Pasha71
Registered User
- Dec 30, 2017
- 713
- 266
I have been running various hockey leagues since 2000/01. Throughout the years, I have noticed several things that could be improved:
1.One game per week is simply not enough. Real NHL teams play once every 2-3 days.
2.In daily-roster-change leagues, it's extremely frustrating when your opponent has more players than you do (which often happens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when the number of NHL games is low).
3.The Stanley Cup playoffs are not reflected in fantasy leagues at all.
And this is how I developed a new concept, which I would love to try out, provided I find enough people to join me...
PLATFORM
A regular Yahoo Fantasy league will be used for the annual draft and all roster changes, trades and FA signings during the season. However, some additional software (written by me) will be used to count game scores.
ROSTER
Each team has 30 players (Yahoo max). There is no IR, there are no position limits.
TRADES AND FA SIGNINGS
Trades are done on Yahoo during the season (in the offseason, a message board will be used instead). The trade deadline coincides with the one in NHL (the commissioner blocks everyone from trading on Yahoo Fantasy at the exact day and time).
Free agent signings are possible only during the regular season (with no deadline until the end). The limit is 2 per week.
GAMES
As a rule, three Games are played every week:
Game 1 = Monday - Tuesday
Game 2 = Wednesday - Thursday
Game 3 = Friday - Sunday
The only time when this rule is broken is when the game period contains less than 10 real NHL games. Then, one Game might last a bit longer. For example, there will be only 10 games played on January 28-31, 2018 (Monday to Thursday), so that said time period will constitute only one fantasy Game. Overall, I expect 77 regular season Games to be played in 2018/19.
For every Game, a team fields a roster of 11 players: 1 G, 4 D, 2 LW, 2 C, 2 RW. They could be fielded on the same day or on different days. Of course, one player can be fielded only once for one Game, even if his real team plays twice during the game period.
As I said before, Yahoo Fantasy will be used for fielding players, but special software will look at the results and create actual fantasy Game box scores.
SCORING
A point system will be used for scoring for each Game: 1.0 points for every goal, 0.7 for every assist, 0.3 for every PPP, 0.2 for every penalty minute, 0.2 for every hit, 0.2 for every block, 0.1 for every goaltender save, -0.5 for every goal against, 0.8 for every goaltender win.
In the end of the Game, the points for a team are summed and rounded down: that way, 3.1 points or 3.9 points will both result in 3 "goals". Note that will be no negative "goal": if somehow a team manages to get less than 0 points (a bad goalie and a bunch of inactive skaters), that will result in 0 "goals" (we don't need scores like -1:-2).
In every Game, the "goals" of both teams are compared, and the winner gets 2 points in the regular season table. In case of a tie, both teams get 1 point each.
The point total (before being rounded), however, is also being recorded for each team. In fact, the sum of those points total throughout the season is being used as the first tiebreaker in case of points in the table being equal.
PLAYOFFS
Unlike in most Yahoo Fantasy leagues, the playoffs will coincide with the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The number of teams making playoffs will depend on the total number of teams in the league (approximately 62.5% of all the teams). If a league has 8 teams, 5 of them will make the playoffs. If there are 12 teams, 8 will make the playoffs. If there are 16 teams, 10 will make the playoffs. If there are 20 teams (Yahoo max), 12 will make the playoffs.
The playoff system will depend on the exact number of teams making playoffs, but generally, one playoff round will coincide with one Stanley Cup playoff round. Moreover, in each round, every fantasy Game will coincide with specific Stanley Cup playoff games. For example, Game 1 will coincide with all the Games 1 in that round.
If a playoff Game ends in a tie, it's fine (no "sudden death OT"). If a playoff series ends in a tie (say, 3-3), the first tiebreaker is the total goal difference between the teams, and the second one is the higher regular season place.
In order to replenish the rosters (which will undoubtedly be thinned due to real NHL teams not making the playoffs or being eliminated), there will be a special five-round supplemental draft before each playoff round. In every draft round, the team with the higher regular season place picks a player earlier.
The supplemental playoff draft pool will include players that are free agents in our league. Note that if a player is picked by a team in a supplemental draft, and then the team is eliminated, the player can be picked in the next supplemental draft by a different team.
