Breaking Down the Draft

Back-to-back seasons of 25 participating teams... that's just about right and I think just about everyone would agree.  350 players were taken again this year, 200 forwards, 100 defensemen and 50 goalies, which kept a lot of depth in the pool.  Thankfully, we avoided a lot of the technical issues that we had last year and the Thanksgiving weekend disaster, so we were able to finish up all the picks in three and a half hours.

I like having a look at who came from where and what position players went in which rounds, so let's have a quick look at that, just for shits and giggles.

Well, there's no surprises here.  The Calgary Flames were again the most popular team in the hockey pool draft.  Last season, they were tied with the Penguins and the Jets for the most popular, but this year, they are all by themselves, as the pool took 14 players from their hometown team.  Mike Smith was the lone 1st round pick, taken in the early goalie rush, 18th overall, while Johnny Gaudreau was taken in the 2nd round, 50th overall, and Mark Giordano was taken right next to him, 51st overall in the 3rd round by pool newcomer, Steve.

There were a couple of Flames players taken, which didn't hit my pool worthiness marks for the draft, so there are some teams in the pool that think they could really lift up and shoot out the lights.

The least popular team at the draft this year was the Los Angeles Kings with only eight players taken, while three other teams, the Panthers, Sharks and Golden Knights, all failed to hit double-digits in players selected, all three with nine picks.

Jonathan Quick was the top Kings player taken, 30th overall in the 2nd round and they were few and far between afterwards.  In fact, there were no Kings taken after the 10th round of the draft, with the pool taking the scraps from other teams, no belief in the Los Angeles depth.

The Golden Knights, in their inaugural season, don't have a lot of representation, but they do have a 1st round pick, as newcomer Scott opted to take Marc-Andre Fleury with the 22nd overall pick.  The next Vegas player didn't drop until the 9th round, when Steve shocked everyone by taking Luca Sbisa ahead of some other key players.

Let's not forget... Ryan took one unsigned free agent in the legend, Jaromir Jagr.  Jagr is still negotiating with teams to make a return and a signing has to be around the corner, with the puck dropping in a couple days.

19 rookies were taken in this year's hockey pool draft, with Nico Hischier leading the pack, taken in the 5th round of the draft.  The top pick in this summer's entry draft has been impressive for the Devils in the preseason and Clayton is hopeful that the Devils are going to play well around him as well.  Sadly, the rookie mini-game didn't hit on the wheel this year, so it is a bit of a moot point.

By my count, I am showing that seven hockey pool teams have a pair of out and out starting goalies, while there are still a few teams in the league that have their goaltending situation up in the air and that could lead to a few more, but we'll await some of their decisions before we get ahead of ourselves.  Those seven teams have to be considered favourites for the goalie survivor pool, but Stacey M. won it with only one clear starter and a back-up that got lucky with extra starts, due to an injury situation.

On the opposite end, three teams in the draft picked up a pair outright backup goalies and they'll be hoping for the tides to turn in their respective NHL clubs.  They'll certainly get some starts with lots of back-to-back nights on the NHL schedule, but they'll need a lot more starts, if they are going to keep the pace.

The other two mini games this season, the plus/minus mini-game and the All-Star Game competition are a little more difficult to project going forward, but they'll certainly be fun to watch.

It was a good day out and there are a lot of good teams in this year's pool.  We'll be getting to the side bets here in the next day or two, as there were a ton of them going around and someone actually wrote them all down this year.  Stay tuned to the blog and the website for those updates, when the season goes live.

The All-Time Money Winning Team

We're now six weeks away from the draft and we'll have some fun with a list of players that have made the biggest impact on winning money.

Since my draft pools have been posted on opiatedsherpa.com, which now dates back to the 2008 season, I have paid out money prizes, generally to 3rd place, but in 2012, it was actually paid down to 4th place.  I've only included money prizes, since that's the most interesting prize of them all.

If you haven't guessed already, Calgary's Jonas Hiller is on this all-time team, as he has actually appeared on the most money-winning pool teams, without being dropped from them.  Hiller has never been on a 1st place team in the hockey pool, but he has been on two 2nd place teams (2011 & 2012) and two 3rd place teams (2010 & 2013), since the 2008 season.

There is one more player, who has been on four money winning teams, but has been dropped once, so he didn't finish the year on that team.  Tampa Bay defenseman Matt Carle is that player, having finished on a 2nd place team in 2010, twice on a 3rd place team (2009 & 2012) and then he was dropped by Grant S. last season, before Grant finished 2nd in the standings.  It's still pretty impressive, nonetheless.

Since 2008, eight players have finished the season on 1st place teams without having been dropped.  Forwards Mike Ribeiro, Jason Pominville, Mason Raymond, Blake Wheeler and Claude Giroux lead the way, while defensemen John Carlson and Kevin Bieksa follow suit and goalie Antti Niemi also has this distinction.

