FantasyHockey Posts

  • New Fantasy Hockey Plan

    Here’s the deal with my office pool.  I currently sit in the top 2 in the following categories: Goals, PIM, SHP, GAA, SV%.  I’m in the bottom 4 in: A , +/-, PPP, SHO.  I’m middle of the pack in goalie wins.

    The way I figure it, I could start benching my goalies now (Nabokov, Price, and IR’d Varlamov) and only stand to lose a few points from the wins and shutout categories.  Worst case scenario, I’d drop a few points from the GAA/SV% as well, although since I’ve been rolling primarily with Nabokov only for the last 2 months, those numbers are unlikely to give much.

    (This pool is near Yahoo standard, for the record.)

    All told, I would probably sacrifice about 9 points (from 3 to 1 (2) in SO, 6.5 to 1 (5.5) in WINS, and a max of 1.5 between GAA/SV%) by not playing any goalies the rest of the year.

    If I trade those goalies, particularly Nabokov, I could probably get a pretty nice return.  If I can use that return, along with some nifty waiver-wire manoeuvring, I could probably pick up more than 9 points across ASSISTS, PLUS/MINUS, and POWER-PLAY POINTS.

    So that’s the plan.  I’m going to trade my goalies and see what kind of return I can get.  I’m currently working on a deal that would put Crosby AND Joe Thornton in my line-up, although I’ll likely have to sacrifice a forward (Rick Nash) to make it happen.

    January-26-10 at 10:41:21 AM
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  • Fantasy Resolution

    One of the first pointers I always give to fantasy hockey newcomers goes like this…

    - Don’t get attached to your draft picks.  There’s a waiver wire for a reason.

    Well, this season I’ve fallen victim to this very disease.  1-week into the season, an over-eager young manager dropped David Backes, the C/RW from the St. Louis Blues that exploded onto the fantasy scene last season.  Me, the veteran manager anxious to prey upon my less experienced competition, picked him up almost immediately.  And I’ve clung.

    In roughly 2-months as a member of Holy Puck, Backes contributed 5 goals, 4 assists, and a –5 rating.  He’s a goal scorer who was outscored by Zach Bogosian (2nd year defenseman) and scored as many as James van Riemsdyk.  It’s worth noting that both Bogosian and van Riemsdyk spent less than half as long on my rosters as Backes.

    Needless to say, I was waiting for a breakout.  It hasn’t happened, and I suspect it may not (although the coaching change in St. Louis may help).  I held on for far too long, and Backes contributed to a destruction of my +/- statistics.

    In the vein of trying something new with the new year, I dropped Backes yesterday.  I’m still searching for a long-term replacement, but until that person emerges, I’m better off with random players.

    I need to heed my own advice and avoid falling into a similar trap.

    Now, if only I can figure out what to do with Brad Boyes.

    January-02-10 at 10:29:27 AM
  • RotoWire Missed 1st Quarter of Season

    From the news feed they provide to Yahoo… Recommendation: Coach Ron Wilson said Toskala would "have to practice hard for a few days before I'm convinced he'll be ready to even backup." Sounds like he's a week away from useful duty. (Rotowire.com) A week away from useful duty?  Are the Leafs about to become such an unstoppable force of hockey excellence that their backup goalie (sporting a sparkly .865 SVP and 3.91 GAA) is about to become useful for fantasy purposes? Was there a trade that I’m unaware of?
    November-29-09 at 11:27:21 PM
  • Fantasy Hockey Day

    The NHL season kicks into full gear today with 15 games, which means that every team is in action. I hate this. It’s a huge headache for fantasy players.  Who to start?  Who to bench?  Should I play Ville Leino (who scored on Friday in his season debut for the Red Wings), or roll with Nikita Filatov, prized rookie in Columbus? And what about the goalies? Well, there’s really only one thing to do.  It’s far too early to look at the matchups; it’s a total crapshoot this early in the season.  One of my competitors was set to bench
    October-03-09 at 2:34:58 AM