Workaround to the Iron Curtain

Habitant4Life · 02-29-2020, 08:01 PM

I just finished watching the excellent documentary on the Russian Five, and wouldn't you know it, I immediately thought of FHM after. I thought about how would it be possible for the game to implement espionage/defection tactics in acquring foreign players pre-'93.

Getting to acquire hockey players from the Soviet Union was considered a luxury. You can argue some of them were even better than the NHL's best, much to the chagrin of Don Cherry's rants to gatekeep the NHL from having an international influence.

The Stastny brothers were the first major Soviet players to defect. It was obvious from the get-go that Peter and Anton had elite-level talent. Marian as well, but his production wasn't as consistent as his brothers.

The negotiating skill could be a good base to start with. It'd be more believable that a GM the caliber of a Jimmy Devellano or Sam Pollock would have an easier time to convince a Soviet to defect, rather than a GM who isn't savvy or silver-tongued.

As a trade-off for the GMs that aren't suave negotiators, I was thinking those GMs would have to bribe the player they're trying to recruit. Bribe as in on top of offering them a standard NHL contract, they would have to sweeten the pot with a signing bonus. Depending on how good the player is, or how good the negotiator is, the signing bonus would vary from low to high.

It's also worth noting that in 1989 the Soviet Union announced that their players were eligible to play in the NHL, as long as they continued playing on the national team. The players forced their hand in this as 8 of them defected to the NHL simultaneously, leaving the Soviet Union to try and find a compromise to the problem.

Look, I'm not a developer or a coder. I'm just a guy who in my short time of playing this game, has fallen in-love with it. It is the greatest and most rewarding experience I've ever had playing a sports game. The level of detail is there, and even more exciting to me, the potential of this game is limitless. I truly believe we're just scratching the surface of what this game is capable of.

My only purpose of this thread is to provoke some thought. I'd like to hear what you guys think and if you could suggest a better idea than I proposed.

Adam B · 02-29-2020, 08:36 PM

I understand what you're getting at, but for the most part it wasn't that they wouldn't defect to come play (although not to underplay the love of the USSR many of them had), for most it was a life or death choice. Sneaking away was not an easy thing to do, and people could and were literally killed for trying. Soviet Superstars had extra security on them at that, and honestly I'm not sure it would have been realistically possible earlier than it did happen.

The breakdown of the Soviets in the 80s are realization of their need to export their talent (if you're never read up on the history of Tetris, check out Gaming Historian's video on it - it's really good) in an actual attempt to essentially save the Union. It really goes hand-in-hand I think and you can clearly connect the dots to how things went. Even the case of Sergei Priakin was the first time NHL Clubs -really- began to believe they could bring someone over with a blessing.

So I'm not sure it would work effectively. Getting international play in Historical is a goal, and for me (personal) is I want surprise challenges from the Soviet National Team to appear on your calendar eventually. That would be fun.

Habitant4Life · 02-29-2020, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam B

I understand what you're getting at, but for the most part it wasn't that they wouldn't defect to come play (although not to underplay the love of the USSR many of them had), for most it was a life or death choice. Sneaking away was not an easy thing to do, and people could and were literally killed for trying. Soviet Superstars had extra security on them at that, and honestly I'm not sure it would have been realistically possible earlier than it did happen.

The breakdown of the Soviets in the 80s are realization of their need to export their talent (if you're never read up on the history of Tetris, check out Gaming Historian's video on it - it's really good) in an actual attempt to essentially save the Union. It really goes hand-in-hand I think and you can clearly connect the dots to how things went. Even the case of Sergei Priakin was the first time NHL Clubs -really- began to believe they could bring someone over with a blessing.

So I'm not sure it would work effectively. Getting international play in Historical is a goal, and for me (personal) is I want surprise challenges from the Soviet National Team to appear on your calendar eventually. That would be fun.

That would be awesome, I would really love that. It's great that the players are even in FHM to begin with, but to be able to play out the Summit Series, or the game where the Flyers destroyed the Soviets, that would really please the hockey nerd inside of me.

One step at a time, though. I'm sure you guys already have a lot on your plate on a game by game basis on what to improve and what to add, but the commitment you guys show to interacting with us and listening to our suggestions, I think that's really cool. Little things like that don't go unappreciated from me.

JJ Lehto · 03-01-2020, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitant4Life

The Stastny brothers were the first major Soviet players to defect. It was obvious from the get-go that Peter and Anton had elite-level talent. Marian as well, but his production wasn't as consistent as his brothers.

They were from Czechoslovakia, not Soviet Union. Marian was good until a nasty injury.

