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Thread: Hockey Ramblings Competition

  1. #31
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    Dobber Sports Deity

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    My hotlinks didnt work so I had to take them out and just put in the link to the website. Oh well.
    10 Team, Points Only, Cash League

    25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
    Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
    Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt

    Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, Brink

    G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger


    "Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."

  2. #32
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    The Great One

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    When’s a rebuild not a rebuild, end of a dynasty and what a difference an age makes...

    ****

    I guess this is where I tell you to go and download Dobber's latest fantasy guide but as I may end up in a league with you so please don't... I mean why would you want to win a Championship so you can gloat, brag and ensure your friends buy you beer for the rest of the year as a prize... if only that was a prize....

    ****

    Joanne Ireland, at the Edmonton Journal, raised an interesting point. This will be the first time in 3 seasons that the Oilers will start with the same coach behind the bench that finished the previous season. Now a 9-10-1 finish to the season may not be much of a turnaround for most NHL franchises but when you consider that the Oilers started 2013-14 with a 4-15-2 record you have to have a certain amount of optimism that they can now start to achieve some of the potential that is undoubtedly there.

    With a better start will we see Eberle back closer to a point a game pace that he had in 2011-12? Possibly, when you consider that he only posted 15 points in his first 21 games last season the remainder of the season saw him go at 70 point pace (50 in 59).

    In fact he actually did post a point a game pace in the last 20 games of the season and not once in that spell did he exceed 20 minutes of ice time in a game (in his first 21 games he exceeded 20 minutes 17 times) – has Eakins now learnt that less is more when it comes to Eberle and his ice time? Definitely a pattern worth watching.

    ****


    Over at NHL.com Dan Rosen has run his 'Five questions with...' Todd Mclellan this week. The Sharks rumoured re build (I'm not convinced as don't forget they were one key injury - Mark Edward Vlasic, and one win away from knocking out the eventual champion Kings) seems to have now taken a different spin. For those with Thornton and Marleau in the 'Next star name to be traded this Summer' sweepstake you are going to be awfully disappointed as it seems like they are here to stay. Is that a bad thing? In my opinion not really as the Kings beat two other elite teams in a 7th game to get their names on the cup and neither have had the scrutiny that the Sharks have faced. Yes, Chicago have their recent cups but what's St Louis' excuse? And right now if you had St Louis play San Jose in a 7 game series I'd struggle to confidently pick a winner (both have question marks in net, I give St Louis the edge on d and San Jose at forward but that may just be me) Any team with a centre group of Thornton, Couture and Pavelski are going to be competitive though and only one team can ever win the cup in any one year but like San Jose there are a lot of good teams who never won a cup...


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    TwoPadStack's Ryan Womeldorf has an interesting piece on whether Detroit's juggernaut is now on the decline and I tend to think they are but not for the reasons outlined. I wonder, and cover your ears Redwings fans, but will the Wing be worse if they do get a full season from Datsyuk and Zetterberg? Last season when both played the Wings actually went 12-9-8, a 90 point pace which is near enough where they finished, but if the Wings lost half those extra point games in 60 minutes then that 8th place play off spot is looking perilous - with the Islanders looking stronger, the Caps looking at a bounce back from Holtby and the Leafs actually playing a full 82 game season (any team that loses 12 of their last 14 deserves to miss the play offs) I'm not sure the Wings reach 24 years in the play offs...


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    When I was looking at this all I could think of was the song 'what a difference a day makes' sung by Jamie Cullum (not sure what that says about me when countless others have done it too!) but thanks to Mr Guru posting NHL teams' travel miles this upcoming season. I cross referenced this with the oldest average teams in the NHL and also looked at the back to backs for each team next season and I do wonder how big an impact this is going to have in fantasy hockey.

