Important: NHL 09 Game Update Coming

NHL 09 Blog: David Littman
Posted 10.29.2008
Hi there, David Littman here. We are in the process of putting the patches up for both the X360 andthe PS3. PS3 Europe has already gone up, and PS3 North America and both X360patches should be up within the next week or two. First and foremost we have fixed the "dirty disc" message issue thatsome people are seeing on the X360. For the PS3, we have fixed the issue where there are sometimes whiteflashes or flickers during gameplay. So, if you have seen one of the above, you will be happy to know theyare fixed with the patch.For most people though...the important fixes are in gameplay. We have listened to all of you, and we have played the game ourselvesevery day. While we couldn't make every fix that you asked for becauseof time constraints, we did fix most of the big issues, and alsoimproved gameplay to be more authentic.

* The jersey on the EASHL side select screen is more visible thanthe team logo. This will make it easier for people to see when jerseycolors clash

* Deking controls normal when shooting downscreen with "Always Up"controls

* Checking has been tuned so you will see less big hits from guysthat aren't traditionally known for hitting

* Less CPU AI one-timers

* Increased the height of dump ins, for a better dump and chasegame.

* No more goals from flip dumps

* Better CPU AI logic near offensive blueline so they don't gooff-sides as much

* CPU goalie will not drag the puck back toward himself in ashootout

* We have fixed the goals from outside shots that people are scoring. We have reduced shot accuracy when on the rush and when turning quickly, and from far out. You will now have to be more conservativewhen shooting on the rush. If you aim all the way to the left or right, your shot will go wide a lot more. Try aiming more towards the middle tohit the net from outside. This fixes the cross goal where you shoot backthe other way, and the goal that goes in with the "curve" animation, anda few others. There's a reason NHL players don't shoot from outside onthe rush very often. Dumping or trying to set up is a better play unlessyou have an odd- man situation.

* We reduced the time it took to get control of the goalie by 1/3.

* When line changes are set to auto, and a user changeslines/defense manually between whistles, the line/defensive pair youasked for will come out (or stay out).

* If you have line changes off in Be a Pro, line change playerchatter will be turned off.

* When using a defenseman in BAP, BAP player won't get stuck onthe bench and will be able to call for change

* The EASHL will now go to continuous 5v5 overtime until one teamscores. This way nobody has to sit out, and you get to decide who wins(this is now just like the NHL Play-offs)

* The proper own-goal cut scene will be shown where the player whoscored on himself is upset.

* All cut scenes should now show players sitting in theirrespective team's bench.

* Increase AI team aggressiveness and the likelihood of themgetting called for a penalty on an infraction.

* If Vision Control is pressed, you do not throw a hit when infront of the attacking net. This helps with rebound shots.

* Increase the likelihood of a penalty if the stick hits the bodyduring a stick lift.* Reduce the accuracy of shots for penalty shots and shootouts. Aiming for just inside the post is a lot tougher nowAlong with these changes we are still working on the server side ofthings to make sure that the EASHL and online play is always improving.Keep checking our website for more information on the EASHL play- offs.

Thanks-David Littman

bold-mine

Video

Nate with an OT winner to complete his hat-trick

EA SPORTS World: OT game winner hat trick

This post was going to be reserved for stats...but

WE SUCK!

Friday Motivator

Videos

Great games last night guys...here's a few videos that just don't capture the "bigness" of these moments but whatev...if you've got others feel free to pass them on to me.

EA SPORTS World: Killing the Giant

Too much Menn with a huge gamewinning goal against a huge human goalie.

EA SPORTS World: back breaker

Me with a late goal to break the 0-0 deadlock with 4.5 seconds left.

