FH's Franchise Career (EHM05), Franchise 1: STL

[fireholder]

I'm fully aware that this game is supposedly harder, so I am fully prepared to resort to a "Franchise 2" If fired.

It's the beginning of a franchise, and that means trade and build!

************************************************************************************************
 St. Louis Blues_ - Friday September 3rd 2004
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========================================================================================================
 Roster
========================================================================================================

No.Name                        Position(s)    Nation         Born        Age  Height      Weight      Wages    Expires     Reputation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31   Bacashihua, Jason           G              USA            9-20-82     21   6'0''       174         $350,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
55   Backman, Christian          LD-RD          SWE            4-28-80     24   6'4''       196         $500,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
33   Boguniecki, Eric            C-RW           USA            5-6-75      29   5'8''       191         $1,100,00Jun. 2005   Good     
26   Cajanek, Petr               LW-C           CZE            8-18-75     29   5'11''      174         $700,000 Jun. 2005   V. Good  
50   Divis, Reinhard             G              AUT            7-4-75      29   5'11''      198         $500,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
10   Drake, Dallas               RW-LW          CAN            2-4-69      35   6'1''       189         $2,000,00Jun. 2005   V. Good  
5    Jackman, Barret             LD             CAN            3-5-81      23   6'1''       196         $800,000 Jun. 2005   V. Good  
17   Johnson, Ryan               C-RW           CAN            6-14-76     28   6'1''       198         $600,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
29   Khavanov, Alexander         LD             RUS            1-30-72     32   6'2''       202         $1,300,00Jun. 2005   V. Good  
40   Lalime, Patrick             G              CAN            7-7-74      30   6'2''       189         $2,600,00Jun. 2006   V. Good  
34   Low, Reed                   RW             CAN            6-21-76     28   6'3''       220         $700,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
21   Mayers, Jamal               RW             CAN            10-24-74    29   6'1''       216         $800,000 Jun. 2005   V. Good  
9    Pollock, Jame               RW             CAN            6-16-79     25   6'3''       207         $325,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
44   Pronger, Chris              LD             CAN            10-10-74    29   6'6''       218         $10,000,0Jun. 2005   Superb   
6    Roach, Andy                 RD-LD          USA            8-22-73     31   5'11''      185         $325,000 Jun. 2006   Ok       
42   Rycroft, Mark               RW-LW          CAN            7-12-78     26   5'11''      191         $1,200,00Jun. 2005   Good     
27   Salvador, Bryce             LD             CAN            2-11-76     28   6'2''       213         $1,200,00Jun. 2005   V. Good  
49   Savage, Brian               LW-RW          CAN            2-24-71     33   6'1''       198         $2,200,00Jun. 2005   V. Good  
15   Sejna, Peter                LW             SVK            10-5-79     24   5'11''      198         $1,400,00Jun. 2005   Good     
16   Sillinger, Mike             C-RW           CAN            6-29-71     33   5'11''      194         $1,300,00Jun. 2006   V. Good  
7    Tkachuk, Keith              LW             USA            3-28-72     32   6'2''       224         $10,000,0Jun. 2007   V. Good  
39   Weight, Doug                C              USA            1-21-71     33   5'11''      198         $8,500,00Jun. 2006   Superb   
2    Weinrich, Eric              LD             USA            12-19-66    37   6'1''       205         $1,700,00Jun. 2006   V. Good

My initial roster, free of Demitra and MacInnis. They are FAs, so I have tried signing them, to no avail so far. I always play in a firesale and create a strong team that will keep me a job for at least 10 years type method. The Blues are far too old and my players who aren't on my roster, my reserves, they all suck. With no real notables in prospects or the minors, I'm gonna have to build good. :/

[fireholder]

Camp 0405 Done
To the free agent pool I looked, for players to trade or personal favorites. The only bites I got were:

Al MacInnis (1.25 mil)
Pavol Demitra (3.5 mil)
Cliff Ronning (875,000)
Carl Corazzini (240,000)

At only 25, Corazzini seems to be a decent signing for any purpose, able to play any role. He has no weaknesses or strengths, averaging about 11-12 for every attribute. I hope he plays a fourth line/backup role well, or maybe supplies a little extra in any trade offer. He had 6 points in 4 games after camp. Ronning and Demitra are personal favorites, and I hope them and Mac all stick around after their playing careers come to a close.

From camp, one of my only decent prospects in Alexei Shkotov played good, with 3 points in 4 games, earning himself a contract for the following season. A player who joined the open tryout, Nick Lees, played impressive with 3 points in 4 games and also found himself signed.

