A Quick Heritage Classic Review

Well, if that was the Heritage Classic... I don't suppose we could get our money back, can we?

The delay for sunshine was a bit of a pain, something that maybe should have been taken into consideration for a start time, way back when the schedule makers did their thing, but I don't think it was the biggest problem.  The ice looked very poor... pucks bouncing and players falling, it wasn't exactly a showcase of the best circumstances the NHL could offer.

With all of those technical issues, I think it had a big effect on the game, as the players were ready to go; their feet were chugging, the looks for passes were definitely there, but only one team was able to get any traction and it all happened in the 2nd period, where the Oilers scored all three of their goals and that was that.  It was a 3-0 final score, the Edmonton Oilers getting the best of the host Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon/early evening and we're all ho-humming about it afterwards.

Cam Talbot was the star of the show, undoubtedly, as he was tested early on and he stood tall, stopping all 31 shots that came his way for the shutout and picked up all 4 points.  That gave Marcie the outright lead in the outdoor games mini-game and there was only two other teams that had any other scoring, as Stacey C. had a point each from Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jeremy had a single point from Benoit Pouliot.  That's it.  Three teams... 7 points.

With all that being said, the standings for the mini-game are right here, there's not much to see.  Hopefully, the three other games bring a little more offense.

Goalie Announcements (Oct 23)

That was a busy night, when all 12 games are going after 5pm MT... it sure makes for a long data entry session, indeed.  Thankfully, the weekly audit is only a day away and I can catch-up on all those little tweaks.

In that busy night, three of the six teams in need of wins got them, which extends our Week Three participation level up to 16 teams and we still have one more day left to go, which includes our first outdoor game of the season.

Brian, Tony & Wes are still in need of wins today... and it looks like two out of the three have a chance at starts, as Brian finds himself without the possibility of a start today, ending his run early in the survivor pool.

The Heritage Classic becomes a huge start for Tony, not only in the outdoor games pool, but in the survivor pool as well.  Connor Hellebuyck has been tabbed as the host goalie this afternoon and he'll get a tough task against an Oilers team that is just buzzing at the moment.  At the other side, Cam Talbot will be looking to build on a great start for Marcie in the pool, as her team sits in 2nd place, thanks to the tie-breakers, but still sits 8 points back of 1st.

In Brooklyn this evening, we're expecting Darcy Kuemper in the Minnesota net and Jaroslav Halak should be in the Long Island net, as the Wild and Islanders get together for one of their two games this season.  Troy will be the only one in the pool getting a start here, as he holds Halak on his team and he could use a little bit of a boost, opening the day in 20th place.

In the 5pm MT game, it's our second survivor pool game, as Wes needs a huge game from the Arizona Coyotes, since his goalie, Louis Domingue gets another start for the dogs on this long road trip.  Domingue hasn't had a lot of help, since the Mike Smith injury and Wes hasn't had much help his week from his number one keeper, so it's his last chance today.  In between Wes and Week Three in the survivor pool, should be Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers, who are starting to find their stride, much to the delight of Grant.

In Anaheim tonight, the Canucks will continue their California trip on back-to-back nights with a game against the Ducks.  Ryan Miller will make his return to the net for Brenda & Seward, who qualified last night, likely taking on John Gibson, who will play for Dale B., who is only concerned about the big money now this year.  The two pool teams are 10 spots away from each other, Dale having the better team, but it is only a 7-point difference.

Heritage Classic Preview

How about we get that Outdoor Games mini-pool going, shall we?  The first game to be played under the Sun will be in Winnipeg, as the return of the Heritage Classic is upon us and it will be the Oilers taking on the Jets in this edition.  It will feature one hell of an alumni game on the Saturday, leading up to the regular season game on the Sunday, getting started at 1pm MT.

You couldn't really plan for the Outdoor Games at the draft, because there was no guarantee that they would make the cut for the pool.  So, as we get started, only 18 of the 25 teams in the pool have either Edmonton or Winnipeg players, but don't worry... there is still three more games left to be played after this one and you will have the chance to load up on players at a Waiver Draft, just in case.

In terms of the pool participation in this particular game, after injuries, Grant has two skaters and a possible starting goalie to lead the way for players in this game, but there is a lot of talent on other teams, namely Stacey C.'s team, which has Connor McDavid on it.

	Edmonton	Winnipeg
Benson		Drew Stafford
Brenda & Seward	Adam Larsson
Brian		Blake Wheeler
Clayton	Oscar Klefbom
Dale B.	Leon Draisaitl	Jacob Trouba
Dale C.	Andrej Sekera
Eric	Drake Caggiula	Dustin Byfuglien
		Kyle Connor
Grant	Kris Russell	Mark Scheifele
		Bryan Little
		Michael Hutchinson
Jeremy	Benoit Pouliot
John	Milan Lucic
Kristy & Don		Mathieu Perreault
Marcie	Cam Talbot
Marcin		Ondrej Pavelec
Mike	Jesse Puljujarvi
Ryan		Tyler Myers
Scott		Patrik Laine
		Nikolaj Ehlers
Stacey C.	Connor McDavid
	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Tony	Jordan Eberle	Connor Hellebuyck

We likely won't hear who the starting goalies are expected to be until tomorrow, but we have three of the four possible keepers going in this game already, so we should have enough covered that we'll collect the points.

