Subject: II.2

Dang, halfway through the season, and the difference between third and seventh is 4 points. The second half should be fun.

This also bodes well for the competition for next season. With the Saints and Crackers in seventh and eighth place in the nation respectively for team strength, they should almost definitely both promote this year. Whatever team gets demoted should be around 120 in team strength (within range) along with one of the defunct teams. There are a few teams below the top 7 that could have been up there with a few more lucky bounces and perhaps an acquisition or two as well.

I wonder if the Crackers will finally promote after finishing either 3rd or 4th in the playoffs the last four seasons? I feel like next season is going to be a huge tossup for the top 10. Nobody has a big advantage except for the Saints and Crackers, who SHOULD promote. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm going to promote for sure. The question is whether or not I can win the double (league and POs) because I've never done that in the same season.

You shouldn't have a problem. You haven't been using a lot of energy at all, your team is so far ahead of everybody else's, and you really know what you're doing. The only teams I can see you losing to are the Crackers, and MAYBE the Bruisers. But even that is a bit of a stretch.

Still, it is PPM, so a huge upset isn't that far-fetched.

Based on the statistics so far, I think the STL Saints have a slightly lower chance to win the league and the playoffs (as well as more than half of the prize money for statistics) than the Irresistible Force do in I.1.

I finally rounded out my top two lines with a new first line LW and a new second line C. I should see at least an increase of 10 in team strength (which I can also get from dropping my fourth line of prospects). All that really means is that I'll be better able to maintain my current position in the standings, but I'm looking forward to seeing the effect on my offense and shooting. My sale of obsolete extra players should cover at least half of the cost.

Finally, everyone should bid on those players! They could probably make an impact on at least a few teams towards the bottom of the standings. They are all experienced (except the goalie) with good skills. The goalie is pretty good (despite a lack of experience) as well.

I can't believe I actually won against an undefeated STL Saints team, let alone scored 3 goals on Kevin Clinton. I guess everything, tactics, home advantage, dropping my fourth line, and (random factor)^2 went in my favor, despite still being outshot by about 2-1.

Great job Cap. You outsmarted me on this one. I was trying to be clever with the tactics but in the end I should have not gone with a tactic that I have not used at all this season. The weird fact for me is that Waldo Gould did not get any points. He's gotten at least one per match so I'm a bit surprised he didn't show up. I don't mind losing but I wanted to maintain that points gap so I can run those camps without losing the top position.

Even though you usually used one tactic, you seemed to switch it up sometimes. I figured you would assume that I would use the appropriate counter-tactic and used the counter to your counter against my presumed counter. I also assumed you would use tactics similar to the one you used against the Rainbow Unicorns against me. Finally, since your second most common tactic is the counter to my counter against your counter to my counter, it should probably be considered too risky to use such a tactic against you in general anyway. Even so, considering your 2-1 advantage on shots, I'm not sure that it made the difference.

It is surprising that Gould didn't score the way he is running away with the lead in all statistic categories.

You're probably safe with the lead once you beat two more of the top 7 teams (disregarding that failing to do so would still require some other team to have a perfect record to pass you in that circumstance.

Cap, you forgot the part about not going against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

Ouch, Carolina dropped a game to the Shugar Daddies. That's insane.

My goailees couldn't stop a beach ball. Makes it that much harder to make a run for home ice when you lose to bottom 4 teams.

That just shouldn't have happened.

Agreed, it makes no sense at all. Looks like the Random Gods just weren't on his side.

I suppose it might have helped that the Cobras only have slightly higher goaltending and shooting (with the current players on roster). In addition, once they switched to the backup after giving up the first two goals, the Shugar Daddies might have then had the advantage in goal. The difference in offense and defense is reflected in the shots taken. That still doesn't explain the Shugar Daddies' save percentage.