Posted by shobob on 8/6/2010 1:57:00 PM (view original):
I agree with SAK on this. You couldn't have CHL teams aligned with pro teams. What could happen is, just like in real life, a kid gets drafted, and then after training camp (or six games), gets sent back to junior (NOT minors), or their European club team, or the US development program (do they still have that?), or wherever he came from for a year or two. Once they age/progress/bulk up enough, they can play in a men's pro league (ECHL, AHL, NHL). You could send the ones that are ready for it straight to the minors. If you have a Sid Crosby or John Tavares, you could bring him straight to the NHL.
I agree with both of you here. But the plain fact of the matter is that you have to use "artisctic license" or whatever you wish to call it because there are not 30 ECHL teams to make perfect matches for the minor leagues. Since my original proposal, the AHL has gotten its 30th team, so we can fix a 2nd tier with no problem. But the ECHL still only has 19 teams. So you are going to have to create 11 teams somehow, just like they created GD teams like Marquette which don't exist in real life, but exist in GD to make the numbers match.
How you go about deciding what those 11 teams are going to be, I guess, can be debated without end. I simply made a suggestion. It really doesn't matter one way or another. Choose CHL (Canadian or Central Hockey League), IHL, any of the lower level minor leagues. Hell, choose a couple teams from the KHL or any of the other European leagues. It doesn't matter. They are gonig to be "fake" teams in terms of real life affiliation. But IMHO, I do believe that we should use
real life teams rather than just making stuff up out of thin air (the Toledo Mulletheads, Boston AAA/AA, etc.) I believe that people can "buy in" to their teams much better if they have a real life counterpart to relate to. You cannot expect users to form any kind of lasting affiliation to that "Boston AA" team. But I know in GD, you DO have users coach certain schools for various reasons (my girlfriend went there, I played there, etc.) If your Tier 3 Toronto team is the Brampton Battalion or Toronto AA, it doesn't matter.
I just believe that owners will become more interested in the game (and thus make the game better for everyone) if they can relate to a real-life team.