First, thanks to Sedsy for replying to his own message. At least he knows that somebody is reading them.
There are, as usual, a number of issues here.
1) This is a fantasy league. Where part of this league, though, is fantasy and which part is real? I thought that the whole idea of a fantasy hockey league was to pemit ordinary shmoes like us to be a GM of an NHL team. That's the fantasy. Almost everything else within the limitations of the HLS2 simulator itself should be as realistic as possible. That's why it's called a simulator. So let's try to keep the hockey operations as real as possible. If Al MacInnis sucks at his position then trade him. Got a bad team? Make a trade. Develop players. There's a shocker! Trade for training camps. Hell, I know it's not easy, but then if it was it wouldn't be any fun. There aren't too many things that I am doing today that I was doing in 1996.
2) The rule changes that Gord sent out today are specific and concrete. With the GM program permitting everyone to view everyone else's lines it will be up to us to police ourselves. For example, don't think that I didn't peek at Tetzy's lines after the Traders dumped the SunDogs 5-3 in last night's season opener. Too bad Ace adjusted both teams' lines. Oh well. (Note: Vote Artem Chubarov for NSHL9 Rookie-of-the-Year!)
I do agree that the rule changes should come in the off season, but if I am not mistaken, Ace made the rule change before he played the games, so aside from not announcing the change, there is no arguement. Does it change your draft strategy? Maybe. I draft the best player, period. Others draft for a specific position. The only time I have done the latter in the NSHL was with Mika Noronen in NSHL4. I needed a backup goalie to Barrasso and have spent the last 4 seasons protecting him and spending camps on him. Of course, I would have preferred at the time to have Damphousse or Luongo, but with the current situation with Buffalo things are looking rosie.
I don't know if some teams will ever catch up to the "team quality" of the Traders or Muffs, et al. The Traders got a great kick start with 6 1st round draft picks early on in the NSHL. The rules (with exceptions) have given large roster teams lots of protection spots. Streaks and slumps helped me a alot in NSHL6 and were sorely missed in NSHL7. Time will tell if I have recovered more than last season.
But I can live with the new changes. Who triple shifts? I don't. I do double shift certain players on even strength lines and now I can't. But if nobody can then it's not a big deal.
No one is saying that there can't be upsets. Ask the Crunch when they toppled the Traders. But don't base your arguements on a process used by a former GM who has been drop kicked out of two (yes, two) fantasy hockey leagues for using that process. It was an interesting experiment and in the beginning of August nobody thought that this was cheating. However, it is unsportsmanlike and ungentlemenlike.
You can read more about this issue on NSHL.com on the Constitution, Rules & Guidelines page. http://www.nshl.com/rules/
Sedsy's letter to the League is there under the rubric "The China Syndrome" along with a page devoted to Understanding the HLS2 Simulator and another to rationalize how the re-rate Monster works.
So let's keep fantasy as a concept, and keep the spirit of wanting to better understand the HLS2 simulator instead of trying to circumvent it.
-Larry
SunDogs@nshl.com
Posted on Oct 25, 2000, 12:42 PM from IP address 192.197.71.189
