Part III: Building the Players Who Decide Close Games
Most Hockey Arena managers naturally spend most of their time thinking about forwards and defensemen.
How much Shooting should a winger have?
How much Passing should a center receive?
Should a defenseman be Pure, Creative or Blueliner?
Those questions matter.
But there is another layer of roster construction that can easily separate two otherwise similar teams:
the goalkeeper and the special teams.
A great first line can win games.
A great goalkeeper can steal them.
And a carefully constructed Power Play or Penalty Kill can decide the matches where five-on-five hockey produces almost nothing between two evenly matched clubs.
The basic philosophy of this article is therefore simple:
Do not treat the goalkeeper, Power Play and Penalty Kill as leftovers from your normal roster. Build them deliberately.
PART I – GOALKEEPER TRAINING
1. Goalkeepers Are Their Own Development System
Goalkeepers should not be developed according to the same philosophy as skaters.
The official Hockey Arena guide identifies four attributes with particularly clear functions for a goalie:
Goalie
Speed
Passing / Puck Control
Self-control
The Goalie attribute works together with Speed in stopping shots, and Speed is explicitly described as a primary skill for goaltenders. Passing/Puck Control determines how effectively a goalie controls and distributes the puck after a save; poor puck control creates more rebounds, and those rebounds have an increased scoring probability. Low Self-control can cause a goalie to lose confidence after conceding several goals quickly, significantly damaging his performance for the remainder of the match.
That immediately gives us our goalkeeper hierarchy:
Goalie + Speed → foundation
Puck Control → rebound management
Self-control → psychological stability
2. Goalie and Speed – The Core Pair
The first temptation is to simply train Goalie as high as possible.
But Hockey Arena explicitly links save effectiveness to Goalie together with Speed. Speed is also described as a primary goalkeeper skill.
This means I would avoid creating something like:
Goalie 220
Speed 80
even though the player's headline Goalie number might look impressive.
The better philosophy is to maintain two strong pillars.
For example:
Goalie 150
Speed 135
is much more interesting than building an enormous gap between them.
Goalie can remain somewhat higher because it is the specialized position attribute, but Speed should never become an afterthought.
Training priority
For a developing goalie:
Goalie > Speed >>> Passing > Self-control
At higher AI:
Goalie ≈ Speed > Passing > Self-control
The distinction is important.
Early in development, create the shot-stopper.
Later, complete the goalkeeper.
3. Passing / Puck Control – The Hidden Goalie Skill
This may be the most underrated goalkeeper attribute.
For goaltenders, Hockey Arena interprets Passing as Puck Control/Passing.
The official guide states that poor puck control increases the number of rebounds surrendered, and rebounds have a higher probability of resulting in goals than ordinary shots.
That means Passing does not merely make your goalie better at starting attacks.
It potentially helps him prevent dangerous second chances.
Consider two goalkeepers.
Goalie A
Goalie 170
Speed 150
Passing 20
Goalie B
Goalie 160
Speed 145
Passing 70
The first goalkeeper looks much better if we only examine his two headline attributes.
But the second may control considerably more shots instead of allowing dangerous rebounds.
The official guide does not publish the exact mathematical weighting, so we cannot claim that one specific Passing number is optimal.
But the mechanic itself is clear:
Puck Control has real defensive value.
Therefore I would not leave Passing at 10–20 forever on an elite goalkeeper.
4. Self-Control – Goalie Insurance
Self-control performs a completely different function.
A goalkeeper with low Self-control can lose confidence after allowing several goals in a short period. Hockey Arena even identifies this situation in the match report when it occurs.
This does not necessarily mean that Self-control should receive the same investment as Goalie or Speed.
It shouldn't.
But it gives us another reason not to build absurdly one-dimensional 500 AI goalkeepers.
At 250–300 AI, I can accept limited Self-control.
At 450–500 AI, I want some psychological insurance.
Because an elite goalkeeper who collapses mentally precisely during the most important match of the season is not especially elite anymore.
5. Goalkeeper Builds at Different AI Levels
The following are my practical templates, not official formulas.
