In the spring of 2018, Thanos snapped his fingers and annihilated half of all life in the universe. This affected, among other things, the 2017/18 NHL season. Given that the league shut down for COVID, it feels safe to assume that the rest of the season would have been scrubbed amid mass death and chaos. But life goes on, and by 2018/19 it was time for the NHL to launch a new season. With half the league and its fans turned to dust. They must have really pushed the jersey ads to make up for lost revenue.
What happened was an incredible tragedy, but also an opportunity. Will a career journeyman step up and lead his team to glory? Will minor leaguers thrust into the spotlight before their time stumble or thrive? Will old veterans come out of retirement, or will players who couldn’t quite make the league pre-Snap emerge as heroes? How many jokes would r/hockey manage to tell about Arizona’s attendance not being affected?
To set this up, I ran the 2018/19 opening night rosters through random.org, then deleted^* the first half of each roster, rounded down. Some teams would be lucky enough to lose fringe prospects and injured players, while others would lose franchise stars. Would teams take advantage of good snap luck? Overcome bad luck? At least every franchise had their cap problems solved.
^* I couldn’t figure out how to delete players in FHM, so I changed all the affected players to free agents born in 1939 suffering from severe concussions that will keep them out of hockey for 999 days. If any team still wants to sign them under those conditions, I suppose they’re welcome to give concussed senior citizens a shot.
I’m not going to post the complete casualty list unless you fine people would like to see them, but here a few notable highlights on each team’s memorial wall. Again this isn’t exhaustive, and please keep in mind that my hockey knowledge is hardly encyclopedic so my idea of notable might differ from yours. Please feel free to inquire about individual players and I'll try to fill you in.
Anaheim: Silfverberg, Kesler, Fowler, Schenn, Cogliano.
Arizona: Strome, Grabner, Hossa (remember how they briefly owned his contract?).
Boston: Backes, Rask, Chara, Krejci, Pastrnak, Krug.
Buffalo: Ristolainen, Okposo, Berglund.
Calgary: Smith, Hanifin, Bennett, Monahan, Lindholm, Gaudeau, Giordano, Backlund. Fuck.
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hi r/Hockey,
My name is Jeff Riddolls, and for going on eight years I've been the producer of the Franchise Hockey Manager series of hockey management games for Out of the Park Developments - if you're into baseball, you may also be familiar with our other game, Out of the Park Baseball. We've been officially licensed by the NHL for the last five years, and now we're about to release FHM7 tomorrow. A little later than usual but with a completely re-built simulation engine that, for the first time, lets you watch the games being played out with full animation.
So, AMA about the game, what's new this year, the way we're handling this freakshow of a 20-21 season, the effects of extended lockdowns on a small game developer, what's in store for our future, or anything else you can come up with. I'll be here from 1 to 4 PM (ET), and will check in again later tonight. And I have five Steam codes to give away for tomorrow's release to randomly-selected posters of questions; I'll post the winners later today and Adam, our community manager, will be in touch with you via PM if you win.
Verification: https://twitter.com/FranchiseHockey/status/1338659264487772164
[20-21 Playoffs, as simulated in my last test game an hour ago] (https://i.imgur.com/gJSFU7m.png)
Steam FHM7 Store Page (with the new feature list, screenshots and the trailer)
Subreddit: /r/FranchiseHockey/
Twitter: @FranchiseHockey
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FranchiseHockeyManager
Our Website: www.ootpdevelopments.com
Edit: thanks, everyone, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow so I'm calling it a night. I may take a quick look in later to see if there are any new questions. FHM7 will be releasing at 6 AM Pacific/9 Eastern tomorrow morning.
Congratulations to the winners of the FHM7 Steam keys; Adam will be in touch with you via PM:
/u/JSnow93
/u/Peeter_With_2_Es
/u/rockandrock44
/u/Secret_Owl
/u/Storm7367
Connor McDavid is arguably the greatest hockey player of his generation. To me, as a Flames fan, he is also a huge pain in the ass. I have therefore used my video game powers to alter the hockey timeline. In the 2019 off-season, McDavid decides to vacation in Japan. While there, he falls madly in love with a Japanese woman. So in love, in fact, that he chooses to walk away from his NHL career to be with her in her native country. He will now ply his trade in Asia League Ice Hockey, or the ALIH. How will this affect both leagues?