Of those eight players, only Pominville and Wheeler have appeared on another money-winning team, Pominville on a 4th place team in 2012 and Wheeler was on a 2nd place team in 2014.

19 players have been on three (or more) money-winning teams without being dropped in the season and six of those players have appeared on a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place team... no one has got all four places in the money... yet.

Those six players are as follows... Shea Weber, Pavel Datsyuk, Dennis Wideman, Tomas Plekanec, Dustin Brown and Ryan Getzlaf.

There is one player of the 19, which has appeared on a 2nd, 3rd and 4th place team... defenseman Marek Zidlicky.

If you were wondering which NHL teams the most money-winning players (without being dropped) come from... look no further!  With 21 selections to their side, the Vancouver Canucks come out on top in this list.  The Chicago Blackhawks have 20 selections, the St. Louis Blues have 19 and three teams each have 16 selections.  The top three teams have had a money winner in every season since the 2008 season, so it would suggest that if you had a player from one (or all) of these teams, you'd be in a good place for money.

Chicago and the Colorado Avalanche lead the way for players that have ended up on 1st place teams since 2008, each with nine players.  St. Louis leads all teams with 2nd place players, with 10.  Dallas has had the most players on 3rd place teams, with eight.

Interestingly, two franchises have never had a player finish a season on a 1st place team and one of those teams never had a player dropped from a 1st place team.  The Minnesota Wild have never had a player on a 1st place team, while the Calgary Flames had two players dropped from 1st place teams, since 2008: David Moss was dropped by Leon G. in 2010 and Matt Stajan was dropped by Allan S. in 2014.

As for the arbitrary All-Time Money Winning Team, it is as follows:

Forwards			Defense			Goalies
Blake Wheeler	WPG		Keith Yandle	NYR		Jonas Hiller	CAL
Jason Pominville	MIN		Brent Burns	SAN		Antti Niemi	DAL
Eric Staal	CAR		Shea Weber	NAS
Dustin Brown	LOS		Dennis Wideman	CAL
Tomas Plekanec	MTL
Ryan Getzlaf	ANA
Pavel Datsyuk	DET
Claude Giroux	PHI

Pick Trends Between Last Year and This Year

In this year's edition of the hockey pool draft, there was a major run on goaltending and defense in the early rounds, which set a different pace to the picking momentum.  Last year, with a record of 24 teams in the pool, there was a fair bit of anxiety on some of the more limited positions and I think that carried over, thanks to a bit more homework, into this year's pool, where there is 23 teams.

Last season's winning side, belonging to Allan, had the strongest goaltending in the pool in the year, 71 points better than the average team picked.  Allan's side had average forwards and average defense, so it might be safe to say that goaltending was key.

In the first three rounds of the draft, 31 of 46 goalie spots (67%) were filled, which meant that there was a pretty good premium on points from the crease, especially compared to the draft last year, where (48%) of goalie spots were taken by the end of round three.

In both years, the 2nd round has been the round of goaltenders, 15 being taken out of 24 picks in 2013 and 16 of 23 in 2014.  A lot of teams want to make sure that they have at least one number one goalie on their side, not being left out, after picking a significant forward in the opening round.

Remarkably, five out of the seven teams that picked goalies in the 1st round this year (including our reigning champ), had their pairing set by the 2nd round.  An onus on goaltending, indeed.  Only four more teams had their pairing set by the end of the 3rd round.

Only one team in the draft failed to pick up a goalie in the first three rounds, as Wyllie didn't pick his first keeper until the 6th round, getting Los Angeles back-up Martin Jones, and then his pairing was set in the 11th round, snagging Michal Neuvirth, a potential starter in Buffalo.  Bold moves.

Mike led the pool last year in defensemen points, 48 points better than the pool average, but he had below-average goaltending and slightly below-average forwards, so his 10th place finish didn't seem too far out of whack.

Defense had a slight increase in popularity in the first five rounds as well, as 22 of 92 spots (24%) were filled in the first five rounds, whereas last year saw only 18% filled by that time.  Last year, we did see a defenseman taken in the 1st round, Erik Karlsson, and none taken in the 2nd round, where there were none taken in the 1st round this year and three taken in the 2nd round, including Karlsson.

One of the most noticeable difference to how popular the defense was in the draft this year is in the number of selections in the last four rounds.  In the 2013 draft, there were more teams filling up their defensive vacancies with the depth defenders, as 43 of 96 spots (45%) were filled late, while 27 of 92 spots (29%) needed to be filled in the same time this year.  By the end this year, most teams had done their defensive and goaltending shopping, filling their boots with the remaining forwards.

Finally, putting a premium on forwards didn't do much of anything for Clayton last season, as his team had 102 points more than the pool average in forward points, but was below average on the blueline and horrendous in goal.  He finished in 8th place, as the support he received beyond the forward lines was abysmal.

