Toi

[erikthered]

I like that line combinations are given minute totals for ES lines and % for special teams as seen here:



I would recommend changing the abbreviation from IT (presumably "ice time") to TOI ("time on ice"), which is the standard abbreviation for the statistic in the NHL, or more accurately for this game tactic situation, TOI/G.

A few of us were also wondering whether or not there's going to be a way to adjust length of individual shifts. It's common for players to play shorter shifts later in the game as they get more fatigued, and I was curious if this would be included.

[tcblcommish]

well, I am assuming that it is a percentage seeing as it equals 100 and the IT would be the right thing to use as it would be ICE TIME and not the stat TIME ON ICE. I understand what you are saying tho

[erikthered]

Originally Posted by tcblcommish

well, I am assuming that it is a percentage seeing as it equals 100 and the IT would be the right thing to use as it would be ICE TIME and not the stat TIME ON ICE. I understand what you are saying tho

The ES lines total up to 60, which I like because it reflects the familiar stat.

And I know it's not a statistic, and I'm sure it doesn't mean that the players on that line will get exactly that time, but is most likely more of a guide to show which lines are emphasized in the tactics. That's much more straightforward than EHM's vague descriptors regarding line usage, which is definitely a good thing.

[Empach]

This is definitely a great addition.
I would there's a way to set game totals for your goals as well.

[tcblcommish]

Originally Posted by erikthered

The ES lines total up to 60, which I like because it reflects the familiar stat.

And I know it's not a statistic, and I'm sure it doesn't mean that the players on that line will get exactly that time, but is most likely more of a guide to show which lines are emphasized in the tactics. That's much more straightforward than EHM's vague descriptors regarding line usage, which is definitely a good thing.

lol, you are right. I'm not sure now. The ES line say IT but the others say IT%. Now I'm confused.

[erikthered]

Originally Posted by tcblcommish

lol, you are right. I'm not sure now. The ES line say IT but the others say IT%. Now I'm confused.

Special teams time is far more variable per game, it's not like you can say, " I want PP1 to play five minutes/game." Even set times like, say, 1:15/pp opportunity wouldn't always work because sometimes PP length isn't a full 2 minutes, so the percentage leaves a good bit of flexibility. On the other hand, you can expect certain players to play approximately certain lengths in any given game. For instance, Crosby should get 20 or so minutes/game.

[Stinson]

Originally Posted by tcblcommish

lol, you are right. I'm not sure now. The ES line say IT but the others say IT%. Now I'm confused.

It looks to me like they have even strength lines going by time per game, while special teams are a percentage of the special situation (powerplay, penalty kill, or 4-on-4). In that screenshot, the first line will play about 22 minutes of the game, while the first powerplay line, for example, will get 75% of the ice time on a powerplay.

As for the name of this distribution, I have to agree with tcblcommish. I think calling it "Time on Ice" would draw too much of a parallel to the actual TOI stat, and people may think it's an absolute setting; that what they set is exactly what that line will play, and then complain when it doesn't necessarily work out that way.

[JeffR]

Originally Posted by erikthered

The ES lines total up to 60, which I like because it reflects the familiar stat.

Yeah, that's the basic idea. We could've made the even strength lines a percentage number, too, but when people are planning line use, they usualy think in terms of minutes played. Having the minutes number right there saves some mental math.

Originally Posted by Stinson

It looks to me like they have even strength lines going by time per game, while special teams are a percentage of the special situation (powerplay, penalty kill, or 4-on-4). In that screenshot, the first line will play about 22 minutes of the game, while the first powerplay line, for example, will get 75% of the ice time on a powerplay.

Exactly.

[tward13]

Originally Posted by JeffR

Yeah, that's the basic idea. We could've made the even strength lines a percentage number, too, but when people are planning line use, they usualy think in terms of minutes played. Having the minutes number right there saves some mental math.



Exactly.

Except that the TOI that you see for players includes their PP and SH time. The Even strength TOI should not add up to 60 since there will very rarely be 60 Even strength minutes in a game.

I'd think having the Even strength time also go by % allows the coach to think the same way for all parts of the game.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by tward13

Except that the TOI that you see for players includes their PP and SH time. The Even strength TOI should not add up to 60 since there will very rarely be 60 Even strength minutes in a game.

I'd think having the Even strength time also go by % allows the coach to think the same way for all parts of the game.

I'm thinking it works kind of like this (just speculation here btw).

You look at your ES line times as minutes, because there will always be 60 minutes in a game, regardless of PP/PK time. (Yes, there can be more than 60 min with OT, but there will never be less than 60 min). So you're setting your overall game strategy based on those 60 min. Then, as the game unfolds, your % of time for PP/PK will take effect and those ES min will be adjusted accordingly. It is not possible to know in advance if there will be 5, 10, 15 or whatever min of PP/PK time, but it is always possible to know there will be 60 min of game time.