For the unfamiliar, the ALIH is a league made up of four Japanese teams, two South Korean teams, and one team in Russia's far east. Founded in 2003 after Japan's national league was struggling and South Korea's had folded entirely, the league plays 36 regular season games followed by two best of three playoff rounds for the right to hoist the literally named Championship Trophy (FHM6, which sometimes has inaccurate or out of date playoff formats for fringe leagues, makes them best of fives). The league's rules are mostly similar to the NHL, with the most notable difference being a regular season points structure of three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime or shootout win, one for an overtime or shootout loss, and zero for a regulation loss. Also, their rookie award is called Young Guy of the Year, which is irrelevant but fun.
While primarily a developmental league that's not well known in the west, several NHL alumni have spent time in one of the league's handful of import slots. NHL journeyman Jamie McLennan, for example, spent the final year of his career with the Nippon Paper Cranes, where he posted a .921 save percentage. McDavid signs with their successor team, the East Hokkaido Cranes, located in his wife's hometown of Kushiro. While McDavid could no doubt command more than the $15,000/year salary he agrees to, he wants to be a team player. The Cranes are on the bubble, finishing fourth in the league last year before advancing to the final and losing to the Russian PSK Sakhalin. McDavid thinks he can help the Cranes get over the hump, and perhaps even form an Asian dynasty.
A quick note: Yes, I know that, in the real world, McDavid would probably score more or less at will in the ALIH. FHM6 takes a somewhat restrained view of skill disparities, but also remember that this is an alternate universe. McDavid wants to be a family man too. While his stats may not be quite as ludicrous as you'd expect, McDav
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hello,
My name is Lance, and I've always been a big hockey fan. The main issue is that no one in my family really likes or cares about hockey, and I don't own a console and unfortunately can't play NHL games. For the last 5-6 months, I have been playing NHL 2k9 on Dolphin. The game crashes, and is just not the same, and the fun has left. So I came here, to ask for an equivalent gift card for it. FHM would allow me to play something I've always wanted to play, and it would be amazing as it wouldn't be in low resolution, and wouldn't crash a lot!
Now what is FHM?
The Franchise Hockey Manager series returns for the 2019-20 season with plenty of new additions to the deepest, most authentic hockey strategy gaming experience you can find.
Choose one of 32 leagues around the globe and select a team to guide to glory, including a chance at the ultimate prize: FHM6 is licensed by the NHL®, allowing you to take the reins of your favorite franchise to capture the Stanley Cup®. Or create your own hockey universe, or even choose a historical NHL® start date from any year in league history right back to the beginning in 1917. Sign free agents, trade players, draft the next crop of superstars, and much more!
This is as close as you'll get to sitting in a General Manager's office without drawing a paycheck from a team. Oversee team finances, hire your staff, make trades, sign free agents, and draft the newest generation of stars as you try to build a championship team - and then make it into a dynasty!
All I ask is for an equivalent gift card so I can purchase this amazing game!
Thank you for considering gifting this game. It would mean a lot!
The Quarantine has gotten me interested in playing a little bit of sports management, and I was wondering if there is a CFB one? Or at least football in general?
I saw someone else do this using NHL 20 and thought it was a pretty cool read.
As much as I love the NHL series of games, I prefer FHM for my simulations. So
I set the sim to AI and started at the 2019/2020 season.
I used all default settings and set AI to manage roster, lines, tactics, training,
scouting and drafting.
The purpose was to see how FHM sims a full career for Cauflield, but I'll call out
some other interesting things that came from the sim as I go. This will be a lengthy
post, so here's the summary for those only curious about the final results.
TL;RD
Cole Caulfield had a great career. He played 15 seasons, 13 with the Habs.
He signed with Nashville after 13 seasons with the Habs. Nashville traded him to
Columbus and he played 1 more season with them before retiring.
Career stats: 1154GP 512G 473A 985P
11 30+ Goal seasons
5 40+ Goal seasons
All rookie team
1 Calder trophy
1 All star game
1 Maurice Richard trophy
94th all time scorer, behind Dave Keon, and ahead of Maurice Richard
Tied 41st all time goals scored with Gilbert Perrault
Aside from following Caulfield, the Habs were TERRIBLE they made the playoffs
only twice in 16 seasons. They had the 1st overall pick once. They also had
a 2nd overall, 3rd overall a couple of 4th overalls and the rest in the 6-9
overall range. Maybe if they didn't use 3 of their top 10 picks over the years
to draft goalies?!?
Here is a year by year breakdown with interesting notes along the way.
Here's a link to my data on imgur.
