The hockey season has started!!

Jay1982 · Guru

The hockey season has started!!

Diehardhabsfan · Veteran Member

You only won cuz I wasn't in it

Jay1982 · Guru

lol, looks like you'll have to stop this this year

rwp2le · Guru

Oh Jay, I just looked at our go habs pool, looks like I made a small mistake, Johab actually beat you by 2 points. Sorry to burst your bubble.

BTW only kidding.

Jay1982 · Guru

Johab · Guru

Jay, for YOUR sake, im hoping the pool you picked for the playoffs is not related to your notes on hockey. I mean even you have to admit you got lucky with your win this year. But hey, a win is a win! My picks do go even close to as much depth as what you do. I simply go with straight up hockey sense and what the obvious is to do. You pick the top 5-6 scoring teams and base your picks on THEIR players. And, when it comes to sleeper picks, ill let you in on a secret, look at the weak teams NO ONE ever thinks to pick from. Those teams ALWAYS have a guy who scores 60+ points but is picked in like the 8th round. Sullivan was my charm last year and so was conroy. Both these guys were passed over and i grabbed them in late rounds.

Jay1982 · Guru

There was no luck. I knew that the Oil was gonna go all the way. I picked almost the same way with my money pool and finished 15 points from the next person. Its a big risk, but it paid off. I, however had faith in the oilers.

For your strategy, I agree, it might work if you are in a pool with people who are not seasoned poolies. Just to give you a hint on how almost everyone is on the radar in one of my pools. Sullivan went in the 5th round out of 12 rounds. Conroy went in the 8th. Kovulchuk was picked late (3rd round) due to his hold out at the time. And so on....this particular group of guys consider themselves pros. They know alot about the game and whats going on between players. So preparation is needed! And for a nice pot of little of 1000 bucks, I'll take the extra time to make sure my pics are spot on.

The tactics you would use would go good in one of the other pools where my friends aren't as knowledgable (one guy picked Elias as his 4th pick). I'm afraid that the strategy you presented has its flaws. Do you take into account the player's physical history, does he miss games often, did he have a major injury last year? Does he have a yoyo career (one season he's hot, next he's not)? New linemates, new team, new role?

I'm not bashing your strategy, if it wins you pools, kutos to you. However, if we were to use your example of picking, it would mean that Ovechkin would go in one of the later rounds, near the end of the draft. A player like Forsberg would go to one of the 1st drafters (which this year he should go in the 3-4 round due to his knee issues. I don't think he'll play a full season... ~60 games IMO.) Would you take Mike Modano over Ovechkin, or even Kariya? Or what about Iginla, who is a perfect example. Before the arrival of Tanguay he'd still go in the 1st round, even thought the Flames are not an offensive team (that will change on the 1st line however with tanguay).

Depending on what develops with Malkin, I know exactly which round he will be taken at in my "pro-pool". He'll be swept up in the 9th round. I know this because a general rule of thumb is that you don't waste early picks on rookies (with the exception of Crosby and Ovechkin) because there are so many things that can happen in a rookie season that its very very risky. I'll be the one to claim him in the 9th round no matter what position I end up picking in.

Anyways, I'm pretty tired, and I think my thoughts might have gotten mixed up with my words, so I'll stop typing lol.

-- Edited by Jay1982 at 00:05, 2006-08-20

MC Girl · Guru

Yeah, I didn't fair so bad either.... I came in 3rd in the pool & I put no time or effort into it...... I just winged it No strategy, no looking at stats, no nothin'.... just chose fast.

Everybody has their way of doin' it, & no matter which way you choose... it's a gamble.

-- Edited by MC Girl at 00:44, 2006-08-20

Jay1982 · Guru

yeah, nothing's a sure thing. In my last year pool. I had Ziggy Palffy and Ladislav Nagy. They were both doing great until January

Nagy blew his knee and Ziggy retired, and it was in the span of like a day lol.

Johab · Guru

Im sorry Jay, but i have a VERY hard time believing you SERIOUSLY thought edmonton would have gone that far at the beginning. BUT, there is no way i can prove you wrong, and the fact that you took the odds ( even though to the majority of people they seemed insane at first ) i repect your faith in your teams and how confident you are in your picks. Picking pool teams though is almost like playing poker. There is SOME skill in winning, but most of the time, luck is what will win you the final prize. With what can go on throughout a season, you NEED things to go your way to win. For example what happened with your nagy and palffy. Heck, 2 years ago, i one my pool simply because im a habs fan. NO ONE would go near the team in the draft. So come the 8-9th round in a 12 round pool im picking up guys like koivu, ribs, ryder. Who were ALL 50+ guys. MEanwhile other guys like Asham, domi and neil are being picked up.

Jay1982 · Guru

Well, lol, I know that not many people envisioned the Oil in the Cup finals, however I followed them closely in the regular season. I had Hemsky and Horcoff in my season pool so I was always interested in seeing their games. I had a gut feeling they would do well. And I happened to be right, I'm not always right, but this time I was. I was kinda foolish to put all my eggs in one basket (I don't normally do that), but it paid off.

And as for people like Domi, Neil, and asham, no one has ever picked them up in my pools. Koivu normally goes in either 5-6. Kovalev the 4th, Ryder 6th, Ribs in the 7th. Never would I think of taking Domi or any of those guys. Its not smart picking because they spend alot of time in the box.