Many fantasy pools have their playoffs the last few weeks of the regular season. Over the next few weeks I would like to address the 'playoff' schedule a few times. I want the analysis to be tailored to your rules, your formats, yours teams and your concerns so please post your playoff schedule questions in the 'Article Feedback' forum.
From January 22 to January 26 the All-Star breaks gets in the way of fantasy hockey. It interrupts all NHL team's weekly schedules. Nashville gets eight days off. St. Louis, Montreal and NY Islanders, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh get seven days off. The rest of the teams only get five or six days rest. The charts below have a bit of a different look this week to give you an easier view of the number of games teams play around the All-Star break.
Saturday, January 10 marks the half way point in the NHL season. The optimists and pessimists can debate whether the season is half over or half remaining. For your fantasy skaters some NHL truths remain the same. The southeast is still the easiest place to get goals, thanks in large part to the Thrashers, while the northwest is toughest place to rack up the points. While poolies have long since noticed that Boston and Chicago has improved defensively and Dallas' fall from grace it might have gone unnoticed the defensive step back that the NY Islanders, Blues and Anaheim have taken. But fear not, the charts below are keeping up with these trends, recognising where the real strengths and weakness are for your fantasy skaters.
January would be a great month for fantasy hockey managers if it wasn't for that pesky five day all-star break. There are no games from January 22 from January 26 inclusive so it might be a good five days to plan a night out with your special friend without missing checking the scores. However, they still manage to squeeze a healthy amount of games in the rest of the month. The Ducks and Devils play 14 games in the month. All the other teams play between 11 and 13. The Avalanche have ten home games while the Sabres have only three.
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As my first round defeat in my NFL pool recently taught me it is never too early to think about the playoffs. In a head to head format chances are come the last month of the NHL season are playoff time and your weekly roster decisions will mean a lot more. So why not put yourself in the best possible position by acquiring players who are on teams with better final schedules.
Santa in a Flames Jersey
For the record it appears that Santa Clause is a Calgary Flames fan this year. Christmas finds them in the middle of a 5 games home stand stretches out over more than two week. If they didn't play the Ducks on December 23 they would have 7 full days off right over Christmas. So Flames fans have no excuses not to spend lots of times with the in-laws. Sorry.
The next week or two is probably one of the last times to cash in on any schedule imbalance before it becomes statistically insignificant. By Christmas the Rangers will have played 37 games, the Hurricanes, Ducks, Coyotes, Capitals, and Canucks will have played 35. On the other end the Senators, Oilers and Devils will have only played 32 games and the Blackhawks bringing up the rear with only 31. Those few games might just mean enough difference to turn what appears like an even deal into an advantage for you. On Christmas morning compare two 25 point players, one from the Ranger and one from the Blackhawk. They may look close but over the course of 82 games you are looking at a 55 point player versus a 66 point player.
Starting today, December 5, the St. Louis Blues play five games in seven nights including two sets of back to back games. The first three games are at home starting with the Flames and Coyotes in back-to-back games. They get one day's rest before the Predators visit and then they play back-to-back games on the road in Anaheim and Los Angeles. Playing five games in a one week time doesn't happen very often - only twelve times during the regular season although it happens to the Blues twice.
December starts on Monday and in spite of the two day Christmas break the NHL only has one less game then there was in November and by the time the month is done we will be 45% of the way through the season. Atlanta, L.A., Phoenix and St. Louis play almost every other day with 15 games in the month. The Blackhawks and Rangers at the bottom of the list are only four games behind with 11.
Back-to-back games are a part of every NHL team's schedule. Back-to-back games can be an indication of when a back-up goalie is played which could help you grab valuable goalie points. Most teams have between 11 and 18 back to back games over the course of the whole season. Colorado gets away with only eight times back-to-back and the Blue Jackets have 20 such situations - that is almost half their games.