Year 1 (Sept. 17 2019, age: 18, Wisconsin Badgers)
CC ranked 2nd among Habs prospects
CC finished his season in Wisconsin with 32GP 18G 11A 29P
Dallas wins Stanley cup
Habs miss the playoffs finishing 25th overall
Chicago drafts Alexei Lafreniere 1st overall
With the 7th overall pick Habs draft RW Dawson Mercer out of the QMJHL
Gallagher led the team with 77GP 33G 46A 79P
Suzuki with 75GP 11G 28A 39P, good for 6th on the team in scoring
Domi signs very team friendly contract extension 4 years $5.4M
Primeau was called up for 1 game, he lost, giving up 4 goals
Kotkaniemi followed his real life progression and had a bad 2nd season
79GP 11G 16A 27P
Year 2 (Oct. 2nd, age: 19, Wisconsin Badgers)
CC ranked 1st among Habs prospects
CC finished his season in Wisconsin with 32GP 15G 12A 27P
Habs traded Arturri Lehkonen to LA for Jonathon Quick
... keep reading on reddit ➡We all know that Wheel Team Bad. But, with all the jokes about the Detroit Red Wings being a glorified AHL team, I wanted to know if they could actually handle the best competition the AHL has to offer. Inspired by the excellent and often very silly simulations run by our friends over at r/baseball, I present to you a not terribly scientific experiment run using Franchise Hockey Manager 6.
Unfortunately, to my knowledge the FHM series does not yet allow custom leagues with teams pulled from multiple real leagues. We can, however, stage series between any two teams in the game, and I think it's reasonable to assume that the 2019-20 Red Wings would handily qualify for the AHL's playoffs. So we're going to jump straight into the playoffs by using the AHL's current playoff picture. The Red Wings will take the place of their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, who currently sit third in the Central Division. For all the other playoff series, I will assume the higher current seed wins. This means the Detroit Red Wings' path to the Calder Cup will take them up against the...
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Iowa Wild
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Milwaukee Admirals
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Tucson Roadrunners
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Belleville Senators
Let's dive right in.
In the AHL, the first round is a best of five, so the Red Wings will start with two on the road in Iowa. The Wings take both games, but they're close -- a 3-2 win with a third period power play goal from Anthony Mantha making the difference, followed by a back and forth 4-3 victory where a late Dylan Larkin goal gives the Wings the W. But back home at Little Caesars Arena the Wings easily complete the sweep, outshooting the Wild 36-12 for a 5-2 victory powered by a 2 goal, +3 performance from, uh, Johan Franzen, who FHM6 has apparently decided has returned from long term injured reserve just to help the Wings on their journey. It's a bold decision to risk another concussion to chase the glory of the Calder Cup, but his presence will be a boon as the Wings move on to Milwaukee.
Game one in Milwaukee sees the Wings suffer their first loss of the AHL playoffs, a 2-0 shutout where AHL journeyman Troy Grosenick stops all 33 shots he faces. But the Wings bounce back in game two, taking a 4-3 win where Dylan Larkin puts up two goals and prospect Taro Hirose contributes three assists. Back home in Detroit for game three, the Wings go down one early but bounce back with a three goal third for a 3-1 win. However, the series is evened up in game four, where a red ho
... keep reading on reddit ➡
The ONLY NHL®-licensed game for PC. Unprecedented realism, featuring NHL® logos, uniforms, and histories for all 31 teams.
LIVE EVERY MOMENT.
With a brand new, built-from-the-ground-up 2D in-game engine, you see, feel, and can act on every moment in every game. Complete control is now in your hands!
REDESIGNED SCOUTING!
Better visuals and better data put you in a great position to find difference-makers.
HISTORICAL INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS!
International games have been added to historical play, so you can control a team in legendary events like the 1972 Summit Series and the Miracle on Ice in 1980. Plus! A large number of new historical players have been added to the game.
MORE CUSTOMIZATION!
Major additions to customization options for customer leagues, including the number of leagues as well as playoff options – and more!
2020-21 TEAM ROSTERS
FHM 7 offers dozens of playable leagues for the 2020-21 season, including the National Hockey League®, minor leagues in North America, the Canadian major junior leagues, and leagues across multiple levels of European hockey. All included leagues feature real current rosters, based on countless hours of detailed research and work on player ratings.
REWORKED DRAFT SCREEN!
All new mock drafts, draft reviews, and scout recommendations have been added!
CONFIGURABLE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION!
Specify if you want changes like league foundings/closures, team expansion and deactivation, and rule changes to continue as they did historically – or not!
MORE FARM TEAM CONTROL!
Set the lineups and strategies and staff for your farm teams for the very first time.
SCHEDULE EDITING!
A long-requested feature, schedules can now be exported for editing, and then re-imported.
