But he'll be on the AHL roster won't he? So you can technically call him up to the big leagues and play with him. Of course, this will only be an option in SP.

End of the month. The rookies need to play six games to be allowed to be included in the rosters as per NHLPA guidelines and apparently the rosters are taking a bit longer as well due to them needing to keep track of AHL transactions. Should be out before the end of October is what I've heard. We'll see.

I think the rule is actually 10 games.

gellar

Ah, could be. I know a few years ago it was just a single game, and then they increased it. Don't know where I heard six from, it seems like a random number but I know I read that somewhere. 10 does sound more realistic though.

In either case, don't expect it much before November.

End of the month. The rookies need to play six games to be allowed to be included in the rosters as per NHLPA guidelines and apparently the rosters are taking a bit longer as well due to them needing to keep track of AHL transactions. Should be out before the end of October is what I've heard. We'll see.

NHL 08
Maybe some CoD 3 since I'm almost finished the game.
NHL 08
NHL 08

and probably a little bit more NHL 08. It's quickly creeping up the list as one of my favourite games of all-time.

I have the same issue with Alfredsson when playing Ottawa.

Oh, and if anyone wants to hook up for a game sometime, my Gamertag is JayDee93.

I've been lurking here for the past month since I got my Xbox but decided to finally jump in and try to blend in with the rest of the community (for those that post on OO as well, my tag there is J.D. so you may have seen me around). I love sports games and I've read almost every thread on every sports game to come out in 2007, trying to judge which ones to buy for my new system.

The point of this post was not to gloat how good I've become. Far from that. The point is that I cannot remember a single hockey game I've played in the past where your playstyle and strategy greatly affects your ability to win games. Most games have been about taking control of the closest player to the puck, trying to kill him with the big bodycheck, and then speed-bursting up the ice to set up another one-timer. This is nothing like real hockey and if you play that style in NHL 08 you WILL get torched online.

Amen!!

Good stuff!

Hope Shifty doesn't read this!

Anytime I get check happy OFFLINE I get destroyed by the AI.  I have to tell myself... if they are on the rush, hipchecks inside my blueline = LOSE.  It's a hard habit to break at times.

gellar

I find myself doing it from time to time. If I get scored on after missing a check I find it strangely "satisfying" that I got scored on due to my stupidity. It's the goals that float in from the blue line when the other player clearly just wanted to get the puck towards the net that upsets me. If I'm going to get beat I want it to be because you took me off my game and capitalized on my mistakes, not that you peppered my goalie with 45 long range shots from inside the blue line and my goalie let 3 trickle in. Those losses bug me.

Yeaaah, once I watched the vid, the 360 was off.

I wouldn't have posted it if it squeezed between the leg pads.  The puck dipped under ice level, disappeared completely, and popped back up.

Believe me, before posting a video, I took a look with numerous camera angles to validate the glitch.

I thought it was a random video posted on youtube that showed what you were describing. From that video it's inconclusive, but if that's what you say happened I have no doubt. I personally haven't seen anything like that, but if it starts happening I'll be pretty upset as well.

Man, I am really souring on this game.

On an impossible rebound angle, Malkin slapped the puck towards a TOTALLY blocked off net.  The puck dipped UNDER ICE LEVEL and came back up in the goal.

Sorry for the crappy quality (and the fact the bar covers most of it)...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jLTzZ1_4dN0

After initially enjoying most sports offerings this year, there seems to be more bugs, more annoying glitches, ridiculous AI and countless other issues.  If this is next-gen sport gaming, count me OUT.

It's really hard to see because the bar is in the way (which can be removed during replays), but I'm not sure if the puck went under the ice or actually squeezed between the goalies skates under the pads. It looks like it may have squeezed through both skates below where the pads come down. Again, it's hard to see because of the bar, but if that's the case than Malkin is a freaking sniper!

