Thoughts on Pro AM

[birb 793]

This is my thoughts on the Pro AM offseason tourney that happened this past offseason.

 

I signed up to Pro AM because i saw there was a need for player. At first i mistook it for the old Junior Showcase that isn't done anymore so i thought i would have some ice time but it is not a M players tournament. So I look at my stats after the first 2 days and i see i have barely 11 minutes of ice time which i feel like is low specially because this is a "for fun" tournament and to give people a chance to GM in the league. I ended up doing absolutely nothing all tournament, playing barely 12 min a game. If i knew that i would basically be used like a bot i wouldn't have signed up. I think that there should be a minimum of % that human players should play if there's not a minimum already because it's just not fun if a player is stuck on the 3rd line with like 10% ice time.

 

In the end, maybe Pro AM should just be for VHL players if its just gonna be barely any time for lower TPE players in an offseason tournament that technically doesn't give anything.

[LucyXpher 1,983]

The first ProAm with a new player can definitely be tough, and all of us who enjoy the tournament have definitely been there.  I think one of the realities was also that some teams had more than 6 forwards which means somebody draws the short straw and has to play 3rd line only.  
 

I found my first ProAm to be fun in a way, even though I didn’t get hardly any points and also played limited minutes.  We all start as little baby players, but it’s motivating to see how we compare at first and how much better we can get . That was my experience anyway.  
 

Anyway, it’s a totally optional tournament so if you don’t like it, there’s no pressure to join!  But I still think it’s worth being involved in since there’s not much else happening in the offseason

[birb 793]

1 hour ago, LucyXpher said:

I think one of the realities was also that some teams had more than 6 forwards which means somebody draws the short straw and has to play 3rd line only.

i mean i've been in the league for 7 years, this is not my first offseason tournament but its def pretty boring when you're relegated to this. When i was GMing those kind of tournament, even if i had more than 6 forwards i still gave ice time to the 3rd line because its just not fun and if i was a first gen i would be pretty bummed out of not having anything

[LucyXpher 1,983]

45 minutes ago, birb said:

i mean i've been in the league for 7 years, this is not my first offseason tournament but its def pretty boring when you're relegated to this. When i was GMing those kind of tournament, even if i had more than 6 forwards i still gave ice time to the 3rd line because its just not fun and if i was a first gen i would be pretty bummed out of not having anything

Playing so little is not ideal, but it’s also kinda part of the experience in a way, especially when teams are trying to balance more than 6 forwards on a roster.  Like your 200 TPE player is going to get caved against 1200 TPE people.  Yes, it’s an offseason tournament for fun, but I also think it’s a little unreasonable to expect to get as much ice time as a player with 1000 more TPE.  
 

Maybe that’s not what you’re suggesting, but I see you had about 10 minutes per game in 6 playoff games.  If that’s not enough, your GM I’m sure would have accommodated a request for more time if you had asked.  And next season if you play again, you’re likely to have an increased role and more ice time.  But I’m very confident your GM would have given you more time if you asked.  
 

I do think the Junior Showcase Tournament should be brought back for players in your TPE range tho.  It hasn’t run the last few seasons because apparently we didn’t have enough players.  But that’s what the JST is for. The ProAm isn’t even an official VHL tournament.