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icewindoo · 08-30-2024, 06:05 PM

One of the first things a new user needs to consider is: "What type of player do I want to make?" Do I imagine my player as a bruising power forward or a sneaky shutdown centre? A stay-at-home defender, or an offensive D jumping into the rush? The set of ratings available for build configuration in FHM allows for a wide range of player types. If you can imagine it, chances are you can build it with your TPE.

Curious about what decisions users have made about what type of player they want to build, I looked into the numbers. FHM identifies nineteen distinct roles for forwards and thirteen distinct roles for defenders. For each role FHM also identifies which ratings are most required for each role. For example, if you want to be a crease-clearing defender, you need to make sure that strength is one of your best ratings. This page here has good charts showing which ratings are important for each player role.

I analyzed all current player ratings across both SHL and SMJHL to see how many players are actually best suited to each of the player roles. I will note from casual observation that the vast majority of players are not strictly tailored to just one of these roles; most players have at least three or four roles that stand above the others. I would also hazard a guess that, despite these roles being available for reference in the portal's player build tool, most users don't strictly follow any of the predefined roles.

First, SHL forwards:

[Image: tPy0JaY.png]

"Perimeter Shooter" seems to be the build of choice for the goal scorers. I was a bit surprised to see this being so much more common than "Sniper". For comparison, Sniper places more importance on Shooting Accuracy and Screening, and less on Getting Open, Agility, and Balance.

The "Playmaker" role is almost entirely neglected in favour of "Setup Man" and "Gretzky's Office" for support offence. Puckhandling, Offensive Read, and Getting Open have the highest rating averages for forwards, so it's not a surprise that Gretzky's Office is so common.

There are a good number of two-way forwards, but very few defensive specialists. I was also quite surprised to see only a single goon in the entire league; the times really are changing in hockey!

Next, SHL defenders:

[Image: poJB4kE.png]

The first thing that jumped out at me here was the lack of offensive defenders. I would have guessed that every team would have one or two defenders whose focus was offence in general or the power play in particular. But no, two-way defenders and defensive specialists form the vast majority of the league's defending corps. Defensive Read, Stamina, and Checking are the highest ratings for defenders.

And no goons here either.

And now for the SMJHL forwards:

[Image: dikt6vD.png]

Those young forwards sure do love their run-and-gun offence. Barely a defensive responsibility in sight here. I'm still new around here, so I don't really understand the market for players, but I wonder what this means for future "prices" when the supply of defensively-capable forwards is so low.

And finally, SMJHL defenders:

[Image: aQZNlw4.png]

This is the only distribution that sort of matched my preconceptions: a bunch of offensive specialists, quite a few pure defenders, and a sprinkling of everything in between. Even a few goons!

Anyway, I find these numbers super interesting, so I thought I'd share. I also wonder if the difference in distribution between younger players and older players is just happenstance, or if there's a real systemic factor that funnels players into a narrower distribution of roles as they age.

Let me know what you think!

***HabsFanFromOntario*** · 08-30-2024, 06:39 PM

You're missing the dangler role entirely as a heads up, love the analysis though

icewindoo · 08-30-2024, 07:34 PM

08-30-2024, 06:39 PMHabsFanFromOntario Wrote: You're missing the dangler role entirely as a heads up, love the analysis though

Sort of. For some reason the key ratings for the Dangler role are defined to be identical to those of the Perimeter Shooter, so I couldn't break them out separately. But yeah, I should have clarified that. Also, the Goon and the Enforcer roles are identical to each other. I'm not sure if there's actually an in-game difference for either of those pairs of identical roles.

TheOPSquid · 08-30-2024, 08:27 PM

Great analysis! I'd wager 30+ of those perimeter shooter roles would be Dangler if you separated them out tho. Surprised at the lack of power forwards tbh

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