Nashville 69 in 31

Since these preds got snubbed with a single sentence in our write-up, I'm taking it upon myself to write a FULLY 100% BIASED write up on my own team, cuz fuck it. It's a slow day at work, and why not.

TLDR: After (reportedly) a strong first bidding as a first time owner, taking the STL BLUES team that no one wanted, last minute with no GM, starting with 0 picks in preseason and building up the AHL team and acquiring 4th overall starting with nothing... Here we are in week 9, and these preds sadly, are done. This season the preds went through a top line that played like an AHL line, a handful of "elite" players tossing games throughout the season (will remain unmentioned), a top line player going to prison, a GM quitting not even half way through the season because he couldn't "adapt" to the game... all the while me being the only manager on the team until acquiring TRM mid-season, and handling the lobby bullshit every night...

I think we had more blockbuster trades and trades overall than any team in the league, we'll see the stats or whatever on that come the end of the season I'm sure.

At the end of the day, I'm proud of these preds and I'm glad we had a real shot coming down the stretch after everything we went through.



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Tryhard detailed version below for those of you in need of bathroom reading content:

Start of the season:
These Preds (formerly these bloos) was the team that no one wanted. Well, not much changed, when I took owner as a goalie (no one wanted this either). Following a season of downright misery in S30 Tampa under the managment likes of Volcom, I told myself "just being an AGM isn't good enough" because honestly, AGM is meaningless when the owner can literally prevent everything you want to do to help the team. I took matters into my own hands and felt I could (at a minimum) control my own destiny if I owned my own team.

The things that DID change, was we were quickly no longer the team no one wanted. After a few roster moves, we acquired the 4th overall pick, which we used to heavily bolster our roster (and in turn drastically improve our AHL assets). We traded down to 7th overall, and still got the guy we wanted at 4th while acquiring further assets.

Going into bidding, we had a strong list of names we acquired (attached below). We slapped xJackz71 with the GM free contract eliminating what would have been around an 8M contract, which heavily offset the free goalie contract - or at least made it somewhat manageable.



Fast forward, going into week 9, only 5 players from the original roster at the start of the season remain (Jerrz, Sleeman Guy, Twistafied, Chicago Liights, and T Jenx). Funny enough, two of the guys that we missed out on bids for in @TurboYuri and @Gary Garoo - ended up on the roster after all.

It didn't take long for NHL 19 to make a lot of top contracts in LG look less than desirable. This season was a wash for a lot of teams right out the gate, because NHL 19 is NOT the game that bids were based off of for both new and returning contracts, plain and simple. I'm interested to see the full 180 some contracts will see going into S32 - the 500Ks that "adapted" and played great this season, to the elite old-gens that struggled to produce. Next season will be a lot different, now that owners can bid and trade accordingly, based on NHL 19 stats, not inaccurate NHL 18 performances.

The season started rough - with our top line going 2-6-2 through the first few weeks, including a few no-show games. Jackz and Master struggled heavily to adapt to NHL 19, and the lack of production showed. Jackz (GM) then quit a couple weeks later, frustrated with his play and the game as a whole, and Master went to prison. A fun filled week for these preds for sure, as we fought to stay in the playoff conversation.

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Halfway point:
Bringing in TRM as AGM in a trade for Bossy really seemed to help turn things around. I needed the help from a management perspective in a bad way, and I knew TRM had the passion to put in the work, specifically after working with him on trades and such in Tampa the prior season. We battled through the diversity, and did what we could to field a competent roster going into final weeks before the roster lock. Not only was TRM playing great in 19, but he really put a lot of time into this final push from a management perspective.

Some major trades prior to the deadline went down, including acquiring @D4D USA and @King Saffy from our division rivals. This move was not only strategic from a player/position standpoint, but we also needed to beat CHI if we were to make playoffs. D4N was a huge help with trade talks in the final weeks, and his knowledge on the league really speaks volumes. I've only been around since S28, and sometimes my lack of "name knowledge" plays a factor - I have to rely on stats over reputation at times. This happens less and less as I further familiarize myself with the league, but having a few guys around that have been around the league a long time really makes things easier.

