Fantasy Hockey Articles

Article / Updated 07-07-2023

When you get caught up in day-to-day coaching and the hectic pace of things going on, you may find it a challenge to keep a broader picture in perspective, such as where does playing minor hockey fit in the broad scheme of things for your players? You owe it to yourself and your players to keep hockey and life in perspective, because your brief encounter is but one of thousands along the road of life — both theirs and yours. Yet that encounter can have a profound impact, especially on the kids. Here are ten statements from former minor hockey players that you can keep in your kit bag and refer to periodically to help you keep an eye on the end game. “I love hockey” You can give players a lasting love of the game. Teach them good basic hockey skills, help them appreciate a strong sense of team play, and invoke standards for sportsmanship. Do those three things, and you’ll leave players with a positive experience that will keep them coming back to the game again and again. “Some of my minor hockey teammates are still my best friends” You can give players an opportunity to make lasting friendships. Give players the opportunity to learn each other’s names and outside interests; give them opportunities to support and count on each other as teammates. That way, you give them a chance to become good friends. “Hockey taught me how far I can go with a little hard work” You can help instill a positive work ethic. Challenge players, set expectations, and reward accomplishments for them as individuals. Those things help them learn the value and pleasure of hard work. “A bit of teamwork can accomplish so much” You can help players learn the value of cooperation, trust, and interdependence. Cultivate an atmosphere of working together and helping each other out, showing examples of how much more can be accomplished with a little help from a friend. “Coach believed in me so much, I had to start believing in myself” You can go a long way toward giving players self-confidence and a sense of self-worth. Give players repeated opportunities to achieve — even little things — and acknowledge their achievements. Reinforce and remind them of what they do well and what is good and unique about them. “I still play, and I’m 73” You can help players develop an appreciation for a healthy, active lifestyle. Make fitness and activity feel good. Help players enjoy the freedom of movement, the competency of having strength, and the pleasure of physical capability. “There’s nothing like swapping stories with a group of hockey players” You can give players a ready source of entertainment and sense of belonging wherever they go. Encourage locker-room banter and storytelling. Bring in guest hockey players to tell hockey stories. Create experiences that give players their own stories. “Coach made us think and break out of the mold, which helped me get where I am today” You can give players the freedom to develop independent thought and self-sufficiency. Encourage analytical thinking — and then trying and failing and learning from it. Support determination and commitment, which helps players stand on their own two feet. “Hockey taught me that discipline is not a bad word” You can give players a healthy respect for rules and authority. Give them opportunities to determine their own rules and to be their own authority when no one is looking. Provide rules and consequences and explain the advantages of having both. Help them set behavioral expectations for themselves and objectively discuss any failures to meet them. Teach players how respect is a two-way street. “I learned what it means to have passion for what I’m doing, and it’s made my life full and exciting” You can help players to develop a zest for life. Help players to experience passion — for how they play, how they practice, how they help their teammates, and how they are as people on the ice and away from the rink. Encourage them to explore their passions no matter how temporary.

