Understanding the HLS2 Simulator

For those that do not know it, Easton is a guy who I feel is isolated from the finer aspects of Canadian culture by his choice to pursue his career in China, and recently had an accident that left him somewhat infirm, though he will fully recover.

I thought the way he was arbitrarily tossed from the league, despite an earlier (and very close) vote to have him stay on, was unfair, but seeing as I had come out with a public statement regarding this previously, in addition to the fact that his departure would seemingly make Ace's job easier, I let it rest. Also, I didn't wish to have any of the rancor involved to hit the innocent new GM, Colin Reid.

A week and a half ago, when the playoffs were about 5 games in, I felt that it would be judicious of me to forward the action to Easton, so he could follow his former team and such in his time of boredom, of which a person of my lowly and now stigmatized condition can acutely empathize.

The result was an increase in communication between Easton and myself, during which he asked me to forward the "Message from an old friend..." letter.

Upon reading it, I found the claims to be ridiculous and desperately self aggrandizing on David's part, which I had thought would be read with some amusement by those that actually took him seriously and allowed him to bother them with his unrelentless and repetitive prose, "slaying the demon" as it were.

I also, because I have discussed the HLS2 sim at length with David and others over the years, joked that Easton was my "assistant GM", as he has given me the results of his hours of experimentation...facts nice to know, but certainly nothing to be proud of attaining considering the method of their attainment, which is sitting in front of a computer and wasting time, principally.

That it could become an issue of ego was unbelievable to me but with his candor, including Easton's recent letter to Terrors GM Dave McCann, which I do not agree with in any form and does not represent my attitude in the slightest, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that even though the guy was so roundly despised that he was kicked out of a computer game club, he still hasn't learned a thing.

Now, this is all my fault...I can't expect the guy to have restraint, again in hindsight, when I have given him the opportunity to needle people for the apparently egregious emotional scarring that being dismissed from a great league like the NSHL could cause from an individual that is seeming to mock people to inflate a bruised ego...but I should have known.

I also extend apology to new Lizards GM Colin Reid, who was disparaged in the association unintentionally, and this for the only guy that picks my damn team to win!!!! Talk about not knowing who your friends are, as it were!

Have blathered on more than enough, and I only to take pains to do so to assuage the annoyance caused...

David, please don't mail anybody in the NSHL again if all you mean to do is antagonize, and no bullshit rationalizations...you do, and to symbolically measure my discomfort with appropriate action, you are now summarily fired as Assistant GM of LC. Don't cry, eh? heh heh

On the so called "Easton method", I must admit that I started using some of the things I picked up while reading the seemingly endless arguments, though not with any direct confirmation of my assumptions, late in the season when I looked doomed as far as making the playoffs, even though I knew of them much earlier.

The resulting streak was corrupting...as winning most games can be, I suppose.

I experimented with dressing players at different positions, even though they generally conformed to their listed positions in my lineups (PP exceptions)...and just so the playing field is equal, and to make this crap more than an almost total waste of the reader's time, here are some Sim Truths, as put to me by Easton:(excuse any repetition from your personal Sim lexicon, and indulge me in the fact that I copy his text for those that hate reading it...it's good info)

Also, in my other leagues, I had three teams in the playoffs, but two of them are finished now (no cups! boo-hoo!).

*On the "Easton Method" I must say that the basics of it turned my *entire season around, after I packed it in and decided to try *something new, as we have discussed. But, just for your info, I sent *you the lines to show that I don't conform exactly to the letter...

Yes, I noticed that the lines were somewhat mixed up compared to what I had been doing. Of course, though, part of the "Easton Method" was to have 20-25 Farm Players for one reason only - because, of course, if I am going to use my top 5 players on all lines, there would be horrendous re-rates for all the rest of the players! So, The Lizards had stockpiled more than 20 players that could be left unprotected for the re-rates, allowing ALL my starting Pro team players to be protected, if they needed to be.

As of right now, you have only 16 Farm team players over the 25 Pro players, so perhaps you needed to have a few more players actually trying to score points for you, or you'd be negatively affected in the re-rates. That was my assumption, anyway, when I read your lines.

Hahaha, also, I still think that you are worried about Fatigue / Power / Injury playing a part in the performance of players, should they be used so much in triple-shifting, etc. Well, according to what I have witnessed, there is NO ill effect on the player's performances. CERTAINLY, Injury seems to play NO PART IN IT AT ALL!

I ran over 100 seasons, testing different things along the way, during that offseason, before completing the theory behind the "Easton Method". I edited players ratings all over the place, then ran seasons, to find out how they'd react. For ex: Setting In to 1 across the entire roster ... no more injuries than any other team. Playing triple-shifts on 5 players - ACTUALLY FEWER INJURIES, it appeared (I account for this by the fact that fewer players are thrown into the "possible players to be injured" HLS2 file ... if you know what I mean. It seems that HLS2 RANDOMLY suggests that "so many players will be injured in a given season", then takes ALL the players that play, and again RANDOMLY select anyone to fill the quota. So, if you only have 5 starters actually "playing" in the games, and every other team has 15, then chances are you won't be getting "hit" with injuries as often!)