Acquiring @APsychicTaco was HUGE for us. In spirit of full transparency - I had been really disappointed with myself and my performance in 19. I challenge the shot too much (playing like I would and how a normal tendy would IRL), and I'm used to certain styles of play from ESHL - honestly at the end of the day I just don't enjoy 19 that much and stupid bullshit happens too often. I wasn't winning us games that we should have won. I think we had the most 1 goal losses of any team at the time of acquiring Taco, and a good chunk of that I'm sure was in part from my average performance in net. Making the move to acquire Taco gave us the closest shot at making a push as we could have hoped for. I don't see myself as a backup goalie by any means, but I was playing like one for a bit there - Taco started stealing us games, I got my confidence back, and we were back in the playoff conversation again.

At the end of the day, we ended up getting scummed on a few trades right at the deadline... We were looking at a roster with 4 true RWs and no GM assigned... And it left us in a tough spot. We could royally screw our AHL team basically obliterate their top line to make a (possible) stronger playoff push, or we could make a push with what we had rostered - currently looking at 5 RWs and no GM. We did what we could to make it work and were able to leave the AHL roster alone. For what it's worth, Frostic turned out to be a great AHL owner and he's done a great job managing down there.

@T Jenx had been a trooper all season long, playing tough lines with different guys for most of the season - and him taking GM for the cap cut in a pinch really shows what kind of guy he is - just down to play his games and do what he can to help the team win. We now had our roster to make the push and shock some people - currently 8 points out at the time of the trade deadline.

We had a solid week 7 winning the games we needed to win, and great start to week 8 - bringing us to 2 points out of playoffs. Then seemingly, the wheels came off the tracks, and these preds were lost in the storm. A combination of poor availability, lack of interest, ECUs, and frustration with the game sent us down a path we won't be recovering from this time.

All season long our "third line best line" as I call them in @Twistafied @mooresy 27 @Chicago Liights @TurboYuri @Sleeman Guy had been beating top lines like it was their jobs, and I think it says a lot how much chemistry goes a long way. These are all guys that deserved better contracts than they receieved, and played like top line guys all season long. No one wanted to take a gamble on Chicago (which is beyond my understanding), but he's played great and I knew he had the potential coming into the season after seeing him play a good bit on Tampa's AHL team (do your scouting children!). Twist was plagued with shit connection to start the season, to the point where he almost had to quit... and it showed in his stats. I'm glad he stuck it out, because he really turned things around once he got that fixed. Sleeman Guy making the transition to RD I think was the best thing he could have done, as he's shined as one of the better RDs in the league imo. Been a buddy of mine, and he's the reason I got into LG to begin with... Turbo/Sleeman looked like the best D pair in the game at times.

It's too bad. All it takes is just one cancer or one bad week to fuck things over for a whole team's 9 weeks of work. Unfortunately, we had multiple scenarios and things we had to overcome throughout the course of the season. It was just too much to take on. Regardless if I own again, I'm proud of these preds and the diversity we DID overcome. Nashville goes into the off-season with a great AHL team (and AHL owner in @v FrosTiC), a ton of picks to build off of for next season, and some high value multi-seasons to boot. Whether or not I own again will likely come down to finding a suitable GM, but I think at a bare minimum I did what was needed to make the team successful, and I'm glad I gave it a shot and set the franchise up for success next season.

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Totally separate owner/mgmt related rant:

This is not an "oh jerrz is butthurt because they didn't make playoffs" post, especially considering ownership IS broken in this league as a goalie... to put things plainly, I just wanted to see how close I could get it, disregarding the fact that I'm a goalie owner. I couldn't do another season as AGM just being at the mercy of management, and still having no real control. I wanted to own because I love it - I love the league and I love the constant tweaks and wheeling and dealing you need to do to stay relevant. It's still a virtual hockey league and we're all try hards for even being here, but it's a lot of fun and I'm glad we have leagues like this to quench that thirst, even if the game happens to be dogshit this year. I think we made a real push, and had a chance, even after all the bullshit we went through, and I think I can hang my hat on that, especially knowing we had a chance with a goalie owner.

