NHL 2k6 help

[Docpepper]

I bought the game and I'm really loving it , but I've only won 1 game out of 13 against my best friend. He is a die hard hockey fan and well I occassionally watch it. his team of choice is the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mine is Nashville Predators.

I'm usually the first one to get the first goal but after that everythign falls downhill. my defense crumbles and he begins scoring with wrap arounds straight in front and etc. I rarely get penalties so thats not the problem. it seems as if when my defense gets close to his puck handler. he jets off fast and none of my guys can catch up even though I have full turbo.

anybody have any good tips or slider settings .

also anyone play online ? I might hook up my ps2 this weekend and might want to play a game or two if my connection will hold up

[SeanDMan]

your biggest problem is your team selection. Nashville is no where near Toronto, even a depleted Toronto, in skill. They have no goaltending to speak of an a decent top pair with absolutely no one else on defense.

I might be able to give you some pointers, line wise, but you should consider switching teams, especially if he knows the game better then you do.

and i'd love to have you a game, but I have so far had no luck configuring my modem.

i'd kick your ass anyway, so probably better to spare you the embarassment.

[Docpepper]

yeah no doubt I get my assed handed to me in almost all sport games except football.. thanks for the tips though . one last question which do you hit with : the right analog stick or circle. I use circle all the time . anytime I try to use the right analog stick I get a penalty so I've refrained from using it. should I be using it ?

[SeanDMan]

I don't use it at all. I used to, when stick dekes were the right stick, but now I don't touch it at all.

If you don't use it, though, try the total play control. It makes it much easier to beat the trap/score on the powerplay/cycle.

It sounds like your friend plays cheese. Wraparounds are the easiest way to score. The best way to stop him is to take manual goalie control and poke check him.

[Docpepper]

alright thanks for the tips man I appreciate it

[SeanDMan]

Did you want some help with lines? Lemme know what players you have, do you play the default rosters? Or updated? Lemme know who you got, I will help out.

[Docpepper]

I play with the default rosters . if i get online this weekend I'll update the roster. I never mess with lines and such. (which is probably my biggest mistake) so any info would be great

[SeanDMan]

Okay. Here is what I would do, were I to take Nashville online.

You want to take out Scott Hartnell. Replace him with the less balanced but more offensive Scottie Upshall. Your defensive core dressings, and goaltender dressings, are probably good. Because I like the look of his stupid face, I replace Chris Mason with Brian "Goatface" Finley. Up to you. They'll be your backup anyway, so leaving it at default would be good.

For your first line, I'd set up Steve Sullivan-David Legwand-Vladimir Orszagh. I have a reason, so bear with me. That will probably your scoring line. Your second line would be Martin Erat-Denis Arkhipov-Adam Hall. Hall and Erat are both pretty fast and skilled offensively, so you should be able to harass your buddy when your first line needs a rest.

Line three is your pivotal line. They are your checkers. This is why both Johnson and Walker are around... because they will be on this line. Here is where you have a decision to make. If you want to trap it up and stop his offense with your defense, use Jeremy Stevenson-Greg Johnson-Scott Walker. However, I find a balanced line of checkers is a good idea. So if you want some more offense, put in the pretty fast Jordin Tootoo. Up to you. Keep in mind that this line will, if you use line matchups properly, play the majority of the game, so having a guy in there who can make plays (Tootoo) and score (Walker) is a good idea.

Line four is what I like to use as a suprise line. Now, Nashville has almost non-existant depth, so you will want to forgo using players you have dressed like Jim McKenzie and arguably also Jeremy Stevenson. This is where the updated rosters will help you out, but for now... make line four a suprise line. Instead of being a shitty line, make it Martin Erat-David Legwand-Scottie Upshall. If you didn't use Tootoo on your checking line, you can use him in place of Erat, as he would be fresher and thus slightly faster. This line will see very little ice, if you suck. If you are good, though, you can have these guys come out and dominate the pace of the game, and if you play the cycle, wear down the tired defense.

Your defense, as it is default, is probably okay. But you can make it better. Spread the wealth a little bit. Split up Timonen and Zidlicky. Move Dan Hamhuis onto pairing one with Kimmon Timonen, and then Shane Hnidy up to play on pair two with Marek Zidlicky. This gives you a offensive defensemen playing with a physical defensemen (the second pair) and a balanced pair (the first pair). You also move your arguably worst two defensemen to pair three. This is where you can option again. If you want to shut him down, you can make pair three Timmonen and Zidlicky. This would be used sparingly so you do not tire out your top two defensemen, but it would give you a few shifts where he was not going to have any real weak side to press.

Now, if you use line matchups, you have to figure out what his scoring line is. If he doesn't play with his lines, line one is the line you want to protect. Put your checking line against it and make the matchup as important as you can. In general, whenever he makes a line change, try and make one to try and preserve any matchups. Now, there is one more matchup to set. The default third pairing of Toronto is Aki Berg and Karel Pilar. Want to fuck with him? Set it up so that when Berg and Pilar are out, your fourth line comes in. Whenever you see his defense three come out, dump the puck and your fourth line will come out. Their speed and skill will be way too much for Berg and Pilar to try and contain. You will have a field day, and you'll do it with a line most people completely write off.

That is what I would do. It should help overcome your lack of depth and help exploit the weaknesses in the Maple Leafs lineup.

[SeanDMan]

the updated rosters will make you absolutely sick, as the preds added danny markov and ryan suter on defense and paul kariya and yannic pereault on offense. that will allow you you to move legwand back to play with the checkers and have more depth at defense. toronto will actually get weaker in the new rosters, depending on how they rate Steen and wellwood. but they should be much easier to defeat, especially with a scorer like Paul kariya.

[Docpepper]

thanks a bunch for this. I'll probably be playing aginst my friend later tonight so I'll keep these in mind. thanks again

[Docpepper]

do you happen to have any good sliders. I've been playing on medium difficulty and want to find some good balanced sliders

[SeanDMan]

do you happen to have any good sliders. I've been playing on medium difficulty and want to find some good balanced sliders

Sure. I'll boot up the game.

I should tell you I play on pro now. But I'll be moving up to All Star shortly. You may experience some insanity at lower difficulties.

[Toe]

I might give your sliders a try too, maybe that will change my opinion of the game.

[Docpepper]

imo this game is better than nhl 06. yeah the game has bugs and glitches (the biggest I found is the glitch where you can always score by gogin behind the net and shooting. the puck will go straight through the net)

but I like the overall feel of the game compare to 06. thanks. I'll try out pro with your sliders and see cause when i face the computer I usually beat the snot out of them

[Disengager]

I'm playing on pro right now as the pengiuns with updated rosters. I generally win by a 3 goal margin against a bad team, 1-2 goals against a good team. My only suggestion is to use the on the fly playcalling. Screening the Goalie and crashing the net works best. I usually score by passing from a wing to my center just as my wing is paralel to the net. hope that helps.

[Docpepper]

can you shed any light on matchups. I've looked into it a little as of now I have my checking line matched up against line 1 (he doesn't change lines that often) cause he uses Sundine to literally rape me everytime. earlier today he beat me 8 -1 with Sundine having 5 goals

[Guest Kou]

Just hit Mats in the eye with the puck.