2020 EHE Playoffs & Draft Lottery

[Sweet_Doug]

I just hope the EHE gets another commercial during the lottery.

[Kevin]

You guys are too much lol

[Kevin]

Here is the list of everyone's randomly-assigned "lottery balls" for the upcoming draft lottery.


The odds of winning the EHE draft lottery are exactly the same as how they are determined in the real NHL:

MTL: 18.5%
STL: 13.5%
OTT: 11.5%
ANA: 9.5%
PHI: 8.5%
MIN: 7.5%
VAN: 6.5%
NJ: 6.0%
BOS: 5.0%
FLA: 3.5%
CGY: 3.0%
EDM: 2.5%
PIT: 2.0%
WPG*: 1.5%
BUF: 1.0%

* from Colorado

[iananthony10]

2 percent chance baby here we go!

[Kevin]

Round 2 of the playoffs is set to begin on Saturday! I've changed my mind about potentially "quick simming" during this round and one sim will be run each day.

The potentially NHL schedule is...... complicated..... With an EHE-record FIVE Game 7s being played, this one is a little tough to balance from a scheduling standpoint between what is logical and what is manageable. Game 1 of Tampa Bay/Detroit will definitely be played on Saturday. That is for certain. Dallas vs NSH/WPG will start no later than Sunday. The other two series could start Sunday or Monday.

I do have the AHL schedule locked in and I did do a small amount of travel realism for the series that are confirmed so far. Charlotte/Wilkes-Barre and Manitoba/Grand Rapids (I can't believe I just said that) will both play Game 1 on Saturday and Game 2 on Sunday. Game 3 will be on Wednesday and from that point, the remaining games will have a standard day off in between. The upcoming Springfield and San Diego series' will start Game 1 on Sunday and follow a traditional schedule format. If Springfield plays Laval, it will be 2-2-1-1-1. All other potential second-round series' will be 2-3-2.

[Kevin]

First of all, I hope you all had a Happy Canada Day yesterday! I forgot to wish everyone that yesterday.

The Conference Finals are just about here! We'll have a day off on Saturday and begin the third round with both Days 30 and 31 being simulated on Sunday, meaning all advancing teams will have a game played.

The two playoff tournaments can't be any more different so far! Pending Friday night's results, the NHL Conference Finals could include all four Division Champions. Meanwhile, the top 8 performing teams in the regular season have all been eliminated from the AHL playoffs. The seeds remaining are 9th, 10th, 11th, and 13th! The San Antonio vs. Grand Rapids will be the only series playing in a 2-3-2 format.

Day 30 will consist of Carolina vs. Tampa Bay, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton vs. Utica, and San Antonio vs. Grand Rapids. Sim time is expected to be around 3pm ET. Day 31 will be Vegas vs. the winner of the Central Division bracket. Regardless of opponent, Vegas will start on the road. Sim time expected to be around 7:15pm ET.

The sim schedule will start speeding up in this round because I'd like to get focused on preparing for next season as soon as possible. No team will play twice on one day. There are a few factors involved in planning this though. July will be my busiest month at work for the rest of 2020. Eric will likely run the simulation on 7/9, definitely on 7/10, and I'm not sure about 7/11 yet. If a GM requests to keep their day off because they need it to make a lineup adjustment, that would be honored but shuffle the schedule as well. Then, of course, the length of a series is unpredictable. As best as I can foresee, here is how I think it will unfold:

Expected sim schedule -
Sun. 7/5 - Days 30/31
Mon. 7/6 - Day 32
Tue. 7/7 - Day 33
Wed. 7/8 - Days 34/35
Thu. 7/9 - Day 36
Fri. 7/10 - Day 37
Sat. 7/11 - Days 38/39
Sun. 7/12 - Days 40/41
Mon. 7/13 - Day 43*

*if necessary

[Kevin]

One quick note: Eric will be running Saturday's Day 38 some time in the afternoon. Then I will be running Saturday's Day 39 in the evening, hopefully at the normal weekend sim time of 8pm ET.

[Kevin]

Well it's finally happened after 6 years. I finally made it to the Cup Finals! Therefore, Eric will be simulating the majority of this final round, pending his schedule. I've always had it in my head to not sim my own final round if it can be helped. There are going to be some nights that the sim will be run late at night because of this.

The Calder Cup Finals will begin on Monday night, held alongside Game 7 of the Gretzky Conference Finals. The simulator will count these as different days (43 & 44) even though from the league perspective, it's all going to count as Day 43. The site/sim client will show AHL Games 1 & 2 on Days 44 & 45 but the league considers these as Days 43 & 44. Confused yet? It sounds tricky -- and it will be a little bit from my end -- but I've done this a couple of times before. All you really need to know is that the first two AHL games really will be played on back-to-back days and I will make sure that there are two days worth of condition recovery before Game 3 on Day 47. We'll be almost following a true 2-3-2 AHL schedule for the finals, with Games 1 & 2 back-to-back and Games 4 & 5 as well.

The Stanley Cup Finals will begin on Wednesday night, which is Day 46, and alternate days straight through.


Here's how I expect the simulations to go. Again, the double-sims are contingent on teams staying healthy. If there is a lineup issue that is not resolved before sim time or if a GM involved requests it, the scheduled off day will be honored.

Mon. 7/13 - Day 43 (& "44") - Kevin will sim hopefully around 9:30pm ET
Tue. 7/14 - Day "45" - Kevin sim
Wed. 7/15 - Days 46 & 47 - Eric will sim around 12-12:30am ET
Thu. 7/16 - Days 48 & 49 - Eric sim
Fri. 7/17 - Day 50 & 51 - Eric sim
Sat. 7/18 - Day 52 - Eric sim
Sun. 7/19 - Days 53 & 54 - Eric sim (Kevin might sim the AHL game on Day 53)
Mon. 7/20 - Day 55* - Kevin sim
Tue. 7/21 - Day 56 & 57 - Eric will sim around 12-12:30am ET
Wed. 7/22 - Day 58 - Eric will sim around 12am ET

* if necessary

[Predators]

Game 7 will be simmed WEDNESDAY! July 22nd, at approximately 9pm pacific, 12am EST.