Hello new owner:
This document was created in order to help you to understand the key statistics involved in building a competitive team.
You will also be shown how to create a lineup, as well as how to set strategies in order to get the most out of your team.
Some drafting tips will be included as we go along.
Section 1 Goalies
The rule for any NHL team is that you build from the net out. So let's
start by focusing on the important goaltending stats.
Name GP W L T AVG SV%
Smith, Joe 33 22 10 1 2.97 .894
For any goalie, the crucial statistics are how many games he played, and his save percentage. The goals against average and won-loss record can be deceptive, especially if the goalie plays on a good team that scores a lot of goals for him.
Save percentage is the key because that is how many shots a goalie stops out of 100. It's the goalie versus the shooter. It's a pure stat.
Games played is also important. If a goalie played less than 40 games in the NHL last season, he will be quite injury prone. You won't be able to depend on him to being there for you all the time. Between 40-50 games, the goalie is fairly dependable. Over 50 games, he may get injured, but not that often.
A goalie usually only gets injured for 4 games. Still, this can be an
inconvenience.
DRAFTING TIP: Do not go near a goalie with a save percentage under .900. A goalie with a percentage over that does not guarantee you spectacular goaltending, but a goalie under that guarantees you below average goaltending.
Later in the draft, pick up a goalie for the future. Someone that may
have bad stats currently, but is having a good year in the NHL, or is a
good prospect.
Section 2 Forwards - LINEUP TEMPLATE CLICK HERE
The software we use allows you to have 4 forward lines (which is the norm in the NHL). Usually the role of the first two lines is to score goals. The role of the 3rd and 4th lines are to prevent goals from being scored while your first two lines are resting.
Let's take a look at the skater's statistics.
Player Pos Def GF SF GP G A PTS SH% SK SP PA FC PH IN CL RK KL FO
Jones P. RW 2 18 90 62 33 22 55 19.7 4 3 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 1
POS - POSITION A PLAYER PLAYS. Note: A player may play more than one position.
DEF - DEFENSIVE RATING (1 to 5). This is a crucial statistic. Players
with a high number (4 or 5) are good two way players. Players with a low
number (1 or 2) are offensive only - they do not back check!
The table below shows the norm. If you have a goal scorer with a high
DEF rating, you can certainly put him on your first or second line. It
is advisable not put a 1 or 2 on your third or fourth line.
LINE 1: Defensive 1's, 2's and 3's.
LINE 2: Defensive 1's, 2's and 3's.
LINE 3: Defensive 4's and 5's.
LINE 4: Defensive 4's and 5's.
GF - GOOD FOR (in minutes). The minutes per game this player can play before he starts getting tired. Once he is over this time limit, his ratings go down, and the likelihood of being scored against increases.
Most teams want to play their goal scorers as much as possible. The following table shows an approximation of playing time required for the 4 lines
LINE 1: 18+ minutes
LINE 2: 16+ minutes
LINE 3: 13+ minutes
LINE 4: 8+ minutes
SF - SHIFT FOR (in seconds). How many seconds a player can play per shift before he starts to tire and have his ratings go down.
SK - SKATING (1 to 5). How good a skater is this player?
SP - SPEED OF PLAYER (1 to 5) How fast a skater is this player?
PA - PASSING ABILITY (1 to 5). How good a passer is this player?
FC - FORECHECKING (1 to 5). How good is this player at forechecking?
PH - PHYSICAL PRESENCE (1 to 5) How physical a game does this player play?
Player Pos Def GF SF GP G A PTS SH% SK SP PA FC PH IN CL RK KL FO
Jones P. RW 2 18 90 62 33 22 55 19.7 4 3 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 1
IN - INTIMIDATION RATING (1 to 5). How goony is this player?
CL - CLEARING THE PUCK OUT OF THE ZONE. This stat only applies to defencemen.
RK - ROCK IN FRONT OF THE NET (0 or 1). Is this player hard to move away from the front of the oppositions net?
KL - PENALTY KILLING (0 or 1). Is this player a good penalty killer?
FO - FACE OFF RATING (1 to 5). Is the player good at winning face-offs?
Player Pos Def GF SF GP G A PTS SH% SK SP PA FC PH IN CL RK KL FO
Jones P. RW 2 18 90 62 33 22 55 19.7 4 3 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 1
Harris R. LWC 4 4 10 90 78 10 11 21 10.2 3 3 3 4 2 2 0 0 0 3
Goon M. RW 3 12 90 76 1 2 3 22.1 1 1 2 1 5 5 0 1 0 1
Carp P. C 1 19 90 70 2 12 24 9.3 5 4 4 2 1 2 0 0 0 1
Choosing a goal Scorer
The crucial stats for goal scorers is how many points he has versus
how many games he's played. Another area to look at is the player's SH%
and his GF.
Jones (above) is a half decent scorer, who gets a little less than a
point a game. Jones only played 62 out of the 82 scheduled games, so he'll
be getting hurt once in awhile. He has a high scoring percentage, so he
will make the most of his opportunities. Jones could play on your first
or second line because he is good for 18 minutes.
Choosing a Grinder
Harris (above) is a good grinder, and plays two positions. The crucial
stats for grinders is the DEF rating. Most are only good for 8-12 minutes,
so they have to play on the 3rd and 4th lines. Some scorers have high defensive
ratings, which is a bonus.
