Here is the lines break down. Now I am more pressed for time this year than last so I won't have the time to fix a lot of mistakes so PLEASE look over these carefully, and remember to check the rosters that are sent out to make sure that the jersey #'s are what you thought they were.
I would send out lines and save a copy, and then just make changes off of that. One small change like switching a goalie or replacing a injured player I will do if you send me an e-mail saying what you want done, but any more than that and I would ask you to please just send in new lines.
As always the compuer can do your lines.
Some common mistakes:
1) Using wrong jersey #'s - I will try to do my best to e-mail you if I see this, but please be aware of your actual #'s
2) Using more than 20 players - You have to have 20 players total no more no less. This includes goalies
3) Using players in your lines who are not listed in the roster - please make sure you use the right 20 players to create your lines - its awful tough for me to tell wether you wanted the guy listed in the 20 players, or the lines
4) Improper spacing - If the jersey #'s are not spaced out as below (one space between them) the lines program gets confused. Be careful between double digit #'s and single digit #'s a lot of times its easy to add an extra space there.
You can have as much text in your message as you want as long as the lines segment looks like this
Begin Lines
1 2 3
4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20
1 4 8 12 13
2 5 9 14 15
3 6 10 16 17
1 9 12 17
2 4 14 16
6 7 13 15
1 4 8 12 13
2 5 11 14 18
1 4 8 12 13
1 4 8 12 13
2 5 11 14 18
1 4 8 12 13
1 4 12 14
2 7 13 16
3 5 12 17
1 12 14
4 13 16
3 12 17
19
OK it looks confusing but let me try to clear it up. The 20 numbers listed in the first section are jersey numbers (so instead of 1-20 you will use the actual numbers of the 20 players you intend to dress - for example if you had Gretzky and wanted to play him, you would use his jersey # 99 in the template wherever appropriate)
The first line is C's the 2nd LW the third RW the fourth D and the fifth G's
So in my example the team is playing three centres (jerseys 1-3) 4 LW's(4-7) 4 RW's (8-11) 7 D (12-18) and 2 G's (19-20).
You can play any number of players at a position as long as you have AT LEAST 3 at each forward position, 6 at D and EXACTLY 2 at net. So potentially you could have 6 C's 3 LW's 3 RW's & 6 D and 2 G (which again gives you 20 players).
So now onto the second part the lines themselves. The lines are done in groups of three in this order 5-5, 4-4, 5-4, 5-3, 4-5, 3-5, starting goalie (# 19 sitting all on his own at the end there).
Lets look at the first line of 5-5 line #1 (1 4 8 12 13). This has jersey #1 playing C, #4 on LW, #8 on RW and #'s 12 and 13 as the defense pairing. Your first line could be any players, but players playing out of position (Say you had #8 listed as a RW as your LW on line 1) suffer an unknown penalty so its genrally best to lay players at their positions, although a lot of gys use forwards on the point on the PP.
The next two lines of #'s are lones 2 and 3 of the 5-5. Next comes the 4-4. Four on four, 4-5, and 3-5 are a little special as you don't have three forwards on, don't worry about positioning here (you could have two C's on your top PK line if you thought they are best suited for the job) the computer doesn't seem to care.
After 4-4 come the PP lines. You may have noticed that the line 1 4 8 12 13 comes out several times here, 4 of 6 to be exact. Thats because in this example I am double shifting my first PP unti to get them more time on the ice, and also to avoid having a third PP line that is filled with checkers. After the PP lines are the PK lines. And finally the last line with the one player is your starting goalie.
If you look closely at my example you will see that #'s 7, 11, and 18 don't play on the 5-5. These players are called "extras". In my example I have put them on other lines, like the PP and PK lines. This may be because they are one dimensional players. #18 the D-man could be a Jamie Heward or a David Cooper type D-man, lots of offensive savvy, but a defenisve liabillity. Even if you don't list these extras in your lines as well, they will still get a few minutes of ice time so don't panic if you see a guy get a goal, even though he wasn't on any of your lines. He was dressed, and that means the computer uses him for a few shifts.
I hope that example gives you a good idea of how to send lines. I prefer for them to be sent this way, because it means the computer can process the lines, and I don't have to copy them out by hand (no printer) and then enter them manually.
I recommend sending your lines in, and saving the message, that way you can just change what you need for future games rather than retypingthe whole thing. Also for minor changes (You want #1 to be the third line C and #3 to be the first line C, or you want to give your back up a start) just drop me a note saying what you want done by the time lines are due (I send this info out all times are EST) and I'll make the switch.