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Tommy's team just continues to surprise me, he's 5th in points yet second in wins. Its like week in, week out, he does just enough to get his wins most of the time. He's the yin to the Bills yang, 4th in points but a 7-9 record good for 6th place.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

And Soft Dougie has been his rock star this year.....I looked back yesterday and I continuously mention him as leading the team. He actually has 2 defencemen that are just crushing it this year (Dahlin too).. I only have one dude on my team who is even near Dougie in points. Crosby.

The Scoring weight definitely needs to be adjusted next year as there is a huge difference between Dahlin, Hamilton, Karlsson and pretty much every other D man in the league...at least according to this setup. Scoring D Men like forwards is just wrong anyway.

By comparison I have 1 D man in the top 25........clearly I swung and missed there.

I also have only 1 player in the top 50 of points...so if there is someone that doesn't belong where they are at it is definitely my team. Fortunately..they all tend to contribute (unless they are wearing a Flames jersey) but that's a double edged sword.

Connor McDavid is clearly the GOLD standard in this setup.

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That will be tricky, there are 6 dmen in top 50 in the league, when we should expect 8.33. So a bit below expectations. However 6 of my 7 dmen have a lower average points per game than my very weakest forward. So the mid level dmen are way under weighted. So the re-balancing should be in a way that only slightly improves the top dmen, but does significantly improve the middle dmen. Not sure how you're going to do that.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Right...it is tricky because the categories apply to everyone not a goalie......so one tweak changes the whole league and the point structure. A few years ago we had a league that had a lot of additional categories.....rewarded faceoff wins which led to Toews and Bergeron being Gods. Too slanted on centers.

Here is what we have right now for Forwards and D.

Goals (G) 6
Assists (A) 4
Plus/Minus (+/-) 2
Powerplay Points (PPP) 2
Shorthanded Points (SHP) 3
Shots on Goal (SOG) 0.9



Quite honestly I would probably reduce the goals to 5.....up the Plus/Minus to 3. Add in categories for SHG and GWG and maybe tinker with blocks/hits again. The Plus/Minus IMO I would rather give more weight to because it reflects team on ice play.....adding in the other categories would account for other individual efforts.

I would also add in Shots against for Goalies. That category belongs there and is not there this year.

Here is current below:

Goaltenders Stat Category Value
Wins (W) 5
Goals Against (GA) -3
Saves (SV) 0.6
Shutouts (SHO) 5

I like the way the Waivers are working this year. The Rolling feature just sucked and this way allows a little bit of intrigue after a day and you see managers attempting to garner points towards the end of the matchup. Which if you got the time and effort then good for you!

Unfortunately this is a very fine balancing act and hard to predict at the beginning of the year so if you don't get it right you are left with a slanted league that people have to figure out. I am always open for suggestions if you have some.

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There is a pretty good balance between goalies and forwards at the moment. I'd be inclined to leave them as is, or you might mess up one compared to the other. If that can be done and make dmen in some way a bit better. Perhaps points for TOI? That would be of more benefit to mid level dmen than mid level forwards. But perhaps you can't correct for dmen without adjusting goalies and forwards as well.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Huberdeau....offseason rank 10.....current season rank 355

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The old boss brought up a good point.....instead of changing the point Structure on D.....drop 2 of the D positions and add in a Utility and another IR spot.

There is no need for 6 D spots under the current point standard.

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I like two IR spots. I think it favours more active managers. I've been pretty successful picking up other players drops and being willing to wait 6 - 12 weeks. You have to be patient. 3 spots means players will be more inclined to just hang onto their injured players, and I won't get the more interesting pickups. Just my two cents.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Yes...

IR+ I like as it gives you a lot more flexibility with dudes that are DTD or just OUT all of a sudden. Coupled with the short waiver wire and pickup time (that was new for this year) managers can move them into IR+ and find another guy to fill the gap real quick. The successful managers this year have been able to pivot and use that to good success. You do have to be active to make it work for you.

IR is you standard IR with IR -LT baked in.

I have no problem with shrinking the roster size by one and just adding one more Utility.

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Week 20 Almost Home.

This is just about it folks. One more week to go...no position is set in stone and we have a toss up in the last week for 1 and 2...exciting stuff! But first we must recap week 20.

Indifference Makers (5) excercises his option on the Sofa King Rad (12). The Sofa King does look to have an active lineup every week so what was once an MIA team has quietly been icing a consistent albeit rather unsuccessful lineup. This one was in doubt on the weekend for the Makers as the bulk of his lineup having terrible years continues. Tim Stutzle shows large with 70 plus points and Pavel Buchnevich 48 lead the Makers to an overall piss poor showing but a win is a win! The only player to crack 30 for the Sofa King was Darcy Kuemper.

