PowerPlay Magazine

Introducing another new English editor with his debut article on a common topic lately: closing the gap on the big clubs.

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All around the world, PPM managers click on the leaderboards, hoping that their hours upon hours of work in the past season brought them closer to the legendary top teams. A select few are pleased – they are finally bridging the gap! With a slightly feminine squeal of delight, they begin planning for the upcoming season, excited that they are finally making some progress.

The majority of managers aren't as lucky. Despite their efforts, they somehow fell even farther behind the top teams. After staring dejectedly at their computer screen for a few moments, they sob uncontrollably onto their keyboard, a single question on their minds.

How in the world do I catch these guys?

This has caused multiple debates among PPM members, with many different methods being proposed to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots. With no clear resolution emerging from the debate, many managers wonder: is it even possible? Can they create an immovable object to stop the Irresistible Force? Will the Forever Invincible Team truly be forever invincible? While many people have their doubts, I believe these teams will eventually fall because:

1. Our infrastructure will soon match theirs. In the United States, there is a grand total of two teams that have maxed out their main four facilities (Training, Regeneration, Human Resources, and Sports Academy) and their arena capacity. So while those teams are free to save their money for top tier players, everybody else is trying to balance their spending between facilities, arena, and players to stay competitive. As more and more teams start to max out their infrastructure, we will see more competition for high level players on the market; as well as better prospects from the sports academies.

2. The sport is still growing. Let's take a look at the Czech Republic, the country with the most hockey teams. In the last three seasons, three different teams have won the I.1 championship. None of them have managed to consistently stay in the worldwide top ten in OTR. Having more teams means more teams with maxed infrastructure, and if we go back to point number 1, that means more competition in the top division (and even second division). The United States is expanding in hockey, and more dedicated managers are being brought in every day. If even a small percentage of them stay active, the lower divisions will become highly competitive; leading to a more competitive top division.

3. They can't get much better. We can. Soon, these top teams will train their players as high as they can go. If players train with level 15 facilities their entire career, they can't really be replaced by better players, only players of (roughly) equal value. Meanwhile, the low and mid-level teams can only can better, and the gap will start to close.

It will be a long, hard road to the top. It will take time, it will take effort, and it won't be easy, but everybody has a chance to become the new PPM superstar. Come up with a solid game plan, stick to it, and you will have your shot to get to the top. Patience, grasshoppers!

Have something to add? Disagree with any or all of the points made here? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think!