The last four rounds actually saw more forwards being taken than the first four, 59-47 the margin, but the 47 in the first four rounds will likely come up with a boatload more points, given the talent that was taken.

With so many teams, however, taking forwards late, this may even out the competition through the pool, assuming they took the right defenders and goalies earlier on in the pool.

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!

A New Prize Has Arrived, Let's Name the Trophy

Yes!  It arrived today... the new trophy for the hockey pool!  Yes, that is a bobblehead on top of the trophy... how cool is that?!?

We are only a few weeks away from the next draft, which goes on the 27th, and now we'll have something to admire and desire when we all get together at the pub.

I am going to get the names of our previous winners engraved on it and I am hoping that the previous winners will be around at the draft, just to have a look at what they've accomplished in the past.

Preferably, I would like to name the trophy, so we all have something to call it, so I am taking suggestions (post a comment, will you?) and would like to have a name decided by draft day, if at all possible.  The trophy may not be as grandiose as the Shiva is on FXX's The League, but I am hoping that it will carry just as much meaning in the end.

Let's name the trophy and then go back to our drafting homework... training camps are just around the corner!

2014 Hockey Pool Draft Day Announced

The announcement of the date gets earlier and earlier, it would seem, but the inquiries to when it is going to be are doing exactly the same thing.

I have heard some rumblings that people are starting to do their homework, getting some of their preliminary lists done or at least trying to figure out how to work some lists that have been provided already.  Other people have just been paying attention to the news (and hopefully the blog), watching signings and trades and so forth.

Well, for those people especially, it is time to mark your calendars!

Saturday, September 27th, 2014, 2pm

Shillelagh's Pub (formerly Jameson's Pub) around Sunridge, NE Calgary

This will be year #6 in this location and if you haven't been to one yet, I think they just get better and better.  Well, maybe with the exception of last year's, which had a few technical glitches, but otherwise went over quite well.

Last year, we had 24 teams, via in person, by proxy and online (Google+ Hangouts) and it was a bit of a trick to get it all done, but we managed just fine.  It took just over three hours to complete the whole thing, but it all worked out and we had one hell of a year in the hockey pool.

I don't know if I should really be expecting 24 teams or more... or less, for that matter, but if you were to construct your list, I would look to expect about 24 teams.

Hockey pool teams consist of eight forwards, four defensemen and a pair of goalies and that means we'd be drafting 192 forwards, 96 defensemen and 48 goalies... so come prepared.  If you can prepare for more teams, you could be much better off.

As for scoring, it will remain the same... 1 point for a goal or assist, 2 points for a win or a shutout, nothing more, nothing less.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Yes, goalies will get credit for offensive points too.

The season starts on October 8th this year, which makes for an extra week or so in between the draft and puck drop than I initially wanted.  Originally, I wanted to do the draft on October 4th, but I couldn't get the booking.  With that being said, the preseason waiver period will be in effect again, for the rules on that, please click this link.  This was a good rule and it came into use in the midst of a long preseason for some pool teams last year.

New rules to implement this year and I will have it in writing here, so there is no qualms about it later...

1. All participants have to either be present at the draft or online (via Google+ Hangouts) to have a team.  No teams will be picked by proxy this year.
2. All entry fees ($50) must be paid by the first Waiver Draft of the year or else those teams will forfeit their players and re-enter the available players pool for that Waiver Draft.  I don't want to be chasing down money at the end of the year.

Otherwise, let the games begin!  Oh, and if you haven't noticed yet, the pool guides are being released now... so, go pick one up and start your homework!

Round 14 of Saturday's Draft

It was a record number of participants in Saturday's hockey pool draft, which meant we had a record number of players taken (336, to be exact) and it was a really interesting day, seeing where everyone went.  Every round of the draft certainly has some kind of purpose to each team in the pool and the last round is the way that everyone finishes up, which gives you a glimpse at the rest of their draft.

In round 14, we had picks #313 through #336, which saw 10 forwards, 10 defensemen and 4 goalies picked.  A pretty solid split, given the number of teams and the number of open positions per team.

I found it really interesting that there were 10 forwards taken, which meant that teams in the pool felt that making sure the goalie and defensemen positions were taken care of.  To most teams, getting in on those top goalies and defensemen are important, because there are a greater number of forwards with scoring prowess than there are players on the back end that can get your team points.

With that being said, according to my projections, the likely winner of the round will be Ryan M., who picked up Dainius Zubrus of the Devils with his last pick in the draft, 330th overall.  If my projections are correct, which they likely won't be, but I have no other measure for this post, Zubrus should be a 45-point player this year, which would be a significant.

Even with the number of players taken, I figure that there were also another three players slated for 40 points this season: Viktor Stalberg of the Predators (Kristy & Don), Mark Letestu of the Blue Jackets (Mike) and Matt Cullen of the Predators (Wyllie).