Glitz and the Intangibles (2) readily dispatches Hudson's Team (9). Both teams with solid lineups however Hudson's team has battled consistency all year. In Columbus when Johnny Hockey goes missing for a month no one cares. Robertson and Kopitar did their part but the whole has yet to show week to week. Meanwhile the professor chugs on with players like Dawson Mercer and Draisaitl while also sporting 2 of the top scoring D Men in the league this year. Hudson has a shot at playoffs in the final week but he needs the Glitz to pull through.

Habless Habs (8) pick up a key victory over The Faithful Go Nuts (4). Another team that checked back in after a brief spell to get back in the mix. With McJesus ripping up the scene as of late it certainly would have been a waste! McJesus and Jared McCann with 60 plus points. The timeless beauty Bergeron with over 40. The Faithful were let down by their forward corps this week (Leafs especially) but a great showing out of his carousel of goalies. Boo for Ulmark not getting points on his goal! Big Win for the Habless who try to hold off Hudson's team in the final week.

In the blowout of the week NO YOU RELAX (3) show the EA Sports Champion (11) the way out of the playoffs with an exclamation (182 points). Solid all the way up and down the lineup. The Relaxers have put it together at the right time and find themselves in 3rd place for the week. Tage the beast Thompson has cooled considerably and the Champion seems to have a particularly large amount of players on teams that are flagging. Goaltending has also been an issue all year for the Champion but not much longer!

Not to be outdone completely the Not So Tight Tookus (1) drops the hammer on Stay In Your Laine (6) by 161 points. The Tookus has been consistent and solid all year long and only challenged a few times. RNH and Necas with 50. Giroux puts up 69. I look at the lineup and I not wowed by any one thing...and that's a positive. Our resident blogger has drifted in and out a bit but for the most part turned in a decent season after starting with a large contingent of young folks. He has since had to salt and pepper but it has worked out. Bit of a letdown out of the lineup this week. Stay in Your Laine may be moving on down the standings in the final week but he'll get in.

In our Final matchup of the week Mr. Wonderful and the Buffalo Bills (7) get by Sams Astonishing Team (10). This was a pretty close match as it also looks like Sam may have been back setting his lineup. The Bills are riding the recent resurgence of the Dallas Stars with Heiskanen and Hintz leading the way. The Astonishing ones meanwhile are getting the most out of some scenery changes with Dmitri Orr-loff (69 points) and Barbashev. Josh Morrisey also chips in significantly. The Goalies pulled a noshow for Sam. Meanwhile the tactic of working the waiver wire for starting goalies pays off on the other end.

Its almost over folks we have one last week and no playoff positioning is secure so hold on to your hats and set those lineups! We have battles all up and down the standings. As a reminder the $75 is up for Grabs between the paying members in the playoffs! Good luck to all and thanks for playing this year.

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WOW! Some serious movement could occur on the last day of the regular season in the Upcountry Degen Points Pool!

Several scenarios currently underway.......The Tookus could be dethroned and find himself finishing as low as 3 at the end of the day! The aspiring actuary looks to kick the Conor McDavid led Habless (who isn't doing anything with 2 starting goalies on IR) out of the playoff running.

Can the Tookus rally?

Can the Professor seal the deal against a checked out Habless?

Can Hounsy pull off the ultimate come from behind and win the pool on the last day!? Stay tuned!

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Week 21 The End of the Regular season/Congrats to the Glitz

Week 21 provides some surprise movement at the top and the bottom to end the regular season. The Tookus suffers an untimely setback that sees him fall all the way to 3rd on the Final day. The Professor by virtue of wins takes the regular season Championship! Bravo Sir! Now to the recaps.

Indifference Makers (5) Vs No So Tight Tookus (3). The Makers ran through the Tookus like a meal at Taco Bell. Saving his best for last...and what was a glimpse of what his team could have been when he drafted it.......the Makers put up a season and league high 628 points. In what would turn out to be a 273 point spanking of the Tookus the Makers were led by 60 points out of Kyrou, old balls Crosby and hey what's this? JACOB MARKSTROM. The Tookus was led by Pasta, Kadri and Stuart Skinner. The Makers played spoiler to the Tookus claim to the throne but the Tookus is still well positioned and gets his playoff match against Mr. Wonderful.

Glitz and the Intangibles (1) flirts with failing to rise to the occasion but manages to put up enough points to get by Habless Habs (9). Interesting fact...The professor is 6th in total points however he has key victories when he needs it and that's how he claims the throne as our regular season champ. The top spot was secured by Erik Haula, Rob Thomas, Dawson Mercer and Vejmelka impressive.....Conor McJesus and ultra hot Jared McCann tried to make this competitive...unfortunately Habless had a lot of spots taken up by injury. Habless who was occupying the last playoff spot finds himself removed by our aspiring actuary on the last day of the season. Thanks for playing this year Scott! Hopefully next year your Habs are better.