Unless you were an Edmonton or Winnipeg fan (do we even have any Jets fans in this pool this year?), you probably were not going to watch this game... does that change, now that the outdoor games are an active mini-game?

Welcome to the 2016/2017 Draft Hockey Pool

Happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone! I really hope that the technical problems didn't put too much of a damper on your enjoyment of the draft. I know that I have been able to do it a whole lot faster than what we had seen this year, but some things just were not going the right way.  Of course, thanks for the patience of the three/four online guys... you guys must really wanted to be there, if you're going to take the time out of your out-of-town holiday to spend it with us and Brian, you're a champ of the online selection process, but you've had lots of practice, so far... keep up the good work!

It's a 25-team league this year, which is awesome!  Sure, it's two less than last year, but the overall scope of the pool may have improved, thanks to a few less goalies getting picked up and thinning out the talent pool.  A warm welcome to a couple new faces, Marcie and Marcin, both joining the draft for the first time, hope you guys really enjoy yourselves.

So, thanks to the World Cup of Hockey, the schedule has been compacted a week and it is starting a little later than usual, which was the cause of most of the scheduling problems for the draft, as it were.  It didn't help us at all, as we all would prefer to have most of the team rosters set before we all sit down and draft, which is why the draft landed on the long weekend, unfortunately.  It was still a good turnout, which is fantastic.

Instead of a 27-week season, which is the norm, it is a 26-week season and I usually like to split this season up into thirds, so we have the Waiver Drafts in even segments, but this year won't be the case.  Since a lot of people are in a hurry to move their players early on in the season, the first segment will be the shortest of the three, so I will conduct the first Waiver Draft in Week Eight this season and I will be e-mailing reminders to everyone about that and updating the blog accordingly.

Also, if there are injuries leading up to opening night, teams will have until puck drop (5pm on Wednesday night) to swap out an injured player for a healthy player and be 100% healthy for the start of the year.  You're not going to get a great player, but if it is a long-term injury, you could be in better shape.

Next up, we have the three mini-games, as selected by the wheel at the conclusion of the draft and they are as follows: the PIM pool, the goalie survivor pool and an outdoor games pool.  There is no rookie pool this year, much to the chagrin of some, but the wheel wanted what it wanted and that's what we've got this year.

We all know about the PIM pool, the most combined penalty minutes in the season from your team is the winner.  According to the draft numbers, Kristy & Don are the early favourites for this mini-game, as their team combined for 612 minutes in penalties last season, followed closely by Cam at 601 minutes.  The all-rookie setup of Scott's team didn't register much of anything last season, so they are at the bottom of this list, coming in at 217 minutes in penalties.

Last year's champ, Derek B., finished the year at 762 minutes in penalties and made a few changes through the season to achieve that number.  The record has been set!

The goalie survivor pool is a fun pool, I think and makes for good writing on the blog... every team starts in the survivor pool and in order to stay in the pool, your goalies must register at least one win, in the Monday to Sunday week.  Having one starting goalie is good, having two is great!  Having none... well, you're not paying attention to this one.

One of this year's departures, Allan, won his money back last year with the best goaltending setups in the pool, which included Ben Bishop of the Lightning and included a Waiver Draft swap of Jeff Zatkoff of the Penguins for Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets mid-season, and his team never faltered all season, registering at least a win in all 27 weeks.

It looks like Cam and Kristy & Don are aiming for mini-games here as well, as they have the best goalie tandems, based on last year's points, out of the draft.  Cam's two goalies, Marc-Andre Fleury and Roberto Luongo, while the pool's first duo has Jonathan Quick and Semyon Varlamov (again!), both putting up good arguments for the mini-game.

Finally, the outdoor games pool... this one is fairly straight-forward.  The NHL will have four outdoor games this year, starting with the Heritage Classic in Winnipeg here soon, the Centennial Classic in Toronto, the Winter Classic in St. Louis and then the Stadium Series game in Pittsburgh.  The cumulative amount of points from your team in these games, from the Oilers, Jets, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Blues, Flyers and/or Penguins, will win.  This one will be decided at the end of February, so that's kind of neat too.

Now, the relationship of mini-games to the Waiver Draft was contentious last season, as the move to change strategic focus in the hockey pool caused quite the stir last season and it shifted the competitive balance to a point that was deemed unfair.  So, with that being said, a rule change has been instituted for the Waiver Draft... any player dropped will not be made available until the start of the next round.

The idea for this will at least allow the basement dwelling teams a shot at strategically dropped players ahead of the winning teams, if they so choose to stay in the race, instead of move towards the mini-games.

As for the prize money, I am still going to work through the year's budget and then determine what our prizes will be, I should have something by early next week.  I am still waiting on a number of teams to pay, it is $60 this year, for those who have forgotten... but I have also put a PAID/NOT PAID spot on your team page, as a gentle reminder.

Have fun everyone... let me know if you have any questions or any player moves before the season starts!