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

If you have a lot of friends who all love the NHL (National Hockey League) as much as you do, creating a fantasy league to play with your friends is cheaper than expensive season passes and enables you to avoid the hectic world of online fantasy sports. Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Aksonov The following steps will help guide you through the process of creating a league you and your friends can all enjoy. Step 1: Decide what the winner and loser will receive. Determine what the winner (top most ranking league member) will win and what the loser (bottom most ranking league member) will have to do. To keep things interesting, many private leagues offer a trophy and some form of prize or even just “bragging rights” to the winner. The loser then often is forced to perform some sort of humiliating act as punishment for ranking last in the league. The prizes can vary from gift cards, cash pots, and gag gifts. The loser can be forced to do stuff like eat something disgusting or pay a penalty into the cash pot — the possibilities are endless. Keep in mind that if you are offering a cash pot, you need to charge an entry fee. The entry fee amount will determine the size of the cash prize at the end of the season. Choose a punishment that is not illegal! For instance, do not make the loser run naked down Main Street. Instead choose an appropriate, yet humiliating task, such as making the loser wear a ridiculous costume to the grocery store. Step 2: Determine team size and draft rules. The size of the team decides how difficult the league will be to follow. Standard leagues run teams with 15–18 players. The standard roster is listed as follows: 2 Centers 2 Left Wings 2 Right Wings 4 Defensemen 2 Goalies/Goaltenders 3–6 Bench/Utility slots (any position qualifies) 2 Open utility slots for injury reserves If you are following the standard format league, then you will create a roster that includes the preceding categories. However, many private leagues like to do away with the bench to eliminate the need for player rotations. After you determine the size of the teams you want your league to use, you then have to decide if you want to allow trades. If you decide to allow trades, you will then have to determine how many trades your league will allow in the season. Pick a date and time you will allow the trades to take place and include it in the rule packet you provide to the members of your league. Step 3: Determine the order the members get to pick out their players. Keep in mind that letting one member choose all of his or her team’s players at once is not fair. Rotate your picks through each team owner so each member gets to choose one player at a time until all available slots are filled. After you determine how the players will be picked, you need to set a salary cap for all your league members and determine a salary value for all the players within the NHL. Good league creators (commissioners) create and offer cheat sheets to league members to help move the draft along more quickly. Step 4: Determine scoring categories and type. The next step is to decide what game format you want your league to use. A 4 x 4 league would use 4 defensive/goalie stats and 4 offensive stats. A 2 x 2 x 2 league would use 2 defensive stats, 2 goalie stats, and 2 offensive stats and so on. The format number does not determine team sizes but determines how many stats each player qualifies to be scored on. The lower the number, the easier it will be to score your whole team accordingly. After you determine what stats you want to score, you need to determine how you want to tally the score on those stats. If you like the win/loss system, decide whether you want to use it in a win/loss one win format or win/loss for all categories format. If you would rather use the point system, you will then need to create a list of statistical categories you want to use and set point values for each stat. Step 5: Decide the league’s timeframe. After you have followed all other steps, you need to determine whether a daily or weekly league would be more appropriate. With a daily league you and all other league members would have to contact each other on a daily basis to announce your player rotations and post your points or wins/losses on the community score sheet. A weekly league will perform in the same manner, but weekly as opposed to daily through the whole season. If you want to try a league but don’t want to invest months of time into a full standard format league, then you can always create an express format league in which you limit player allowances, stats scored, and dates played. You can even create an express league to last only one weekend or through just the season's playoffs. This game is extremely flexible in terms of how to play. You can use any of the standard rules or none of them; the choice is really up to you.

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

Fantasy Hockey is scored similarly to all the other fantasy sport leagues. If you are thinking about joining or creating a league, then you need to know a little bit on how to score the game. The game can be scored in one of three formats: Win/Loss — With a Win/Loss format the players are scored either a win point or loss point in each applicable category. The points are totaled at the end of the league’s season to determine the winner. Win/Loss One Win — With the Win/Loss One Win format, the players are each scored as in a regular Win/Loss formant but instead of totaling everything for the end of the season, each game is totaled, and the players' averages determine whether they get one win point or one loss point. Points — If your league is using a point system format, the points vary depending on the statistic category in which rare occurring stats are worth more points than the more common stats. If your team is using the point system; make sure to fully understand what points apply to which statistics. Since point values vary, it is really easy to mess up your totals during gameplay. Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/WebSubstance After you understand which of these three formats your league uses then you need to understand how to apply these scores to your players. To apply your points or wins and losses to your players, you need to know what format your team is playing and what stats are being followed. In most standard leagues, all 30 statistical categories are used, and these stats are listed as follows: Statistic Abbreviation Players who qualify Goals G Forwards and Defensemen Assists A Forwards and Defensemen Points (Goals + Assists) P Forwards and Defensemen Plus/Minus +/– Forwards and Defensemen Penalty Minutes PIM Forwards and Defensemen Powerplay Goals PPG Forwards and Defensemen Powerplay Assists PPA Forwards and Defensemen Powerplay Points PPP Forwards and Defensemen Shorthanded Goals SHG Forwards and Defensemen Shorthanded Assists SHA Forwards and Defensemen Shorthanded Points SHP Forwards and Defensemen Game-Winning Goals GWG Forwards and Defensemen Game-Tying Goals GTG Forwards and Defensemen Shots on Goal SOG Forwards and Defensemen Shooting Percentage SH% Forwards and Defensemen Faceoffs Won FW Forwards and Defensemen Faceoffs Lost FL Forwards and Defensemen Hits HIT Forwards and Defensemen Blocks BLK Forwards and Defensemen Games Started GS Goaltenders/Goalies Wins W Goaltenders/Goalies Losses L Goaltenders/Goalies Goals Against GA Goaltenders/Goalies Goals Against Average GAA Goaltenders/Goalies Shots Against SA Goaltenders/Goalies Seconds Played SEC Goaltenders/Goalies Saves SV Goaltenders/Goalies Save Percentage SV% Goaltenders/Goalies Shutouts SHO Goaltenders/Goalies Total Standard Deviation Total All players qualify In a standard league you score your six Forwards (two Left Wings, two Centers, and two Right Wings) and four Defensemen on the 20 applicable categories, and your two goalies on those 11 applicable categories. In a head-to head league you only have to score these 12 players. If you use a bench (rotisserie style format) you rotate players off of the bench (usually 3–6 players) and only score the players who are active in your roster for that game. Bench rotations can be either daily or weekly. Check with your league commissioner to verify your league's format. Most custom leagues score on a smaller stat system. Sometimes they add their own stats, and sometimes they just use fewer of the same stats as listed. Pay attention to your team's players and what stats your league uses, and you will be strolling down easy street in no time!

