Hockey! (Again!)

[Lucky]

Yes, I am actually stubborn enough to want to try this again. I have a thick skull.

Anyways...

We're coming up on draft day, and then shortly afterwards, free agency opens up and we get to witness the fates of such players as Briere, Drury, Giguere, Smyth and Souray.

But, first up, draft day. Like who will get picked up first with Chicago's pick? In my opinion, Kyle Turris seems to be what Chicago is looking for, to help solve their offense problems.

Also, concerning Chicago's offense problems, we had our first trade of any interest today. Chicago picked up Samsonov from Montreal. (http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=318510&page=NewsPage&service=page) Personally I'm surprised anyone was willing to hand over anything for Samsonov after the display he put on in Montreal, but maybe he'll get back to the form he had back in his Boston days, only time will tell.

Finally, there was some talk of getting together a Giantitp hockey pool for nest year, just wanted to know if there's still any interest.

Thoughts?

[Kitya]

While I am a huge hockey fan, (go Habs!!) I must confess... I have never understood how to do a pool. My brother tried getting me to do an NFL thing one year, and I think the only reason he didn't die of shame from my picks was because none of his friends who were supposed to sign up, did. So our pool collapsed. I just picked the players from my favorite teams! *laffs* He didn't seem to think players from the Texans and Bengals would do very well for me. Can't imagine why... *innocent look*

So, if someone explains in very short words to a dumb 33 year old how to do a pool, I would likely join!

[Lucky]

Well, the general idea is really quite simple, though it can get more complex depending on the individual pools.

Basically, the pool host sets the roster size and relays that info to all the participants. Roster size could be something like 3 forwards, 2 defense, and 1 goaltender, or even something like 12 forwards, 6 defense, and 2 goaltenders, like my last pool was. In this case, I think it will be the former.

Once the size is set, people will make a list of players they want to draft, in the order they want to draft them. They may make one list with forwards, defense, and goalies all in one, or three which each position separate. The length of the list should depend on how many players there are to a roster, and how many people are involved. So, assuming 3 forwards per roster, and 4 people involved, each list should have 12 forwards, etc.

Before the season starts, a date is set for when the draft will take place. On that date, each person will draw or be given a number randomly. That is the order in which they will pick. Then, the draft will commence, with the first person picking the player they want, then the second picking, then the third, etc, all the way until the last person. Once the last person picks, the round is over, and a new round starts, except with the positions reversed, so the person who picked first will now pick last, and the person who picked last will now picked first, and everyone in between flips around too.

So a six round draft with 4 people will look like:
Player 1
Player 2
Player 3
Player 4
Player 4
Player 3
Player 2
Player 1
Player 1
Player 2
Player 3
Player 4
Player 4
Player 3
Player 2
Player 1
Player 1
Player 2
Player 3
Player 4
Player 4
Player 3
Player 2
Player 1

Then it's over.

Finally, there is the scoring. A typical scoring system is something like for every point a forward or defenseman gets, the person who has them in the pool gets a point, and for every win a goalie gets, the person ho has that goalie gets 3 points. They are frequently more complicated, but it varies by pool.

At the end of the season, points are totaled and the person with the most points wins.

[Oeryn]

I'll be interested in a pool, when the season rolls around. Things have been pretty crazy for me, lately (the wife and I just had a baby), so I'll probably forget about it completely, but PM me when things get started, and I'll be in.

As for Chicago (I'm a huge Hawks fan), I think they're gonna go with Kane with the 1st pick. He'll be ready the soonest, and that's what they need more than anything. Personally, I'm not sold on it, I like Turris's size and skill, but he's only played in Tier 2, and I don't think that's enough of a resume to merit the #1 pick.

And as far as Samsonov goes, I know he didn't do well in Montreal last year, but honestly, did you see Cullimore or Salmaleinen play? Guh. Especially since the Habs have already bought out Cullimore, Sammy could score ten goals this year, and I'd call this trade a win for the Hawks.

[SensFan]

I would definatively be interested in a pool.

As a Sens fan, though, I see them as being the team to beat in the East next year, assuming they don't decide to have a firesale.