The Look of the Heritage Classic Unveiled

It's already been a few years since the last Heritage Classic in Vancouver and the grand ol' town of Winnipeg will play host to the fourth such game in NHL history and it will go early on in the regular season.

The Heritage Classic will be played on October 23rd in Winnipeg at Investors Group Stadium and will be the first of four outdoor games that will go during the regular season.

Barring any bad news, this game will feature a lot of the game's premier young talent, playing on a big outdoor stage.  Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse for the Oilers, while Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine and Jacob Trouba would headline the game for the Jets.

On Friday, it was the NHL's press conference to display the jerseys that both teams will be wearing, both for the alumni game on the 22nd and the actual game on the 23rd.  These two WHA rival teams will have their resembling looks from those days on the ice and it should make for a really good match-up.  The Jets have also announced that they will wear the retro jerseys twice more, so we'll get to see the old logo more than once this coming season.

With some plans already in place, but yet to be announced here on the blog, there is a chance that the outdoor games might play a bit of a role in this year's hockey pool, in a mini-game capacity.  The operative word here is 'chance,' but you'll find out how that will play out soon.

Outdoor Games in the 2017 Season

We still have a lot of hockey to be played before this really becomes a general concern to us poolies, but on Wednesday night, the NHL finished formally annoucning all of their outdoor games, which we'll see next season.  In total, we'll get to see four games on outdoor ice and for the first time, there will be two games in Canada this season.

On Sunday, the NHL officially announced that the Heritage Classic will be played on October 22nd in Winnipeg, where the Jets will take on the Oilers in a match-up that takes place before New Year's Day, which I believe is another first for outdoor games in the NHL.

On New Year's Day, we'll have the Centennial Classic, which will go along with the celebration of the Toronto Maple Leafs and their 100 years in existence.  The Maple Leafs will take on a previous outdoor game rival, the Detroit Red Wings, as they played outside a couple of years ago on the same day at Comerica Park.

January 2nd will see the St. Louis Blues host their first outdoor game next season, as theey will set up shop in Busch Stadium, home of baseball's Cardinals, and they'll take on outdoor regulars, the Chicago Blackhawks, in a good Central Division match-up.

Finally, the Stadium Series will keep going on, next season taking place in Pennsylvania, as the Flyers and Penguins will renew hostilities in their cross-state rivalry at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.  This game will also celebrate their arrival in the league, back in 1967, 50 years after the fact.  This game will go on February 18th.

This means that we'll have eight quality teams playing in these outdoor games and I think that could make for good theatre in the hockey pool next year, as a possible mini-game.  As we draw to a close to this regular season, we're starting to think of other neat ways to keep this pool fresh and interesting, especially for those who are not quite in all of the money races, near the end of the year.

More announcements like that are coming this Summer.

Week Twenty Newsletter

Welcome to the Home Stretch

Now that we're all celebrated out from the Olympics and back into the swing of things in the NHL,  it's time to acknowledge that we're now in the home stretch, the sprint to the finish.

With Week Twenty now in the books, there are only six weeks left in the regular season and there is still a lot to play for.  14 teams are within 50 points of 1st place and I wouldn't necessarily say that Ryan M., who sits 45 points out of top spot, is necessarily out of it, if all of the stars align properly for him.  Improbable, more than it is impossible.

If 1st place is improbable at 45 points for Ryan, 33 points to get to 4th place doesn't sound quite as bad and that would at least give him a jersey to take home.  The question then becomes, how can he close the gap?

All it will take is a week or two in the Mover & Shaker columns in the Newsletter, which means your team will need a bit of a hot streak and when it isn't blazing hot, it will have to keep pace.  It's just as simple as that.

Stadium Series Game in Chicago

I suppose, if you were try and find one word that described the last Stadium Series game of the season, I would pick... snow!  Lots fell, it was shoveled off constantly, but it made for quite the pictures on the television, making it into quite the event at Soldier Field in Chicago.

The host, Blackhawks, made the most of the game, moving the puck really well, despite the weather, and even scored some pretty goals, something we don't see much of in these outdoor games.  Chicago came away with a 5-1 win, as Jonathan Toews scored a pair of goals and added an assist to lead the way, as a good captain does.  Patrick Sharp added a goal and an assist, while Corey Crawford made 31 saves for the win, the only other two players with multiple-point nights.

Overall, I think the Stadium Series games were a pretty good success.  The atmosphere was different from park to park and it got a lot more butts in the seats.  Now it is time for some of the smaller markets to get these games, trying to build the game in the smaller cities, possibly giving reason to fill the seats in the regular buildings.

Heritage Classic Game in Vancouver

Of the six outdoor games, we had the least outdoor game in Vancouver, which had the benefit of playing under the closed roof of BC Place Stadium, as the forecast had rain, not the snow that Chicago saw the day before.  Still, it was an opportunity for 50,000 people in Vancouver to watch a game in the open air confines of a football stadium.

Both the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks are in the midst of their respective playoff battles in the East and the West, but it was the visitors who spoiled the party on the West coast, taking the game, 4-2, with four unanswered goals after the Canucks went up by a pair early.

Clarke MacArthur and Craig Anderson were the only two players of note, as the forward picked up a goal and an assist in the game, while the keeper had to make 29 saves for the win.