The real winning formula then becomes, do these 40+-point players and the defensemen that are taken in earlier rounds, beat teams that took forwards earlier and their defensemen that they took late?  The best defensemen, according to my projections, are Ryan Wilson of the Avalanche (Dale C.), Andy Greene of the Devils (Leo), Luke Schenn of the Flyers (Dale B.) and Ryan Murphy of the Hurricanes (Allan).  A 15-to-20 point gap can be significant between players in a round, but that can be easily be made up in some rounds.

Let's take Ryan's picks, for instance... in taking Zubrus, who is projected for 45 points in the 14th round of the draft, his highest defenseman was Slava Voynov of the Kings, who he took in the 6th round.  No question, he is one of the higher projected defensemen in the draft, top-third maybe and I have him projected for 35 points.  80 points between the two isn't so bad.

In the 6th round, Dale C., who took Wilson in the 14th round, also took David Backes of the Blues in the 6th round, who I have projected to score 65 points.  That's 90 points right there.  Leo took Michael Ryder of the Devils for 45 projected points and a 70-point combo.  Dale B. took another defenseman, Tobias Enstrom of the Jets, in the 6th round, so he doesn't count.  Allan also took a defenseman, Andrei Markov of the Habs, so he doesn't count either.

Well, needless to say, the selection style did change throughout.

Of the four teams that picked goalies in the 14th round, none of those teams picked a starting goalie before the 7th round, which is interesting.  Cindy picked Ray Emery of the Flyers and Clayton picked Jacob Markstrom of the Panthers in the 7th, which suggests that they were looking for more skater points early on, likely because the top-rated goalies were gone and that's what they'd sell out their picks for early on.  The other two teams picked up back-ups as their first two goalies, as Stuart picked Jhonas Enroth of the Sabres in the 11th round and Grant picked Ben Scrivens of the Kings in the 13th round.  Their skaters better pay off.

If you were not saving your last pick for bigger points from a forward or taking a back-up goalie to fill the void, you were taking a defenseman in the last round and these strategies will be fun to watch as they pan out.  Needless to say, I'm rather curious.

Small Pre-Season Rule Changes for the 2014 Draft

This year, the hockey pool draft will be conducted on Saturday, September 21st and opening night of the NHL season will be Tuesday, October 1st, which leaves about 10 days of exhibition games, numerous practices and gauntlets of players trying to make their respective NHL clubs.  With all of that being said, I think it will be very important for teams to start on as level of a playing field as possible, so I believe I will have a small waiver period, making sure that every team starts with a full line-up on opening night.

Here is the deal... once the draft is complete, every team will have 14 players (8 forwards, 4 defensemen and 2 goalies) and they all should be happy and healthy, ready for the start of the regular season.  If one of your players is to go down with injury between the draft and the day before opening night, you will be eligible for a waiver replacement player, to ensure your team is healthy, if you like.

How it will work: If a player of yours gets injured, and this will only apply to injuries, you can review the injury, see if it will be a long-term injury and if you decide that you could do better with a different player than wait out the injury, you can send me an e-mail or give me a call, let me know which player you would like to drop and which player you would like to take in his place.

All waiver decisions will be made at Noon the next day, in case there are two claims for the same player on the same night.  If there are two (or more) claims on the same player on a given evening, priority will be given to the highest drafted player being dropped.

For example, if Team A wanted to drop Sidney Crosby (due to another concussion) and Team B wanted to drop Mikael Backlund (due to a lower-body injury), and both teams wanted Shawn Matthias of the Panthers, who hadn't been drafted yet, Team A would have priority, because they are losing a higher drafted player, to which is way more important to fill than a lower round player.

Waiver claims can be made between the draft itself to just before Noon on Tuesday, October 1st and then that will be it.  The last waiver decision will be Noon on October 1st and then the rosters will be locked to the first waiver draft, which will go in the same manner as years before.

Very important... this waiver period will only apply to injured players.  If you have decided to draft an unsigned restricted free agent, like Nazem Kadri or Alex Pietrangelo, and they have not signed by opening night, these players are not eligible to be dropped for a waiver pick up, as they are deemed inactive at the time of the draft and that is a risk you were willing to make.  If you have chosen an injured player during the draft, who had a report that the injury would be minor and should be back before opening night and their prognosis changed, those players would be eligible for the waiver period, as factors have changed and it is injury-related.

One more thing I will likely allow this season, during the same timeframe of the waiver period, will be trades.  Although I think they will be somewhat unlikely, teams can spend the time before opening night to trade players.  As long as teams comply to the roster sizes (8 forwards, 4 defensemen and 2 goalies), players can be moved from team to team before the rosters lock.

This will be the only time that trades will be allowed, as teams that are in the money will not be able to trade for players from teams that are well out.