They assume that nearly all useful goalkeeper AI is concentrated into:
G – Goalie
SPD – Speed
PAS – Passing/Puck Control
SC – Self-control
Balanced Goalkeeper Development
| Attribute | 300 AI | 400 AI | 500 AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goalie | 120 | 150 | 175 |
| Speed | 105 | 135 | 155 |
| Passing/Puck Control | 45 | 65 | 95 |
| Self-control | 30 | 50 | 75 |
| TOTAL | 300 | 400 | 500 |
The evolution is deliberate.
At 300 AI
Create the shot-stopper.
Goalie 120 / Speed 105
already dominate the player.
Secondary skills exist, but they remain secondary.
At 400 AI
Now we begin controlling rebounds.
The core becomes:
Goalie 150
Speed 135
Passing 65
This is already a serious goalkeeper.
At 500 AI
The development philosophy changes.
Instead of blindly pushing Goalie toward 220 and Speed toward 200, we develop a more complete goalkeeper:
Goalie 175
Speed 155
Passing 95
Self-control 75
The exact numbers can vary enormously depending on Quality, age and the player's existing distribution.
But the principle remains:
Build the save mechanics first. Add rebound control and stability as the goalkeeper matures.
6. Quality Changes the Training Plan
Hockey Arena makes Quality extremely important for development.
The official guide states that when an attribute reaches approximately 150% of the player's Quality, training that attribute becomes greatly slowed.
For example:
A Quality 100 player reaches that zone around:
150 attribute
A Quality 90 player reaches it around:
135
A Quality 80 player reaches it around:
120
This does not mean the attribute cannot go higher.
It means continuing to hammer the same attribute becomes progressively less efficient.
This strongly supports balanced late-career development.
If your goalkeeper already has:
Goalie 160
while Passing remains:
35
there may come a point where training Puck Control provides more useful development than desperately trying to force another 10 points into Goalie.
7. A Practical Goalkeeper Training Schedule
Training schedules should change throughout development.
Hockey Arena allows managers to distribute training time between attributes, while players who participate in matches automatically adjust training intensity according to their Energy.
A young goalkeeper might use something like:
Foundation Schedule
Goalie – 45%
Speed – 35%
Passing – 10%
Self-control – 10%
Once the core becomes established:
Development Schedule
Goalie – 40%
Speed – 35%
Passing – 15%
Self-control – 10%
And an advanced goalkeeper could shift toward:
Completion Schedule
Goalie – 30%
Speed – 30%
Passing – 25%
Self-control – 15%
These are development templates rather than universal prescriptions.
If one attribute is already far ahead, adjust.
The training schedule should respond to the player.
The player should not become a slave to the schedule.
8. Energy, Form and Experience Matter More Than the AI Screen Suggests
A goalkeeper's attributes do not tell the entire story.
Hockey Arena states that high Form and Experience allow players to use their abilities more effectively, while lower values increase the chance of major mistakes. Experience is accumulated through matches, with important matches such as playoffs and national-team games providing more.
Goalkeeper Energy is also different from skater Energy.
Skaters become tired according to ice time.
Goalkeepers become tired according to the number of shots they face.
That has an important practical consequence.
A young goalkeeper who never plays may train beautifully but develop almost no Experience.
A goalkeeper who plays absolutely everything may accumulate Experience but also carry more fatigue.
The ideal development pathway therefore needs both:
training + real matches
PART II – SPECIAL TEAMS
9. PP and PK Should Be Treated as Separate Units
Hockey Arena allows up to two Power Play lines and two Penalty Killing lines to be used in a match.
The players selected for those units must also belong to the starting lineup. If a PP or PK unit becomes invalid because one of its players is unavailable, the system can fall back on standard lines. PP and PK units alternate every 30 seconds.
This creates an interesting team-building opportunity.
Your best five-on-five player does not automatically have to be your best Power Play player.
Likewise, your highest-AI winger does not automatically belong on the Penalty Kill.
Special teams reward specialized combinations of attributes.
PART III – BUILDING THE POWER PLAY
10. What Does a Power Play Player Need?
The Power Play removes some of the priorities of normal five-on-five hockey and magnifies others.
From a roster-building perspective, I want PP players who excel at:
chance creation
puck movement
finishing
shooting from distance
That immediately points us toward several of the profiles developed in the previous articles:
Sniper
Primary finishing weapon.
Playmaker
Primary distributor.
Creative
Mobile creator.
Blueliner
Defenseman combining Defense, Shooting and Passing.