At least that's the way I'm seeing it. Again, just speculation here. Hopefully we get a definitive answer from the Dev team.

[CeeBee]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

I'm thinking it works kind of like this (just speculation here btw).

You look at your ES line times as minutes, because there will always be 60 minutes in a game, regardless of PP/PK time. (Yes, there can be more than 60 min with OT, but there will never be less than 60 min). So you're setting your overall game strategy based on those 60 min. Then, as the game unfolds, your % of time for PP/PK will take effect and those ES min will be adjusted accordingly. It is not possible to know in advance if there will be 5, 10, 15 or whatever min of PP/PK time, but it is always possible to know there will be 60 min of game time.

At least that's the way I'm seeing it. Again, just speculation here. Hopefully we get a definitive answer from the Dev team.

Thats how I see it too and if so then I think they have it right.

[Bones26]

Curious as to how the game engine will reconcile ES IT minutes to the minutes dictated as it were by on ice circumstances if as a coach your strategy involves line matching?

[Winnipeg59]

The line matching question above is a great one. I would love to know if the "coaches" you hire in-game have input in that area and indeed this whole screen.
As in, you hire a coach that is more line-matching or less line-matching oriented and would it impact this window?
And, further, would the "coach" have input into the TOI or IT assigned to this window?? Kind of like "ask the coach" what he thinks the breakdowns should be to get a sense of the strategy he uses. And you retain more of a GM role on your team?

Cannot WAIT for March 4th and September!!

[Stealcompany]

Just a cosmetic point I think but I would prefer if the power play short forms were LP and RP (Left point and right point) to reflect situations where a forward with a good shot is being used on the point.

[fireholder]

Originally Posted by Stealcompany

Just a cosmetic point I think but I would prefer if the power play short forms were LP and RP (Left point and right point) to reflect situations where a forward with a good shot is being used on the point.

he's still playing defense, though.

that'd be like replacing "center" with "slot"

[tward13]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

I'm thinking it works kind of like this (just speculation here btw).

You look at your ES line times as minutes, because there will always be 60 minutes in a game, regardless of PP/PK time. (Yes, there can be more than 60 min with OT, but there will never be less than 60 min). So you're setting your overall game strategy based on those 60 min. Then, as the game unfolds, your % of time for PP/PK will take effect and those ES min will be adjusted accordingly. It is not possible to know in advance if there will be 5, 10, 15 or whatever min of PP/PK time, but it is always possible to know there will be 60 min of game time.

At least that's the way I'm seeing it. Again, just speculation here. Hopefully we get a definitive answer from the Dev team.

Then why not just allocate percentages of ES time rather than minutes that may or may not happen? You're no more sure of ES minutes than PP or PK, so why % for PP and PK and TOI for ES?

[scuffleball]

Originally Posted by tward13

Then why not just allocate percentages of ES time rather than minutes that may or may not happen? You're no more sure of ES minutes than PP or PK, so why % for PP and PK and TOI for ES?

My guess:

60 minutes in a game is known quantity.

No way of knowing how long a team will have on the PP/PK in each game, so you make it a PCT so it's doesn't matter if you have 1 PP or 15 PP.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by scuffleball

My guess:

60 minutes in a game is known quantity.

No way of knowing how long a team will have on the PP/PK in each game, so you make it a PCT so it's doesn't matter if you have 1 PP or 15 PP.

This

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by tward13

Then why not just allocate percentages of ES time rather than minutes that may or may not happen? You're no more sure of ES minutes than PP or PK, so why % for PP and PK and TOI for ES?

Before the puck is dropped, I know for sure there will be 60 minutes of game time, regardless if 0, 1, 5, or 10 penalties are called.

That was kind of what I was trying to say, I know how many minutes my team will play. So I plan for those minutes. I don't know how many PP/PK my team will have, so I use % because of that lack of knowledge.

Makes sense to me anyway.

[tward13]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Before the puck is dropped, I know for sure there will be 60 minutes of game time, regardless if 0, 1, 5, or 10 penalties are called.

That was kind of what I was trying to say, I know how many minutes my team will play. So I plan for those minutes. I don't know how many PP/PK my team will have, so I use % because of that lack of knowledge.

Makes sense to me anyway.

But it's not asking you how many minutes of game time on that screen. It's asking you how many minutes of ES time and you DON'T know how many minutes of ES time there will be anymore than you know how many minutes of PP or PK. What you do know is what % of whatever ES time there is that you'd like to allocate to each line.

That's why in games with lots of penalties 4th lines may get fewer chances. In effect what is happening is their peercentage of ES time isn't changing but their amount of time is because there are fewer ES minutes to allocate.

I always know the desired split of time for each line, what I don't know is how many minutes of any type of time (ES, PP, PK) there will be.