So, out of curiosity, how did you guys get into the ATD?
I had a member of the board that I don't think is around anymore recommend that I try it, and so I decided to give it a shot. I found it a little stressful, but highly enjoyable, so I'm still at it.
This is probably a much longer response than what you're looking for, but quoting myself from another thread (I think I wrote this in 2020):
My first ATD was on another site - I think it was called Metro Boards. It's been offline for at least 15 years. I was able to find an old Word doc with a partial roster. I won't post it now because many of the players haven't yet been drafted, but it was a ridiculously good team (even taking into account the fact that it was a ~12 team draft, from what I recall). I found that draft through Darryl Shilling (fifteen years ago, he had a great website with all kinds of ambitious and interesting articles that married hockey history with stats - it's a shame he never got a wider audience).
My first ATD on HFBoards was #3, which ran in the spring of 2005. I had just joined HFBoards that January. I took over from a GM who dropped out after four (?) picks. He gave me a pretty good start - Howe, Dionne, Coffey and Kharlamov. Back then, it was easy to get pre-expansion stars late into the draft. The challenge was then convincing people that these players were actually great (and everyone else had underrated them). I had a good team, but
@BM67 was probably the strongest (he used the same strategy as me), and
@dirt 101 would have been right behind (Clarke, Messier and Yzerman up the middle).
I skipped ATD #4 (fall 2005) - I can't remember why. Then I put together a tough, physical team for ATD #5 (spring 2006). It was quite a bit weaker offensively than most of my other teams, but they would have been a pain to play against. That was the last draft before we had playoffs.
ATD #6 (fall 2006) was the first HFBoards draft to feature playoffs. I won that draft after a close, hard-fought series against BM67. I've had lot of successes and good memories throughout my life - and I'm not saying that this is near the top, but winning ATD #6 is somewhere on that list. It was important for me to do well in this draft because I didn't want to be seen as just a "numbers guy" - I wanted to show everyone that I also understood hockey strategy and roster management, beyond simply reading a spreadsheet. I think I achieved that. Over fourteen years later, I still love how this team was constructed - incredibly well balanced.
Next was ATD #7 (spring 2007). I don't remember too much about this draft. The team was focused too heavily on defense, but still managed to make it to the ATD semi-finals.
@pitseleh (one of my all-time favourite HOH posters - who I don't think has been active for many years) beat me in a seven game series - his team had a bit more firepower and was the rightful winner. (Note - ATD #7 features my all-time favourite team.
@Nalyd Psycho had the 3rd pick, and selected Howe, then traded up to get the 4th pick as well, to get Lemieux. I can't tell from the draft thread what it cost him - it certainly was a lot - but it was an incredibly ambitious strategy. He was eliminated early in the playoffs, but I have a ton of respect for someone who used such a bold, unconventional approach).
I won ATD #8 (fall 2007), after another seven-game finals series against pitseleh. It was redemption for the previous draft. He made a bold move, trading picks 4 and 165 for 1 and 225 - giving up 60(!) spots to get Orr instead of Lemieux - and it very nearly paid off. My team was pretty similar to the one from the previous year - great goaltending and defense, but not a ton of offensive depth. I really enjoyed building around Potvin. Note that pitseleh's team had Frank Nighbor on the second line. Back then, far less was known about Nighbor's greatness. If the ATD community voted on the matchup today, based on what we've learned over the past 13 years about Nighbor (and everyone else), I think his team would (rightfully) win.
It's still painful for me to think about ATD #9 (winter 2008). I was eager to defend the title, but I had to back out after my father died unexpectedly. It was just a few days after the draft began, and fortunately
@The Mighty Duck Man stepped in to take over my team. The next year was very tough for me, but I wanted to return to my routine (in all aspects of life) as soon as possible. pitseleh was very kind in letting me co-GM a team with him. I don't recall exactly when I teamed up with him - maybe it was two-thirds of the way through the draft. Our team was knocked out by
@shawnmullin strong, balanced team in the quarter-finals (ie eight teams left). "Only" making it to the quarter-finals was a disappointing result given that pitseleh and I had won the past three ATD's - but, vastly more important than that, it allowed me to get back into my normal routine.
ATD #10 (winter 2009) was also tough. I was trying to balance the draft while working 80+ hour weeks. I wish that were an exaggeration, but it isn't. I remember the frustration I felt in trying to squeeze in a bit of research at 1AM each night before heading back for another grueling 15 hour day. I was so tired and unfocused that some of my posts didn't make any sense (I remember stating, in one of the playoff matchups, that I'd play my 4th line ~20 minutes a game because they're good defensively - not exactly a winning strategy). For some time I wondered if my team advanced to the finals (for the fourth time in five drafts) simply due to my reputation. Looking back on the roster 11 years later, it's stronger than I remembered, but
@Sturminator rightfully beat me in the final as I just didn't have enough offensive depth.
I also participated in a few MLD's - I teamed up with
@dirt 101 for at least one of them. I enjoyed those as well (even if they're not quite as memorable as the main ATD's).
I haven't participated in an ATD since 2009. I'm not quite working 80 hours a week anymore, but I'm usually working ~60 hours a week January through April, and I keep remembering how frustrating ATD #10 was for me (despite my team finishing second - which tells me that the process is more important than the result). I'm fairly sure I could put together an above-average team without a huge time commitment, but that's not how I do things. If I'm going to play, I want to win, and probably one of the reasons I was successful in the past was I had much more free time than I do now. I haven't ruled out the possibility of returning one day - though I might feel like a 52 year old Gordie Howe in 1980, returning to the NHL after nearly a decade.
