Season goalie GP strategy - W/GAA/SV%

[ericdaoust]

My league:
12 teams
4 C, 4 LW, 4 RW, 6 D, 2 G, 5 BN
G, A, +/-, PPP, SOG, HIT, BLK, W, GAA, SV% (roto)

Goalies: Markstrom, Georgiev, Saros, Smith
I'm off to a strong start (#1 in the league) and so are my goalies.
GP: 4
W: 2 (near bottom)
GAA: 2.03 (1st)
SV%: .934 (1st)

This got me thinking. I'm #1 in the two "ratio" stats. I could bench my goalies the rest of the year and probably stay #1 in both while only sacrificing a couple points punting wins. Then I can focus more on skaters and winning those categories. Seems like a weak strategy but I also feel my goaltending stats can only get worse moving forward.

What say you?

[fantasyhockeygeek]

**** YES! Bench 'em the rest of the way. You'd be locking in 12 + 12 + 1 = 25 out of a possible 36 goalie points. Say you keep going, you end up 4th across the board (that's probably being kind)... that would be 9 + 9 + 9 = 27. Lock it in, because those extra GP will definitely help your skaters.

That is some devious, sneaky, underhanded and completely legal scheming -- love it. If you league mates complain, poke at them not to set a stupid league setup.

[senryu]

No start minimums? You may encounter some resistance from others regarding not using your players to their fullest and not playing the "right" way. But if you feel your goalies are subpar, this is the way to go.

[Smurf06]

The 1st thing that popped into my head was what senryu said about the start minimums. I look at your goalies and Markstrom for one he won 28 games last season with the Canucks. Saros who is a guy who played 31 games last year and won more than half of them with 17 and a decent GAA at 2.67 and SV% .915. Mike Smith last season won 23 of his games and the way Edmonton looks so far he should at least be able to do that if not more and keep a decent GAA and SV%. As for Georgiev he should play much more this season and he should be better than last season. I think you are selling your goalies a bit short.

[Eskimo Brother]

I think you guys are missing that this is a roto league, and not H2H. It should work well for roto.

[ericdaoust]

Yes, this is a season-long roto, not H2H.

Going this route I am likely to finish with 25/36 goalie points. If I play my goalies all year I am likely to fall well short of that mark, with real potential for disaster. Hence why I am here.

[stevegamer]

If there's no start minimum, it's a valid strategy until the loophole is closed in the offseason.

Some commissioners really need to take a look at Rotisserie Baseball rules to figure out what to do and not to do.

[anthonybeaty]

What say you?

I think that is a great strategy. If there is no minimum appearance setting, then do it.

[ChuckLemieux]

I got a similar situation here. Weird setup by the way....I was not there when they created the league!


My league:
9 teams
2 C, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4 D, 2 Util , 2 G, 5 BN
Skaters: G, A, P, +/-, PIM, PPG, PPA, PPP, SHP, GWG, SOG
Goalies: GS, W, GAA, SV%, SHO (roto)

So 11 skaters cats and 5 goalie stats (2 ratio)

Goalies: Markstrom, Mrazek
I'm off to a strong start (#2 in the league) and so are my goalies.
GS: 8 (Dead last)
W: 6 (middle pack)
GAA: 2.09 (1st)
SV%: .923 (3rd) ...but I would expect this to be 1st at end of the year.
SHO: 1 (crap shoot)

There is no minimum games for goalies and there is no maximum games for skaters.

so like @ericdaoust....I'm thinking about punting the "volume" stats for goalies, drop my goalies and focus on skaters.

1. Could this strategy work?
2. How about ethics? Should I check with commissioner first?

[Pengwin7]

Strategy works great: In a 3-goalie-cat league where 2-cats are ratios: GAA & SV%. One can finish 1st with a great skater line-up.
Strategy works OK: In a 4-goalie-cat league where 2-cats are ratios: GAA & SV%. One can finish 3rd-5th with a great skater line-up, but unlikely to finish 1st since 12-12-1-1 = average goalie stats, not enough for a 1st place team.
Strategy work poorly: In a 5-goalie cat league where 2-cats are ratios: GAA & SV%. Best finish in 12-team league would be 12-12-1-1-1... that's sub-average goalie stats... which makes best possible finish probably about 5th/12.


re: Ethics.
Sort of depends.
If somebody pulls this move and THEY are the COMMISSIONER... I think it's in poor taste/sport... as others may simply not have the eyes to see it being viable strategy.
We discuss this in Rocky Horror probably every other year. Somebody gets a 30sv, 2ga goalie start... that's enough to bench their goalies and take the 12-12-1-1...
But... we also all agree... that GM probably won't get an invite back in future years... as its kind of bush-league strategy that ruins the long-term fun for other GMs.

Long,story short... if somebody can and does commit to wrapping up "Max Points" in a category early in season... it can hurt league "fun".
So - GMs should play carefully on how they'll be perceived by leaguemates for pulling this strategy.

I, personally... don't like it... definitely wouldn't pull in a "friend-league"... but definitely would pull it in an online money league where I don't give a $h!t about the other GMs.

[PenguinHunter]

We discuss this in Rocky Horror probably every other year. Somebody gets a 30sv, 2ga goalie start... that's enough to bench their goalies and take the 12-12-1-1...
But... we also all agree... that GM probably won't get an invite back in future years... as its kind of bush-league strategy that ruins the long-term fun for other GMs.

I was gonna mention that someone always jokingly threatens to do this in the RHRS every year, but that it never happens.

As P7 mentioned... if you care more about winning than the people in your league... then go for it. But if your friendships mean more mean more than I would trust your original strategy and try to use it to win.