Power
Physical attacking presence.
The Power Play is therefore where several offensive specialists that may appear slightly unbalanced at five-on-five can become extremely valuable.
11. The PP Sniper
The Sniper's purpose is obvious:
finish the possession.
He does not need to be the player carrying the entire attack.
He needs somebody else to create the opportunity.
That makes the Sniper particularly compatible with a Creative or Playmaker center.
Example 500 AI PP Sniper
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Defense | 20 |
| Offense | 140 |
| Shooting | 165 |
| Passing | 45 |
| Strength | 35 |
| Speed | 55 |
| Self-control | 40 |
| AI | 500 |
This is essentially the 500 AI Sniper developed in Part II.
Nothing needs to change dramatically.
The Power Play is precisely where this specialization becomes especially useful.
12. The PP Playmaker
The Playmaker has a different job.
He should create the high-quality chance that the Sniper eventually finishes.
Passing is important for all centers in Hockey Arena because the official guide describes creating good scoring opportunities as one of the center's primary tasks.
For a dedicated PP creator, however, I would allow somewhat more Shooting than in the pure five-on-five Playmaker build.
Why?
Because the player should still remain capable of punishing the opponent if the shooting opportunity comes to him.
Example 500 AI PP Playmaker
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Defense | 20 |
| Offense | 150 |
| Shooting | 45 |
| Passing | 135 |
| Strength | 45 |
| Speed | 60 |
| Self-control | 45 |
| AI | 500 |
He is still clearly a creator.
But he is no longer almost incapable of finishing.
13. The PP Blueliner
This may be one of the most natural special-team specialists in Hockey Arena.
The Blueliner profile already combines approximately:
Defense + Shooting + Passing
That gives us exactly what we want from an offensive defenseman:
recover possession, distribute the puck and threaten from distance.
Example 500 AI PP Blueliner
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Defense | 120 |
| Offense | 25 |
| Shooting | 120 |
| Passing | 115 |
| Strength | 40 |
| Speed | 45 |
| Self-control | 35 |
| AI | 500 |
Notice how different he is from a Pure defender.
A Pure defender may be the superior shutdown player.
The Blueliner is being trained to participate in the attack.
14. The PP Power Forward
A second attacking specialist can be built around Strength.
This player is particularly useful if you want a physically dominant forward complementing your skill players.
Example 500 AI PP Power Player
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Defense | 20 |
| Offense | 135 |
| Shooting | 55 |
| Passing | 35 |
| Strength | 155 |
| Speed | 55 |
| Self-control | 45 |
| AI | 500 |
The role is completely different from the Sniper.
One finishes.
One creates physical pressure.
The center distributes.
The Blueliners keep the attack alive.
That is how a unit acquires an identity.
15. Example Power Play Unit
A practical first PP unit could look like:
| Position | Profile | Job |
|---|---|---|
| LW | Sniper | Primary finisher |
| C | Creative / Playmaker | Main distributor |
| RW | Power | Physical attacking support |
| D | Blueliner | Passing + blue-line shooting |
| D | Blueliner | Passing + blue-line shooting |
In conceptual terms:
Creator → Finisher
supported by:
Power + puck-moving defensemen
This is not the only possible Power Play.
It is simply one coherent system.
16. PP1 and PP2 Should Not Necessarily Be Identical
Because Hockey Arena can use two PP units and rotates them every 30 seconds, there is little reason to make them exact copies of one another.
For example:
PP1 – Possession and Shooting
Sniper – Creative – Power
Blueliner – Blueliner
PP2 – Speed and Distribution
Speedy – Playmaker – Sniper
Creative D – Blueliner
Now the opponent faces two different types of threat.
PP1 emphasizes sustained pressure and shooting.
PP2 emphasizes movement and passing.
That gives your roster more tactical depth.
PART IV – BUILDING THE PENALTY KILL
17. Penalty Kill Requires a Different Player
The biggest mistake would be simply selecting the four or five players with the highest AI and assuming they will automatically become your best defensive specialists.
The PK should emphasize a different collection of skills.
From Hockey Arena's documented attribute functions, several immediately stand out:
Defense
The obvious defensive foundation.
Strength
Used by all outfield players when defending; for centers it also works together with Attack in faceoffs.
Speed
A secondary attribute for skaters and useful when reacting and transitioning.
