If you are still in the picture in any of your Fantasy hockey pools then you have already had a phenomenal season! Congratulations to everyone who has made the finals. There are so many different types of hockey pools and each and every one has different strategy; but all are exciting. The 82 game seasons a grueling one for the players, between practicing, flying, working out and preparing for their next game; it can certainly be exhausting. Not that I know from experience, don’t get me wrong…Men’s league lifer here!
This is a tricky time of the year to mend your team as injuries occur just before playoffs and teams are hesitant to rush their star players back into action. Rest and relaxation is usually the safe bet before a big playoff run; which can be frustrating when it comes to Fantasy. The one advantage in the Championship week is that there should be only you and your opponent taking players off the free agency. Unless of course there is a prize in your pool for third place, you may have a couple other people trying to upgrade their roster as well, but it’s courteous to let the guys battling for first place to take the first ‘kick at the can’.
After last night’s games there are two teams that only have 1 game left the rest of the week.
Nashville and Winnipeg both play Saturday as their next game…if you have someone on one of these teams who isn’t pulling their weight it may not be the worst idea to drop them and grab someone else who plays three times this week. After tonight’s games Anaheim will play Colorado on Friday and are then done for the week. You want to make sure you get as many games in as possible as it could come down to the last game on Sunday where you get that one point that makes or breaks you winning the title.
I have Rinne and Quick and they have been horrendous to start off my Championship week. Rinne only plays two games this week, so his next start better be a dandy after letting in 4 goals in his first outing. Needless to say, I am desperate for goalie stats. After doing some research and looking at games lining up the rest of the week…I picked up Berra from Avalanche as he will be starting tonight and Friday. This works well for me because Quick and Rinne are both playing on Saturday night; so no overlapping with three goalies playing in the same night.
Tarasenko is hurt, as is Hedman and Weber. It’s all uncertain at this point who will be back when but I can tell you that Tarasenko being hurt is an absolute dagger in the heart for my roster. That totals up to be my 30th injury of the season; and just spectacular timing too!
No need to fret, this is the time…now or never. Put your player on the IR or IR+ slot and hope they return later in the week and you can put them back in. If not, try your best to pick a player who should have some impact the rest of the week. Looking at your opponent’s roster is helpful, perhaps he/she has a lot of players on the same team and you can try to scoop someone up from that team to counter any points your opposition gets. Just do what you have been doing all season to put yourself in the best position to win…research, flip a coin, whatever it may be!
The Red Wings still have three games left this week; Mrazek may or may not start in two of them…who knows what’s going on with Howard in Detroit. So it may be a bit risky, but I would imagine Mrazek starts in at least one of the Wings next three games; especially since they play back to back on Saturday/Sunday.
If you are hunting for penalty minutes, look no further than Steve Downie. He leads the NHL in PIM and plays three times still this week. Twice versus his old team the Flyers; perhaps he will drop the gloves!
HBSL:
Congratulations to our finalists! We have two championships underway right now in the HBSL, one in the season ticket holder’s tree, and the other in the free bracket. Awesome job getting this far, you now have 5 nights left of your HBSL season and hopefully they are good ones with lots of production.
Eiso Baka VS Dasher Smashers (free bracket)
Big’s Bums VS Prescott Pharma (STH)
A big shout out to these four finalists!
Best of luck to everyone in their Fantasy this week; time to bring home the cake!
Thanks for reading.