Team Not Winning? Have a Blast Anyway!

[KC15 340]

The Context

 

Ok, let’s just admit it. I love my Dynamos, but HC Davos is just not a good team – yet. Do they have some pieces? Yes. Are they in good hands with @GustavMattias? Yes. Is the future bright? Yes. But are they going anywhere this year, like for example the playoffs? No. Definitely not.

 

Let’s look at where we are now. Our record is 6-11-1 for a total of 13 points. This means we have lost twice as many games as we’ve won and over 72 games we would be projected to have a record of something like 24-47-1. Ouch! And we are dead last in the European Conference, though surprisingly only 3 points behind Helsinki who currently holds the final playoff spot. I don’t expect Helsinki to end the year like this, however. There IS a difference between a slow start and “just not there yet.”

 

We are not in last in the whole VHL though. There is a team at 3-13 (6 points). Poor Vancouver. Might should have started with a ping of the Wolves roster as this article might be a good read for them. But really I believe there are some good points for anyone who doesn’t find themselves playing for one of the powerhouse teams with a real chance at a Cup. And we’ll all find ourselves playing on that team at some point in our careers.

 

So how can a player on the Davos (or Vancouver or Moscow or Calgary or ….) have fun in the VHL?

 

Enjoy the Locker Room

 

For my money, this is the biggest key. If you are in the league only to win games and make personal highlight reels, you are missing at least half of the fun. Heck, just play solo FHM and watch the 2003 New Jersey Devils win the Cup over and over again. The VHL is really built on people and I don’t mean the players like my player, Luc Tessier. I mean the real people behind the fake players. Most of us are in the league to enjoy interacting with other hockey fans who share two common goals – winning games for their team and making the league better.

 

Hanging out in the LR and enjoying the banter about the sim, our players, the standings, but also about how our NHL teams are doing, what plans we have for the weekend, what’s happening at our jobs or schools, is the engine than makes the league work and what gives such enjoyment. Davos isn’t winning? Maybe, but look who just got a promotion at work! Look who just graduated from college!

 

Focus on League Story Lines

 

There is so much to follow here that almost no one has enough time to do it all. If that is you, pick the things that you get the most enjoyment from.

 

If you are not battling for a playoff spot, who is? How tight is that race? Is the lead for conference winner changing hands every other sim or is one team clinging to the lead? Are these top teams the expected ones or is someone surprising you? If so, investigate the roster and find out why. Maybe pick a favorite and be a fan of another team as well as your own. Then scan the box scores and look for their triumphs as much as you look for your own. Root them on … until they play you. When that time comes, play spoiler to their run. Take them down!!!

 

Or take a look at individual player races. Tessier is a rookie and is no where near the Top 5 boards in ANYTHING. But look for who is and follow the race. Just like the standings watch for teams, you can be a fan of individual players and cheer them on as they chase glory. Or look at it more analytically – is the lead changing hands or is one player running away with it. What is the difference in player builds between #1 and #5 in top goal scorers or best save percentage?

 

You can also watch the trade announcements. When a trade is on, take a look and see if you think one team totally won the deal or was it a more even affair. Think about why this trade was made. Was it to make each team better by filling a particular team need or what is a salary dump or was it a move to get a user on a particular team to make their experience more enjoyable or ….?

 

Then there is the opportunity to just browse and read the Media Spots. By the way, if you are still reading you have my very great thanks! I know when I read the Spots, I often learn something that makes my player better. Other times it’s just an interesting read about team analysis or the most recent draft and who “won”. Other times I just plain laugh out loud. We’ve got some really funny dudes and dudettes.

 

Focus on Team Improvement Over Place in Standings

 

Ok, so your team isn’t setting records for wins in a season. In that case, take a look at whether they are better than last year. Is the team moving forward? If so, that brings with it that most delicious aroma – hope. A struggling player or team can feast on hope until the time they can feast on on-ice success. Davos is projected for 24 wins at our current pace. We won 30 last season, so that could be considered a gut buster – a hope crusher. But not for me!