EA SPORTS World: heads up

This is a video of TJenk doing what a TJenk does.

huh?

and i quote

PER8938 said...
yo im def down for getting some new players
but if we recruit them they beter be pretty damn good and proven i don't want
any scrubs on here and they should be pens fans.as for the part with us being
our own team i love that shit i don't want anyone saying were a minor league
teamA.we've already beat team A.B. were almost in a higher position on our
team.think of us as a second coming of pensblog not a minor league incarnation
of them.if anybody gets called up to the team and abondons us for them i don't
want you on this team because that just shows how little you think of us as a
team and in the end it would only be your fault because i KNOW we are the better
team.and as for cuts IMUG when we get the max players allowed and we need more
room i'll let you know who's gonna be first on the chopping bloc because i
already have a few names in mind.and don't worry if you love the pens and play
solid games you should have nothing to worry about.

Video

PensCupChamps...with a sweet OT gamewinner!

EA SPORTS World: ot winner

Hockey: Back to Basics

We're 643-523-79 ranked 92 in Div 2. That's a whole ball of suck, i don't even want to get into.

Nothing too complicated here. Find your position, and learn where you need to be in the Defensive zone. As you can see there is only a small area where you should be overlapping and double teaming. Keep this in mind and adhere to these when you play, and you'll notice a big difference.

Team Stats

Too much? Do you like top 5 better?

PS3 Gamertag	GP	G	A	PTS	plus/minus	PIM	Hits		Pts/Gm	Goals/Gm	Assist/Gm	Hits/Gm	PIM/Gm	plus/minus/Gm
ajn24	259	107	99	206	-91	608	3106		0.80	0.41	0.38	11.99	2.35	-0.351
arkham1212	131	21	67	88	-16	164	1227		0.67	0.16	0.51	9.37	1.25	-0.122
avad	112	64	71	135	-29	130	958		1.21	0.57	0.63	8.55	1.16	-0.259
bigtourist	121	67	64	131	39	122	831		1.08	0.55	0.53	6.87	1.01	0.322
blackatom	205	223	106	329	101	181	1250		1.60	1.09	0.52	6.10	0.88	0.493
cougar300	209	105	105	210	-29	232	1362		1.00	0.50	0.50	6.52	1.11	-0.139
devilwoacause22	97	39	41	80	16	235	819		0.82	0.40	0.42	8.44	2.42	0.165
eze4384	126	73	63	136	-4	106	685		1.08	0.58	0.50	5.44	0.84	-0.032
HankScorpio77	38	14	9	23	-32	90	483		0.61	0.37	0.24	12.71	2.37	-0.842
heavensent	117	42	70	112	-33	147	893		0.96	0.36	0.60	7.63	1.26	-0.282
inept13astard	107	36	53	89	-18	221	1200		0.83	0.34	0.50	11.21	2.07	-0.168
jaos	125	6	39	45	-57	336	2207		0.36	0.05	0.31	17.66	2.69	-0.456
kaynaan	113	90	52	142	4	159	1057		1.26	0.80	0.46	9.35	1.41	0.035
kevbo67	262	220	178	398	74	417	2416		1.52	0.84	0.68	9.22	1.59	0.282
myyrdin	159	59	86	145	-5	205	1567		0.91	0.37	0.54	9.86	1.29	-0.031
nate8724	190	107	99	206	-22	552	3003		1.08	0.56	0.52	15.81	2.91	-0.116
PensCupChamps	150	66	77	143	-4	166	1338		0.95	0.44	0.51	8.92	1.11	-0.027
pittsmo	157	104	75	179	26	227	1636		1.14	0.66	0.48	10.42	1.45	0.166
PolishSteel77	304	163	274	437	49	408	3121		1.44	0.54	0.90	10.27	1.34	0.161
Porschekid	25	8	7	15	-11	40	244		0.60	0.32	0.28	9.76	1.60	-0.440
Samsara	115	7	44	51	-29	632	2102		0.44	0.06	0.38	18.28	5.50	-0.252
TJenk6687	91	6	33	39	-30	199	1560		0.43	0.07	0.36	17.14	2.19	-0.330
tmsk13	27	24	12	36	-1	33	211		1.33	0.89	0.44	7.81	1.22	-0.037
wildthing202	410	250	153	403	25	632	4738		0.98	0.61	0.37	11.56	1.54	0.061
ZJedi945	74	6	50	56	11	74	653		0.76	0.08	0.68	8.82	1.00	0.149

Thanks goes to Byeskey for the help in creating the table.