Hockey Pool Draft Booked... Friends Welcome!

Good news everyone! Not only has the Hockey Pool Domain have some new articles on it this Summer, we also now have ourselves a draft date.  So, prepare to circle the date on your calendars, book whatever time off (if you need to) and tell the wife you're busy on this day... because thank goodness, it's on a weekend this year!

Saturday, September 21st, 2013

Shillelagh's Pub at Sunridge (formerly Jameson's)

1pm to 5pm, with the draft likely to commence around 1:30-2pm

Okay, so what will you need to know?  If you've done my draft before, you'll know all about the rules and such, but for those who are joining for the first time, here's the lowdown.

The entry fee is $50 per team, most of which will go towards the year end prizes.  Since this will be the only pool I will be running this year, there will be fees taken for the website costs, but that's about it.

Scoring is super-easy and I think is a good indicator of players and their value... forwards and defense will be credited for a point for each goal and assist they register, while goalies will also get points for their goals and assists, but they will also get 2 points for each win and an extra 2 points for each shutout they are credited with.

For argument's sake, Martin St. Louis won the scoring race in the shortened season with his 60 points, Steven Stamkos was 2nd with 57 points, while Antti Niemi was the top goalie with 57 points (24 wins, 4 shutouts and 1 assist).

Teams will consist of 14 players: 8 forwards, 4 defensemen and 2 goalies.  Depending on the number of teams that are participating in this year's draft, which could be anywhere between 15 to 30, goalies will likely be at a premium and top-end defensemen go quickly.  If you are going to bring a list of players for yourself to work off of, plan for 30 teams, just so you're not short on players.  Yes, it will get pretty deep.

During the year, we will do two waiver drafts to do an exchange of players.  They normally happen around the one-third mark and the two-thirds mark of the season.  The waiver draft will generally happen via phone/e-mail/Facebook over those weeks, so I will be taking information on how best to contact you during this time.  The waiver draft is simple... the order is determined by the standings on the Sunday previous to the draft starting, there will be two rounds and last place will get to pick first in both rounds.  You will drop a player and then pick up a player of the same position (forward, defense or goalie).  There will be a list of players that are available on the website, so there won't be a lot of homework needed.

Points are taken from the NHL.com website, right from the horse's mouth.  Generally, numbers are entered on a nightly/morning basis, some nights happen more live than others.  Every week, after Sunday's action or when team's finish their week (Monday to Sunday), a statistical audit is performed.  Points will be added or taken away (thanks to post-game scoring changes) and everything will be made right before the next week's action, starting on Monday.

Bring a friend, let's have a good time!

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know and I'll definitely give you an answer.

2011 Hockey Pool Draft Date Announced

Have you started doing your homework yet?  I mean, the NHL season is just over a month away and the fierce competition of the hockey pool draft is something you will probably have to study for, even just a little bit.  The season opens on October 6th, the pre-season opens on September 19th, so I've found a date right in between.  Just enough time to see who the first few cuts will be and maybe too much time to gamble on the last rookies to get sent back to their junior team.

I was going to do a drumroll, but by the time you've clicked on the link to get here, you've already noticed the date, because it is in big, bold letters.  See below.

September 27, 2011 at 6pm

Jameson's Pub in NE Calgary

The good people of Jameson's Pub will be having us back in the Bud Lounge for our fourth year, we'll be spending the annual three hours going through the 14 rounds of players, a few brews and like a meal or two as well.

Last year, we finally eclipsed the 17-participant mark by having 20 teams take part in the pool, which was a lot of fun and didn't really increase the time spent by too much longer.  I think if we can get a few more teams to enter this year, we can keep that good pace up and have ourselves a pretty good time.

Just a quick recap of the relevant details... $50 to get into the pool (sorry, it doesn't include any free stuff at the pub), 14 rounds (eight forwards, four defensemen and two goalies) and it has taken us about three hours to complete the draft.  I have the Bud Lounge booked for 5pm this year and I would like to get started around 6pm, so we'll have plenty of time to filter in and then take part.

Drafting materials, like pens, paper, player lists and some pool guides will be made available upon request.  Let's have ourselves another great night!

Be sure to check out the Facebook event page to RSVP or e-mail me for details.

Poll: Who Do You Take First?

It might be a little too early to think about this question, but who would you take first in your fantasy draft going into the 2011-'12 season?  It has been a long time, from which I am trying to draw from memory, when there are a number of options in the 1st overall spot, which could be considered as reasonable picks.  In recent memory, it really only seemed like there were a couple of options, even with a few of different Art Ross Trophy winners in the mix.

