal tactics. But it looks like most are doing it the other way around. I didn't like the idea of having to adjust tactics every single game or whenever I change up a line. Is it a lot of micromanagement when using mostly personaly tactics instead of a unit tactics? I'll give this a try tonight.

corinthian · Post by **corinthian** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:30 am

I just set up individual tactics to star players (ones i assume have important roles) like my Checking line and some D-men on PP and of course a enforce player when a need some fight just to spice things up.

Most of the time I just need a small change in a specific game.

Post by **Tasku** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:45 am

The good thing about this game is, that there is more than one way to do things - as long as your team wins, then you're doing it right, no matter how everyone else are playing.

If you don't want to micromanage or set up individual tactics, don't. I'm sure you can just aswell find a general tactic for the whole team, that will give your team wins, all the same. This tactic won't hold on forever, though, because your opponents will learn it due time, but it's not like you have to change it all the time - only when you start loosing games.

vissia · Post by **vissia** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:18 am

Tasku, I do win the better share of my games (have been over 500 over the past two seasons), so it's not a huge problem right now. I just hate to see my players doing silly things. Maybe I should just Fast Forward my games again =)

I've followed the suggestions on here and turned down my passing creativity to normal/safe. I've noticed that the passing % in games got up from around 75% to 79%. I'd say thats getting better.

Next up, question about hitting or taking penalties in general. I've always set my aggression to high and hitting to hard, didn't have too much of a penalty problem over the last 2 seasons. I don't have the numbers, but my memeory says its around 5-7 per game. It's decent. However, this season, with those setting the same my penalty per game gone up to 8-10 and sometimes in the teens. I am consistently having my 3rd and 4th liner averaging 15 mins per game due to the excessive penalty. The penalty comes from all over the team, so i am not too sure where to start.

I am not too sure about turning hitting down to easy or even normal as I get out hit (3x to 1x) and out shoot (4x to 3x) enough as of now by teams playing physical or dump and chase style. Any ideas?

harmonica · Post by **harmonica** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 6:33 am

Your penalty problems could be due to a new coach or you are getting unlucky with the refs and have strict ones. Believe it or not, but the way your line is set up and their speed plays a factor in penalties as well.

I tend to follow this for my aggressive settings: <50 - Very Calm, >50 - Calm, >60 Normal, >75 - Aggressive, >90 - Berserk

Think of the aggression skill as how good they are at being aggressive as well as how aggressive they are in the game. Players that are not "good" at that skill should have lower settings.

corinthian · Post by **corinthian** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:16 pm

Before a game I take a look at referees (Fair to Harsh) and adjust my lines, except for my checking line.
In Challege 9 Hawks is 29 in PIMs in the League.':thup:'

vissia · Post by **vissia** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:59 am

Hey guys, sorry for getting back so late. I've been tied up by things and didn't get to play much.

Anyways, I've changed my top 2 lines to easy aggressivness and the early result is good. My team is still hitting a decent amount and the top lines are getting a bit less penalties.

I'll have to play more games to see how it works out in the long run.

vissia · Post by **vissia** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:33 am

Hey guys, just when I think my tactics is moving forward, I hit another wall and am hoping to get some of your thoughts on it.

To make a long story short, here's the deal. (Edited: Sorry, its still a long read)

Tactics 1
Marking: Man
Def system: trapping system (3-2 , 1 - 1 - 3, Positional (line 1 - 3)/collapse (line 4))
Off system:
line 1 (offensive, easy aggresivness, tight control, heavy pressure, creative passing, selective shooting, rare dump)
line 2 (offensive, easy, tight, heavy, normal, heavy, normal
line 3 (normal, normal, tight, heavy, safe, heavy, normal
line 4 (normal/def, aggresive, tight, heavy, safe, heavy, often)

Tactics 2
Marking: zonal
Def system: forechecking (position low (line 1 - 3)/high (line 4)
rest are the same.

Personal orders (both tactics): most D men has easy aggresiveness (except Ohlund on berserk)

I ran the same game (i.e. reload so I am playing the same team with same morale level) using each of the tactics and the result i couldn't figure out.

Tactics 1
Shot on Goal (4x to 2x)
Hit (1x to 3x)
Board battles (I win about 40%)
blocks (x to 2x)

Tactics 2
Shot on Goal (3x to 3x)
Hit (5x to 2x)
Board battles (I win about 75%)
blocks (2x to 2x)

I ran 3 - 4 times of the same game with each tactics and the above result persist. If my team is hitting more, winning a lot more board battles, and blocking more shots, why would the other team be getting a lot more shot on goals? Also, the final score are similar, 4 - 3 OT, 6 - 5 OT, etc.

Have you guys had any similar things? Do you run a zone or man def?

I am wondering if i playing tactics 1 on line 1 - 2 and tactics 2 on line 3 - 4 would work. They seem to do better with each tactics respectively.

On a side note, what do you think about having easy aggresiveness on my D? I figure they wouldn't run off to make a big hit often, so they should be in better position. Anyone tried that?

corinthian · Post by **corinthian** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:10 pm

Positioning: use Pressure and Grip Control on easy or relaxed for better defense position.

Zonal and Man Defense is probably what makes the shots on goal difference.
I've been trying man defense when the other team use a physical offense.
I feel that Zonal works better with a offensive minded team.

Did you know how many times your team was shorthanded using this two tactics?

vissia · Post by **vissia** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:46 pm

I don't have the hard numbers on PK, but i dont think they are drastically different. probably in the 6-8 times range. Still more than I like, but my theory is you gotta hit hard in hockey =) It just seems that everytime my team levels someone, its an elbowing call.

I've been using man for the longest, and I don't have sucess against physcial or dump and chase teams. I always get out hit and out shot in those games.

gonna give zonal another try, but i am thinking of going back to the trap except my checking line. They needs to get more hits to have a decent rating and morale...

Post by **batdad** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:18 pm

Ahem---Guys this is starting to go way off the original topic about personal tactics.

Vissia--There are many other threads about tactics for the team and line combinations. I suggest you have a look at

1. The knowledge base
2. Perform a tactics search. There are literally dozens of topics related to this, and one great big one that is stickied as well.

3. Check the SI site...there are many discussions in the forums there about tactics as well.

This topic is now not what it was originally about, so I will close it