    Dallas is the second oldest team in the NHL (I know I was shocked too but I guess having a hundred year old Sergei Gonchar makes a bit of a difference) and have the second most miles to travel this year but do have only 12 back to backs. I don't see this having the same impact on Seguin and Benn that it has on Hemsky and Spezza but whenever a player is in their 30s it is naturally going to take time recover - the question now is will the lack of back to backs help this? When you look at the schedule and see that there are 5 games in 7 nights in Jan or 3 in 4 in Feb could it be a chance to sell high on a Spezza/Hemsky before the games come thick and fast later in the season and the chance of injury/slump become an even bigger possibility...

    Now I don't think there will be many hoarding Devils' forwards for their offence next season but how will the NHL's oldest average team, with their 18 back to backs but relatively light travel schedule, impact Schneider's ability to cement his position as a top tier goalie? I think it raises more questions as he has yet to play a bonafide starters workload, and though that may change this year, will be have the support to maintain the .920+ save percentage and sub 2.25 gaa that he has posted since 2010? I'm not so sure...

    ****

    Finally I know everyone loves an underdog and Bissonette is definitely that whilst hanging on to an NHL job (as of right now he is an UFA) and kudos to him for his ice bucket escapade, but as not everyone has a mountain and a helicopter to take advantage of, a big shout out to Craig Doremus, the general manager of the New York Bobcats of the Eastern Hockey League with this effort -

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6QB...U#action=share

  3. #33
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    The Great One

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    Hit my 1000 words and TBH had a few more bits I would have liked to comment on just gutted I missed the deadline - damn you GMT lol

  4. #34
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    Dobber Sports Blue-Chipper

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    Vote pharling!
    Follow me on twitter: @pharling

  5. #35
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    Dobber Sports Wizard

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    Great stuff there, good job everyone.....

  6. #36
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    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    I'm way late, but I figure I'd put mine up anyways.


    A look at Joe Thornton, analytics, and the Oilers first round pick

    First off, I want to thank Dobber for this opportunity. I’ve learned a lot on this site in the past few years, and getting the opportunity to give back is always rewarding.

    Of course, another way to reward Dobber is to buy his guide. There’s lots of great stuff in there, plus some surprises (I’m still a little shocked at Nail Yakupov’s point projection). But that’s what makes it the best in the business.

    *********

    San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan recently spoke about Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, and how those two were part of the Sharks’ solution.

    "The term or the word used like that can be confusing at times. I think a lot of people, especially in the media, immediately went to, 'Well, they're going to trade Thornton and Marleau.' That's not the case,” McLellan told NHL.com.

    “We believe that those two are part of the solution, not part of the problem. That got a lot of play media-wise. That's not what we were about. We think we have a very good hockey club and we think we need to tinker with a few things and continue to push forward."
    The only time Thornton was traded, he responded with an Art Ross, a Hart trophy and he almost single-handily turned Jonathan Cheechoo into a 50-goal scorer. Could strong rumours of him being traded do the same? A situation like this could motivate Thornton even more so than he is normally. While he hasn’t been a point-per-game player for a couple of years, he hasn’t been far off. A motivated Thornton would be good for at least 80 points, and possibly even 90.

    Of course, this would be of benefit to his line mates. Who would be this year’s Cheechoo? The smart money is on Tomas Hertl. The kid already showed flashes of his goal-scoring prowess as a rookie last season, and a motivated Thornton could help push him toward at least 40 goals.

    *********

    NHL.com released a fantasy look at goalie trends. They delved deep into the numbers from last season, where 97 goalies played a game and 90 different goalies started a game.

    Two interesting tidbits that deserve a further look:

    Of the 441 times a team played back-to-back games in 2013-14, one goalie played both ends 136 times (30.8 percent). The Stars (61.5 percent) were the only team that started the same goalie in more than 50 percent of its scheduled back-to-backs.
    Kind of surprising to me that Lehtonen played so many back-to-back games. I’m not sure of that showed a lot of confidence in Lehtonen, or no confidence in the backups. I’ve never been sold on Lehtonen as an elite number one goalie. He simply gives up too many goals per game to successfully put up wins (in 65 games last season, he let in at least three goals 31 times). That means the team in front of him needs to score at least four goals a game in almost half of Lehtonen's games for the Stars to have a chance of winning. That's not elite. That's barely adequate.