Videos

Ajn24 with a gamewinner

EA SPORTS World: NEW VIDEO

Paul has a fan....

Videos

Clemente, knocking some pubes loose...

EA SPORTS World: kill 5

The Owen Jones with a shorthanded gamewinner in OT. Bow down.

EA SPORTS World: NEW VIDEO

Mad About You

Commit to Unemployment

Stats, UPDATED 10/16/08

Here are the latest stats as of this morning.

Pts/Game
1.56 Blackatom
1.51 Kevbo67
1.45 PolishSteel77
1.15 Avad
1.12 Pittsmo

Goals/Game
1.03 Blackatom
.87 Kevbo67
.65 Pittsmo
.62 Wildthing202
.59 Nate8724

Assists/Game
.90 PolishSteel77
.64 Kevbo67
.60 Avad
.56 Heavensent
.55 Myyrdin/Bigtourist

Hits/Game
18.04 Samsara
17.71 Jaos
15.17 Nate8724
12.09 Ajn24
11.35 Wildthing202

Most PIM/Game
5.38 Samsara
2.90 Nate8724
2.56 Jaos
2.26 Ajn24
1.54 Kevbo67

Least PIM/Game
.84 Eze4384
.86 Blackatom
1.03 Bigtourist
1.11 Cougar300/PensCupChamps

Best +/-/Game
.517 Blackatom
.333 Bigtourist
.289 Kevbo67
.201 Pittsmo
.166 PolishSteel77

Worst +/-/Game
-.526 Jaos
-.369 Avad
-.332 Ajn24
-.255 Samsara
-.252 Heavensent

Videos

Too much Menn...for the shootout winner!

EA SPORTS World: Shootout winner

Videos

Devilwoacause dishing out some Free Candy

EA SPORTS World: NEW VIDEO

Straight Outta Compton

Straight outta the sin bin, the game winner, top shelf. dare i say it? buries it!!!!

EA SPORTS World: NEW VIDEO

EASHL Transactions 10/9/2008

Team Pensblog have called up inept13astard, jerrrrrry, & tmkst13 from Team Pensblog B team. If any should refuse their assignments and pull a Kris Beech, replacements will be named.

In order to stay under the self imposed CAP, Team Pensblog have unconditionally released darst5 & roguegames892 due to too many nights in the press box.

If Team Pensblog B wishes to sign them to two-way contracts, be our guest. Rumor has it, there's an offer from the KHL for their services.

Conundrum

Our team is 493-412-53 which is good enough for 44th in division 1. But is that good enough?

I think the team needs to stop playing games with only 2 players...everything i've read seems to point to the fact that this hurts in the standings. I know the more we fall, the less people will care. It was fun being the 8th best team in the world....being 44th just doesn't have that pizazz. I don't want to take this thing too seriously either...but it's way too early in the season to give up. Maybe we need to call some people up from the B team...maybe we need to drop some people from our team. I don't know, i don't have the answers, heck i'm powerless to help at this point.

If anyone has ideas about how to fix it or if they don't care to do anything about it...let me know in the comments section.

I'll leave you with this lyric from a Relient K song....

Half of me is all about apathy
And the other half just doesn't care

Frozen Roster

A lot of people have shown interest in ThePensBlog Split Squad, so we're going to have to put a temporary freeze on the roster. There'll be a kind of "evaluation" period over the coming days and weeks and cuts may have to be made. I will let everyone know if/when we will be signing more players.

Stats, record updates, etc. to follow...

Stats

EA Sports, it's in the game. I guess Saturday night would be the equivalent of a lockout since the servers were out all night. Frustration city. Our current record as of this morning is 462-392-49 and we are in 26th place for some reason. Not sure how/when we dropped from 8th to 20th...and now 26th, if anyone has any clue...rant in the comments section.

Also, i might be on the DL with an angry wife. Typical recovery is anywhere from 2 to 7 days.