I'm guessing that having the roof closed may have lessened the atmosphere for an outdoor game, but without the springtime elements in the air, the game played more like an indoor game, which also had some merits to it.

Of course, I was hoping for a different result... kind of glad I didn't pay the arm and a leg to get there and watch it live and leave that disappointed.

Proof Is In the Money

Back to the pool race... Allan added a few points to his Week Nineteen lead, as he finished 4 points up on Stacey C., who jumped into 2nd place in the week, while Chris dropped a spot to 3rd.  Scott finished 4th for the third straight week and continues to sit within striking distance for the win... only 12 points out.

Derek W. only sits 2 points out, followed by Stacey M. at 3 points out and then there is a small gap to Clayton, who is 7 points out of the prizes.  Yes, the race is still really close and big weeks count even more as we draw closer and closer to the end of the regular season.

Third Segment Standings

At the end of Week Twenty, we have tie for the lead, as Allan bumped his way up to the top, tied for the lead with Dale C. at 108 points in the final segment of the season, but Allan has the lead for his second jersey prize of the year, thanks to having more goals.

Mike and Stacey C. only sit 3 points out, while Scott rounds out the top five on the standings, 4 points out of the lead.

This race will be as close as the money race, I'm thinking.

Scoring In the Return

There were only 39 NHL games in the week that returned us to full action from the Olympic Break, which didn't give a great deal of opportunity for a lot of points, but the scoring rate was very comparable to some of the better weeks of the season.

As a whole, the pool collected 498 points, which was a scoring rate of 12.77 points per game, which was our 3rd-best scoring rate of the year.  All the bodies that came back healthy outweighed the injury toll through the Olympics, which meant we saw a good return of games played per NHL game, but the goalie minutes were tempered, thanks to a lot of back-ups playing (who weren't taken in the draft) in front of the starters who did all that travelling.

Week Twenty-One will be the full swing return, as the schedule has 48 NHL games to be played, which means that if we wanted to match the scoring rate from last week, we'll need to see 613 points, which I am all for!

It was a 4-way tie for the Player of the Week nod in the shortened week, as players really were not able to stretch their scoring chops in the week and the top players only finished with 6 points a piece.  The tie saw two goalies and two New Jersey Devils forwards finish for top spot, which gets the tie-breaking procedure, like any other week.

Tie-breakers mean that the goalies are automatically eliminated, because the first tie-break is goals scored and with 4 goals and 2 assists, our Player of the Week for Week Twenty is Adam Henrique.

Henrique and the Devils played three games in the return to action and in that, our top player started a 3-game goal scoring streak, scoring a pair against the Blue Jackets on Thursday, a goal (and an assist) against the Islanders on Saturday and then another one and one against the Sharks.

This week brought Henrique's totals up to 18 goals and 15 assists in 62 games for Jersey, ranking him 149th in pool scoring through Week Twenty.  He has only accounted for 7% of Derek Wilton's total points this year, which isn't terribly high, but this good week has given Wilton some extra scoring depth, which could help his money push.

It really looked like it was going to be another Greenley week in the Mover & Shaker column, but on Sunday, our pool leader, Allan, cashed in on some big games for a number of his players and he ended up snaking a 30-point week, extending his lead in the pool by another 3 points and then adding his second Mover & Shaker nod this season.

Remarkably, his first Mover & Shaker was only back in Week Sixteen, where he finished the week in 5th place.  Allan has been up and down in the top half of the standings all year, but another one of these top weeks and he will have a push for big money.

Allan enjoyed some big weeks from Ryan O'Reilly of the Avs and Andrei Markov of the Habs, who each had 5-point weeks to lead the way.  Semyon Varlamov of the Avs had 4 points, while four other players had 3 points in the week.  Only four players on his active roster, one being in the minors, finished with no points in the week, so he was seeing some quality production from just about everyone.

Allan's team has some strength right across the board, as his forwards account for 59% of his points, while his defense has been good for 18% and his goalies are good for 22%... and that kind of balance has gone a long way to keeping his head above the rest for a number of weeks.

This is his 3rd straight week finishing atop the standings, but he isn't out of reach... yet.

Wait a second!  We found a Greenley on the Newsletter, but it is in the Basement Dweller position... and it is also a first to worst situation.

Stuart was our Mover & Shaker in Week Nineteen, finishing with 28 points and in 21st place, but found himself with only 11 points, still in 21st place, when the first week of the stretch concluded.

Six of his active players on the roster, including both goalies, couldn't muster a point in the week, while his top players, three to be exact, finished with 2 points a piece.

An injury and a trip to the minors has lessened the strength of his team overall, but since he's well outside of the top 14 teams in the pool, he hasn't been in the conversation for the money.  His Mover & Shaker the other week would have left him in okay shape in the third segment race, but his team failed to follow that week up with anything legitimate.

In actual fact, Stuart is still in the race for the third segment, as he dropped down to a tie for 8th in the race, only 8 points out.  His team will have to pick up their socks in Week Twenty-One, just to get a sniff closer.