Adam B · 03-02-2020, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitant4Life

That would be awesome, I would really love that. It's great that the players are even in FHM to begin with, but to be able to play out the Summit Series, or the game where the Flyers destroyed the Soviets, that would really please the hockey nerd inside of me.

One step at a time, though. I'm sure you guys already have a lot on your plate on a game by game basis on what to improve and what to add, but the commitment you guys show to interacting with us and listening to our suggestions, I think that's really cool. Little things like that don't go unappreciated from me.

Flyers beat Red Army, which was most of the Soviet Team but not the actual team. The first team to actually beat the real team was the Jets.

( https://twitter.com/NHLJets/status/830083939951783936 )

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJ Lehto

They were from Czechoslovakia, not Soviet Union. Marian was good until a nasty injury.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he knew that but they still were apart of the Soviet Block.

JJ Lehto · 03-02-2020, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam B

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he knew that but they still were apart of the Soviet Block.

Sure, I was just nitpicking.

EJ · 03-04-2020, 04:09 PM

@Adam B , thank you for the link to the story about Tetris. That was awesome. I had no idea of the long and winding road.

Adam B · 03-04-2020, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EJ

@Adam B , thank you for the link to the story about Tetris. That was awesome. I had no idea of the long and winding road.

There have been other good versions, but that's probably the best one.

02-29-2020, 08:01 PM	#1
Habitant4Life Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Feb 2020 Location: Cape Breton Posts: 23	Workaround to the Iron Curtain I just finished watching the excellent documentary on the Russian Five, and wouldn't you know it, I immediately thought of FHM after. I thought about how would it be possible for the game to implement espionage/defection tactics in acquring foreign players pre-'93. Getting to acquire hockey players from the Soviet Union was considered a luxury. You can argue some of them were even better than the NHL's best, much to the chagrin of Don Cherry's rants to gatekeep the NHL from having an international influence. The Stastny brothers were the first major Soviet players to defect. It was obvious from the get-go that Peter and Anton had elite-level talent. Marian as well, but his production wasn't as consistent as his brothers. The negotiating skill could be a good base to start with. It'd be more believable that a GM the caliber of a Jimmy Devellano or Sam Pollock would have an easier time to convince a Soviet to defect, rather than a GM who isn't savvy or silver-tongued. As a trade-off for the GMs that aren't suave negotiators, I was thinking those GMs would have to bribe the player they're trying to recruit. Bribe as in on top of offering them a standard NHL contract, they would have to sweeten the pot with a signing bonus. Depending on how good the player is, or how good the negotiator is, the signing bonus would vary from low to high. It's also worth noting that in 1989 the Soviet Union announced that their players were eligible to play in the NHL, as long as they continued playing on the national team. The players forced their hand in this as 8 of them defected to the NHL simultaneously, leaving the Soviet Union to try and find a compromise to the problem. Look, I'm not a developer or a coder. I'm just a guy who in my short time of playing this game, has fallen in-love with it. It is the greatest and most rewarding experience I've ever had playing a sports game. The level of detail is there, and even more exciting to me, the potential of this game is limitless. I truly believe we're just scratching the surface of what this game is capable of. My only purpose of this thread is to provoke some thought. I'd like to hear what you guys think and if you could suggest a better idea than I proposed.

02-29-2020, 08:36 PM	#2
Adam B Hockey Community Manager Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: A Hockey Rink Posts: 2,371	I understand what you're getting at, but for the most part it wasn't that they wouldn't defect to come play (although not to underplay the love of the USSR many of them had), for most it was a life or death choice. Sneaking away was not an easy thing to do, and people could and were literally killed for trying. Soviet Superstars had extra security on them at that, and honestly I'm not sure it would have been realistically possible earlier than it did happen. The breakdown of the Soviets in the 80s are realization of their need to export their talent (if you're never read up on the history of Tetris, check out Gaming Historian's video on it - it's really good) in an actual attempt to essentially save the Union. It really goes hand-in-hand I think and you can clearly connect the dots to how things went. Even the case of Sergei Priakin was the first time NHL Clubs -really- began to believe they could bring someone over with a blessing. So I'm not sure it would work effectively. Getting international play in Historical is a goal, and for me (personal) is I want surprise challenges from the Soviet National Team to appear on your calendar eventually. That would be fun.

03-04-2020, 04:09 PM	#7
EJ Minors (Double A) Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Pacific NW, USA Posts: 145	@Adam B , thank you for the link to the story about Tetris. That was awesome. I had no idea of the long and winding road.