Winner of the 2018/2019 Fantasy Hockey League UK
Manager : Mark Waddelove
Fantasy Team : Mid Table Finish
It was my first year playing a Fantasy Hockey game during the 2018-2019 season. I could have made it easier for myself by having a go at one of the established leagues based on the NHL. This would have given me an idea of how to put together a team and what the pitfalls are. As my knowledge of the NHL and its players is not great, i decided to stick with a league i am more familiar with in the EIHL. I have been a long term fan of this league and have a reasonable knowledge of its teams and players.
I had the task of picking my squad with very little knowledge of the stats side of the Elite league(which the points for the fantasy League are based). All i knew was what i had seen during the games i had been to the previous season, along with the highlights of the other games on you tube. This gave me an idea of who was scoring goals and providing assists. I realized that beyond goals and assists of the top players i didn’t really know who else was scoring points. Obviously the top players who have the best points per game ratio but would also be the most expensive in the game. This meant i had to do a little background on some of the lesser know players that would cost less but still offer a reasonable points per game ratio. This allowed me to spot what i thought were hidden gems.
So i put together my squad of 2 netminders, 6 defencemen and 9 forwards that i thought could give me a chance of getting a decent finish in the league. My starting squad :-
Shane Owen
Patrick Killeen
Mark Richardson
Aaron Johnson
Tim Billingsley
Dylan Olsen
Jesse Craige
Scott Aarssen
Joey Martin
Jack Musil
Joey Haddad
Ben Lake
Blair Riley
Cole Shudra
Mike Cazzola
Ciaran Long
Dane Byers
I had a decent start but slowly realised that improvements would have to be made. Transfer window 1 came along and it gave me an apportunity to make changes. I noticed in trying to save money on some of the cheaper members of the squad i had weakened the overall squad too much. The inclusion of Jack Musil (4.5M)and Cole Shudra(4.5M) had allowed me to spend more of the budget on my top players but both players were getting little ice time at their clubs and struggling to add worthwhile points to my team.
Tranfer Window 1
Dane Byers
Blair Riley
Cole Shudra
Jack Musil
Tim Billingsley
Bryce Reddick
Dustin Johner
Paul Crowder
Kruise Reddick
Jordan Cownie
The changes i made in the first transfers window were adjustments were due to some players starting slowly in the league (Dane Byers 9.0M, Blair Riley 7.5M, Tim Billingsley 6.5M) as well as the two low ice time players (Jack Musil 4.5M, Cole Shudra 4.5M). The players i brought in looked to have started the season well and i thought they gave my squad better overall depth.
Transfer Window 2
Jordan Cownie
Patrick Killeen
Mark Richardson
Joey Martin
Aaron Johnson
Darcy Murphy
Tyler Beskorowany
Calle Ackered
Ben Davies
Zack Fitzgerald
Transfer window 2 gave me a chance to correct bringing in Jordan Cownie (5.5M)from the last window who wasnt contributing and replace him with Darcy Murphy(8M). Patrick Kileen (7M) was sacrificed as Tyler Beskorowany (8.5M)was performing very well. Mark Richardson, Joey Martin & Aaron Johnson we not in good form so were taken out, replaced by Calle Ackered(10M), Ben Davies(5.5M) & Zack Fitzgerald(4M).
Transfer Window 3
Mike Cazzola
Jesse Craige
Joey Haddad
Gleason Fournier
Alex Guptill
Charles Linglet
Just three changes in Transfer window 3 were due to players who had started the season well but whos form had tailed off, Mike Cazzola(7.5M), Jesse Craige (10M) who needed to be consistent to justify his price & Joey Haddad(6.5M) who had been great earlier in year but his points dried up. In were brought Gleason Fournier (9M)(whos season had started slowly but would go on to lead all fantasy points scorers), Alex Guptil (7.5M) (Who was having an exceptional season) & Charles Linglet (7.5M)( who was a surprise due to his points on the powerplay for Cardiff).
Transfer Window 4
Paul Crowder
Kruise Reddick
Joey Martin
Shawn Pauly
The return to form of Joey Martin (9M)necessitated sacrificing Paul Crowder(6.5M) & Kruise Reddick(9M) and Shawn Pauly (6.5M)was selected as the best player available with the remaining budget.
The league campaign was going well and i was leading the way going into the late season cup competition.
Cup groups
During the year i was drawn in group 5 of six groups in the cup. The groups were made up of three teams and each played the other two twice. I managed to top my group winning all of my games. I came unstuck in the next phase which was a knockout round. I had a poor week and was eliminated.
Summary
In summary, i thought the first season of Fantasy Hockey League had lots of positives. I managed to pick well initially and only had to tweak the squad as the season went on, picking up on form players and covering for injuries. I went for proven players initially and kept my eye on new players to the league to see if they would settle and brought them in later when the time felt right.
I think its important to pick players regardless of the team you follow in the league. I initially picked a couple of players from the team i support as i saw them in preseason and thought they would be good points scorers. There may be better players out there to choose, even if they are on a team you don’t like.
The key is to have fun and if your mates are in the league to and you are doing better than them, make sure you let them know it!
Key Players for 2018/2019
Ben Lake (6.5M) – Great Value for money and put up big numbers to push my towards the league title.
Cieran Long (6.5M) – Like Ben Lake, Long was a mid-range player who punched well about his weight.
Murphy/Riley/Rutherford – This line was flying for Belfast for most of the season and having these players in some form or another was important.