All playoff-related transactions (drafting players and announcing game rosters) will be done on a message board (since Yahoo unfortunately ignores the Stanley Cup playoffs).
ANNUAL DRAFT
Before each season, a 30-round draft will be conducted.
Before the first season, the draft will be "snakelike" (the earlier you pick in the odd rounds, the later you pick in the even rounds).
Before every subsequent season, the draft order in each draft round will be determined by the regular season standings in the previous season. The team that finished last will pick first in each draft round, the team that finished first will pick last.
A certain number of players can be protected before the draft, but at the expense of draft picks.
A team can protect up to 10 players with the following limitations: up to 2 G, up to 4 D, up to 2 LW, up to 2 C, up to 2 RW. If a player has multiple positions in Yahoo Fantasy, he can be protected as any of them: a LW/C can be protected either as a LW or as a C. If a team protects P players, it will miss the first P draft picks: if you protect 8 players, your first pick will be in the 9th round, not 1st.
A team can also protect up to 3 rookies (the "rookie" definition will be the same as in NHL) regardless of position. If you protect one rookie, you'll miss the 30th draft pick. If you protect two, you'll miss the 29th and the 30th picks. And if you protect three, you'll miss the 28th, the 29th and the 30th picks.
And, finally, a team can protect up to 3 "sophomores" regardless of position. A "sophomore" is a player who is no longer a rookie but who has not yet player 100 NHL games (70 for goaltenders). One protected sophomore will result in missing the 21st draft pick. Two, in missing the 21st and the 22nd picks. Three, in missing the 21st, the 22nd and the 23rd picks.
Just like players, draft picks can be traded either during the regular season or in the summer, but these trades have to be recorded on the message board (since there is no way to do it on Yahoo Fantasy).
CONCLUSION
So this is basically it. You will play thrice a week, avoid getting shorthanded due to unbalanced NHL schedule and enjoy "real" playoffs. Also, there will always be a way to rebuild a bad team: no one will be able to protect more than 10 veterans, yet everyone will be able to develop prospects.
Let me know if anyone is interested. We'll need at least 8 teams to get this project off the ground...
1.One game per week is simply not enough. Real NHL teams play once every 2-3 days.
2.In daily-roster-change leagues, it's extremely frustrating when your opponent has more players than you do (which often happens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when the number of NHL games is low).
3.The Stanley Cup playoffs are not reflected in fantasy leagues at all.
And this is how I developed a new concept, which I would love to try out, provided I find enough people to join me...
PLATFORM
A regular Yahoo Fantasy league will be used for the annual draft and all roster changes, trades and FA signings during the season. However, some additional software (written by me) will be used to count game scores.
ROSTER
Each team has 30 players (Yahoo max). There is no IR, there are no position limits.
TRADES AND FA SIGNINGS
Trades are done on Yahoo during the season (in the offseason, a message board will be used instead). The trade deadline coincides with the one in NHL (the commissioner blocks everyone from trading on Yahoo Fantasy at the exact day and time).
Free agent signings are possible only during the regular season (with no deadline until the end). The limit is 2 per week.
GAMES
As a rule, three Games are played every week:
Game 1 = Monday - Tuesday
Game 2 = Wednesday - Thursday
Game 3 = Friday - Sunday
The only time when this rule is broken is when the game period contains less than 10 real NHL games. Then, one Game might last a bit longer. For example, there will be only 10 games played on January 28-31, 2018 (Monday to Thursday), so that said time period will constitute only one fantasy Game. Overall, I expect 77 regular season Games to be played in 2018/19.
For every Game, a team fields a roster of 11 players: 1 G, 4 D, 2 LW, 2 C, 2 RW. They could be fielded on the same day or on different days. Of course, one player can be fielded only once for one Game, even if his real team plays twice during the game period.
As I said before, Yahoo Fantasy will be used for fielding players, but special software will look at the results and create actual fantasy Game box scores.
SCORING
A point system will be used for scoring for each Game: 1.0 points for every goal, 0.7 for every assist, 0.3 for every PPP, 0.2 for every penalty minute, 0.2 for every hit, 0.2 for every block, 0.1 for every goaltender save, -0.5 for every goal against, 0.8 for every goaltender win.
