With the 2013-14 NHL Regular Season opening next week, the next few days will be very very busy for Fantasy Hockey fans. In order to help get you ready for the biggest day of the fantasy hockey season, I thought I’d highlight some of the most useful resources out there…
Fantasy Hockey Scouts
This site is SB Nation’s representative covering the fantasy hockey scene, and they get right to the good stuff by publishing a SuperStats spreadsheet (for only $5) with their individual player projections. For someone like myself who takes a heavily data-driven approach to fantasy drafts, this is a wonderfully useful resource. I was able to import the data into my own spreadsheet (which includes ranking formulas specific to the league I’m drafting for), tweak some of the values for the Predators based on my own projections, and I was ready to go.
Dobber Hockey
Darryl Dobbs’ fantasy hockey emporium continues to grow bigger & better over time, and besides providing daily updates on NHL news and its impact on the hockey pool scene, Dobber offers comprehensive guides covering NHL players as well as prospects. They sent me a copy to review, and the pairing of a 155-page draft guide along with their draft list spreadsheet makes for a great way to get up to speed on players you should keep an eye out for around the entire league.
This week, I was interviewed for the latest edition of Dobber Nation, a podcast focused on fantasy hockey, hosted by John Gilbert. John Press of Japers’ Rink also provided insight on the Washington Capitals, so you can listen to the podcast while surfing through your draft reading and stuff your head full of hockey knowledge through both your eyes and ears!
Hockey Prospectus
The Hockey Prospectus 2013-14 is a massive bit of work, and will not only provide insight on how particular teams and players might produce this season, but it’s something you’ll want to have handy all season long. While it’s not specifically geared towards Fantasy Hockey, this is an ideal “second set of eyes” to help when you’re tweaking your ranking on an individual player. Sure, you may be excited about a guy and think he could score 30-40 goals, but a more sober observer can help you avoid making the mistake of overrating him.
Old-School Magazines
I picked up The Hockey News’ Fantasy Hockey Guide at a bookstore, but you know what? These days those kinds of publications have limited value compared to the downloadable guides I’ve noted above. With long publication lead times, the information in these magazines is usually weeks out of date (just watch out for the guy who drafts Joni Pitkanen, who’s out for the year with a bum heel).
What other books, guides, or websites are you using to get ready for Fantasy Hockey this season? Share your suggestions in the comments below…
More from On the Forecheck:
- Thursday’s Dump & Chase: The Glory Days of March
- Washington Capitals 4, Nashville Predators 1: Do the Preds Have Goaltending Concerns?
- Patric Hornqvist Injury: Winger Leaves Washington Game With Lower-Body Injury
- Nashville Predators @ Washington Capitals Pre-Season Preview
- Rich Clune Season Preview: Is the Statue Ready Yet?/