MAN UP! BIG NAME PENGUINS BLOCK

[armandtanzarian]

Statistically there is no gain being made by any team that would prefer to start wingers over centers. The stat is there to go after if you have a good center core or want to compete in it, imo. There should be a max on numbers of Centers rostered but i dont think there should be a MIN.

[armandtanzarian]

Disagree strongly. I repeat: you cannot start any week automatically down 0-1-0. There is no hope in the playoffs if you do that. Teams should be making trades to be competitive in that cat.

I understand your thinking here and like i mentioned, in the big picture it makes sense, but when it is known that there are only so many big name Centers with lots of FOW and they are on a few teams and are not going anywhere, you can understand the other side of the equation, right?

[KapG]

meh

enough teams dont pay attention to the hits/bs/pims/shtoi category so i make up those lost points there,

[Lee]

We are getting to a point of parity in this league but the difference in talent between the top teams and the lower teams is almost insurmountable.

I don't think there are any overtly bad teams in the league any more, but the top teams for the most part have all of the top players and pretty much no intention of trading them short of screwing over the acquiring franchise for years to come.

[Robin Hood]

Disagree strongly. I repeat: you cannot start any week automatically down 0-1-0. There is no hope in the playoffs if you do that. Teams should be making trades to be competitive in that cat.

I understand your thinking here and like i mentioned, in the big picture it makes sense, but when it is known that there are only so many big name Centers with lots of FOW and they are on a few teams and are not going anywhere, you can understand the other side of the equation, right?

Let me put it this way - I get your logic that if a category is difficult to win, there is some sense in tossing it.

However, here is the counter and it is impossible to argue with:

1) Teams that take that approach are now trying to win 8/9 Categories out of the remaining 15 instead of 8/9 out of the 16. This may seem like a small difference but it is not. Esp when Shutouts Tie often and even GWG tie a lot. winning 8/9 categories out of 13/14 is insane.

2) Those big name Cs are hard to acquire but it's very doable - If trading can get you to a point where you are competitive in that category vs. giving up on it, why would you not trade till you can be competitive?

3) There is a way to be strategic about it. You don't need a core of Kopitar + Toews + Crosby + Datsyuk + Henrik Sedin to win the category. A core of Tyler Bozak + Kyle Brodziak + Travis Zajac + Jarret Stoll + Boyd Gordon can get you competitive enough to do some damage vs at least MOST teams - vs giving up the category against ALL.

[KapG]

We are getting to a point of parity in this league but the difference in talent between the top teams and the lower teams is almost insurmountable.

I don't think there are any overtly bad teams in the league any more, but the top teams for the most part have all of the top players and pretty much no intention of trading them short of screwing over the acquiring franchise for years to come.

just requires patience.

[kimmer]

There is no reason for this thread to go as big as this. Shut up everyone

[armandtanzarian]

Disagree strongly. I repeat: you cannot start any week automatically down 0-1-0. There is no hope in the playoffs if you do that. Teams should be making trades to be competitive in that cat.

I understand your thinking here and like i mentioned, in the big picture it makes sense, but when it is known that there are only so many big name Centers with lots of FOW and they are on a few teams and are not going anywhere, you can understand the other side of the equation, right?

Let me put it this way - I get your logic that if a category is difficult to win, there is some sense in tossing it.

However, here is the counter and it is impossible to argue with:

1) Teams that take that approach are now trying to win 8/9 Categories out of the remaining 15 instead of 8/9 out of the 16. This may seem like a small difference but it is not. Esp when Shutouts Tie often and even GWG tie a lot. winning 8/9 categories out of 13/14 is insane.

2) Those big name Cs are hard to acquire but it's very doable - If trading can get you to a point where you are competitive in that category vs. giving up on it, why would you not trade till you can be competitive?

3) There is a way to be strategic about it. You don't need a core of Kopitar + Toews + Crosby + Datsyuk + Henrik Sedin to win the category. A core of Tyler Bozak + Kyle Brodziak + Travis Zajac + Jarret Stoll + Boyd Gordon can get you competitive enough to do some damage vs at least MOST teams - vs giving up the category against ALL.

Fair and valid points! The flip side of running with the C's you mentioned is the need to have top line star Wingers to make up for the loss in other O cats. In a perfect world, you are right, it is doable, but for the most part, at the leagues present state, I can't disagree with the approach of some GM's and this category. I do agree though that one category can be a huge difference...

[Nick]

Fuck it. Win the scoring categories every week + FOW.