DobberHockey teams up with The Goalie Guild to purchase The Goalie Post, announces new partnership with Hockey Pool Geek.

The Goalie Post has been a godsend for fantasy owners with daily transactions. For the past five seasons, site owner Jeff Hillen has been posting the starting goaltenders for every NHL contest. Finally, poolies had a place to go that had everything organized. The clear-as-mud goaltending situation on a day-to-day basis was finally organized. Last minute injury? Hillen already made the change. Coach hiding info on who he will be starting? Hillen gave his best estimate – clearly noting that it is only an estimate – and then updated the post if and when the starter's name was finally "official".

It wasn't easy, especially when it was only supposed to be a ‘moonlighting’ gig.  "A new full time job, two young children, and a loving (but maybe a little bit frustrated) wife prove to be the champions in the competition for my time these days." Hillen explained.  "I had great plans to make the site bigger and better, but never seem to have the time to do it right."

The multi-million monthly page views took a hit in 2009 when Goalie Post made the move to become a pay site, but thousands of users stuck with it because they knew how reliable and organized the information was. And the option to receive emailed notifications of any last-minute goaltending changes was priceless for poolies who were in the mix for a championship.

But two years later, Hillen put the site on the market.

It was a match made in heaven. The best fantasy goalie site getting acquired by a partnership of the best fantasy hockey site and the top goaltender scouting site. The possibilities are endless. More marketing power (from DobberHockey) means more traffic, which means more content can be made available for free. More goaltending know-how (from The Goalie Guild) means there is more to offer in the Premium Section. The big winner? Fantasy hockey owners.

"With my fantasy goaltending knowledge and expertise acting as a deadly weapon," opined Justin Goldman, founder of The Goalie Guild and well-respected writer at DobberHockey, "members will instantly improve their daily decisions on who to start, trade, draft, claim or bench. I will utilize my expertise to educate members on a daily basis and provide them with insight that simply can’t be found anywhere else."

"It was a no-brainer." Added Darryl Dobbs, founder of DobberHockey. "Going to Justin to see if he would partner up for this was just the logical move."

Besides beefing up the Premium content to include Goldman's "advice and raw scouting notes on each and every email update and goalie note that we send out", there are plans to host a 'live chat' as frequently as every week where Goldman and/or Dobbs will answer questions on the fly. The ideas go beyond that. "There will be numerous opportunities for members to have their specific questions answered in a private, confidential manner." Goldman added.

DobberHockey senior writer Jeff Angus also liked the acquisition. "One unique aspect of our site is the goaltending analysis and information we provide, courtesy of Justin Goldman. This just enhances his scope and product offering even more – if Goldman talks goalies, I listen."

Perhaps the biggest splash is the decision to move the critically acclaimed Goalie Grid to the "free" area of the site.

"Subscribers who support the website will get the one-on-one help, the emailed updates, the extended ranking charts and the added insight." Dobbs announced. "Since this kind of content can be found elsewhere on the Internet anyway, Justin and I choose to make Jeff Hillen's amazing grid free to all users beginning next season and in so doing earn their support to take it further and buy into the Premium content."

As for Jeff Hillen – Goalie Post fans will be relieved to know that he'll still be around. "The remainder of this season will continue without change, however next season my role will be more of a supporting role, doing behind-the-scenes work as needed. After six years of developing, growing, and painstakingly working on Goaliepost.com it has become like a member of my family and these changes ensure all loyal members will continue to get the service they are accustomed to."

DobberHockey announces a working partnership with Hockey Pool Geek, introduction of the Dobber Sports Network

Hockey Pool Geek took over the "fantasy hockey's secret weapon" mantle when Jason Arbuthnot's Frozen Pool became too famous to be called a secret any longer. This in-depth analyzer not only audits your team, but it breaks down your entire league. In fact, a paragraph here would not do it justice – take a look at what HPG can do for a typical squad.

Now imagine that tool with DobberHockey's player rankings and preseason/midseason projections.

"Partnering up with DobberHockey is a natural marriage for Hockey Pool Geek. We’re analysis experts, but projections aren’t our thing… so strategically it’s just a natural fit." Said HPG co-founder Paul Nielsen. "This partnership will mean that Dobber’s projections will underpin the work we do, which was something that our customers have asked for. The biggest boost is that there is a really good collaborative relationship underneath this partnership — in the end, users of both sites will come out ahead because we’re bound to push each other to offer more ways to rule your pool."

The partnership brings together a group of strong fantasy websites and has led Dobbs to announce the creation of the Dobber Sports Network. This will be a fantasy sports hub that navigates to all the fantasy sites under the Dobber umbrella: DobberHockey, DobberBaseball, Frozen Pool, Goalie Post and Hockey Pool Geek. The plan is for everything to fall into place by early June.

"I was trying to add two or three partners with a real niche in the fantasy hockey industry." Explained Dobbs. "Like what Jason adds in Frozen Pool, I thought that if I could bring on that kind of unique edge from other up-and-coming websites, then I could turn this industry on its ear. Hockey Pool Geek was my first phone call."

Download the pdf of this press release right here.