NEWS AND NOTES

It has been a rough return to action for Anaheim Ducks forward Mathieu Perreault, who suffered an upper-body injury during Week Twenty's action and was unable to play on Sunday, as the Ducks entertained the Carolina Hurricanes at home.  Perreault is considered to be day-to-day for the team, but as it has been going, the forwards have been cycling in and out of their line-up for the last number of weeks, so it shouldn't be too tough to figure back in, when he has been deemed healthy enough.

The Colorado Avalanche welcomed Erik Johnson back to their line-up on Sunday, as they took on the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Johnson was returning from a pre-Olympic Break suspension that was handed to him, but his return meant that someone had to come out of the Colorado line-up and it was Andre Benoit who drew the short straw for that game.  The Avs thumped the Bolts, 6-3, in the game, which likely means the line-up may remain the same for the team's next game, away in Chicago on Tuesday.

After some poor defensive games for the Ottawa Senators, defenseman Jared Cowen was punished by having to sit through the Heritage Classic on Sunday, unable to play against the Canucks in the (semi-) outdoor spectacle that it was.  Cowen hasn't been able to supplant his defensive woes with any offense either, which has also likely led to the scratch and since the Senators walked out winners on Sunday, he may not start the next game either, as he works on his game in practice.

Link to the Injury/News Page

TRADE DEADLINE APPROACHES

Just a quick note to remind everyone to stay close to the blog on Wednesday, as the Trade Deadline approaches.  I will be covering the deals that drafted players move in and there could be a good number of them too.  I will have all the details, pool implications and my two cents on all of these specific deals.  It will be a fun day as always!

The Outdoor Games

The spectacle of the outdoor games for the NHL are quite the events, something really built around the visiting fans. The Heritage Classic in Calgary, besides having crappy seats for the game, was really a great atmosphere to be in, as the NHL put on a very good party for the game and the other events surrounding the game were also quite good.

The outdoor games have historically been rather hit and miss for the pool, as I'm going to outline below.  It was a few more misses than actual hits.

With the outdoor game playing a huge role in the 2014 season, I think there should be a limit to how excited anyone really gets with these games, when it comes to the pool.  These are good games to watch and they are great for the fans, but the poolies can really do without them.

The outdoor games did start with the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton, but that was a game I didn't cover, nor did I watch, due to my living circumstances at the time.  Heck, NHL.com can't even give me a recap of the game and my only memories of reading about it was that it was really cold.


The 2008 Winter Classic, Penguins and Sabres, was a fun game to watch, seeing the NHL try out a lot of their new ideas under the snowy lights of Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, but the scoring was not there.  The game finished as a 2-1 win for the Penguins, in the shootout, which meant there was only two goals to take from in the game and then a couple points for one of the goalies for the pool.

The winning goalie that year... Ty Conklin.  Not too sure there were many pools or pool teams that had Conklin active, let alone being picked that year.  I know that my pool didn't have him anywhere near the teams.

With the success that the first Winter Classic saw, there was little doubt that they were going to stop at just one.

The 2009 Winter Classic, Wrigley Field in Chicago, between the Red Wings and Blackhawks   As outdoor games go, this one was a spectacle for the ages, as the scoring was through the roof and there were a few pool teams that were able to cash in on this one, as the Red Wings took it, 6-4.

There were a number of players that had multiple-point games and most of them were taken in the pool that year, which means that the game was a success for those watching, attending and incorporating those players on your pool team.

Learning a lesson from the year before, Ty Conklin was taken in the waiver draft that year, picking up another win and adding those two points to a hockey pool total.


Fenway Park, Flyers and Bruins, 2010 Winter Classic... another low scoring affair and the worst part of this game was that out of the three goals that were scored, none of the goal scorers were taken in the pool that year.  Danny Syvret, Mark Recchi and Marco Sturm were not playing a part in that year's draft session, nor were they picked in the first waiver draft, which would have happened not long before the game went.

Only six of 17 teams in the pool that year had picked up points and one team picked up 3 points, thanks to the Tim Thomas win and a Patrice Bergeron assist.

The game was a pretty good draw, nevertheless, and it moved along at a pretty reasonable pace, by outdoor game standards.

The first of two outdoor games in 2011 was the Winter Classic, this time in Pittsburgh, as the Penguins played host to the Capitals.  The game finished up as a 3-1 win for Washington, where there were a few more goals and pool teams were picking up a few more points, but the Classic was really made whole by the start of the HBO series, 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic.

The behind the scenes look at the two teams in the weeks leading up to the big game, turned out to be the biggest highlight of that year's game, since you really got to see the inside workings of the game from the players and coaches standpoint.

Still, all of that inside information didn't help a great deal in those pool standings, as only six of 20 teams picked up points in that game.  Sure, it's only two teams playing in the competition, but still... you would hope for it being such a big event, a few more pool teams could get some points and have some fun with it, right?


2011 also saw the second outdoor game to be played in Canada, as the Flames played host to the Canadiens (who also played in the first game in 2003) in the Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

The weather wasn't as cold as it was in Edmonton, according to historical recollections, but it was pretty cold in that stadium, I can say for sure.