Penalty Killers
Good penalty killers have a 1 under for a PK rating. There are not
too many players that have this rating. If a player is a 4 or greater defensively,
and is a good fore checker, he should be a decent penalty killer even without
the PK.
Goons and Useless Players
Carp (above) has good skating, speed and passing skills, but he neither
scores, nor can he play defensively. He is essentially useless unless
a. He is a promising player for the future
b. He is having a good year this year in the NHL
Goon (above) has no endearing qualities at all. His skating, speed and passing skills make him a deficit to your team. All a player like this does is get penalties or watch the puck go in his own net. It's okay to draft a player like this to send messages to other teams, but wait until the last rounds.
It's a bonus if a player's SK, SP or PA ratings are high.
DRAFTING TIP: Draft scorers to fill up your first and second
lines. Then get the grinders. There are more grinders than there are good
goal scorers.
Section 3 Defencemen
Player Pos Def GF SF GP G A PTS SH% SK SP PA FC PH IN CL RK KL FO
Swish W. LD 3 18 120 71 12 11 33 5.2 4 3 4 0 1 1 3 0 0 0
Butt R. LDRD 4 4 10 120 78 3 13 16 2.2 4 3 3 0 4 4 4 0 0 0
Rank O. RD 2 12 120 76 2 4 6 6.1 5 4 4 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Defencemen do not have a rating for FC, RK, KL or FO
CL - ABILITY TO CLEAR PUCK OUT OF OWN ZONE (out of 5). This is a very
important stat. It's important to have defencemen that can clear away the
front of the net.
When choosing a defenceman, the most important stat is the DEF stat. Other important stats are his SK, SP and PA as well as CL
A good defenceman has a rating of at least a DEF 4. Below that is risky. Butt (above) is a good solid defenceman that can clear the puck. He also has a good skating, speed and passing rating.
Swish (above) has a medium DEF rating and CL rating. He can however score. It's good to have an offensive defenceman for your power play. But try to keep the number of defencemen like this to a minimum.
Rank (above) has a low DEF rating and CL rating. He's also not a scorer.
Therefore he's useless to have on your team. (Unless he's a good prospect.
Then you can keep him on the bench for this season)
DRAFTING TIP:
Get yourself solid defencemen first. Then worry about the offensive
type of defencemen.
Section 4 Final Notes
a. Shadowing: You can shadow a player if you choose. This is usually a star that your opposition depends on a lot. The player that you use to shadow should have a high GF, DEF and FC rating. He should also be playing opposite the player he is to shadow (Left Wing shadows Right Wing, Center shadows Center, Right Wing shadows Left Wing).
b. Physical Play: You can play any or all of your lines extra physically. You inform the commissioner that you are doing this by putting a "P" beside the line(s) that you want to play physical. The drawback to this is that your players on this line will get tired quicker. They will also have a greater chance of being injured.
c. Injuries: When a player returns from an injury he is usually not playing at 100%. There is also a greater than average chance that he will get injured again. It is wise to give a returning player a smaller workload than usual, at least for his first game back.
d. Trading: Get a feel for your team before you jump into a trading binge. Be careful about giving up draft picks as part of a trade package as well.
e. Lineups: Send in only one lineup before each game. No revisions!
LINEUP SUBJECT HEADER TEMPLATE - RAY - LINEUP
TRADE TEMPLATE to send to both co-commish
For example: (make sure players are beside one another not undeneath)
****OFFICIAL TRADE **** OFFICIAL TRADE ****
************************************************
To RUN: E.Lindros, Brodeur
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To OFU: B.Holik, Richter
*****************************************
****OFFICIAL TRADE **** OFFICIAL TRADE ****
Here are the official team codes:
TEAMS CODE - - - - - - - CITY - - - - - - - - - - - - - NAME
1 OFU - - - - - - - - - - - - -Ottawa - - - - - - - - - - - - Fuck
Ups
2 RUN - - - - - - - - - - - - -Val D'or - - - - - - - - - - - Road
Runners
3 DAW - - - - - - - - - - - - Detroit - - - - - - - - - - - - Dawgs
4 HUS - - - - - - - - - - - - -Anchorage - - - - - - - - - - Huskies
5 FLY - - - - - - - - - - - - -Farrelton - - - - - - - - - - - Flyers
6 LAV - - - - - - - - - - - - -Laval - - - - - - - - - - - - - Monarchs
7 NEP - - - - - - - - - - - - -Nepean - - - - - - - - - - - - Hermits
8 BUC - - - - - - - - - - - - -Buckingham - - - - - - - - - Knights
9 BUR - - - - - - - - - - - - -Burnaby - - - - - - - - - - - - Puckheads
10 TEX - - - - - - - - - - - - Texas - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Icebats
11 PIG - - - - - - - - - - - - -Hog's Back - - - - - - - - - - Pigs
12 TIT - - - - - - - - - - - - -Trenton - - - - - - - - - - - - -Titans
13 HOR - - - - - - - - - - - - R Arnprior - - - - - - - - - - Horn
Puppies
14 RAY - - - - - - - - - - - - Tampa Bay - - - - - - - - - - Rays
15 FUR - - - - - - - - - - - - MooseFactory - - - - - - - - - FURY
16 BIR - - - - - - - - - - - - -Birmingham - - - - - - - - - - - Blood