Maximizing your fantasy fun
Whether it feels sudden or like you’ve been waiting for far too many agonizing months, the bottom line is that the 2015-16 season is the rapidly approaching light at the end of your sports summer.
In other years, commenters - always the reasonable types, of course - griped about the tardiness of the annual “Dose column about having maximum fun with your fantasy draft.” With that in mind, I thought I’d throw the latest rendition of this bit out nice and early.
(Note: for those of you who are gnashing your teeth since you decided to draft about a month early or more … I have little sympathy for you. Heck, the first bit of advice might just be “Wait as long as humanly possible, lest someone gets Jordy Nelson’d.”)
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Anyway, it’s a SCIENTIFIC FACT that Internet People Love Lists™ so let’s get to it.
Stop grumbling or I’ll put this in a slideshow.
Seriously, wait as long as possible to have your draft
In case you decided to tl;dr my intro, I feel like this is important enough to mention again.
If this is a friends league, have it in person if possible
I’m sorry, but little chat windows just aren’t the same. How are you going to dissuade your friend or frenemy from making a pick with a smirk online? I mean, unless you’re weird and Skyping it or something …
Aim for a 2:1 skater-to-goalie stat ratio
Yes, goalies make the biggest impact on the sport, as a bad one can dissolve an otherwise-excellent roster and gameplan while a hot ‘tender might just bail an overmatched team out.
All that aside, if you have 10 stat categories with five devoted to netminders - or something similar - it makes goalies a little too important.
Let’s face it. With shootouts and 3-on-3 OT, wins can occasionally be very fluky, and those are among the better goalie stats. Shutouts can be pretty fickle, too, as a 15-save shutout means more in most formats than a 40-save masterpiece in a 2-1 victory.
Skater stats provide richer strategic choices, so try to find the right balance for your league.
Allow space for power forward types
I totally get why people don’t like PIM as a category. After all, it’s pretty weird to reward a player for leaving his team shorthanded, right?
Fantasy isn’t necessarily meant to be an exact mirror on the reality of the sport, and personally, I like it when there are multiple ways to skin the team-building fantasy hockey cat.*
If you’re only really focusing on “finesse” stats, things get boring fast. I prefer having hits and PIM in my leagues, even if there’s some legitimate evidence that players who do both things often actually put their teams in bad positions (going for a hit or even delivering one isn’t always a great play, after all … it can leave your team at a spatial disadvantage).
Discourage trading
Nothing opens the door for real-life collusion quite like fantasy trades. Honestly, there are two typical reactions when I see a trade announced:
1. Indifference
2. Indignant anger over a paradigm-shifting, one-sided swap.
Of course, trades are great if you’re the one angering people, but I’ve found that I actually quite dislike them.
When in doubt, go for quantity
If you’re struggling between stats, ask yourself this question: how often does this thing happen?
Most obviously, this happens with things like game-winning goals, shutouts and blocked shots.
With the exception of Kris Russell - who bruised his body with a ridiculous 283 blocked shots in 79 games, good for 3.58 per game - no player averaged three or more BS's per contest.
For a "skill" that's pretty boring, that's rather unappealing.
Generally speaking, shutouts and GWGs are tolerable enough, yet I also nod my head when people beat up on those categories.
Use points, too
My number one tip is to have G,A,P and PPP (also SOG for sure). While I like having power forward templates, the most important on-ice contribution - especially in something that isn’t subjective like fantasy - is generating offense. Keeping points in the mix makes it certain that more important categories tower over your quirkier choices, if you decide to go with something less relevant like FW, GWGs and so on.
Vote if needed
If you’re with a group of fans, lean toward what the majority wants. Otherwise, you’ll have to deal with people whining about imaginary competition, which is just sad for everybody.
Go with fun, bold choices if you’re stumped
Fantasy hockey is about fun, so why not go bold every now and then?
Want to watch Connor McDavid every night? Maybe reach for him ever-so-slightly. Have a favorite team? Use a late pick you’d otherwise just shrug your shoulders on.
***
Oh, and ignore everything on this list if you so please. This might leave you stunned, but I won’t lose a wink of sleep if you DEFY MY BRILLIANT ADVICE.
Just don’t use shooting percentage if you’re the commish of my league. Deal?
* - You know, “skinning a cat” is a pretty bizarre idiom. Discussion for another day?