By outdoor standards, a 4-0 win for the home team was a pretty good improvement to outdoor games for the hockey pool, because four goals was an improvement over the last couple Winter Classics, plus Miikka Kiprusoff picked up a shutout, which meant a couple of extra points that came from the crease that year.  Sure, since the draft is based out of Calgary, there is always going to be that bias towards picking the home team in the draft, so it should come as no surprise that a few more players picked up points and a few more teams cashed in.

All in all, the Heritage Classic in Calgary was a pretty good success.

The 2012 Winter Classic, set in Citizen's Park in Philadelphia, saw the Flyers play their second outdoor game, this time hosting the New York Rangers in a pretty good clash of two playoff-destined teams.

For that Winter Classic, I did a better job outlining the meaning in the pool, getting a good preview, showing all the pool teams that were participating in the game and their players and it was a pretty good spread.  Between the Flyers and Rangers, they were popular teams that year, so the Classic became a bit more interesting.

With all those teams in the pool, there was another sense of disappointment, as the game finished 3-2 for the Rangers, which wasn't a bad score, considering other games, but only 9 points were registered among all those pool teams and players and only one team had a multi-point game, leaving seven other teams with one point each.  It wasn't a good haul at all.

Again, the highlight of the Winter Classic in 2012... the HBO series.  24/7 made a couple players stars that were bigger than the game and provided the real entertainment.

Of course, with the lockout at the beginning of the 2012-13 season, all of the mid-season competitions and events were canceled, which meant no All-Star Game (which was meant for Columbus) or Winter Classic (which was destined for Detroit).  It was rather disappointing, but at the same time, there was no need for anything extra, as teams raced for the playoffs in the 48-game season.

As mentioned at the top of the post, the outdoor game is going to feature rather largely in the 2014 season, as the NHL has now scheduled the Winter Classic, four Stadium Series games and a Heritage Classic, giving us six outdoor games.  The league is going for broke with these big games, but in an attempt to win fans, I think this is not a bad way to do it, as they should fill some seats.

The 2014 Winter Classic will indeed head to Detroit, which will make up for the lack of the 2013 Classic and it will feature both the Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs, as it was decided the year previous and it will take place on it's regular date... New Year's Day, 2014.

The Wings and Leafs have historically been two teams that have had pretty good draws in the hockey pool drafts, the Wings more so because of their actual talent and their tendency to score goals, where the Leafs get picked out of fandom, more than anything.

Nevertheless, the Big House in Michigan will be a great setting for this game, which should set some attendance records for the NHL.

With a couple of years between Classic games, I am hoping that the NHL has made some serious improvements to the technology for the ice, keeping it cold and at a good consistency that we can watch a whole game without much ice repair stoppages.

Three cities, four games, seven teams... that is the scene that will be set for the new Stadium Series in the 2014 season, as NHL cities were clamoring for an outdoor game, so the league said, let's give them what they want.  Los Angeles, New York and Chicago will all play host to an outdoor game, Chicago for the second time, in an attempt to give the game some more exposure on the outdoor ice.

January 25th, the scene will be Dodger Stadium, as the Los Angeles Kings will play host to the Anaheim Ducks, as the West Coast will get their first outdoor game.  There is no doubt, even though it will occur in late-January, that this will be the biggest test for the league and their outdoor game equipment.  I don't think I will expect much out of this game for scoring.

January 26th, Yankee Stadium will play host to the first of two games, as the Rangers will take on the Devils at the new(er) venue.  The first game may be a test run for the second game, but if technology has improved, the end of January on the East Coast shouldn't have much for adverse weather for this game... in theory.

January 29th, the Islanders will get their shot to take on the Rangers outdoors and if there were any kinks in the first game at Yankee Stadium, the second game should have most of those polished off.  I think this game will be a lot of fun, especially since the Islanders are coming up in a big way and the Rangers will give them a great game, rivalry-wise.

March 1st, the last of the Stadium Series games will play between two outdoor veteran teams, the Blackhawks playing host to the Penguins at Soldier Field.  The beginning of March in the Windy City has a lot of potential to be cold, which means the ice could be pretty decent for two good-skating teams and it could provide a good game for the poolies.

Finally, the Heritage Classic, Canada's only outdoor game for the 2014 season, will go on March 2nd, at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, as the Canucks will host the Ottawa Senators, two outdoor game virgins.

The newly-renovated BC Place will offer and interesting venue for a big game like this, as the new retractable roof can offer an open-air game, which is the ideal setting for the game, but knowing Vancouver, if there is much in the way for rain in the forecast, it could very well close the roof and it would end up being one of the largest indoor games played in the NHL.

Every opportunity will be given to the setup crew to make this an open-air game, I'm sure, but with the mild temperatures on the coast, the ice has quite a few challenges to face in this game.  I don't see this game being a real high-scoring affair either.

Really, the outdoor games shouldn't go into much consideration, when choosing your pool team for the year, mostly because, they are limited to only one game per team, unless you're the Rangers and low-scoring games happen, regardless of being indoors or outdoors.  Yes, these games will all count, but they won't necessarily count for much.