Anyway, I saw absolutely NO ILL EFFECT on the 5 players I triple-shifted in all line combinations - OVER THE COURSE of the full season. In any given game, it may APPEAR to have an effect ????, but that's just HLS2 playing its own little game - once in a while HLS2 gives a decided underdog, who on paper should NEVER win the game, a victory... but it's rare, and should not lend evidence to other theories about the HLS2 workings.

*In *the Muffs series, I noticed that the RW's were more dangerous than *their LW's, so I put my more defensive forwards on the opposite side, *which would be my LW's. This resulted in a 3-1 deficit (ouch!), albeit *with some hearteningly close results. *Resisting temptation to radically alter the lineup, and it was a close *thing, I switched the underachieving Heerema over to the "David's *offensive" LW, and we didn't lose another game!

Yes. That's very acurate according to my observations. Again, after running up to 100 seasons, again adjusting the ratings; I gave all positions the EXACT SAME RATINGS, and I noted several things on positions:

LW consistently get more shots on net than any other position, then RW, C, and D. Goalies generally get the FEWEST shots on the opposition net *smile* So, as long as those shots are coming from players with the ABILITY to score in the first place, you SHOULD score.

*(That, and I eased up on Marleau and Heerema shifts a bit...)

As I say, I'd bet it had nothing to do with it, and was only co-incidence, sorry.

*Not wanting to tamper with success, but noting that the danger from the *Infantry is at C and D, I am leaving things be for tonight's game *1...but I may stack a defensive C roster should things go awry...your *thoughts?

Here's another thing. Centres - they score the majority of their Goals, the VAST majority, on PP and PK, for some reason. Check the stats; you'll see that most of the leading PPG's players will be Centres, as well as the SHG's. Even strength, Centres seem to primarily involve themselves only in passing.

So if their damage is coming from their Centres and D-men, and you can win the even strength battles, you should be able to win the games!

*I figure Marleau could switch to LW, and maybe Krupp or Biron could *take the C spot...of course, Patrick still plays C on the lines (and D *4 on 4!!)....

YES!!!! By "switch", what you can mean is DRESS him as a LW. I noticed (in the regular season ending League Files) that you had only 3 players DRESSED as LW, and 8 D-men!!! WHY WASTE THE POTENTIAL SHOTS ON NET! The lineup should read, because of requirements, 3C, 3RW, 6LW, 6D. This way, you MAXIMIZE your potential shots on net. Make you most offensive D-men the extra LW's ... make your most DEFENSIVE forwards your Centres ... your RW's can stay RW's if you like ... and your 4th Liners, even if they are designated forwards, fill out the DRESSED D-men positions ... they never see action anyway. THIS is the "Easton Method" - it didn't only work by the time I'd brought up 5 players in the Mid-80's, it TOTALLY DOMINATED almost EVERY GAME... hence the resulting fear instilled in opposition GM's.

*How much do you find that the dressing position ranks in importance *with your lines format...? Meaning, if you have the "correct" position *formation atop, does the lines portion have much affect? (I think it *does...)

I'm not sure what you mean by this ???? Do you mean, do I find it important that a Dressed position play in that position on the ice? (That if a player is dressed as a LW, then he play only the LW position) If this is the question, then of COURSE the answer is NO !!! EMPHATICALLY NO! I played Chelios as a D-man, but DRESSED him as a LW for the time I was in control of my team ... he went on to score 43 GOALS in 31 GAMES from his Left Defence position! I played my entire line that I triple-shifted as LW's, and of course, I couldn't have played them all AT LW... the result is that I was winning 9 of 10 games against EVERYONE, and each player was going to break NSHL scoring records... DO NOT get involved with a certain HLS2 myth: I'm really sorry to say this, because, really, it takes most of the fun out of the game, doesn't it??? Half the fun, at least, is TRYING to trade for position, figuring out defensive liabilities, and looking for those role players that will penalty kill well for you, check the other team's top line into the ice, be that PP Quarterback D-man you need, blah- blah- blah- blah .... the truth, as I've seen it, is this - it all doesn't matter. Put the BEST TOP OFFENSIVE players on the ice AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, in EVERY SITUATION (Even strenght, Powerplay, Penaltykill) PERIOD.

I have found NO EVIDENCE that the so called DEFENSIVE RATINGS of Qk, Pw & Ck matter AT ALL! (ESPECIALLY Ck!) I have a defence of 5 D-men with 8~9 ratings in ALL THREE CATAGORIES that I play in another league ... I traded for them BEFORE I did my experiments ... and a great goalie! No matter, my team STILL was outscored regularly, as it appears my OFFENSIVE players (despite ALSO having great "defensive" ratings) simply were not strong enough offensively. It is my complete conviction that with HLS2, the best Defense is a GREAT offense!

