HabsCast Hockey Blog

Fantasy hockey tips provided by Poolhardy.com

1) Panicking when your team falls behind early in the season and making drastic changes to your roster in an attempt to catch up.
Solution: If you were happy with your drafting a couple weeks ago then why make roster changes before your players have even worn in their new skates? Stick to your guns at least until the end of October. If your rival GM has Paul Stastny or Micheal Cammalleri, they’re off to a hot start. Those two players will obviously drop off their 123-goal pace, giving your team a chance to catch up. In the meantime, keep your finger off the big red button.

2) Dropping a player with IR status.
Solution: If there are spots open on your injured reserve, use them! Surprisingly this is a common mistake. There is no reason not to utilize your IR. If you need the spot later for a better player that falls to injury, you can drop the player occupying your IR directly to the waiver wire to make room.

3) Not pacing your team in a league with a games played cap.
Solution: Be aware of your maximum games played per position. If your two top players at one position get through a full season without injury, playing a full 82 games, you’ll regret juggling your lineup earlier in the season. I played against a GM last year who rotated three right wingers through the first 3/4 of the season and had to sit Jagr for the last quarter.

4) Not maximizing your games played in leagues without a games played cap
Solution: The opposite of #3. Juggle like crazy and let your depth players take the position of a top player that has the night off. The most active managers in these leagues tend to win, so find yourself a boring desk job.

5) Trying to maximize goaltender games played in a league that scores GAA and SV%
Solution: Don’t load up on mediocre goalies in an effort to catch a competitor in wins or to meet a games played cap. A goalie that has a knack for winning 6-5 games will destroy your goals against average and save percentage. In a Rotisserie pool, for instance, you’ll be sacrificing your stats in two categories (GAA and SV%) in order to move up in one category (Wins), which doesn’t make sense.

Any other tips you have for beginners? Please share them in the comments section.

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