Week Nineteen Newsletter

After a crazy week of goalie dust-ups, line brawls and some decent sized suspensions, I can honestly say that I'm so glad that I don't have penalty minutes as a redeemable statistic in my hockey pools. The Bruins and Canadiens had a great night of rivalry madness, the Islanders and Penguins had revenge on their mind and a few minor fisticuffs in between.

Last year, about this time, we were just about to shut down the NHL season for the Olympic tournament, which was a pretty good vacation for the pool, but that isn't to be this year and I've already had my mini-break from the pool competition with the All-Star break.

I will take the time to note that the upcoming weekend will be very spotty with updates, as I have secured some tickets for the weekend's worth of action at McMahon Stadium for the Heritage Classic festivities.  So, if the updates are not up to your liking... too bad.  You really should have picked up some tickets and made your way to see some outdoor hockey.

If you are actually going to any of the Heritage Classic festivities, let me know... we can definitely meet up and make the weekend a little more social.

The Week Nineteen nod for Player of the Week did come down to two players, both having 8 points a piece, but thankfully, the tie-breaking system that I have employed has made the selection process really easy. The first player, well, he's a goaltender and wasn't going to make it if there was indeed a skater to rival him and indeed there was. John Tavares of the Islanders finally takes a shot at the Player of the Week nods in the pools, now in his second season in the NHL, thanks in large part to two massive scoring fiestas in the week.

Tavares is currently on a 5-game point streak, to which four of those games were played in Week Nineteen, helping him towards his recognition in the weekly newsletter. During the week, Tavares scored 3 goals and added 5 assists to help the lead the Islanders to three wins and a loss in the week, pretty good for a bottom ranked team.

On Tuesday, the Islanders were on the wrong side of a 5-3 decision against the Maple Leafs, but Tavares did manage an assist to get his week off to an okay start.  Wednesday in Montreal, the Islanders forced the Canadiens to a shootout and ended up beating the playoff-bound side, 4-3, where Tavares had a goal in regulation.  On Friday, things got very interesting for the Islanders, with the fight-filled affair against Pittsburgh, Tavares managed to stay out of the box for extended periods of time and pick up a goal and 3 assists in a 9-3 rout.  Finally, on Sunday, Tavares had a goal and an assist in a 7-6 shootout win against the Sabres, another game where the points came quickly and often.  A very exciting weekend, no?

This week has definitely raised the notoriety of Tavares back up to some more reasonable levels, especially for the number one overall pick in 2009's draft.  It did take Steven Stamkos a little while to get going on his merry way, with a lot more help, so Tavares is making good progress.  His 8-point week has now lifted his totals up to 47 points in 53 games with the Islanders, ranking him 41st in pool scoring, a massive improvement on the 99th overall finish he had in 2010.

There were a few runaway trains in the scoring department for the draft in Week Nineteen, but there was no need to employ a tie-breaker this week, as Leon G. clearly took the nod and the early lead in the third segment of the pool with a 38-point week.  Actually, it was one of our higher scoring weeks, where a number of teams did quite well, but Leon did pull away in the end.

Unfortunately for Leon, as much as he shook out a solid number of points from his players, it wasn't good enough for any moving up in the standings, as he has now been stuck in 9th place for the last five weeks.  He only made up 2 points on 8th place, Dale B., and now sits 11 points back of him after this marvelous week.

Leon's week was led by his 2nd round pick in the second waiver draft, Drew Stafford, who had a pair of hat-tricks in Week Nineteen, giving him 6 points, followed closely by Rick Nash with 5 points, while Bobby Ryan and Jonathan Quick each had 4 points a piece.  A couple of injuries and a cold defender were the only zeros on the list, so it was a pretty good week, as weeks go in the pool.

Thanks to a monster week from Stafford and some of his other players, Leon rocketed up the list for total goals scored in the pool, now ranking 3rd in the pool for goals with 156 this season, now only 17 back of our leader, Don D..

In terms of the segment races, Leon has been in the middle of the pack for the first and second segments, finishing with 213 points and 212 points, respectively, in each race.  Now, jumping out to an early lead is good and all, but it hasn't really lasted for those who have gotten out to that lead.  Maybe it'll be different for Leon, now that he has Stafford in tow.

Just when he thought he was done with the Basement Dweller nods, just as his team was getting healthy again, they all collectively decided that another go around the bottom of the weekly standings was definitely in order.  Clayton C.'s team made another visit down to the Basement, a fourth trip down there this season, after another sub-20-point performance in the week.  Clayton's team only managed to pick up 15 points in Week Nineteen, even with the likes of Ryan Getzlaf returning to the Ducks line-up from nasal fractures.

There was no help from his goaltending tandem, little help from his second waiver draft pick-ups and the guy who did return from injury was the only one to do better than 2 points in the week.  Yes, it was not a very productive week, as weeks go in the draft, hence another trip to the basement.

Well, it's now three weeks on top of the pool for Burc B., but fortunately for the rest of the teams behind him, he hasn't been able to break away and make a big lead for himself. Between Week Eighteen and Nineteen, his lead hasn't grown too much, having a 1-point lead on Mitch F. a week ago to a 5-point lead on Kendra M. now. The shifting of the spots below Burc may be the only reason why he has opened up a bigger lead at all, but it is still so close, that one week can change the lead again.

