Here are the best posts from this past NHL regular season for 2008-2009.
1. How Streaming Affects Your Fantasy League – One of our most visited posts ever. Streaming is especially brutal when it comes to playoff time, but it can happen at any point throughout the season in head to head (h2h) leagues. Make sure you check this post out when it comes time to set up your league, so you can prevent any such issues when the actual play starts.
2. Roto vs. H2H – Pros and Cons – The two most common scoring formats in fantasy hockey are rotisserie (roto) and head to head (h2h). Sometimes it’s tough to decide which one to go with, especially if you are in a keeper league and thinking longer term. Do you like having playoff matches at the end of the season? You have to go with H2H then. If you want managerial skill to have a greater impact than pure luck, roto may be a better option. Check out this post for a nice run down on the pros and cons of each format.
3. Balancing Your Fantasy Hockey Team – In most leagues with competent managers, player management can get very competitive. If someone is hogging all the best [insert position here] then that leaves fewer options for other managers, which is what competition is all about, really. However, the best way to balance out your team can be tough to choose in a given situation, so it’s best to experiment…
4. The Great Draft Experiment – Speaking of experiments, here is the initial post that started the whole notion of the ongoing draft experiment that ran the entire regular season for 08-09. It covers four completely different draft strategies and follows them for the whole season to see which one fares the best. Check this post out and you may get some new ideas going into next season’s draft.
5. 6 Fundamentals for Creating a Solid Fantasy Hockey League – This post is a good starting point for those who may be thinking of becoming the commish for their own leagues next season. It is especially important to have good fundamentals when starting a keeper or a dynasty league, as there will be long term impacts. When your foundation is good, the future is easier to manage and maneuver through.
6. Dealing With Max Games – Maximum games comes standard when dealing with rotisserie leagues (also sometimes points leagues) as it is a way of keeping everyone on a level playing field. The manager that best utilizes their players in a way that maximizes production over the course of the season, using a preset number of games, will win. It is all about quality over quantity and making the best decisions on a per game basis. Also, when you have max games, there is much less incentive to “stream” which is yet another distinction between roto and h2h.
7. Selling Superstars to Make a Playoff Push – Holding onto injured or underproducing “superstar” or otherwise marquee name players who are not getting it done for whatever reason towards the trade deadline is counter-productive. Even in keeper leagues, unless you are truly in an all out rebuild year, if you’re on the playoff bubble and honestly feel you can do some damage, it’s best to go for it; upsets are common in h2h playoffs because of the nature of the game. If you can sell off one of your name brand players for some up and coming high fliers to get you an edge then it can be worthwhile.
8. Fantasy Hockey Team Names – Sometimes it can be hard to come up with a good fantasy team name. For many it’s not a priority. For others, it can be the topping on a good roster and standing. Check out this list of funny and quirky fantasy hockey team names. Caveat: not all of them are original.
9. How to Salvage Your Forgotten (Fantasy) Team – Everyone has abandoned a fantasy hockey team (or ten) for various reasons. People get busy. Sometimes you forget. Fantasy hockey is all about having fun and there are truly more important things to take care of most of the time. However, just because a team has not been updated in 3 months does not mean it’s doomed. Obviously, it can be doomed, but little bit of sustained and intelligent management can get it back in the hunt quicker than most would think.
10. Always Start Your Studs – ASYS is a common rule among poolies on sites and forums. It is all about playing the averages. Your best players should be your best players on a consistent basis, obviously. If they are not, then it may be necessary to change the “stud” designations, or maybe even the definition itself. On average, though, studs get the job done and that is why they are studs. Of course there are always exceptions to many rules, and this is no different. However, for the most part, if you drafted a player high, you should probably be using them as often as feasible.
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