Lineups and game plans
Lines and pairs, ice time and deployment, game plans, and how the automatic lineup steps in.
On this page
Who dresses for a game
A lineup has:
- Four forward lines, each a center and two wings.
- Three defense pairs, a left and a right defenseman.
- Up to two extra skaters, who step in when a skater is injured or tired.
- A starting goalie and a backup, who comes in if the starter is pulled.
Forward lines and defense pairs change independently of each other, so any line can be on the ice with any pair.
Ice time
Each line and pair gets an ice time level, from very low to very high. The levels are shares: a line on high plays more than a line on normal, whatever the other lines are set to. The game steers towards your shares but also looks at who is rested.
Every shift costs energy, and a tired player is slower and makes more mistakes. A line you lean on very heavily gets more chances to make a difference, but it also plays more of its shifts tired.
Deployment
A forward line's deployment says where you want it to start its shifts:
- Offense: preferred for faceoffs in the attacking zone.
- Defense: preferred for faceoffs in your own zone, and for protecting a lead late in a game.
- Any: no preference.
A defensive line facing the opponent's best players in your own zone is a shutdown line. Its statistics will look modest; its job is to keep goals off the board.
Game plans
A game plan is a saved lineup. You can keep up to 5 plans, for example one for your best lineup and one that rests your stars, and mark one as the default. Your team plays its default plan in every game.
Without any plan the game picks your lineup itself, from the players you have.
When the plan doesn't fit any more
Squads change: players are sold, released or leave when their contracts end. You don't have to update your plan in time. Before every game the game checks your plan against your squad and repairs it: a player who can't play is replaced by the best available player for that spot.
The plan page shows the repairs it would make right now, under “What happens if you change nothing”, and marks the spots it would change.
When the lineup locks
A game's lineup locks 2 hours before it starts. Until then, changes to your default plan count for that game; after it, they count from the next game on.
Questions and answers
No. Without a plan the game picks a lineup from your squad for every game. A plan lets you decide yourself.
The game puts the best available player in his place for that game and shows the change in the plan's repairs. Your plan itself stays as you saved it.
Your game plans are private. Both teams' lineups are shown in the match report once the broadcast is over, and on the ice during it.