The top week in the pool belongs to Chris M., both in points and in moving up the standings in Week Nineteen.  This actually makes for back-to-back weeks in the pool, where he has finished as the top team in it.  He moved up from 23rd to 19th a week ago and then 19th to 14th this week... and rumour has it, he'll be making trades for Week Twenty.

It was a relatively low-scoring week in the sheet pool, as Chris only finished with 64 points, but it was 9 points better than the next best team in the standings.  Incredibly poor.  Chris had good weeks from Mikael Samuelsson (6 points), Mason Raymond (5), Jiri Hudler (5), Daniel Sedin (4), Brad Boyes (4), Roberto Luongo (4), Vincent Lecavalier, (4), Milan Lucic (4) and Anton Babchuk (4) to help lift his team that much further up the standings.  With those kind of jumps, he might make things a little more interesting at the top.

As for interesting boxes in the sheet, how about looking at the number one defenseman boxes in both the West and Eastern Conferences... Keith Yandle leads Box 10 with 46 points through 19 weeks, while Box 26 sees Tobias Enstrom leading the way with 42 points.  Did you see either one of these leading the way this year?

NEWS AND NOTES

Now that we're getting into the trade-heavy part of the NHL season, the rumour mill is going at a blinding speed. The Rangers are looking to be buyers this time around and it sounds like they may have given up on Michael Del Zotto, now that he has been a healthy scratch a number of times and has been sent down to the minors a couple times.  Of course, that is just a rumour, but he was a scratch again on the weekend, so I'll bring it up here.  I'm sure there would be a lot of teams lining up to give Del Zotto a try, if it were true.

The Flyers decided to make Nikolai Zherdev into a healthy scratch again on Sunday, the first time in quite some time, I do believe.  Zherdev's offensive consistency hasn't shown up at all this season, remaining a very streaky scorer for the Flyers and drawing the ire of the coaching staff.  He does provide some pop to the line-up, which the Flyers will likely keep around, but come playoff time, he will certainly be tested.

In the crazy melee of the Islanders and Penguins game on Friday night, Box 25 forward Eric Tangradi was the victim of a nasty hit from Trevor Gillies.  Tangradi has suffered a concussion and will now be out of the line-up indefinitely, which will likely hurt his minor-league season more than his NHL season, because he was having such a great year in the AHL and was used very sparingly with the big club, more so now, due to all the injuries.  Tangradi will likely be re-evaluated on the weekend to see what his timetable will be like for a return.

Link to the Injury/News Page

HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA

The Saturday night doubleheader really isn't the prime ticket event next weekend, but I'll at least go through it, like I usually do.  We'll be treated to the worst in the East and some of the best in the West on Saturday, which should make for an interesting start to a hockey weekend.

In the opening game, the Senators will play their provincial rivals in Ontario, the Maple Leafs, in Toronto.  The Senators are in the midst of one of their worst stretches in the post-lockout era and they're closing in on last place in the NHL, starting to become sellers in the trade market.  The Leafs are surprising some with some resiliency in their game, only being 8 points out of a playoff spot, but it may not be too long before that bubble bursts.

In the draft, the Senators go into Week Twenty with a pool-low seven players after the trade of Mike Fisher to Nashville, while the Leafs only have nine players represented on their side, including the two goalies.  In terms of scoring between the two teams, it's all Toronto, as the Leafs have six players better than Brian Elliot, who leads the Sens in pool scoring with 32 points.  Leading the Leafs is Clarke MacArthur, who has 44 points in 56 games.

In the late game, we should see a game with a bit more meaning with the Stars travelling up to Vancouver to take on the Canucks.  The Stars have been stumbling a bit of late, being under .500 in their last 10 games, but they still have the Pacific Division lead to their name.  The Canucks continue to work it all out, despite some key injuries to their blueline.

In the draft, we'll see a few more players in this game, as the visiting Stars have 10 players going in this one, led by Brad Richards, who has 62 points in 55 games this season, ranking 9th in pool scoring.  The Canucks have 11 players on the other side and they are led by Daniel Sedin, who has 73 points in 56 games, ranking 2nd in pool scoring this year.  Lots of firepower in this one, I'd say.

It just wouldn't be right if I didn't include the Heritage Classic coverage, which will go on Sunday evening between the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames, the Canadian outdoor game.

Only a few weeks ago, there was the belief that this game may have meant very little, as the Flames were not looking their sharpest and the Canadiens would be the only playoff-bound team in this contest.  Well, that isn't the case at all.  The Flames are now making the most of their stretch drive and have a shot at the playoffs going into this one.  The Canadiens are still playing fairly well and are still working hard on solidifying their playoff spot in the East, so we should see a great game.

This game doesn't have a lot of representation in the draft, as the Canadiens only have eight players going for them, while the Flames only have nine.  I don't think that should take away from the game, but there is little meaning to it, pool-wise.

Carey Price leads all players in this game with 68 points this season, ranking 4th in pool scoring, while the Flames will be led by Jarome Iginla, who has 54 points in 58 games, ranking 21st.  That could be the match-up that we'll be looking forward to when the puck drops.