The Commissioner’s Office

My first attempt at starting a keeper league ended in domination – and disaster.

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth and final instalment in a series on running a salary cap fantasy league. See the pros and cons of cap leagues, an examination of different types of caps and also on determining your cap limit.

Initially in this cap-related series, we considered reasons for and against incorporating a salary cap in your fantasy league. We then examined the two basic types of cap leagues: those which use real NHL salaries and those which assign fantasy salary values to players, whether through a player auction or another mechanism. Choosing between these alternatives is the first step to setting up your cap league.

Once you’ve taken the leap into running a salary cap league, you’re immediately faced with a crucial decision: will you use NHL salaries, or will you create a fantasy salary structure unique to your league? Both options present unique challenges and opportunities, both for your managers and for you as the commissioner.

The introduction of the NHL salary cap changed everything about managing an NHL team.

This week we’re turning over the Commissioner’s Office to Dobber Nation and taking some questions from the readers. Some queries have been edited for brevity. Over to you...

Back in the early days when I was getting my feet wet as a commissioner, the midseason draft was a much-anticipated staple of our annual fantasy hockey calendar.

Confession: I’ve got a bit of an itchy trigger finger.

A couple weeks ago, I experienced a poolie’s worst nightmare. After setting my weekly line-up Sunday night, I awoke on Monday to the news that my starting goalie (Roberto Luongo) was out with an undisclosed injury – an upper body injury, no less (the worst kind!).

In the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Team Canada established themselves as the greatest team on earth when they took home gold. They did it with a forward lineup that featured seven natural centremen among its 13 skaters, and another two who’ve been known to play the middle from time to time. Elite NHL pivots like Eric Staal, Mike Richards and Jonathan Toews found themselves stationed on the wing more often than not.