The Penguins' Sidney Crosby and the Capitals' Alex Ovechkin have ran hand in hand over the past few seasons, working as the poster children for fantasy hockey drafts everywhere, the superstars of the league, the prized possessions of many.  Now, with Crosby's concussion problems and Ovechkin's offensive cool down in Washington, I think this opens the door wide open for consideration to a number of players.  Sure, you won't look uneducated taking either Crosby or Ovechkin for your team, but you may look like a bigger gambler.

Before having to leave the 2011 season with his concussion problems, Crosby was on a tear, scoring at a pace of just over 1.6 points per game, finishing up with 66 points in 41 games, ranking him 37th overall in scoring.  In my 20-team draft last season, that would have been good enough for a 2nd round pick and he only played half the year.  If he is getting the full bill of health in October, you can easily justify picking Sid first.

The questions that hang over top of the Russian superstar belong more to the team and how they are going to play. The Capitals were turned from an offensive juggernaut into a grinding playoff team with a focus on defense first. Well, that shift really took the sting out of the Caps' offense and the power play fell off, dropping down to 17.7% effectiveness, which was in the middle of the pack in the league.  Ovechkin's numbers also tailed, but nevertheless, he's still Alex Ovechkin and he'll continue to be in the conversation at this time of year.

If you don't trust either one of the perennial favourites, how does one of the last two Art Ross Trophy winners suit you?  Yes, the Canucks have one of the most formidable pairings in the league, led by the 2011 Art Ross winner, Daniel Sedin, who was the only player in pool scoring to finish over 100 points (picking up 104).  With the 2010 Art Ross winner, Henrik Sedin, helping to put the puck in the net on a nightly basis, choosing one of the two twins cannot be a bad idea going into the 2012 season.  The team around them hasn't changed a great deal, which should keep their options open, but which one will you take?  Daniel the goal scorer or Henrik the playmaker?

Maybe you're not after the West Coast scoring touch, where you would rather head down to the sun belt and invest in another scoring tandem, this time from Tampa Bay.  The sexy pick from the Lightning will be Steven Stamkos, who had an amazing 2011 season, which had potential to be off the charts.  Stamkos finished with 91 points in all 82 games for the Bolts, but the smart money could be on Martin St. Louis, who finished right behind Sedin for the scoring race, picking up 99 points in all 82 games.  Stamkos, the up and coming star on the NHL or St. Louis, the diminutive & crafty veteran.

I think we should also be looking to include the Hart Trophy winner from last season, Corey Perry.  Perry finished 3rd in the pool scoring rankings, finishing up as the only 50-goal scorer in the NHL and he also finished with 98 points with the Anaheim Ducks.  Yes, Perry lifted his team up and his stock went along for the ride, as he could be an outside shot at being a guy taken 1st overall in your hockey pool draft.  I think you would have to be a pretty big fan to jump on the Perry bandwagon that high, you might get a few oohs and ahhs from your opponents, but you could look at that pick as being a shrewd one.

Maybe you're going to shock your other poolies and drum up a name that no one is expecting, yet might not drum up too many jeers when you call the name.  Evgeni Malkin, Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, Ryan Getzlaf, Joe Thornton, Jarome Iginla, Brad Richards or Jaromir Jagr, possibly?  Okay, well, you're probably going to get a lot of jeers if you were to call out Jagr's name, but the others have their fair share of potential and all could be considered 1st round picks down the line.  You may think of these guys more as good runner-up prizes for not getting the first pick in the draft, but not 1st overall picks... unless you really feel like gambling.

The last time a goaltender finished 1st in overall pool scoring was 2007, when Martin Brodeur topped everyone with 48 wins and 7 shutouts, so we could be due for a goalie to jump back up into the forefront and take the title as the pool's best player.  Last year's overall top goalie was Henrik Lundqvist, who finished with 98 points (36 wins, 11 shutouts and 4 assists), followed by Carey Price (94 points), Tim Thomas (91 points), Roberto Luongo (87 points), Miikka Kiprusoff (87 points) and Ilya Bryzgalov (86 points).  There are plenty of good options on some pretty good teams, which would definitely make for a good 1st pick overall.

Well, if you have some idea of which way you are planning on going, put a vote down in my poll in the top right-hand corner of the blog page.  I'm curious to know who you would take in the opening spot of the draft.

What You Need to Know at the Draft

We're just under a month away until the draft goes down at Jameson's Pub and I am getting the feeling that a few of our competitors may be new at this, so I thought I would make up a post for those who are going to be new to the event and maybe it will prove to be a refresher for those who have missed a year or just want something to read on the blog today.

Now, I have the Bud Lounge booked starting at 6pm, so this is definitely for the after-work crowd, plus it is a Tuesday, so you'll want to drink away your early week blahs, rights?

The last couple of years we have had the Bud Lounge at Jameson's Pub, we've generally started drafting closer to around 7pm, which gave everyone enough time to find a beer, a bite to eat and get all of their lists and documentation ready for drafting.  The 17 people we've had in the past few years have taken about 2.5 to 3 hours to draft all 14 players we need, so expect to be out of the pub by about 10pm, unless you're staying for another drink or two and talking some smack with the others who have stayed.

