What can be learned from Dayton?

Back in the Fall, Dayton had loaded up on high end prospects and had created a roster of 3rd liners for the most part. Which made sense, as Dayton was coming into a season of patience and continued rebuild of the next great Musicman team.

I figured the team would be a possible bottom 5 team, but to expect more than that, didn't make sense. A bunch of really young kids and 3rd line grinder types, isn't going to beat many opponents.

We won our first two games of the season, both overtime wins over Portland.

Then came two more wins and the team was 4-0-0 after the first week. After the first ten games of the season, we were 7-3-0, happy as a clam with our performance.

After the next ten games, the 'Men sat in first place with a 14-6-0 record.

No, I didn't understand what was going on, at all..

Feeling a little frisky, I made a couple moves, beefed up my offense a bit, added another top 4 dman and waited to see the team go on another little roll.

Dayton played roughly .500 hockey for about a month and fell back in the Conference standings.

I made a few more deals and went all in.

Brought in Sid. Brought in Suter. Dubnyk, Kuznetsov, etc...

Most of my best prospects were gone...

But, on paper, the Dayton roster was as good as anyone's in the league.

Dayton then went on a 25 game romp to the top of the overall standings and now awaits the first round bye and a great opportunity to win our fifth CCHL Championship.

Well, not really...

Not. At. All.

Dayton went on a prolonged losing streak of sorts and dropped like a rock to 8th place in the conference.

Facing some financial issues, I decided that I could easily keep losing by trading away some of my older star players, add to my prospect base. By 10:00pm trade deadline night, the team had been cut to the bone, 34 Million bucks had been cut from our payroll and a dozen or so draft picks were stored away for the Summer Draft.

Of course, Dayton would limp to the end of the regular season, right?

Sigh...

Nope...

The Musicmen have the 3rd best record in the CCHL over the last ten games.

Go figure...

As some have said, maybe I had too many stars on my roster. I felt I'd been careful on maintaining a good mix of offensive, defensive, physical and skill players. An effective blend of scorers, passers, etc...

I tried dozens of combinations with my lines and the settings of strategy - none of which worked.

I can't say I understand what the hell's going on, I can't.

But, my experience may be instructive for others. Unlike APBA, where I suspect DAY would've been a tough team to beat, Simon is a entirely different beast.

I think overloading a lineup can be detrimental in the long run. Regardless of the balance, stacking a lineup may be the wrong way to go.

I'm learning, we're all learning, but I think the teams that combine a good but not crazy-ass great team with effective strategy and attentiveness will fare the best going forward.

What a weird season...