In the end of the Game, the points for a team are summed and rounded down: that way, 3.1 points or 3.9 points will both result in 3 "goals". Note that will be no negative "goal": if somehow a team manages to get less than 0 points (a bad goalie and a bunch of inactive skaters), that will result in 0 "goals" (we don't need scores like -1:-2).
In every Game, the "goals" of both teams are compared, and the winner gets 2 points in the regular season table. In case of a tie, both teams get 1 point each.
The point total (before being rounded), however, is also being recorded for each team. In fact, the sum of those points total throughout the season is being used as the first tiebreaker in case of points in the table being equal.
PLAYOFFS
Unlike in most Yahoo Fantasy leagues, the playoffs will coincide with the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The number of teams making playoffs will depend on the total number of teams in the league (approximately 62.5% of all the teams). If a league has 8 teams, 5 of them will make the playoffs. If there are 12 teams, 8 will make the playoffs. If there are 16 teams, 10 will make the playoffs. If there are 20 teams (Yahoo max), 12 will make the playoffs.
The playoff system will depend on the exact number of teams making playoffs, but generally, one playoff round will coincide with one Stanley Cup playoff round. Moreover, in each round, every fantasy Game will coincide with specific Stanley Cup playoff games. For example, Game 1 will coincide with all the Games 1 in that round.
If a playoff Game ends in a tie, it's fine (no "sudden death OT"). If a playoff series ends in a tie (say, 3-3), the first tiebreaker is the total goal difference between the teams, and the second one is the higher regular season place.
In order to replenish the rosters (which will undoubtedly be thinned due to real NHL teams not making the playoffs or being eliminated), there will be a special five-round supplemental draft before each playoff round. In every draft round, the team with the higher regular season place picks a player earlier.
The supplemental playoff draft pool will include players that are free agents in our league. Note that if a player is picked by a team in a supplemental draft, and then the team is eliminated, the player can be picked in the next supplemental draft by a different team.
All playoff-related transactions (drafting players and announcing game rosters) will be done on a message board (since Yahoo unfortunately ignores the Stanley Cup playoffs).
ANNUAL DRAFT
Before each season, a 30-round draft will be conducted.
Before the first season, the draft will be "snakelike" (the earlier you pick in the odd rounds, the later you pick in the even rounds).
Before every subsequent season, the draft order in each draft round will be determined by the regular season standings in the previous season. The team that finished last will pick first in each draft round, the team that finished first will pick last.
A certain number of players can be protected before the draft, but at the expense of draft picks.
A team can protect up to 10 players with the following limitations: up to 2 G, up to 4 D, up to 2 LW, up to 2 C, up to 2 RW. If a player has multiple positions in Yahoo Fantasy, he can be protected as any of them: a LW/C can be protected either as a LW or as a C. If a team protects P players, it will miss the first P draft picks: if you protect 8 players, your first pick will be in the 9th round, not 1st.
A team can also protect up to 3 rookies (the "rookie" definition will be the same as in NHL) regardless of position. If you protect one rookie, you'll miss the 30th draft pick. If you protect two, you'll miss the 29th and the 30th picks. And if you protect three, you'll miss the 28th, the 29th and the 30th picks.
And, finally, a team can protect up to 3 "sophomores" regardless of position. A "sophomore" is a player who is no longer a rookie but who has not yet player 100 NHL games (70 for goaltenders). One protected sophomore will result in missing the 21st draft pick. Two, in missing the 21st and the 22nd picks. Three, in missing the 21st, the 22nd and the 23rd picks.
Just like players, draft picks can be traded either during the regular season or in the summer, but these trades have to be recorded on the message board (since there is no way to do it on Yahoo Fantasy).
CONCLUSION
So this is basically it. You will play thrice a week, avoid getting shorthanded due to unbalanced NHL schedule and enjoy "real" playoffs. Also, there will always be a way to rebuild a bad team: no one will be able to protect more than 10 veterans, yet everyone will be able to develop prospects.
Let me know if anyone is interested. We'll need at least 8 teams to get this project off the ground...
