Team Strategy

[Cody]

After playing the demo for a bit there were a few things that really stuck out to me regarding strategies for EASHL.

I think playing with the lead will be more important then ever. Furthermore I thinl strong boàrd play and cyling with lead will be crucial to success. It is going to be critical that all Jets players are on the same page when playing with the lead.

[OpticalNerve]

dump and chase would have to be really well coordinated since (atleast for me) flipdumps seem to have been sped up and are alot lower (so people can intercept them with their hands i assume) someone would have to already be charging full speed into the zone just as the puck enters so they can catch up to it and boardplay the other teams defense otherwise i dont see it working to often unless we get some lucky bounces :/

[dso67]

i think we'll be needing to have at all times a solid defenceman. someone who doesn't really want to pinch and leave us vulnerable to attack. and also alot of backchecking and smart forechecking.

[Cody]

I agree with what you guys are adding to the discussion, but do you guys think that cycling and boardplay will be as vital as I do? NHL09 was very much about rushing end to end until one of the teams pots a cross crease or a curve shot. I think this time around puck possession is going to be key. I think good team work will result in lots of offensive end pressure and it won't be all about driving everything to the net every rush. Make sense?

[Leafsfan15]

I think the best way to create offense is dump the puck in, board play, get it back to the point, put it on net, or hit a forward with it that is open. That's the way i have been playing in nhl 10 and I think it's pretty effective for the most part. You can't just glide through the defense and take a shot in the slot, like in 09, it will rarely work.

[dso67]

i completely agree cody, i think puck possesion will be hugh. and the nice thing is, i think that we were able to accomplish that in 09 but it wasn't a big thing. other teams would just fly back down into our zone and cross crease us. so absolutely puck possession will be a key for us.

[OpticalNerve]

scratch what i said about flip dumps being lower and faster if you hold R1 for longer theyre higher so dump and chase would be pretty effective and i agree with boardplay/puck possession being important

[Labone]

After playing for the last few days, a strong passing game is definitely a must. The team that establishes a strong passing game always has the best opportunity to win.

[dso67]

i agree, we need to make quicker passes and have our do lead rushes too. players need to pass the puck ahead if there are guys in front of them instead of carrying over the blueline. i think we try to do to much by ourselves still. we need to learn to trust eachother so we make good plays and smart passes.

[Labone]

Cody and I just played a game, we worked on the passing plays and even though we only won 1 - 0 we controlled the game fairly well and kept the other team from setting up camp in our zone.

[Cody]

Labone and I just played a game where we really passed the puck around a lot in the offensive end. Instead of everytime just throwing everything at the net. We had lots of scoring chances and although we only won 1-0, it could have easily been 4-0.

So I would like to see more passing it around in the offensive end. I think the game is designed that momentum created by offensive pressure will be rewarded. If that makes sense.

[JoeShow3x]

I've just been shooting it and wasting oppurtunities, I'm guilty of it. I've been trying to play different positions with pubbers (LW,C, and D) and get a better feel for passing and cycling. I've been playing alot of defense and goalie, I just dont feel 100% yet with a foward.

[Cody]

Last night things fell in place for me finally. I think I found my role, as a right winger. I had 12 points in 3 games. Dso, Optical, and I dominated. It was a lot of fun that's for sure.

[Labone]

That's awesome, hopefully we can start potting some goals. We could certainly use them.

[Cody]

Ant has been playing deadly d. We really don't need many goals to win, but it feels like the offense is coming around now.

[Labone]

Here is an important piece of strategy from the "I am a moron dept". Make sure that you use your attribute points for your created player in BOTH online and offline modes. Me being the brainiac that I am have been playing with a stock player online...

[Sean]

From one game I played online at my buddies house, one of the most vital things I saw was point shots. Not just because I play D (I barely shoot anyway), but the deflections are a lot more affective and goalies give up ridiculously juicy rebounds, which make for easy Ryan Smyth-esque goals. It may not be the prettiest way to score, but it isn't a glitch/cheap way to score, and it gets goals.

[Labone]

I gotta say, I just played some amazing games with Optical and SpaceAce...and it was probably the most fun I've had playing this game for an extended time. Smart D (Optical was amazing on the blueline) and strong passing up front, I don't know how many times Space and I threaded nice passes to each other. We lost one game to a very good team and it was a legit loss, no superstar BS.

So there were a couple of strategy advantages we had...we have an idea of how each other plays, lots of smart passing, always had one forward deep to help on d and two of us had mics (the 3rd can hear us talking in game and in the numbered game rooms) so that we could communicate on ice (where necessary, not verbal diarrhea). Oh did I mention the copious amounts of smart passing?

The other thing was that we started working the point shot and deflections in more...made a big difference and won a tight game for us.

Thanks for the games guys, it was a lot of fun.

[dso67]

I find that when I'm playing, i like to use the cpu players alot. I also find that when i'm in games when that happens we win. I think one of the biggest issues with us is our desire to go for the cross crease pass and trying to do things ourselves. we need to play smarter positional play to be successful in the league. in the past ten or so games I've noticed that we are running around alot and always try to carry the puck up the ice without any passes. The d needs to get the puck out of the zone quickly, forecheckers just come in, hit us and steal the puck to create chances. i think we have no real problems with controlling the puck in the oppositions zone but we try to make to many cute plays. we just sometimes need to send the puck on net to create chances. when we we're winning games thats what we did, chipped the puck in, forecheck, passed alot and took smart shots.

[bonvie]

Testing