Okay, to that end, and considering what I have already said, THIS would be my line-up for you to consider if I were you:

C's Andreychuck / Descoteaux / Wood (the reason I dress Wood as a C instead of a LW, is that his 7 Sh is crappy, compared to the players who have 8 & 9 Sh ... so why not let the latter get the shots on net - by being LW's - not Wood. Wood provides the Assists, no matter what; it's no sense having him try to set up himself for a lousy shot)

LW's
Trebil / Therien / Coffey / Marleau / Hagarty / Tsyplakov

RW's
Heerema / MacInnis / Biron

D's
Chara / McCarthy / Krupp / Gagner / Drake / Andersson

Goalie is of course Khabydriver

Scratch Tinordi, O'Neil, Pecca, McLean, McAmmond

That's how I'd DRESS the players. My lines would look something like this (PS- It is important to know another "Easton Method" observation: The so-called 3rd Line, gets VERY LITTLE ice time, compared to the 1st two lines, the 1st line getting more than the 2nd. ALL THREE LINES DO NOT GET EQUAL ICE TIME by ANY MEANS WHAT SO EVER!!! So, if you DO have an inclination to play more than your TOP 5 PLAYERS (not triple-shifting them), then by all means, DOUBLE-SHIFT the TOP 5 PLAYERS in the TOP TWO LINES!!! Hahaha, this is a CRAZY aspect of HLS2; when it does Auto Lines, it double-shifts the top offensive players on the powerplay, but plays them on the 1st and 3rd lines, effectively eliminating their potential - stupid!) (PPS- I also believe through experienced observation that of all the ratings that are NOT Pa/Pc/Sh, the most important ones are Qk/Sk. I've come to the belief that speed is an important element in deciding the outcome of scoring with HLS2. I'm afraid I can't back this up with as much tested data as my other points, but I have found success with speed players far more often than with excellent Pa/Pc/Sh players who DID NOT have the speed of their opponents. In this regard, your team is EXCEPTIONAL, and I must assume you've come to this conclusion yourself, as you've traded for players with speed, it appears. With the exception of MacInnis and Andreychuck [and Descoteaux's 7 Sk rating], every other player dressed as forwards in this roster is rated 8 or 9 in these two catagories! That's AMAZINGLY good management, in my books!):

5 on 5 - personally, I'd TRIPLE-SHIFT these players

LW- Hagarty
C - Wood
RW- Heerema
LD- Coffey
RD- Trebil

4 on 4 - I'd drop Hagarty, and TRIPLE-SHIFT the other 4 players

5 on 4 - Same lineup as 5 on 5 (you MAY want to switch Wood & Heerema, to get the better scoring player at the Centre position; as mentioned before, the Centre seems to score MOST OFTEN on PP's and PK)

5 on 3 - Same lineup as 5 on 4

v 4 on 5 - Same lineup as 4 on 4, but I'd almost CERTAINLY switch Wood and Heerema on the PK

3 on 5 - I'd drop Coffey, keeping Wood & Trebil's 90's Ratings in the lineup (I kinda believe that HLS2 looks at the OVERALL Ratings of a line and produces accordingly sometimes; it's the same reason I'm playing Trebil & Wood over Marleau; saying that, it might be a good argument to get Tsyplakov into the lineup instead of Hagarty - but Hagarty's 8/9/9 Pa/Pc/Sh just looks so much better than the 7/7/8 of Tsyplakov ...)

Now, if you INSIST on getting Marleau, etc, into the lineup, then go ahead and use them as a 3rd line:

5 on 5 - I'd do something like this; Tsyplakov and Therien having by far the best Ck numbers, so why not play them on D.

LW- MacInnis
C - Marleau
RW- Biron
LD- Tsyplakov
RD- Therien

4 on 4 - I'd drop TWO of these players, MacInnis & Biron, replacing one with the dropped Hagarty from the 1st two lines.

5 on 4 - Same as 5 on 5, again possibly switching MacInnis to Centre.

5 on 3 - Same as 5 on 4

4 on 5 - Same as 4 on 4, but DEFINATELY switching Hagarty to Centre, and playing Marleau on the wing.

3 on 5 - Drop Biron, MacInnis & Therien, playing the Dropped Coffey from the top 2 lines at Centre, Marleau and Tsyplakov on Defense.

Well, how's THAT for having my say ??? *smile*

How is that, indeed...

v I still don't follow this advice to the letter, but it is close enough to make my last two results somewhat unpalatable, since that marks the start of my recent changes that gave me two wins.

Do with this info what thou wilst, those that remain...I am not likely to tamper with success, so I give you the method.

The above was edited to trim the fat...(by the way, I am insisting that Marleau get ice time, as a digression from the advice...)

Anyway, I am fucking tired of this shit, but I must admit it serves me right for my lack of foresight. I wrote it "from the hip", so if I forgot any salient facts, excuse me. I wanted to get my take out there as quickly as possible, so as to hopefully cut it off at the neck.

This won't happen again.

Thanks for reading (you're still here, aren't ya? heh)

SS/LC
Darryl Chase

PS: Now I'm going to go and puke!
PPS: Anybody that wants to further discuss the Sim, send me a line and I'll tell ya what I have experienced...with the notes, however, it's pretty straightforward.