Jay McClement's 6 points in 4 games cemented him a spot on the starting lineup, finally creeping out of Worcester.

For the next season, the Blues will bring in signed players Pavel Rosa and Brad Tapper when the ITW opens.

Brad Tapper had been playing well in Frolunda with Yan Stastny, who was signed to the Wings for the time when a transfer window opens. I plan on trading for him.

[fireholder]

************************************************************************************************
 St. Louis Blues_ - Friday September 17th 2004
************************************************************************************************


========================================================================================================
 Roster
========================================================================================================

No.Name                        Position(s)    Nation         Born        Age  Height      Weight      Wages    Expires     Reputation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
55   Backman, Christian          LD-RD          SWE            4-28-80     24   6'4''       196         $500,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
33   Boguniecki, Eric            C-RW           USA            5-6-75      29   5'8''       191         $1,100,00Jun. 2005   Good     
26   Cajanek, Petr               LW-C           CZE            8-18-75     29   5'11''      174         $700,000 Jun. 2005   Superb   
13   Corazzini, Carl             RW-C           USA            4-21-79     25   5'10''      180         $240,000 Jun. 2007   Good     
38   Demitra, Pavol              C-RW           SVK            11-29-74    29   6'0''       205         $3,300,00Jun. 2007   Superb   
50   Divis, Reinhard             G              AUT            7-4-75      29   5'11''      198         $500,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
10   Drake, Dallas               RW-LW          CAN            2-4-69      35   6'1''       189         $2,000,00Jun. 2005   V. Good  
5    Jackman, Barret             LD             CAN            3-5-81      23   6'1''       196         $800,000 Jun. 2005   V. Good  
17   Johnson, Ryan               C-RW           CAN            6-14-76     28   6'1''       198         $600,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
29   Khavanov, Alexander         LD             RUS            1-30-72     32   6'2''       202         $1,300,00Jun. 2005   V. Good  
40   Lalime, Patrick             G              CAN            7-7-74      30   6'2''       189         $2,600,00Jun. 2006   V. Good  
4    MacInnis, Al                RD             CAN            7-11-63     41   6'2''       202         $1,500,00Jun. 2006   V. Good  
21   Mayers, Jamal               RW             CAN            10-24-74    29   6'1''       216         $800,000 Jun. 2005   V. Good  
18   McClement, Jay              C-LW           CAN            3-2-83      21   6'1''       191         $550,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
44   Pronger, Chris              LD             CAN            10-10-74    29   6'6''       218         $10,000,0Jun. 2005   Superb   
6    Roach, Andy                 RD-LD          USA            8-22-73     31   5'11''      185         $325,000 Jun. 2006   Ok       
-    Ronning, Cliff              LW-C           CAN            10-1-65     38   5'8''       163         $875,000 Jun. 2005   Good     
27   Salvador, Bryce             LD             CAN            2-11-76     28   6'2''       213         $1,200,00Jun. 2005   V. Good  
49   Savage, Brian               LW-RW          CAN            2-24-71     33   6'1''       198         $2,200,00Jun. 2005   V. Good  
15   Sejna, Peter                LW             SVK            10-5-79     24   5'11''      198         $1,400,00Jun. 2005   Good     
16   Sillinger, Mike             C-RW           CAN            6-29-71     33   5'11''      194         $1,300,00Jun. 2006   V. Good  
7    Tkachuk, Keith              LW             USA            3-28-72     32   6'2''       224         $10,000,0Jun. 2007   V. Good  
39   Weight, Doug                C              USA            1-21-71     33   5'11''      198         $8,500,00Jun. 2006   Superb   
2    Weinrich, Eric              LD             USA            12-19-66    37   6'1''       205         $1,700,00Jun. 2006   V. Good  

All players in bold I either don't like, or I find expendable.

Notable players in Worcester:
D:
Aaron MacKenzie, Mike Mottau, Mike Stuart, Brett Scheffelmaier, Matt Walker

The first four are all decent average backup players. I hope Walker can become more.

O:
Konstantin Zakharov, Ryan Ramsey, Nick Lees, Reed Low, Mark Rycroft

None are of NHL calibre, and I rarely have an enforcer on the big club. My team seems strong from the roster, but when it comes to injuries, I can't bring up any decent forwards.

G:
None of my goalies are notable.

Upcoming 04/05 season
Ranked 8t in the NHL, with Demitra MVP, and Lalime key new face.

