Last night, myself and 5 other fantasy industry personalities drafted against 6 regular guys who registered either through ESPN or on the fantasy hockey subreddit. The link to the league is here; the scoring system is roto with the categories of: goals, assists, +/-, PIM, FOW, SOG, PP, SHP, Wins, Saves, SO, GAA, SV%. The scoring system makes skaters a little more valuable than standard roto categories, which is why the rosters are a little different. Each time starts 9 forwards, 5 defensemen, 1 ultilty skater slot and 2 goalies each day. Below are the experts and their teams. Leave your comments about the teams and tell me who you think the favorite to win is.
Follow the league! Here are the standings!
Steven Stamkos may decide many fantasy hockey leagues
Davis Mattek-
Forwards:
Alex Ovechkin
Rick Nash
Tyler Sequin
Jeff Carter
David Perron
Paul Stasny
Chris Kunitz
Vladmir Tarasenko
Alex Tanguay
Wojtek Wolski
Marcus Foligno
Ryan Malone
Patrik Berglund
Milan Hejduk
Defensemen:
Dion Phaneuf
Micheal Del Zotto
Alex Goligoski
Tyler Myers
Stephane Robidas
Goalies:
Pekka Rinne
Kari Lehtonen
Ilya Bryzgalov
Analysis: It was very difficult to get all of the guys that I wanted with, drafting with guys like Tony and Cliffy, because we have all followed a similar strategy. I’m most pleased with my acquistion of Vladmir Tarasenko, the rookie phenom who already has 5 points in 2 games. If he keeps up that trend, my weakness in Faceoffs won and several other categories might not haunt me. I particularly liked the selection of Tyler Myers in a later round, as I believe in the Sabres as a team and Myers ability to produce on the powerplay. Dion Phaneuf will help keep my Average Time On Ice category sky high all season, which is a real advantage when playing Wojtek Wolskin in my UTIL slot, only getting around 15 minutes a game.
Micheal Clifford-
Forwards:
James Neal
David Backes
Ilya Kovalchuck
Ryan Getzlaf
Evander Kane
Loui Erikkson
Travis Zajac
David Krejci
P.A Parenteau
Sven Baertschi
Ryan O’Reilly
Nazem Kadri
Sam Gagner
Defensemen:
Alexander Edler
Kimmo Timonen
Cam Fowler
Justin Faulk
Victor Hedman
Ryan McDonagh
Goalies:
Tuukka Rask
Niklas Backstrom
Antti Niemi
Analysis: Mr. Micheal Clifford is easily the most expert out of all the experts. His #1 goalie, Tuukka Rask will prove to be a huge advantage, as elite goalies in a 12 team league are hard to come by. Cliffy also went heavy on centers in order to get an advantage in faceoffs won. Ilya Kovalchuk could end up being a difference maker in the entire league, as he was pretty undervalued in fantasy hockey leagues even though he has been playing 24 minutes a game and has already won 22 faceoffs. Fully expect Cliffy to compete for the title all year.
Ladd Davies-
Forwards:
Steven Stamkos
Henrik Sedin
Henrik Zetterburg
Joe Pavelski
Dany Heatly
Blake Wheeler
Drew Stafford
Nail Yukupov
Dustin Brown
Marian Gaborik
Andrew Ladd
David Clarkson
Alexander Steen
R.J Umberger
Defensemen:
Dustin Byfuglien
James Wisniewski
Dennis Wideman
Marek Zidlicky
Dmitry Kulikov
Goalies:
Anders Lindback
Jacob Markstrom
Analysis: Ladd’s excellent forward line came at a strong price; his goalies. While he will be competitive all year based on the huge points that Steven Stamkos and Henrik Sedin will be posting. Mr. Davies had the luck of ending up with a defensive staff full of skaters who stay on the ice for a significant amount of time but if he wants to compete, a trade for a goalie may be in the works.
Tony Mauriello-
Forwards:
Sidney Crosby
Johnathan Toews
Gabriel Landeskog
Taylor Hall
Jaime Benn
Jeff Skinner
Ryane Clowne
Derek Roy
Milan Michalek
Steve Downie
Pascal Dupuis
Defensemen:
Drew Doughty
Kevin Shatternick
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Travis Hamonic
John Carlson
Dan Giradi
Dan Hamhuis
Goalies:
Jaroslav Halak
Semyon Varlamov
Jonas Hiller
Mikka Kiprusoff
TheTonyM’s guest writeup: Sitting at the 3rd position, I went into this draft with the goal of landing four high-scoring forwards and two first tier net-minders with my first 6 draft picks, which I managed to accomplish when I selected Crosby, Toews, Halak, Landeskog, Hall and Varlamov. One wrinkle with this rotisserie league is that there were a few added “live” categories – hits and face-offs won. Moreover, because the league settings did not require owners to draft Cs, LWs and RWs, I focused on primarily drafting centers so as to get an edge in the FOW category. I balanced out my roster with a mix of offensive-minded D-men who like to spend time in the penalty box, but who also are projected to be on their team’s first power play unit. Finally, when I was drafting offensive depth, I tried to select players who were playing on their team’s first or second line. My favorite pick was grabbing Sidney Crosby’s linemate, Pascal Dupuis, in the 21st round. Steve Downie should keep me competitive in the PIM category.
Tom Fitzgerald-
Forwards:
Claude Giroux
T.J Oshie
Ray Whitney
Teddy Purcell
Max Pacioretty
Brad Marchand
Erik Cole
David Desharnais
Mike Fisher
Guillaume Latendresse
Corey Perry
Teemu Selanne
Cody Hodgson
Defensemen:
Brian Campbell
Joni Pitkanen
Brent Burns
Brent Seabrook
Kyle Quincey
Jay Bouwmeester
Goalies:
Cory Scheinder
Craig Anderson
Cam Ward
Analysis: Cory Schnieder and Cam Ward’s horribly rough starts have murdered Tom in the standings, but I believe that he constructed a solid offensive squad. If Ward comes back to the mean and Roberto Luongo ends up getting traded, Fitz will have a real solid goalie situation to combine with his forward squad that is anchored by Claude Giroux and solid bench depth with Teemu and his 4 points and 4 PIMS already achieved, waiting to be put in the UTIL slot.
Rob Pallazola-
Forwards:
Evgeni Malkin
Jason Spezza
Milan Lucic
Jakub Voracek
Bobby Ryan
Jaromir Jagr
Justin Williams
Valtteri Filppula
Vinny Prospal
Chris Stewart
Kyle Turris
Chris Krieder
Defensemen:
Alex Pietrangelo
Shea Webber
Matt Carle
Ryan Ellis
Roman Josi
Mark Streit
Goalies:
Jimmy Howard
Brandon Holtby
Jonas Gustavsson
Michal Neuvirth
Analysis: Having your first draft pick only average 16 minutes of ice time can be rough, but Rob’s top 3 of Malkin, Jason Spezza and Alex Pietrangelo have already notched 7 points and contributed a short handed point. Neither of his starting goalies have put a solid performance yet, but it is a little early to jump to conclusions there. Standing dead last in ATOI, RoJo may have to consider a trade to build up his forwards and how often they play.
20 Year old student of English at Kansas State University. Writer for Sports Wunderkind, The Fake Football and Hockey, and various other media outlets. Fan of the Cowboys, Thunder, Avalanche and Royals
