Welcome to Hockey Pool Geek’s Deep Analysis. Our goal is to dig deep into the team and league that is being analyzed in order to bring out some insight and push you into really getting the most out of your team and ultimately taking down the rest of the league.
Neil McWilliams, aka wendelclark17 on the DobberHockey forums, was one of the lucky winners of our contest. Let’s dig right in.
Ed. Note: This article marks the first instalment of The Commissioner’s Office, a new regular column on DobberHockey that will examine issues that concern fantasy league commissioners – but hopefully will be of interest to all readers. In the months ahead, we’ll be looking at league and draft formats, the plusses and minuses of counting various scoring categories, rule debates, dispute resolution, boosting GM interest and involvement, and much more. Today’s piece is reprinted from a couple years ago, but serves as a fitting kick-off.
There are hockey pools... and then there are fantasy leagues.
_Photos/Colgate/Mark_Dekanich_Admirals3.gif?max_width=360 "Mark Dekanich - courtesy of ECAC Hockey")
Last season, Mark Dekanich was just another excellent goalie in the goaltending factory that is the Nashville Predators. For some reason the Predators seem to consistently produce excellent goaltenders. Tomas Vokoun (acquired through expansion), Chris Mason, Dan Ellis, Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback have all thrived in the "Volunteer" State. Dekanich looked like he was another candidate to get lost in the Nashville shuffle, but Group six free agency allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. Group six free agency occurs for goalies when they have reached age 25, have 3 accrued years of professional experience, and whose contracts have expired, but have played fewer than 28 NHL games. Columbus signed Dekanich to a one-year, one-way, $575,000 contract on July 1st 2011, giving him a chance to prove himself in the NHL next season.
According to the Chinese Zodiac , the year of 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. In the hockey world, the 2012 NHL Entry Draft is shaping up to be loaded with top calibre defenseman, one of which just happens to be a (London) Knight and looking to battle the 2012 draft class dragons all the way to the top of the list. The Dean’s List continues to highlight top prospects eligible for the 2012 NHL Draft and this week our attention turns to the first overall selection in the 2011 CHL Import Draft – Finnish defenseman Olli Määttä.
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My partner Justin Goldman (@thegoalieguild on Twitter), quickly explains some the new features (as well as some key, 'must-see' features) over at the Goalie Post. This is the premier site for fantasy goalie/starting NHL goalie information.
I’m a week late, but below are my choices of players to avoid (if you can) on draft day. This is written after the DobberHockey Experts Draft, which was one of the more challenging drafts I’ve participated in, and some of the players who I would rather have not touched with a ten-foot pole…well, I had to take one or two. If you can avoid them, here’s who I think you should steer clear of and why.
Sidney Crosby spoke in a press conference Wednesday for the first time since his 'double-concussion' back in early January. So what was said? Well, nothing...and everything. There is no single player in the NHL who has more of a ripple effect on fantasy hockey than Sid the Kid. So let's take a look at the best-case scenario, the worst-case scenario, as well as analyze what was said by Crosby and his doctors.
David Backes has become an absolute darling in the world of fantasy hockey and I will not lie I hopped on board that train three seasons ago and nearly rode it to a championship. I have been on that train ever since and I really have not been disappointed. Here is the problem I am having though. The hype machine may be swirling to unsustainable levels. Right now you’ll find Backes as the 46th ranked skater in Yahoo! Leagues and is being drafted on average as the 50th skater so you are seeing some course correction being made by poolies but even 50th overall is a little high, at least when you consider where some other players are dropping. Consider, for instance, Scott Hartnell, who is the 68th ranked skater and is being drafted (on average) even later as the 93rd best skater. When I see numbers like this I see poolies who are in need of guidance because there is very little reason to take Backes so much higher than Hartnell. In fact, there is a case that Hartnell should go higher. Don’t believe me? Well then come along for the ride because this week’s Cage Match is Backes vs. Hartnell in a battle of the roto-studs.
Tuesday, September 6 at 8pm ET - follow along and poke fun at us/learn how we think (often leads to the poke fun at us part) DobberHockey's Expert Tier Draft
Over the course of the last few weekends I participated in a few Yahoo! mock drafts to gain a better grasp of what’s been going on in the real fantasy hockey world. I thought I’d pass my findings onto you Dobberities. I participated in random drafts ranging from eight to 14 teams from H2H to Roto leagues with standard settings. This is what I have concluded.