[crisby]

Since the best franchises I've followed in the past were played with teams I really don't like I am looking forward to this one. Gl!

[fireholder]

04/05 season, 25 games in

at this point i am 11-6-8-0, with 30 points, 3rd in the west, 4th best pk and 27th pp.

Lalime has played awesome, with Divis only getting one game.

Since the last update, transactions have been:

10/1/04: Gain Andrew Ference and Nikita Alexeev in the waiver draft, and lose Weinrich. I think it's been an overall great move, Weinrich would have been traded or released anyhow, Ference has been strong, and Alexeev has contributed at the NHL level, which I never thought would happen.

10/20/04: Trade! to FLA, Bryce Salvador, Petr Cajanek, Rights to Barulin and Beckford-Tseu and STL 2nd rounders in 08 and 06. to STL, Stephen Weiss, Grant McNeil, FLA 1st rounder in 06. I'm still undecided on this one, but since my defense seems alright and Weiss has played okay, I'll look to the additional first rounder as a silver lining.

11/7-9/04: Random decent FA signings, John Snowden, Brian COllins, Mark Nelson, Josh Green, and Mikael Samuelsson. Green and Samuelsson go straight into the lineup as 3rd and second liners, respectively. The rest are good, or at least decent, depth players. Lost nothing, so only positive reaction to these moves...

11/11/04: Peter Bondra signs as a FA for 1.4 million a season. I got him cheap, so I couldn't really let the oppurtunity go...

11/13/04: Chris Chelios signs one year at 1.2 million. I figured I'd leave him scratched unless a veteran fell to injury (as Pronger recently has). He's filling the backup vet role alright, since I won't put a 42 year old in the lineup over my younger guys.

11/19/04: San Jose offers what I can't refuse! from STL: Tkachuk, 05 second rounder to SJ for Milan Michalek, 05 first rounder. I jumped all over a 9+ mil cut in payroll, a good young guy, and the first rounder. Michalek has 4 in 8 for me since, Tkachuk 8 in 9 for the Sharks.



at the moment, Bondra and Pronger are injured, but my lines seem at least okay for now:

Ronning/Weight/Demitra
Savage/Weiss/Michalek
Green/Sillinger/Samuelsson
Alexeev/Boguniecki/Sejna
Khavanov/MacInnis
Jackman/Chelios
Backman/Ference
Lalime
Divis

************************************************************************************************
 St. Louis Blues_ - Sunday December 5th 2004
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================================================================================================
 2004-05 Season Total Stats
================================================================================================

No   Name                     GP  G   A   P   +--  PIM  SOG  ShAv R 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
14   Alexeev, Nikita          10  1   1   2   0    0    11   9.1  7.20 
55   Backman, Christian       25  0   2   2   4    12   8    0.0  7.56 
33   Boguniecki, Eric         25  3   6   9   2    6    19   15.8 7.32 
20   Bondra, Peter            4   2   0   2   1    4    8    25.0 7.00 
7    Chelios, Chris           3   0   0   0   -2   2    4    0.0  7.67 
-    Collins, Brian           0   0   0   0   0    0    0    -    ---- 
38   Demitra, Pavol           25  4   9   13  1    8    65   6.2  7.56 
50   Divis, Reinhard          1   0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.00 
10   Drake, Dallas            3   0   0   0   0    4    1    0.0  7.00 
6    Ference, Andrew          23  2   4   6   1    20   23   8.7  7.65 
23   Green, Josh              13  1   1   2   0    4    18   5.6  7.15 
5    Jackman, Barret          25  0   4   4   -2   78   22   0.0  7.24 
29   Khavanov, Alexander      25  2   6   8   6    10   34   5.9  7.64 
40   Lalime, Patrick          24  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.79 
2    MacInnis, Al             25  2   8   10  4    14   29   6.9  7.64 
18   McClement, Jay           12  1   0   1   0    2    6    16.7 7.00 
21   Michalek, Milan          8   3   1   4   -2   4    20   15.0 7.50 
44   Pronger, Chris           24  1   15  16  4    26   55   1.8  7.75 
77   Ronning, Cliff           25  11  8   19  -1   10   59   18.6 7.64 
19   Samuelsson, Mikael       13  6   0   6   5    0    37   16.2 7.31 
49   Savage, Brian            25  6   6   12  -1   10   72   8.3  7.40 
15   Sejna, Peter             19  1   3   4   1    2    17   5.9  7.16 
16   Sillinger, Mike          25  3   5   8   0    8    34   8.8  7.40 
39   Weight, Doug             25  4   15  19  5    18   52   7.7  7.80 
9    Weiss, Stephen           17  3   6   9   4    2    31   9.7  7.71

[Cujo_31]

good job, keep up the good play/management

[p3c]

Hax0r! Ban! ._.