    Goalies who played both ends of a back-to-back were 53-63-16 with 363 goals allowed and 3,588 saves on 3,959 shots in the second game (.906 save percentage; the NHL average was .914).
    This is a great fact for those leagues that have daily lineup changes. If your goalie plays the second game of a back-to-back, odds are he is going to lose and have a bad save percentage at the same time. Take advantage of that knowledge, and scratch those #1 goalies more often than not, even if it's an elite goalie.

    *********

    With all the recent team hirings, you would think there’s a big drive for teams to go into hard-core analytics. But I don’t see that as being the case. First off, teams need to accept that not every player can have a positive puck possession number. No matter how you slice it, someone has to be on the ice for more shots against, more blocked shots, more hits, etc. There's always going to be a guy at the bottom of the totem pole.

    Analytics are a good tool to help teams confirm what they already know, but don’t expect a lot of players being traded/demoted for guys with better possession numbers. A fourth liner matched up against Sidney Crosby’s line is going to look bad most of the time if you look at advanced stats. But if they keep Crosby’s line off the score sheet, that’s a win, but doesn’t show up in the numbers.

    I often wonder how a guy like Esa Tikkanen, Guy Carbonneau and Bob Gainey would have fared if they had advanced stats back then. Their main goal was to prevent the other team from scoring, and they weren't exactly known for their offence. Their puck possession stats would have been horrible, but they were effective in getting the job done.

    Another thing to remember when it comes to advanced numbers is how, like any stat, they can be skewed to make a player look bad or good. According to Behind the Net, Scott Hartnell was much better than Sidney Crosby in a lot of advanced stats last season. Hartnell had a better Corsi relative, on-ice Corsi, goals against per 60 minutes, on-ice shots for per 60 minutes, etc. But no one would take Hartnell on their team over Crosby.

    So in the end, while advanced stats are a great tool, any type of numbers can be skewed to get the results you want.

    *********

    The Oilers first round pick Leon Draisaitl signed a three-year entry-level deal on Wednesday. While there’s a good chance he gets sent back to juniors this season — I can’t see the Oilers making the same mistake with Draisaitl as they did other first round picks and rushing him into action — I’m actually more excited about Draisaitl than I am for any other Edmonton first round pick since Taylor Hall.

    Draisaitl has the chance to be a special player, more so than Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Nail Yakupov. Part of it is his size (6-foot-one, 209 pounds), but mostly because of the Oilers patience. They won’t rush him, and when he is ready to make the Oilers roster, the team should be winning more than they have in recent years. Winning a spot on a competitive roster is a better situation for a young player than to have the spot handed to him because of his draft pedigree.

    It’s the same reason Darnell Nurse didn’t make the squad last year, despite the team needing defencemen. It seems like the Oilers could be finally learning their lesson, and that bodes well for the future of Draisaitl becoming a more impact player.

    Writer of the weekly Top 10 column.

    12-team Keeper pool, straight points for forwards & dmen. Goalies get: 2 points per win, 3 per shutout, 1 point per assist & 1 point per shootout loss.

    League champ in 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2022.

    Top 8 forwards, 5 dmen and 2 goalies count.

    We keep 15 players (any position) plus two rookies.

    Forwards: Panarin, Ovechkin, Kopitar, Stamkos, Tuch, Rust, Marchessault, Pavelski, Miller, Bertuzzi, Stone, Kakko, Brown, Stankoven, Kovalenko
    Defence: Hedman, Fox, Matheson, Thrun, Jiricek
    Goalies: Kochetkov, Talbot, Vasilevskiy, Campbell, Schmid


  7. #37
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    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    All great entries guys. I PMed some of the earlier entries who I thought did a fantastic job, but I am going to leave all Ramblers some REP even if you missed the deadline. Awesome work, guys.

