EHM The Blue Line

I've noticed a few disturbing things with my long-term save (Atlanta, 2013-14). I have the 3.0.4 patch and I am using the default DB, FYI.

In it, the Lightning and Avalanche have consistently been the bottom feeders of the league (last in their respective conferences for the past three seasons. One thing they have in common, is they have no staff other than a GM/Head Coach. They keep passing Jay Feaster and Pierre Gauthier back and forth. No scouts, no trainers, no coaching staff. These are the only two franchises like this.

Also, I've noticed that Colorado has almost completely built their team through the waiver wire, claiming players indiscriminately. For example, Ilya Kovalchuk refused to sign an extention during the 2012-13 season, so I waived him in June to open up spots on my reserve list for guys I was going to lose the rights to. Colorado claimed him (with no games left to play) and never tendered him a deal! Why did they even bother? (BTW, Kovy signed back with me as a free agent that summer).

Has anyone else noticed franchises in such poor shape?

I'm only in 2011 but I havn't noticed any team like this. I have however noticed you get the same teams at the top for some time which is great. Calgary won the cup 3 years in 4 (only I beat them in the playoffs during that time), but the 5th year the dynasty seems to be dieing and Canucks took over.

I thought it was worth a mention as many games are completly in-accurate when simming all the AI's games and each year you seemed to get differant teams on top.

PS) Is a pain though that the best 2 teams around are in my division lol

Since Tampa is in my division, I benefit from their suckiness. However, the Southeast has been very strong, with the Caps dominating for the last few years, and they also benefit from the dismal play of the Lightning.

I've been tempted to just create a new GM, go in and hire staff, then resign, but I don't necessarily want to meddle. Perhaps the new GM (Colorado just fired Gauthier again) for the Avalanche will fill the gaps.

jbsnadb wrote:I've been tempted to just create a new GM, go in and hire staff, then resign, but I don't necessarily want to meddle. Perhaps the new GM (Colorado just fired Gauthier again) for the Avalanche will fill the gaps.

I've seen this happen too. You have two choices, really. 1) Live with it. Eventually, the teams will snap out of it and start hiring staff. 2) Create a GM and take over the team, then retire immediately. They (in my experience) will start picking up staff after you leave.

Richie Daggers Crime wrote:

jbsnadb wrote:I've been tempted to just create a new GM, go in and hire staff, then resign, but I don't necessarily want to meddle. Perhaps the new GM (Colorado just fired Gauthier again) for the Avalanche will fill the gaps.

I've seen this happen too. You have two choices, really. 1) Live with it. Eventually, the teams will snap out of it and start hiring staff. 2) Create a GM and take over the team, then retire immediately. They (in my experience) will start picking up staff after you leave.

I have noticed this happen very few times, but as Richie Dagger said, create a GM and then retire, it will fix the problem.

Thanks for the tips, I'll give it a go.

Do you recommend trying to hire staff myself first, or just let the AI completely take back over immediately?

AI immediately

I can't believe how well that worked. Within a week, the Lightning now have a couple of assistant coaches and a trainer.

Just a quick update...

I probably should have done Colorado first, because they wasted no time in hiring Jay Feaster back (again) after I let Robbie Ftorek go. But, both teams are now fully staffed but still ranked at the bottom of the 2014-15 preseason rankings. I went back and looked at the draft history, and it's scary that Tampa has chose 1st or 2nd overall in the last 5 drafts, and have had a top 10 pick in every draft since 2007.

jbsnadb wrote:Just a quick update...

I probably should have done Colorado first, because they wasted no time in hiring Jay Feaster back (again) after I let Robbie Ftorek go. But, both teams are now fully staffed but still ranked at the bottom of the 2014-15 preseason rankings. I went back and looked at the draft history, and it's scary that Tampa has chose 1st or 2nd overall in the last 5 drafts, and have had a top 10 pick in every draft since 2007.

Ouch. Wasted talent.

I feel most sorry for Vinny Lecavalier. He's stuck it out through all this, and has had to captain some pitiful squads.

jbsnadb wrote:I feel most sorry for Vinny Lecavalier. He's stuck it out through all this, and has had to captain some pitiful squads.

Sounds like real life!