[Lucky]

Well, Kane went first as many people (other than me) predicted. Not much else happened, with only a few notable trades taking place. (Vokoun to Florida, Toskala and Bell to Toronto, and Aucoin to Calgary. A couple of big slides happened with Cherepanov falling to 17th, not that dismayed him at all, now having the chance to play with his idol Jagr, and Esposito falling to Pittsburgh, again making the guy very happy about his future.

But fear not hockey fans, free agency opens tomorrow! Even with the cap being above all predicted numbers, landing at 50.3 million, Briere and Drury are BOTH headed to free agency, surely causing headaches for Buffalo fans, as well as GM Regier. All rumors of Roberts headed to Ottawa were shut out with Pittsburgh signing him to a 1-year deal. Possibly a bit surprisingly, Paul Kariya is headed to free agency as he's uncomfortable about the uncertain future of the franchise. J.S. Giguere was pulled off the market as he signed a 4-year deal with Anaheim. Also, the Isles, even with the extra space provided by the buy-out of Yashin, were unable to prevent Ryan Smyth from at least testing the market. There's another interesting topic: with Yashin guaranteed to make quite a few bucks over the next few years from his buy-out, he could turn out to be quite a deal for whichever team signs him. Finally, Jason Allison has announced his return to the NHL, a highly underrated centre who has almost a point-per-game rate, could be yet another option for teams looking for a centre if the team can't get their hands on the likes of Drury, Briere, or Gomez. He could also possibly come at quite a discount, as he missed all of last year to deal with his personal life.

Man, I should so get a blog.
UPDATE: I caved in and got myself a blog (http://hockeyblog7.blogspot.com/).

As a Sens fan, though, I see them as being the team to beat in the East next year, assuming they don't decide to have a firesale.No firesale for us. Priessing seems set to leave, as he was unhappy with how the year ended for the team, but it could just be room for Brian Lee to finally make the step up to the NHL. Also, we could see Foligno make the jump this year too, as he's signed to a contract, he's either in the NHL or the AHL, unlike Lee, who still could go to college if he doesn't make it.
While Redden is rumoured to be on the move, it could very well be a benefit to the team. Don't get me wrong, I understand how great a player Redden is, and just how underrated he is, but truth-be-told, he had a poor year this year, and he didn't quite live up to his 6.5 million dollar contract. If they move Redden this year, with the cap being 50.3, it could very well allow the Sens to go after some quality free agents, like Ryan Smyth. Trading Gerber as well to lose his 3.7 million dollar contract will allow us to go after a couple even. With last season's success, you can guarantee you won't see a firesale. So watch out for Ottawa to yet again be a strong contender.

Oh yeah, it's good to finally see another Ottawa fan. :smallbiggrin:

Go Sens Go!

[Meynolds]

Ooh, a hockey pool. I think I would join.

Man, I hope the Flyers do better next year. Then again, they can't do much worse, can they?

[Lucky]

Ooh, a hockey pool. I think I would join.

Man, I hope the Flyers do better next year. Then again, they can't do much worse, can they?Well, I would never say a team can't do worse until they go 0-82, but I do see them being much better than last year. With all the prospects they picked up last year, along with Biron, Timonen, and Hartnell, they stand to have a much better season than last.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

normally I could post on this topic regularly. But I just can't bring my self to do it right now...Baseball season is still in full swing.

Although I will say this (since I just learned of it myself). I definitely think it was a big mistake that the Wild traded Fernandez. I feel Backstrom is still too streaky a goalie.

[Lucky]

Although I will say this (since I just learned of it myself). I definitely think it was a big mistake that the Wild traded Fernandez. I feel Backstrom is still too streaky a goalie.Wow, I had to search around a bit before I found it, but TSN (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=212343&hubname=) is confirming the trade.

I agree with the Wild wanting to trade Fernandez, I disagree with the assertion that Backstrom is too streaky, plus Harding is a solid prospect. I don't, however, agree with what they got. A mediocre prospect in Petr Kalus, a 20-year old who only put up 30 points in 43 games in the AHL, and a fourth-round draft pick.

The Boston Bruins got a steal.