As people walk into the lounge, I usually have people sign in, pay ($50) and draw a number out of a hat to determine the draft order.  I will usually have numbers from 1 to 30 in the hat, as I don't usually expect any more than that to arrive and then it's just the lowest number to the highest number to which determines the draft order.  We draft in the snake format, so it is lowest to highest for one round and then the next round is highest to lowest, so there will be two picks in a row for the lowest and highest drafters.  It has proved to work most effective over the years and there is no real expectation to change it.

As for players, I again like to keep it really easy, which seems to keep everyone playing in a pretty good mood.  Eight (8) forwards, four (4) defense and two (2) goalies is what makes up the team and all of these players can be taken at any time.  You can then plan your strategy from there, deciding which players you want to take in what order.  Some have wanted to get their goalies first, some wanted to corner the market in defensemen and others want to make sure they get great forwards, but that decision is up to you. 

Scoring in the hockey pool is also quite easy and this goes for both the draft and the selection sheet pool, which will also be available at the draft.  One (1) for goals and assists (which goes for goalies as well), two (2) points for a win and another two (2) points for a credited shutout.  Goalies can be credited with a shutout in a shootout loss, so I make sure those points are credited for those goalies.  I do not believe in the loser/charity point in the NHL standings and I don't think they should hold true in the pool, so there is no point there for goalies.

I have a list of players and all of their points, including goalies, so if you are heading to the draft and need a list of players, I can definitely provide you with one.  I can send it to you in most generalized ways, but it is formed in Microsoft Excel, so if you want to play with the list and make it reflect your own expectations and projections, feel free to ask for it.  A little homework goes a long ways.  If you are not going to get a list from me, I would recommend finding one of the magazines that you can get at most convenience stores or even the one's online and print them out.

If you want to get an Excel (or PDF) copy of my list, e-mail me by clicking this link.

The NHL schedule is 27 weeks long and weeks are considered to be Monday to Sunday, all year long.  The schedule does start on a Thursday night, so Week One will be from Thursday to Sunday and I believe we have a couple other shortened weeks for Christmas and the All-Star Break.

During the season, there will be two periods to which we will be able to switch out some players, which I lovingly refer to as the Waiver Draft.  This year, since we'll have an even number of weeks in the year, I will be holding the week-long (as that's how long these usually take) drafts via e-mail, phone, instant messaging or other to replace two players with two other players.  The order will be determined by the standings after the Sunday of the previous week and it will not be a snake draft, as this usually gives a little bit more help to the teams near (or at) the bottom of the standings.  Here you will be able to drop a player, who is usually injured long-term or just not producing and exchange him for a player of the same position.  There are some blog posts about how the Waiver Draft actually affects the standings at the end of the year, so you can definitely gauge its importance there.

This year, the Waiver Drafts will be held during Week Nine (November 29th to December 5th), with the players going live on December 6th, and Week Eighteen (January 31st to February 6th), with players going live on February 7th.

As for prizes, they are generally determined after the number of participants have been decided.  Last year, I was able to rustle up some jerseys for prizes for 8-week segments, which I might try to do again this year, but all of that is usually determined after the draft is done.  First prizes have usually been over $500, while 3rd place usually gets their money back.

That's about it.  Actually writing it all out, it does look like quite a bit to remember, but I think I have everything, so there shouldn't be any excuse not to know coming in.  If you stay tuned to the blog, I'll be posting all sorts of news that you will want to know going in, some stuff you won't find in those publications that were printed a month ago.  If there is anything I may have forgotten, feel free to ask!

2010 Hockey Pool Draft Date Announced

It's that time of year again! Now that the Summer has officially ceased to begin in Calgary and we can finally start looking ahead to the Fall and the annual hockey pool draft.  Looking at the actual NHL schedule (seen here), the season gets started on Thursday, October 7th, with an afternoon game from Helsinki, Finland and I thought I would take an extra week in between draft day and opening day/night to get the pool set-up and running before the first puck actually dropped.  So, saying that, the draft will be on...

September 28, 2010 at 6pm

Jameson's Pub in NE Calgary

We'll be heading back up to Jameson's again this year, as it has been a pretty good venue for the past couple of years and we'll be taking up the Bud Lounge up there again, which gives us our own little section to draft in and be as loud as we like.  Excellent.  If you need a map of where to go, here's one right here.

The rules will remain the same, of course.  It's $50 to buy in again this year, same price, same prizes breakdown... it all depends on who shows up in the end.  We'll be picking the same line-up of 14 players, eight forwards, four defense and two goalies.  The points are simple, goals and assists are 1 point each, while a win is 2 points and you can add 2 more points for each shutout.  We'll have a couple of Waiver Drafts through the season, done via e-mail, phone, instant messenger or other, switching a couple of players (if needed) each time.

