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Some Hockey Pool tips from Lance |
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 I should warn you right now that I hold a 1 - 36 record in thirty seven pools in my lifetime. And just in case my wife reads this I won't even tell you how muc h money I've lost. Safe to say that it is a significant amount.
Nonetheless, I will dispense some slightly different hockey pool advice to compliment the stuff you will read in the magazines.
So go get a magazine. The most beneficial mags for pools are the ones that actually provide pick lists. They will give you a list of this years players in order of predicted points. These lists are essential for every poolie. Don't buy the yearbooks; they are a lot of money and just report on last year. You want a mag that "forecasts" next year. McKeen's Draft Guide, Hockey News Ultimate and the Score's Forecaster are three of the best. These magazines will give you lots of advice on sleepers, up and comers, guys to be aware of and all that stuff. Buy at least one, it is critical to have some sort of a reference.
So now I am going to pass on five things that the magazines likely won't have in them that I have learned over the years.
1. Check the injury list on tsn.ca. Magazines and preseason rarely tell you who is hurt and what the injury is and for how long that player will be sidelined. Avoid these bandaids and pick healthy players that typically play an entire season.
2. Check out the depth charts of teams. Maybe you couldn't get Rick Nash or Henrik Sedin, but you may sneak in a linemate. Think back to all of the players who played with Gretzky. Although they had mediocre talent, the numbers were great because the Great One gift wrapped a goal a game for these guys. The same opportunity is there for the young Derick Brassard who will likely centre Nash. Think about who may be on the wing for Crosby and Malkin. Kunitz may be worth taking. I think Backstrom will be centering the great Ovechkin. Who are the Sedins going to play with? You get the idea.
3. One of the most important stats to pay attention to is the PPG (points per game). Some fellas fall off of the radar due to a lackluster season that was cut short due to injury. The thing is, before they got hurt they were lighting it up and were averaging over a point per game. If you do the math on a full healthy year this year, you may have found your sleeper. The St. Louis Blues has Kariya and McDonald. There is Gaborik in the big apple. Other guys that stand out are Mike green, Thomas Vanek and Ales Hemsky. If you go to the stats tab of NHL.com you can actually list last years performers based on points per game. The Hockey News Ultimate is a decent source as well.
4. Don't base any decision on preseason. Preseason isn't real. That guy, Kadri, who scored two goals for Toronto against the Penguins is 18 and will not be in the league. Pay no mind to preseason for surprises. Sure, it is interesting to see Jason Allison makes his second comeback in Toronto and Theo Fleury shake the monkey off his back for his comeback attempt in Calgary but do not risk it with these guys. You could pick them and they just never play. Let some other schmuck take them.
5. Pick players that you like. I know, I know. "Don't pick with your heart" is very sensible and valuable advice for winning a pool. I agree, but when you are trying to decide between two players that could finish off with similar points, I say pick the guy you like so that you can cheer for him all season. I take it a step further and try to get some Canucks in my pool. Nothing drives me more crazy than a guy cheering for his hockey pool and against his team. I am not saying pick Canucks out of turn but when its close take the guy you want to cheer for. It makes the season more funner.
So there you go. I could go on and on and on but I will let you at it...good luck!
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Good one Lance. Thanks for all the advise. Being 1 in 36 makes
me confident to follow your rules. I also like the word funner. Mind