Points/gm
1.41 blackatom
1.39 polishsteel
1.33 kevbo67
1.23 kaynaan
1.15 eze4384

Goals/gm
.88 blackatom
.78 kaynaan
.74 kevbo67
.64 pittsmo
.62 eze4384

Assist/gm
.87 polishsteel
.59 kevbo67
.58 heavensent
.55 bigtourist
.54 avad

Hits/gm
17.01 samsara
16.32 jaos
15.44 Tjenk
14.51 nate
12.57 wildthing

Most PIM/gm
5.16 samsara
2.88 nate
2.24 jaos
2.08 ajn24
2.05 devilwoacause

Least PIM/gm
.80 blackatom
.89 eze4384
.95 heavensent
1.00 bigtourist
1.09 penscupchamps

Best +/-/gm
.414 bigtouris
.352 blackatom
.333 devilwoacause
.228 pittsmo
.125 wildthing

Worst +/-/gm
-.647 jaos
-.427 samsara
-.400 avad
-.318 ajn
-.280 nate

Rumor has it

That this team is a beast. Our record is 421-367-46, which is a cool 54 games above .500. We are ranked 8th, but if we continue at this pace...who knows? But don't just take my word for it.....here's what a teammate had to say;

"cougar300 (guest): TPB took down the #1 ranked team - was 1-0 most of the way. We made it 2-0 with about 4 min left, then they scored with around 54 seconds left. We held on despite a wild flurry at the end for the 2-1 win. "

EA SPORTS World: gw01

That's polish in the corner getting molsested for the team so that Braun can put it home for the W.

EA SPORTS World: NEW VIDEO

AJN24 going where grandma hides the peanut butter

EA SPORTS World: NEW VIDEO

AJN24...because goals vs the Red Wings are always the best

EA SPORTS World: ot winner

Bigtourist, buries it in OT.

New feature / videos

Hey ya'll, some of you may have noticed we have a chat box on the bottom of the page. We're still working on how to best implement this feature to make this site better. Ideally it would be somewhere near the top, but we're working on a way to make that happen. EDIT: DONE. Until then, go ahead and try it out at the bottom of the site. It's easy and it's a quick way to get conversations going.

Here's a hit by Byeskey...

EA SPORTS World: hit

Here's a video from Nate...

EA SPORTS World: 11 second game winner

Join up - Get hot chicks

Being on ThePensBlog Baby Pens squad makes me wanna touch myself too. With that being said, we need more players on the squad. Leave a post on here or email tmkst13@gmail.com and we'll get you added. Gamertag tmkst13.

We keep moving up in divisions and laying the pimp-hand down on all comers. Get on before we need to create a Wheeling Nailers PS3 squad.

Videos yo

EA SPORTS World: charlie ot

eze 3484 dangle

First of all how did you slow it down like that? nice job. Second, the defending on that play is criminal.

EA SPORTS World: TPB OT GWG

Randy(heavensent) with the OT game winner

Show us your skills

Email me at aronvad@gmail.com if you have any videos that you've saved from your EASHL games that you want to share with everyone. Here's my first one. I played this game with wildthing and ajn24, we were up 1-0 in the third at the time even though we created tons of opportunities all game long. This was definitely the best forechecking game i've been part of, as we constantly would create turnovers in the opponents zone and turn them into quality scoring chances....the video picks up with me just stealing the puck after a weak clearing attempt

EA SPORTS World: game over

avad buries it

Toronto Flames =Stunned

One of the bigger upsets in teampensblog history as we were able to knock off the number three team in the world early this morning.

They are the Toronto Flames, and they are as gay as you could imagine.

If you ever play them, they have one player "Pavel Bure."

They have a human goaltender who is mud.

We were down 3-2 with .40 seconds to play, when Kevbo tied it up.

With .15 seconds PolishSteel found Kevbo again, and the celebration was on.

Everyone is going to have to pick it up, because Juice[Owen] and Canaan are down with injuries to their PS3.


Peace