 

We’ve got some really young guys like Tessier on the squad and those guys are going to be exponentially better toward the end of the season than they are now. Going from 250 to 350 TPE makes more difference than going from 700 to 800, I’d propose. So now I get to watch my own little playoff race – not deciding whether Davos is in the post season, but to see whether the S78 Dynamos can chase down the S77 Dynamos. Go S78!

 

Also take a look at whether your team is losing by 4 goals or 1. Seeing those games get closer and closer until the scales tip in your favor can be very gratifying.

 

Focus on Player Build Goals

 

Every user should have interim goals for their player that they hit only to make loftier goals. Let’s say you have a goal of 85 in SC and DF and 75 in PH, SK, and PA. Watching your progress against those goals can be pretty satisfying. Sure the overall goal is to attain all 5 attribute increases, but celebrate each one. 85 SC – party time! 75 in SK with 70s in both PH and PA – party time! Once all these are attained – BIG PARTY TIME! And then new goals.

 

Focus on Player Highlights

 

This can come in two flavors. The first is firsts. (That was fun to say.) If you have a new player like my super green rookie, Luc Tessier, who was just over minors cap and jumped to the VHL, these come fast and furious at first. Luc’s first assist was on Reylynn Reinhart’s goal against Helsinki in game two. Way to get on the scoring board early, Luc! Luc’s first goal came at 11:30 of the first period against Prague in our 7^th game and it put Davos up 1-0. It was a deflection off of Brian Moreaus’s blistering slapper and Luc has the puck sitting on the shelf over his bed as we speak. A moment he’ll never forget.

 

He’d like to forget the hooking penalty he took in his very first game in the VHL. Hopefully he can look back and laugh when he’s scoring 30+ goals and celebrating a Cup win with his HC Davos teammates.

 

Tessier is still chasing being named one of the three stars on the night and his first hattie. But it will be fun to look for!

 

The second kind of highlight is an individual performance. You want your team to win first and foremost, but even if it isn’t your first, a hat trick is pretty dang cool even in a loss. A career best for blocked shots in a game can help you leave the ice with your head held high even if your team lost 5-2.

 

Focus on Player On-Ice Improvement

 

There’s a lot more to enjoy even when your team isn’t performing as you would like, but I’ll end with this one. Just as you can focus on moving the needle as a team – going from 30 wins in one season to 40 in the next – you can focus on season to season improvement as a player. Tessier is only projected to score 16 goals this season. Actually, now that I think on it, I’m pretty happy with 16 goals in his rookie season. But more importantly, I can use that as a benchmark for next season. Especially early on in a player’s career, I like to keep a spreadsheet of player performance - # of goals, assists, points, shots, and blocked shots, and also shot and face off win percentages. Lots of fun watching season goals climb from 16 to 25 to 33 to maybe 40+? Great enjoyment watching that face off win rate climb from 40.8% (yikes!) to over 50% to … well, how high CAN it go?

 

A Final Thought

 

If you aren’t having fun because your team isn’t winning, are you doing all of this? And I get it, if you are starting to lose any interest, you might be less active in the LR. You might read fewer Media Spots if any. But that is the time to get more involved in the league, not less. I’m fairly convinced that the more you dive into the VHL and immerse yourself, the more fun you are going to have – and it’s mostly independent of how your team is doing in this one little brief moment of time.

 

1667 words - Claiming for weeks ending May 30, June 6, and June 13

 

[Crstats23 329]

Review I like this, it’s a good way to show that while winning is great it’s not all that matters, I love how you broke down each category of what makes the league fun, great spacing and bolding of the new section made it easy to follow, only thing that could be added is maybe a picture.

 

rating 9.5/10

[Gustav 6,130]

Loving the energy from this! Our time will come one day, but in the meantime we might as well enjoy it.

[KC15 340]

5 hours ago, GustavMattias said:

Loving the energy from this! Our time will come one day, but in the meantime we might as well enjoy it.

Absolutely!  Faith, Grit, Success!

 

[KC15 340]

Claiming week 2 of 3.

[KC15 340]

Claiming week 3 of 3.