WAIVER AND INTRALEAGUE DRAFTS!
The beloved Waiver Draft has been added to historical play in the years it existed, along with its predecessor, the Intraleague Draft.
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To see images and download head to https://gmgames.org/franchise-hockey-manager-fhm-7/
11 NHL franchises have never won a Stanley Cup. Four have never even played in a Cup Final. If you watch sports solely to see your team win a championship, you will likely be disappointed. In a league of 31 teams playing a game where the way a piece of rubber bounces across a sheet of ice can change destinies, even the professionals have to accept a level of influence from an indifferent universe. As fans, watching it all unfold without being able to offer any input at all can be maddening. Some fans joke, or seriously worry, that they won’t see a championship in their lifetime. But, thanks to Franchise Hockey Manger, we can simulate as many lifetimes as we need. We will follow the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks, and Vegas Golden Knights until they have all lifted the greatest trophy in sports. I will not manipulate the simulation to help them. You may argue that letting a computer program play this all out will produce an entirely arbitrary result. I would argue that you’re probably right, but the cruel whimsy of fate is part of why we love sports to begin with.
2019/20: This season is replayed from scratch, starting with the original opening night lineups. In the real world, just four of our 11 protagonists were in a playoff spot before the shutdown. FHM gives us four as well, although the field of Buffalo, San Jose, Columbus, and Winnipeg looks different than what we were expecting. Buffalo and San Jose go out with just a single win between them, but the Jets and Blue Jackets cruise to their respective Conference Finals. The Jackets defeat the Leafs, but the Jets lose to the Flames. Who then go on to defeat the Jackets. This is the one situation where I don’t want the Flames to win, and they’ve gone and done just that. Let’s hope that, and those three series going 6, 6, and 6, are not omens.
2020/21: I’ve excised the Seattle expansion, because its fans and future fans have not yet suffered any real-life disappointment. This experiment is about alleviating suffering, or perhaps prolonging it to horrifying extremes. Seattle’s pain must develop naturally.
The Canucks, Jets, and Blue Jackets all win their divisions, and the Sabres and Sharks qualify too. San Jose and Buffalo again exit with a whimper and, while our trio of division winners all advance to the second
... keep reading on reddit ➡The Crosby/Ovechkin rivalry helped define a generation of hockey. While arguably exaggerated for the sake of creating a storyline, there’s no denying that both players gave the sport some desperately needed attention after an entire year was lost to a lockout. Combined, they’ve won four Cups, five Hart trophies, three Art Ross trophies, 10 Rocket Richard trophies, and many other accolades while putting up 2,427 regular season points and winning over countless fans. It’s hard to imagine what hockey would look like today without the contribution of these two men. Both players have also shaped their respective franchises for well over a decade… so let’s horrify Pittsburgh and Washington supporters by making Crosby a lifelong Capital and Ovi a lifelong Penguin. Will using Franchise Hockey Manger’s Historical Mode to alter the very fabric of reality have disturbing consequences? Let’s find out!
2005/06: Sidney Crosby, the Washington Capitals’ exciting new star, has an incredible rookie season, putting up 137 points (+35 to reality) while cruising to the league’s scoring title. Ovi’s 95 points are nothing to sneeze at either, although that’s -9 to what he put up in real life. Ovi also has to sit on the sidelines while Crosby heads to the playoffs in his first year, although the Capitals are promptly swept aside by the Buffalo Sabres. In the Stanley Cup Finals the Red Wings, still in the west at this point, lose in seven games to the Ottawa Senators, who render Canada’s Cup drought a footnote.
2006/07: Crosby “regresses” to 104 points (-18 to his real career best of 120), good for third in the scoring race behind Dany Heatley and Henrik Zetterberg. Ovi, missing 10 games to injury, only puts up 80 points (-12), and both the Capitals and Penguins miss the playoffs. The Red Wings return to the Finals to finish the job they started last year, taking down the Canadiens in five games. The Wings were never seriously challenged this year, losing just three games in the entire postseason after a league best 136 point regular season, while Pens and Caps fans hope that this kind of performance is in their future.
2007/08: The Penguins’ Ovechkin has his first truly impressive year, winning the scoring race with 109 points. Crosby, playing just 49 games due to a partially torn UCL, puts up 63 points, and the Capitals slump without him. In Ovi’s first taste of playoff hockey, the top seeded Penguins sweep aside the Range
... keep reading on reddit ➡Fastspring: https://ootpdevelopments.onfastspring.com/fhm/
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1345870/Franchise_Hockey_Manager_7/