Self-control
Low Self-control increases penalties, with line aggressiveness also influencing penalty frequency.
Passing
Useful after gaining possession and beginning the transition away from danger. Good or poor passes can also affect the quality of subsequent scoring chances.
And for the center:
Attack + Strength
because both contribute to faceoffs.
That gives us a completely different player-development philosophy.
18. The PK Center
The PK center should not simply be a Playmaker with a defensive assignment.
Faceoffs matter.
Hockey Arena explicitly uses Attack together with Strength when a center takes a faceoff.
Therefore a good PK center should have:
Attack
Strength
Defense
Passing
Speed
Self-control
Shooting becomes much less important.
Example 500 AI PK Center
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Defense | 75 |
| Offense | 115 |
| Shooting | 15 |
| Passing | 65 |
| Strength | 110 |
| Speed | 70 |
| Self-control | 50 |
| AI | 500 |
This player would look strange if judged purely as an offensive center.
That is because he is not being built primarily as an offensive center.
He is being built to survive difficult minutes.
19. The PK Winger
For the PK winger I want:
Speed + Defense + Strength
with enough Offense to remain dangerous in transition.
Example 500 AI PK Winger
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Defense | 80 |
| Offense | 100 |
| Shooting | 25 |
| Passing | 45 |
| Strength | 95 |
| Speed | 105 |
| Self-control | 50 |
| AI | 500 |
This is almost a hybrid between our Speedy and Power concepts.
He can defend.
He can skate.
He can physically compete.
And if the opponent makes a mistake, he still possesses enough Offense to turn that mistake into a counter-attack.
20. The PK Defenseman
The most obvious foundation is the Pure defensive archetype.
But I would give a dedicated PK defender slightly more Passing and Speed than an extreme shutdown template.
Example 500 AI PK Defenseman
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Defense | 160 |
| Offense | 20 |
| Shooting | 15 |
| Passing | 55 |
| Strength | 130 |
| Speed | 70 |
| Self-control | 50 |
| AI | 500 |
That player has only 15 Shooting.
And that is absolutely fine.
Those points are doing more useful work elsewhere.
This is exactly what specialization means.
21. Example PK Philosophy
A strong PK core might therefore combine:
Power/defensive center
Speedy or physical winger
Pure defenseman
Pure or Creative defenseman
The central idea is:
win possession → survive pressure → move the puck safely → counter if possible
Not:
score at all costs.
PART V – WHY SELF-CONTROL BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT ON SPECIAL TEAMS
Self-control deserves another mention here.
The official game guide states that low Self-control increases penalties, and line aggressiveness also contributes to penalty frequency.
This gives Self-control an interesting indirect value for special-team players.
A heavily used defensive player with poor Self-control can potentially create exactly the situation your PK is supposed to avoid:
another penalty.
Similarly, highly aggressive five-on-five lines built around Strength should not completely neglect SC.
There is therefore a relationship:
Strength enables aggression.
Self-control helps manage its cost.
That does not mean every player needs huge SC.
But it should stop us from automatically treating it as wasted AI.
PART VI – SPECIAL TEAMS AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Hockey Arena allows two PP and two PK units to be used, with the units alternating every 30 seconds.
That is important because your first instinct may be to put your five best players on every possible unit:
First line.
PP1.
PK1.
Every important situation.
But skaters lose Energy based on ice time, and reductions in Energy can weaken several match attributes.
This creates a trade-off.
Using your superstar everywhere increases the amount of time your best player spends on the ice.
It can also increase fatigue.
A deeper roster allows you to distribute specialized minutes.
That makes the second PP and PK units more than backups.
They become part of the energy-management system.
PART VII – BUILDING SPECIAL-TEAM PLAYERS FROM YOUR NORMAL ROSTER
You do not necessarily need a completely separate group of players who exist only for Power Play or Penalty Kill duty.
The smarter solution is usually dual-purpose specialization.
For example:
Sniper winger
5-on-5 role: BNE Sniper
Special team: PP1 finisher
Creative center
5-on-5 role: BNE creator
Special team: PP1 distributor
Blueliner
5-on-5 role: BNE defenseman
Special team: PP1 quarterback
Power center
5-on-5 role: Checking line
Special team: PK faceoff center
Pure defenseman
5-on-5 role: Checking shutdown defenseman
Special team: PK defender
Speedy winger
5-on-5 role: Counter-Attacking line
Special team: PK transition threat
Now suddenly the three-line roster from Part II fits together beautifully.
