THE BEST HOCKEY POOL EVER INVENTED

THE BEST HOCKEY POOL EVER INVENTED
(From the ground up)
(by a guy named Will)
(…from Montreal)
(this week)

So, we were trying to figure out how to run the work hockey pool at work. I started developing my own system, but it got scrapped because we’re trying to make it really accessible (there are a lot of casual fans in the office, so having insane rubrics for points is maybe not the hottest call). I’m really particular about the way mine run, in so far that I like them to be a “simulation,” in a way. I hate it when you lose because your top-tier goalie got played in a few less games than someone else’s top tier goalie. I hate that there’s no space for guys who get less than 70 points a season.

So, I set out to make my own pick ‘em type fantasy hockey league. Here is the digusting baby-mutant that I ended up with in the end!

1. WHO TO PICK.

To play, you need 4 LW, 4 C, 4 RW, 2 extra forwards of any position, 7 defensemen, and 2 goalies. Easy, right?

2. YOU MUST BE SALARY-CAP-COMPLIANT.

Ooh, dang. You really did think you’d have guys like Zetterberg as your fourth-line energy guys? No dice. The salary cap’s about $56mill this year; as such, you gotta check the player’s earnings (I recommend nhlscap.com) and make sure you’re compliant.

Okay, that’s the easy-to-explain stuff. Now, the harder stuff. My point system is somewhat based on the Yahoo rotisserie style, but it attempts to fix some of my biggest issues with their system; first, it gives weight to some stats over others. This basically means that your goalies are as important as your forwards, not like 12x moreso. I hate that there were always like 9 skater stats, and 5 goalie stats, and yet each of those five were worth the same. The second issue I had was that there was no happy medium between “points” and “rotisserie;” in points, you could boost one stat to absolutely no detriment, but in rotisserie, having 100 more goals was the same as having 3 more goals than the next guy. So, there’s a points system that works as such:

There are six stats tracked: G, A, +/-, PIM, Wins, Spct. Each has a weight (see below). The General Manager whose total in a category is most gets the maximum number of points; everyone else gets [maximum(own/leader)] points. That may not make sense, so here’s an example.

GOALS CATEGORY, WORTH 15 POINTS
Jim: 45 goals.
Chuck: 44 goals.
Bobby: 20 goals.

Since Jim has the most points, he has 15 points for “goals.” Chuck gets 15 points, multiplied by 44/45 (his goals over Jim’s goals). So, for goals, he has roughly 14.7 points. Bobby, however, has significantly less; 15*20/45, as per above, means he’s sitting on 6.7 points. However, he may be able to maek up those ponits in other categories.

The weighted categories are as such:

GOALS — 15 points
ASSISTS — 10 points
+/- — 10 points
PIM — 5 points
WINS — 2 points
SVPT — 3 points

I think this makes good defensemen incredibly palatable (+/- and A are amazing) but keeps snipers as hot picks (which is often reflected in their salary). Goalies are still vital to win, but are no longer the entire point to play. Someone who is *dominating* a stat is rewarded, but can still be beaten if they don’t keep a properly balanced team.

THIS IS WHERE IT BECOMES MORE OF AN EXPERIMENT.

There are other things, too, that make the simulation more fun. For example, leadership is key on any team, right? Well, at the end of the season, if any of your players wore the “C” (or would have worn the “C” if the NHL just changed that rule… I’m talking about Luongo here) during the season, you get +1 point. If anyone wore the “A,” you get +0.5 points (perhaps 0.4, haven’t decided yet). This emulates leadership for your team, and C/As are often paid more, so it is difficult to game. I would even want to keep it a weighted stat, if it were possible… but there are no game-to-game statistics kept, that I’m aware of, that track what player wore what letter. Alas.

There are other things to consider too. Do all 14 forwards score you points, or just the 12 you play? What happens in the case of injury? How often can you switch players out? Do you draft, and therefore one GM can only use one player, or do you just allow everyone to try to pick the best possible players? How often can I acquire new players? If it were a draft, I’d say weekly, but if it were a non-draft, I’d limit it to only a few times a year.

Holy shit, I can’t believe how much I wrote. Let me know what you all think.