Another NHL 14 Be A GM Save Completed
Simmed 99.9 percent of this save, playing more Top Prospects games than NHL games and only the one playoff series near the end.
Enjoyed this save a lot, tons of great storylines. Randomized selection of Tampa landed me the best team in Franchise mode to start with. Insane young prospect core rapidly turned into a world class team, Lundqvist being the largest part as he landed right in my lap in the first free agency of the game and winning six straight Vezina’s (but no cup for TBL). Broke the curse after Hank’s retirement but Tampa was frustrating to manage with rising player salary getting crazy. Decided to switch it up and go rebuild another team. SJ was nice, built a good physical team that eventually pulled it off. Decided to leave on a high and go try to replicate the process.
Fuck Columbus. They fired me after handing them a franchise 1C on a platter and their first playoff appearance in a decade.
Returned to SJ with open arms and a blank cheque. McDavid and the Anaheim Ducks had completely failed apart into nothing with zero cups so his trade value at 37 years old was very reasonable and I landed him for two first rounders. Proved to be the right decision as we went on to win a cup under his Conn Smythe performance. After McDavids retirement there wasnt much left to accomplish. The team pushed for three straight playoff years and just couldnt get it done. I played a 1st round series against STL and L. DOELL (the perennial best player in the league) and had the most fun in this game I think I’ve ever had even though it ended in a batshit crazy 7-6 OTL for me.