This is probably the first NHL game since, maybe 2001, that I am enjoying the more I play it. It plays like a real game of hockey. I have played 26 "quick" ranked vs games so far as well as an uncountable number of single player matches. I went 4-1 in my first five ranked games. I then promptly went 0-10. I was confused, how did I get so bad so quickly? I wasn't having trouble scoring, I was routinely putting about 2-4 goals in per game, but I was getting beat 6-4, 5-3, 4-3, etc. So clearly my defensive game was the problem.

During the last section of my 0-10 stretch I realized I was letting my oppenents get into the slot too easily and they were picking the corner with ease. Like in real hockey, if you give guys time in the slot to pick their shots, they'll burn you every time. So I adjusted my defensive strategy. I take control of a forward on the backcheck and let my CPU teammates clear the net. I float around the perimiter of the defensive "box" in the zone, snapping out pokechecks to people that get too close, knocking the puck away. If they try to pass inside or cut in on me, one of my CPU defensemen is there to shut them down. I cut down on scoring chances in the slot. As such, my goals against plummeted from about 4 per game to around 2.

Of course, if you give good players enough time they will find a way to score, regardless of your defensive strategy. So I decided to try and revamp my offensive strategy as well. In my first 5 games (4-1) I was moving the puck well, setting up opening and opportunities. In my next 10 (0-10) I was always in panic mode, scrambling to catch up and score the tying goal. My game had shifted to "streak down the wing, center the puck, hope the one-timer goes in, retreat back on D". I decided to go back to a puck control game, cycle it down low, pass it back to the point, keep it to the perimeter and pounce on opening in the slot. So far the strategy has had two major benefits. One, by keeping my average possession time up around 1 minute per "rush" before I turn it over means less scoring chances for my opponent. Two, I'm scoring realistic goals at realistic times. Slappers into traffic from the point find their way past the goalie. Putting a deke on an overzealous checker and walking around him into the open slot and roofing it glove side works very well. Setting up the back door bang-bang one-timer play is another option available. It's no longer "shoot and pray" for a lucky bounce or for the goalie to wiff. Most of my goals are through hard work, not luck.

So how have I fared since I overhauled my game? I was 4-11 at the time I decided to re-work my game. I am now 14-12. I've gone 10-1 since, beating my opponents by scores of 2-1, 3-2,  etc. I've beaten people ranked in the top 2000. I consistently beat my opponents in time on attack, sometimes by almost 2-1. I expect my opponents to get harder as I player higher ranked players as I win more games. But even now, it's still a challenge to win. Every game is fun and exciting.

The point of this post was not to gloat how good I've become. Far from that. The point is that I cannot remember a single hockey game I've played in the past where your playstyle and strategy greatly affects your ability to win games. Most games have been about taking control of the closest player to the puck, trying to kill him with the big bodycheck, and then speed-bursting up the ice to set up another one-timer. This is nothing like real hockey and if you play that style in NHL 08 you WILL get torched online.

I have also taken my game offline and tried to beat the computer on Superstar. I have beaten the computer twice in two tries, both by 2-1 scores playing as an NHL team. I tried once to get the achievement of beating an NHL team with and AHL team in Superstar mode (I played the Marlies vs. the Leafs). We were tied late 1-1, until the computer scored on a nifty passing play with two minutes remaining. They scored again when I pulled my goalie to pull out a 3-1. I'm going to try again tonight but I do feel that if I stay within my game plan I can pull this off eventually.

Sorry for the long post, but I needed to share my thoughts as I haven't been this excited of have had this much fun playing a video game in a long, long time.

Two words: NHL '08

I'm Canadian and NHL '08 was one of the main reasons I bought my Xbox last month.

[The Penguins are 0-28-1 the last two seasons when Crosby doesn't score.]

Crosby plays well, they could win or lose.
Crosby plays poorly, they could win or lose.

Sorry, I had to jump out of lurker status just to refute this statement.

From a December 27th, 2006 article:

"Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer, went scoreless for the second night in a row after scoring in his previous 10 games. Crosby also didn't score in a 3-0 loss at New Jersey on Tuesday. The Penguins are 0-28-1 the last two seasons when Crosby doesn't score."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2006122716&prov=ap

I remember hearing that stat, too.  It's insane.