    Bottleneckers (12/16 in 2022)
    16 team, points only. G: 2-W, 4-SO.
    Top 9F, 4D & 1G . Keep 15, Max 23
    F: J. Robertson, J. Hughes, Tavares, Lafreniere, Cozens, Newhook, Teravainen, Domi, R. Strome, Laine, Rossi, Raymond, Holtz, Perfetti
    D: Bouchard, McAvoy, Morrissey, Heiskanen
    G: Vasilevskiy



  8. #38
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    I...am your father.

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    We've reviewed and enjoyed them all. Thank you everyone. Even the late ramblings were enjoyable.
    The winner is...
    Axeman.
    Well done Pudsey!

  9. #39
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    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    Let me be the first, besides the judges, to publicly congratulate the Axeman.

    CONGRATS on the win and the great Rambling. If you are ever passing through Northern Nova Scotia, I got a beer here for you too. LOL.

    Bottleneckers (12/16 in 2022)
    16 team, points only. G: 2-W, 4-SO.
    Top 9F, 4D & 1G . Keep 15, Max 23
    F: J. Robertson, J. Hughes, Tavares, Lafreniere, Cozens, Newhook, Teravainen, Domi, R. Strome, Laine, Rossi, Raymond, Holtz, Perfetti
    D: Bouchard, McAvoy, Morrissey, Heiskanen
    G: Vasilevskiy



  10. #40
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    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    Congrats to the participants who gave the effort and to Axeman for having his selected.

  11. #41
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    Dobber Sports Deity

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    Thanks Dobber and thanks to all. Great job by all who submitted an entry. They were all good to read!
    10 Team, Points Only, Cash League

    25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
    Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
    Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt

    Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, Brink

    G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger


    "Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."

  12. #42
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    Dobber Sports Guru

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    Congrats Axeman! Great ramblings.

    Writer of the weekly Top 10 column.

    12-team Keeper pool, straight points for forwards & dmen. Goalies get: 2 points per win, 3 per shutout, 1 point per assist & 1 point per shootout loss.

    League champ in 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2022.

    Top 8 forwards, 5 dmen and 2 goalies count.

    We keep 15 players (any position) plus two rookies.

    Forwards: Panarin, Ovechkin, Kopitar, Stamkos, Tuch, Rust, Marchessault, Pavelski, Miller, Bertuzzi, Stone, Kakko, Brown, Stankoven, Kovalenko
    Defence: Hedman, Fox, Matheson, Thrun, Jiricek
    Goalies: Kochetkov, Talbot, Vasilevskiy, Campbell, Schmid


  13. #43
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    Dobber Sports Star

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    Good job everybody and Congrats to Axeman33 on his first Ramblings!

  14. #44
    JagrBomb's Avatar
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    Dobber Sports Juggernaut

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    congrats axeman, great ramblings!

    Quote Originally Posted by Dobber View Post
    Also, don't worry about repeating news from other competitors - it's the "spin" the "humor" and the "extra stuff" that gets recognized (but have the latest news covered, too)
    i did notice that most entries just poured out information - which is great, but i was hoping to see the next DGB uncovered right here in our forums...although i didn't read all the entries so i may have missed the humorous parts.

  15. #45
    germant's Avatar
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    Dobber Sports Sophomore

    Default Re: Hockey Ramblings Competition

    Okay - so this is pretty obvious - best Dobberhockey "competition" ever!

    Not only did I get my daily Ramblings fix at the main site, I got another half-dozen or so other truly remarkable Ramblings.

    Suggestion - Seeing the great writers in the Dobber community, why not make one day a week an amateur day? Give the writers a schedule and plenty of notice and allow them the opportunity to show their stuff!

    Like somebody else put it - like amateur night at the comedy club.

    To all those who wrote for this contest, great job. Loved every word.

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