Less Than Two Weeks Away

Whoa boy! We're now less than two weeks away and the excitement for the coming season is ramping up.

Rookie camps across the NHL are in full swing, training camps are only days away, preseason games are not long after camps open and then it will be draft day for my poolies... an exciting time, no doubt.

The promise of a brand new trophy on someone's mantel at the end of the year has created quite the buzz and this week, all the names of the previous winners on opiatedsherpa.com will be enshrined on the trophy, just egging on everyone to work really hard this year, so they can add their name for the first time or join a couple of already repeat winners.

This season, it sounds like we should easily match last year's line-up of 24 teams.  There are a few question marks from last season, to which I'm not sure will show up or not, but I have heard of some expanded interest in other spots, some people are going their best to try and recruit more people, which is awesome.

If there is an incredible amount of teams, over 30, let's say, there will be an adjustment to the number of players per position, making sure that everything does stay relatively competitive.  In this case, if there are more than 30 teams, the move will be made to have one less goaltender per team and we'll add a forward to make up the difference.  I can't honestly see this pool going over 30 teams, but it is always better to be prepared, just in case such an event takes place.

A reminder, if you're looking to join us in a couple weeks for a fun time at the pub, you would like to do a little bit of studying, let me know and I can fire off a player list to you, no problem, free of charge.  I should be charging for this, but I won't.  I can send a PDF or a working Excel file for you, completely updated to the changes from the off-season.

Another helpful hint for this year, if you have a laptop or a tablet, I would say bring it with you, the pub does have a public Wi-Fi connection we can use.  I will have a webpage that constantly updates, as the draft goes on.  That being said, I should have a screen or two displaying this page at the draft, so if you can't bring an electronic internet device to the draft, do find a good seat near one of the active screens.

Otherwise, keep up your homework, stay tuned to the blog and we'll see you in a couple of weeks!