This also just further points out the fact that 98% of the league (including a handful of managers that don't do anything) has know idea what goes into owning or managing, and you honestly don't know the full story behind a team or their season without physically being on it. I'm sure half of the league doesn't even know we had a GM quit, or any of the other things that went down, and just thinks we put a shitty team together based on our final record, with no other knowledge of what went on.

Having said all that, I'd like the league to take a serious look at reform for goalie owners. I'd like to address this in a separate post, but being the only goalie owner I feel obligated to at least touch on it. There are a few ways to go about the "free" contract as a goalie owner, that (seemingly) the league just ignores or doesn't care to address. There WILL be a significant drop off in the talent pool following this season, you can take that to the bank. The applications for quality owners in S32 I expect will be at an all-time-low, and the time is now to do something about it. The game sucks 69 and the product EA puts out makes it almost impossible for people to want to dedicate (and waste) their time on a broken game. The amount of time spent tracking down guys, working with ECUs, figuring out who is blocked, changing passwords, resetting lobbies... it's crazy.

I have some assets for next season, acquired a crazy amount of picks, and have some high value multi seasons in both the NHL/AHL. Goalie owner or not, if you dropped most of the people in this league into my position and went through what we went through this season, they wouldn't have lasted - I really believe that. Somehow we didn't end up last in the league after all the bullshit we went through, on top of being a free goalie contract. We had a real shot at playoffs being only 2 points out in week 8, and then we hit a wall with a combination of people no showing or giving up on the team, in addition to top lines being thrown at us down the stretch. There are much better and experienced owners that had worse seasons or equally disappointing seasons missing playoffs.

Anyway, that about finished up my lunch break so hope you all have a great day!
gg

Jerrz

 

w0t

 

TLDR ; im trash

 

It's easy to dismiss owners who don't have a great amount of success the first season or that we think didn't do a great job (admittedly without all of us seeing the full picture). However, I think many of us do know that owner is a big commitment and that the people that take owner are doing a service to the league and attempting to make LG better. With all that being said, my goodness Nashville had a goalie owner this whole season?

 

I do have to say though, it makes it real difficult to want to continue being any part of management with some of the egos in this shit. Some of you really need to get a grip on your life if you think you are above playing with other people for the sake of your stats and internet reputation. #SAD

 

Great read, was a pleasure playing for ya!

 

Jerz u killed it this season and really gave your team a chance at making the playoffs. I hope to see some revisions to goalie ownership in the future becsuse you are certainly dedicated and an overall good owner. Until the league gets to a point where goalie owners can have a level playing field it is always going to be an uphill battle when you already are dealing with the multiple other difficulties that it takes with being mgmt. Good work this season

 

slutman

 

The answer to this is always Yes.

 

@ThatZachGuy <3

 

Preds suck go BLOOOS

 

I need to lose weight

 

bruh

 

You're the only person in here who knows I wasn't joking.

 

@DirtyJerrz - You did a very good job this season and I busted your balls in the forums and before the season bc you took owner as a Goalie and I didn't think you would do a bad job at all, BUT I knew the players would give you a hard time if ANYTHING went wrong like what you went through. That is the issue with Goalie owners, not really, the contract. The contract is what is wrong to the players, but a Goalie owner WAS one of the best things bc it was guys who were available 6 games a week. They were available to grab ECUs and grab NHL player


Goalies use to make some of the best owners in the league @Kopy and @StamToast were 2 of the best. Top Goalies use to go between 2M-4M and played 6/9 games every week so they were worth it. Theres a TON of good goalies now which is the issue and the goalie skill gap has closed so much thus making them even less valuable to a team salary wise not success wise.

As for the stuff you went through, welcome to mgmt. All of us have gone through some form of craziness like this, with losing players or managers or trades not falling through that were agreed to or owing comp. I cant tell you how many times weve all been through that or heard that story from others over the years.