[fireholder]

43 games in, season 04/05

I meant to stop at 41 for the halfway. . My record stands at 18-12-12-1.

There have been no player moves whatsoever, transactions-wise.

During my first group of games, I relied on Ronning, who it is awesome to have back in a Blues jersey. :D In this group of games, Weight had a recently ended 27 game point streak! Though he is still just under a point a game, it was something that added to the team's success.

I fired Mike Kitchener as coach, despite the unfavorable fan outcome. With his replacement doing barely better, a new replacement will be found shortly, regardless of the bad publicity.

My starting lineup now stands at:
Weiss/Weight/Demitra
Ronning/Sillinger/Bondra
Savage/Boguniecki/Michalek
Green/Sejna/Samuelsson
Pronger/MacInnis
Khavanov/Ference
Jackman/Backman
Lalime
Divis

************************************************************************************************
 St. Louis Blues_ - Wednesday January 12th 2005
************************************************************************************************


================================================================================================
 2004-05 Season Total Stats
================================================================================================

No   Name                     GP  G   A   P   +--  PIM  SOG  ShAv R 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
55   Backman, Christian       43  1   2   3   9    16   20   5.0  7.56 
33   Boguniecki, Eric         43  5   7   12  -3   10   38   13.2 7.33 
20   Bondra, Peter            13  4   1   5   -1   10   32   12.5 7.31 
7    Chelios, Chris           15  2   3   5   0    10   23   8.7  7.60 
-    Collins, Brian           0   0   0   0   0    0    0    -    ---- 
38   Demitra, Pavol           43  12  13  25  8    20   117  10.3 7.60 
50   Divis, Reinhard          1   0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.00 
10   Drake, Dallas            9   1   0   1   0    10   11   9.1  7.33 
6    Ference, Andrew          41  3   7   10  1    32   39   7.7  7.63 
23   Green, Josh              25  3   5   8   2    10   37   8.1  7.32 
5    Jackman, Barret          43  0   10  10  -4   114  31   0.0  7.40 
29   Khavanov, Alexander      43  5   10  15  -1   16   59   8.5  7.58 
40   Lalime, Patrick          42  0   0   0   0    0    0    -    7.62 
2    MacInnis, Al             33  2   14  16  0    16   40   5.0  7.70 
21   Michalek, Milan          26  6   3   9   -7   6    51   11.8 7.42 
44   Pronger, Chris           39  3   21  24  8    36   74   4.1  7.74 
77   Ronning, Cliff           43  12  15  27  -2   24   110  10.9 7.56 
19   Samuelsson, Mikael       31  6   4   10  1    2    44   13.6 7.23 
49   Savage, Brian            43  10  10  20  -6   10   108  9.3  7.37 
15   Sejna, Peter             37  4   4   8   -3   6    40   10.0 7.14 
16   Sillinger, Mike          43  5   8   13  -5   12   59   8.5  7.35 
39   Weight, Doug             43  12  28  40  16   26   93   12.9 7.88 
9    Weiss, Stephen           35  8   18  26  11   8    71   11.3 7.74

[NicDutch]

Brian Collins is a nice signing.

[fireholder]

82 games, 04/05

Bombed.

28-36-17-1. in 40 games I only won 10. Transactions this time, too.

1-15-05: Signed Maksin Sushinsky from overseas. He started off with 8 points in 8 games, then died when the rest of the team did, getting like 4 or 5 points in 25 games. :(. He is 30 years old, and a good strong 2/3 liner. For only 1 mil a season, I may trade him off, now...

2-16-05: A trade without any real yay or nay, I got Radoslav Suchy for Sejna, the rights to Fitzgerald and rights to some bum. Suchy played awesome for me, despite the losses... Sejna had played awful...

2-27-05: Last in the line of about 7 goalies on my team, San Jose offered my Sanford for their 3rd rounder. I couldn't refuse.

3-8-05: Upset with losing, I put Pronger on the block, as LA offered Alexander Frolov and Petr Kanko for Pronger. I accepted.



My downward spiral was very devastating and in no way deliberate. I still have no present shot at Crosby, since I finished tenth. I intend on trying to trade more vets for draft picks, but players like Sillinger and Savage aren't going to give me too much. I've got several Key signings for next season, so hopefully I see a turn around. :/