As always, I'll have lots of info here on the blog site leading up to the Draft, but I also suggest picking up at least one of the pool magazines, that will give you a good list of players to pick from.  Of course, you can always as me for a list of players that you can work with in Excel.  It's a decent list that you can sort and it is always kept up-to-date and should include young kids and possible rookies, just in case you felt the need to invest in some youth.

If you're in Calgary and would like to attend, check out the Facebook event and RSVP or drop me an e-mail.

2009 Hockey Pool Draft Date Announced

Well, last year, I made the announcement really early, but this year I left it a little while longer. Nevertheless, I've given it more than enough time to get everyone prepared for the draft. This year, the NHL season gets underway on October 1st (see schedule), so we'll actually get the draft done and over with before then, so you'll know who you have as soon as the puck drops this year.

September 29, 2009
Jameson's Pub in NE Calgary
We'll be drafting on the Tuesday before the season starts, giving us plenty of time to see what every team will have on their roster for opening night. I will be able to provide an up-to-date list of players, which team they are on and how many points they had last year and if you need it sorted in any sort of fashion, I would be happy to do that for you for a custom list.

The rules remain the same this season. We'll be picking 14 players again (8 forwards, 4 defense & 2 goalies) and will also have two waiver drafts, where we'll be able to drop crappy players and pick up some new players to help even out the teams. For goals & assists, 1 point will be awarded and there will be 2 points awarded for each win & shutout for goalies. Of course, their assists will also count.

I would suggest picking up one of the hockey pool drafting guides, as they are usually a pretty big help for good picking ideas. The Hockey News copy is out now and I've got a short review of it already posted on the blog.

If you're on Facebook, join my Hockey Pool Group for more information and if you would like to confirm your participation, there is also event linked to it that is open to everyone.

Hockey Pool Draft Date Announced

You may not have to think about hockey pools yet (hell, it's only the end of July), but that's what you have the Opiated Sherpa for, right? He's got everything under control, nice and early as well. He already has a date and a place booked for your drafting pleasure...

October 7th, 2008
Jameson's Pub, NE Calgary

Well, mark it down on your calendars, it will come sooner, rather than later. The reservation has been made for 6pm, so show up any time around then.

By that time, we'll already have had four games played in the league, the two Premiere games in Europe, so most teams will have their rosters finalized by then. Sheets and likely some magazines will be around for your picking assistance.

The rules will be the same as last season... $50 a head for an entry fee, hopefully we'll have 30 teams participating, we had 17 last season... 8 forwards, 4 defense, 2 goalies per team... goals and assists count for the skaters... wins & shutouts @ 2 points a piece, plus assists for the goalies... it's all pretty straight-forward.

All the official rules will be supplied at the actual draft, so no need to worry about it right away.

If you're interested, you can look up the Opiated Sherpa Hockey Pool Group on Facebook and find his event that he posted there. Everyone is welcome, cancellations are almost certain, so we want to be sure we fill up 30 spots.

Also, the Hockey Pool Sheet will also be available for your selection pleasure for $25 per sheet. It will likely be released before the Premiere games in Europe, but will have a deadline of October 12th.

Draft Day Date Announced

September 20, 2007
6pm @ Limerick's Pub

I have made reservations at the pub for Thursday, September 20th, in the closed function room at Limerick's. There we will choose our teams of 14 players (8 forwards, 4 defensemen and 2 goalies). Hopefully, we'll have 30 teams ready to make their choices at $50 a head... which will have a prize pot at around $1,500.

The season gets started on September 29th with the Ducks and Kings in London, England, participating in the NHL Premiere. These will be the first two regular season games played outside of North America and the first opportunity for teams to pick up points.





And then on October 3rd, the rest of the regular season begins with four games. It should be an excellent start to the season.

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Tenative Date for the Draft

Since the schedule was released yesterday for the 2006/'07 NHL Season, I can now officially give you an unofficial date for the big draft day. The season will begin on Wednesday, October 4 and I will hold the draft one week beforehand, on September 27, also a Wednesday.

This pool will be very reminscent of years past... with the same amount of effort (if not more).

Teams will consist of 8 forwards, 4 defensemen & 2 goalies... 1 point for goals & assists and 2 points for wins & shutouts. Last year's pool went down like a charm, see the standings here. This coming season, there will be dedicated webspace with everyone's team posted and updated regularly and it'll be $50 a head. I'll be capping the number of teams at a maximum of 30, with the likelihood reaching about 20-25.

There will be two waiver drafts to drop poor players and pick up better players (dates will be announced soon), so everyone who is involved should be around his/her e-mail constantly for updates.

Mark September 27th on your calendars... it should be a doozy! I will have a pub booked for the draft soon, so stay tuned.


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