Hudson's Team (8) slides in on the last day defeating Stay In Your Laine (7). Nate MacKinnon and Alex Pietrangelo provide the points necessary for our aspiring actuary to make the playoffs! It looks like our blogger could have provided the win but he had some sitters in his lineup. Either way good job Hudson! Perhaps our blogger will show up for his playoff match against the Relaxers. Hudson gets a chance at an upset over Glitz in the first round.

NO YOU RELAX (2) takes care of Sam's Astonishing Team (10) to fall just short of a charge for the top spot. The Relaxers are firing at the right time and look to be a serious threat in the playoffs. Contributions all up and down the roster. Sam's team gives it a valiant effort but exits from season play in Week 21. Thank's for playing Sam. Hope you had fun and would like to come back next year! Relaxers could get a smooth pass in the first round if Stay In Your Laine disappears.

Sofa King Rad (12) goes mostly MIA all year and finishes last losing to the Buffalo Bills (6). This is one of the matchups that didn't have much of an implication on the post season. Mr. Wonderful is ready to saddle up on Matt Tchachuk and Mitch Marner for his run into the playoffs. He gets a first round matchup with the Tookus so its a tall order. Our clown clearly has better things to do than play fantasy hockey as this is the second year he has been mostly MIA. He's got a lot going on so I hope everything is going ok in his bubble. He is a former Champion (I have the cup engraving to prove it) so not ready to close the book on him yet!

The Faithful Go Nuts (4) dismiss a checked out EA Sports Champion (11). Killorn and Karlsson led the way for the Faithful over a team that had Tage the beast Thompson on the the bench! Booo! The circle is not complete yet as the Faithful shows his mini-me the pool exit. Thank you for jumping in and taking this team at the last minute son. I know you also have a lot going on and hopefully you can join us for the draft next year! The Faithful look to go deep in the playoffs but first they will have to get by the Makers in the first round. Generational elimination underway!

Thanks again to Habless, Sam's Astonishing, the EA Sports Champion and Sofa King Rad (wherever you are). If you guys are interested next year let me know. We'll have some changes to the spots and tweaks to scoring. I know Fantasy Hockey can be a lot so I appreciate everyone that put the work in to make this fun. The last day of the year was interesting and we had a lot of parity.

Good luck to the rest of you boys. Most of us are very active managers so it should be a good go of it.

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More interesting facts...The Tookus never picked up a victory against the Makers or the Relaxers..The Glitz never beat the Tookus.....and the Relaxers never beat the Faithful or Stay In Your Laine. The Makers never beat the Relaxers or the Bills. The Bills couldn't beat the Faithful or the Stay In Your Laine. Stay In your Laine could not beat Hudson or the Tookus. Hudson couldn't beat the Glitz or the Bills....

So what does all this mean? Well the only team not mentioned in here is the Faithful. He had a victory against everyone.

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UGH! Two years in a row I lose the last game of the year to fall out of the playoffs after two very strong starts.

I'm still learning the intricacies of fantasy hockey and one that I need help in is the IR and how to do that properly.

Congrats to the guys in the playoffs and look forward to next year!

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Oh C'mon now! Erik is checked out with Cale Makar and Georgiev on the bench! Professor continues to luck out!

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I auto set my lineup on Monday, but sure enough Thursday/Friday hits and Yahoo pulls off some mumbo jumbo and my lineup is off. I declined my annual baseball pools this year, I can't with Yahoo's UI anymore. Sorry!

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Shiiiiiiit this week is close for me so far.

You're 90 points up and projecting as a 100 point win. You finished 6th in total points yet first in the standings. The three top point getters all got knocked into the consolidation round after first round of playoffs clearing the way for you. You'll be fine, those two horseshoes you sat on prior to the season start (one for luck and the other for fun) will see you through to the end.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Yeah...too bad on that E.L. You may have had the Professor with those points.........you did make up A LOT of ground.

On the other side of the fence my desperate GMing (thanks Buffalo)......might actually pay off. Guess we'll find out today. I had a few weeks where Flames players actually showed up....not this week though.

I meant to do a writeup of last week's 1st round....but I just got really busy. I'll probably roll it into this round when I do one here shortly.

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I've got a wee bit of a lead over Faithful atm. Looks like if Phoenix Copely pitches a shoutout or keeps St. Louis to one goal he'll have enough to inch ahead of me for the win this week. Going to be close.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"