22. Connecting the Entire Roster
Remember our example team:
| Line | LW | C | RW | D | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BNE | Sniper | Creative | Power | Blueliner | Blueliner |
| CHE | Power | Power | Speedy | Pure | Pure |
| CA | Speedy | Playmaker | Speedy | Creative | Creative |
Now we can assign additional jobs.
PP1
BNE Sniper
BNE Creative center
BNE Power wing
BNE Blueliner
BNE Blueliner
The offensive line becomes the primary Power Play.
PP2
CA Speedy
CA Playmaker
another Speedy/Sniper
Creative D
Blueliner
More movement and transition.
PK1
CHE Power center
CHE Speedy/Power winger
CHE Pure D
CHE Pure D
The shutdown line naturally becomes the defensive special-team core.
PK2
Use selected players from the Counter-Attacking line:
Speedy forward
Playmaker/strong center
Creative D
Pure or Creative D
This group sacrifices some pure physicality but potentially becomes better at recovering possession and turning it into counter-attacking danger.
The result is no longer fifteen unrelated players.
It is a roster architecture.
PART VIII – THE GOALKEEPER'S PLACE IN THE SYSTEM
The goalkeeper sits underneath everything.
A strong Power Play scores one more goal.
A strong Penalty Kill prevents one.
A strong goalkeeper can influence both indirectly by reducing the number of dangerous chances that become goals.
And this is where Puck Control becomes especially interesting.
If low Puck Control increases rebounds and rebounds carry a greater scoring probability, then improving that attribute can reduce precisely the chaotic second-chance situations that become dangerous when your team is already under pressure.
This is why I increasingly prefer the philosophy of the complete goalkeeper rather than the two-attribute monster.
23. The Complete Development Pyramid
We can now summarize our entire training series.
Goalkeeper
Goalie + Speed
then Puck Control
then Self-control
Five-on-Five Forwards
Train according to tactical profile:
Sniper
Power
Playmaker
Creative
Speedy
Five-on-Five Defensemen
Train according to:
Pure
Blueliner
Creative
Power Play
Prioritize:
Offense
Shooting
Passing
supported by the appropriate player roles.
Penalty Kill
Prioritize:
Defense
Strength
Speed
Self-control
with Attack + Strength particularly valuable for centers taking faceoffs.
24. Final Special Teams Cheat Sheet
| Role | Most Important Skills | Secondary Skills |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Goalie, Speed | Passing/Puck Control, Self-control |
| PP Sniper | Shooting, Offense | Speed, Passing |
| PP Playmaker | Offense, Passing | Speed, Shooting |
| PP Power Forward | Strength, Offense | Shooting, Speed |
| PP Blueliner | Defense, Shooting, Passing | Speed |
| PK Center | Offense, Strength, Defense | Passing, Speed, SC |
| PK Winger | Speed, Strength, Defense | Offense, SC |
| PK Defenseman | Defense, Strength | Speed, Passing, SC |
These priorities are practical roster-building recommendations, not published Hockey Arena match-engine formulas.
That distinction is important.
The official guide tells us what the individual attributes do.
Our job as managers is deciding how to combine them.
Final Thoughts
The deeper you go into Hockey Arena, the less useful the question:
“Who are my five best players?”
becomes.
A better manager begins asking:
Who is my best finisher?
Who controls the puck?
Who wins the important faceoff?
Who survives defensive pressure?
Who can play aggressively without constantly taking penalties?
Which goalie stops the first shot — and which goalie also prevents the second one?
That is when training stops being simply an exercise in increasing Ability Index.
It becomes roster construction.
The goalkeeper needs his own development path.
Your Power Play needs creators and finishers.
Your Penalty Kill needs players whose attributes may look inefficient on an ordinary scoring line but become extremely valuable when the team is shorthanded.
And once we connect all three layers —
5-on-5 lines + special teams + goalkeeper
— the objective changes completely.
You are no longer trying to develop the best individual players.
You are trying to develop the best possible hockey team.
Train the player for his role. Train the role for the unit. Build the units for the team.