On top of that the "game sucks" excuse has been around since old gen, even back then guys were saying it and quitting or not adjusting but back then it was more of the bad players saying it whereas now it seems to be the good players or the older players who are just sick of it happening for so long. The best players now a days seem to be the guys who play the most (club/vs/HUT) or play together a lot or just like the game. The guys who just get on for their LG games like a lot of people do or use to do and be successful don't really exist as much anymore. People cant seem to just play with anybody thrown their way these days and theres not as much backpacking anymore bc everyone pretty much knows the game of 6s and what people look for so you need to have chemistry with your line mates and be able to use them. You also need to adjust to the game which some people are too stubborn to do or people troll when it happens. Mostly people dont integrate the turds and tips into their game when needs bc that's all the D is giving you and then they get frustrated and play bad or do the same thing over and over again and then you have the other group who all they do is do that which also isn't effective enough and makes the game boring on both ended for everyone, thus making people not like the game. The game in general is the best its been since old gen but still frustrating to some that it was better than it is now at the start or so they believe.

Finally you have the Blocked people allowing games not to be found and DR errors occurring. This seems like a new problem but all of us have to deal with it, on top of that weve had shit like this before with captain lag and with guys going to the wrong server for like 6 months and even a season where we couldn't even get guys into a game if they were on the wrong server. All of these things are just the shitty stuff all owners have dealt with or have to deal with and its unfortunate.

Everyone always says being an owners is too much of a headache and a thankless job. However, anytime players have a good experience they usually let you know and that's how most EASHL teams and Xbox/LG friendships were created over the years. You build your sort of brand by being an owner, hence all of the good teams sort of being the same and having the same handful of players all the time. Being an owner might be a headache if you get the wrong players but it is so much better than being a player, especially bc you have the power like you said to shape the team the way you want and potentially bring in the guys you want or like. You just have to find the right guys and that can take time but I think it is worth it, id rather play with people I like o throw together 2 other lines of guys together while I play with the randoms keeping everyone else happy and keeping my teams consistently good rather than be a player on potentially any team with a bunch of guys I don't know or like or player with and have no chem and them hate the game or never play outside of LG and then putting you in the position where you have to ask for or use a trade request bc an owner doesn't know how to properly own or other players don't give them a chance or help them out.

 

@SweeT 9 LoU 84 appreciate the insightful reply / feedback. I think you touched on a lot of good points - at the end of the day I just wanted to provide almost like an "inside the locker room" type of post, considering 1) we're not making playoffs and 2) I (personally) enjoy reading/hearing how other teams are doing, what they did right/wrong, what kind of strategies worked (or didn't work), what happened to them during the season, etc.

I think for the first season, I learned a lot of what works, what risks to take/not to take, and especially how much chemistry matters, specifically in 19. It sucks to some degree because the goal is always to make playoffs and make a cup contender, but too many factors can come into play to inhibit that coming to fruition. Seems like the top teams this year had a set plan from out the gate, and had solid foundations with only minor tweaks needed throughout the season, coming out of bidding.

Like you touched on, it used to be that the "elite" players and honestly most of us at the NHL level could be "plug and play" with anyone on any line - with chemistry only assisting further. Now, it seems that isn't the case anymore, or at least to a lesser degree, and guys playing with guys they know or have some familiarity with usually ends up trumping the "contract skater" playing with randoms.

Either way, a lot of lessons learned, and I think at a bare minimum posts like these shed some light on things to consider - especially for those of you in management, or those of you considering management in the future.

I hope the league as a whole is open to keeping the dialogue going with regards to goalie owners being viable options instead of just "last resorts".

 

When we brought in the 5M AGM (changed to 6M AGM) a season later I proposed a discount for Goalies for Gs for being back for goalie managers but it was shut down. The system we had with the paid AGM was great but it was too low and it was going on when we were still able to trade for resigns and have RFA position changes as well has DP RFA which made it way too easy to stack teams.

If we could bring it back and bump it up to say 7M or 8M (also make them tradable) and then give the G owners a discount on their AGMs or for any mgmt who wants a Goalie AGM, set them at 1M (this was when Gs were going for 2.5M-3.5M though) now almost no one goes above 2M-2.5M) with the no trade for resigns, no RFA I think this would be a successful system

 

Lou and Jerz out here sending novels to each other

 

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WHO NEEDS A GM NEXT SEASON?