What's more insane? The fact that the Penquins have not won when Crosby doesn't score or that Crosby has only not scored in 29 games since October 2005?

[The Penguins are 0-28-1 the last two seasons when Crosby doesn't score.]

Crosby plays well, they could win or lose.
Crosby plays poorly, they could win or lose.

Sorry, I had to jump out of lurker status just to refute this statement.

From a December 27th, 2006 article:

"Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer, went scoreless for the second night in a row after scoring in his previous 10 games. Crosby also didn't score in a 3-0 loss at New Jersey on Tuesday. The Penguins are 0-28-1 the last two seasons when Crosby doesn't score."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2006122716&prov=ap

I'm playing on the new Drak'Thul PVP server. Horde Tauren Hunter named Snork (currently level 15).

Occasionally, I'm ashamed to be a Canadian

It could be much, much worse. You could be American!!!  

Say what????

http://www.canoe.ca/JamMovies/oct14_bond-sun.html

Brosnon was one of the better Bonds. Big mistake, IMO.

This is what the synopsis is of next week's episode, from abc.com

*SPOILERS*

Jack is near delirious from lack of sleep and struggles to overcome the haunting events that brought him to Australia and, subsequently, to the island. Meanwhile, Boone gets caught in a treacherous riptide, the pregnant Claire's health takes a bad turn, and a thief may have stolen the last bottles of water.

*END SPOILERS*

Looks like more questions and no answers. But that's ok, assuming that it's a 22 episode season, I don't expect any answers until at least episode 15 or so. I'm a 24 junkie, I expect to be strung along and teased as long as possible.

The R+P issue has no bearing on my decision to stay. The only thing that would make me search for another forum is if the site continued to be Console only. However, I already see some positive things happening with the creation of the new PC Games forum. I'm looking forward to seeing some PC content on the front page in the future.

I'm gonna stick around.

Since the beginning of the Age of GG's Unresponsiveness (about 48 hours ago), CG's forum size (judged by # of posts) has increased by about 30%.  Wow.  

One more shout out to the CG staff for welcoming us!

In other news, happy Columbus Day / Canada Day.

Actually today is thanksgiving in Canada, not Canada Day, although you can get bonus points if you know what day Canada Day actually is!!!

Stephen spent a lot of time trying to migrate the forum to use the new software. I wonder how he feels about having the plug pulled on him unexpectedly after he spent all those hours on the change-over.

Welcome, it's nice to see these familiar faces popping up!!  

Another vote to stay here if GG is truly dead. I don't really expect a lot of big changes though; just throw in a PC Gaming forum and I'll be happy like a pig in doo-doo.

I'd also like to volunteer my services to help getting a PC section together on the site, whether it be searching for sites, writing previews, etc.

Another very satisfied Firefox user here. I can't even imagine going back to IE.

Yeah tell me about it.  I had just passed 2500 and I could see The Promised Land.

Oh quit yer bitchin'.  I was over 6000.    Has Kelric shown up yet?  He should be over 1000 here at CG by now, assuming he started Friday morning...

I don't think I've seen Kelric on these boards yet. I wonder where he ran off to???

[E]

Nothing but dissapointment will come from trying to recreate Gone Gold.  If it is dead, let it rest in peace.  I am moving on and creating a new e-life here.


edit - Bad grammEr.  :lol:

I agree 100%. If we can get the word out to as many GGers as possible, I don't see any reason why this can't be our new home. The staff here at CG have been nothing short of amazing in accomodating us here.

*leaf_fan00 from GG peeks in*

Is this where the party is now? I went by the GG house, but it's all boarded up, no sign of life anywhere!!!  

But I noticed the light on at a house across the street, and I thought I'd come over to check it out. I was a little tentative at first, because I heard rumours that the people hear actually think Halo is a good game, but I guess I can deal with that.  

If this is to be our new home, then I'd like to thank the staff and members of CG for the warm welcome.