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Historians say that the first organized all-women's hockey game took place in Barrie, Ontario, in 1892 — more than two decades before the National Hockey League was founded. But there is evidence that the sport was actually played by female athletes before that: A newspaper account of a game between two unnamed women's teams appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on February 11, 1891. Several stories tell of Lord Stanley of Preston — Canada's sixth governor-general and the man after whom the cherished Stanley Cup is named — having the front lawn of Government House in Ottawa flooded during the winter of 1889 so that he and his wife and children, including his two daughters, could play hockey on the makeshift rink when it froze. The women's game caught on fairly quickly after that, and in 1894, a female club team formed at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Dubbed the "Love-Me-Littles," the team incurred the wrath of the school's archbishop, who did not want the young women to play. Two years later, women's teams started at McGill University in Montreal and in the Ottawa Valley. The first women's hockey championship for the province of Ontario was held in 1914, and in 1916 the United States hosted an international hockey tournament in Cleveland, featuring American and Canadian women's squads. Popularity wanes, then rebounds Unfortunately, the popularity of women's hockey started to decline in the 1930s and 1940s, mostly as a result of the demands of the Depression and World War II. However, those rather dark years did produce one of the greatest women's hockey teams of all time: the Preston Rivulettes, who lost only twice in 350 Canadian league games during a stretch from 1930 to 1939. Women didn't start getting back into the game in a big way until the mid-1960s. In 1967, for example, a Dominion Ladies Hockey Tournament was held in Brampton, Ontario, with 22 teams and players ranging in age from 9 to 50 competing. And by the 1970s, things had really picked up. A number of Canadian provinces established associations during that decade to govern female hockey programs. At the same time, several American colleges and high schools began forming varsity and club teams for women players. And overseas, club squads and leagues began taking shape in places like Finland, Japan, Sweden, China, Korea, Norway, Germany, and Switzerland. In 1982, Canada held its first national championship for women's ice hockey, and eight years later it hosted the first Women's World Ice Hockey Championships, with the home team taking the gold with a 5-2 victory over the Americans. Then in 1992, shortly after the second world championships were completed in Tampere, Finland, the International Olympic Committee voted to include women's hockey in future Winter Games. And the sport made its Olympic debut in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. The women's game arrives in the 1990s Women's hockey was never widely played or wildly popular on either a professional or amateur level until the 1990s. But suddenly it became all the rage, and women are taking to the ice in some 30 countries. Women's hockey was a medal sport for the first time at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, and it gave the sports world quite an introduction as the United States squad beat the Canadian team 3-1 in a beautifully played, hard-fought gold-medal game. A sanctioned world championship for women has been held since 1990 (and dominated by the Canadian team, which beat Team USA for its sixth straight title in the 2000 championship game) and teams from Canada, Sweden, China, Japan, Finland, Russia, Germany, and the United States competed for the 2000 World Championships in Toronto. Canada and the United States have the most female hockey players, as well as the most talented ones, and their numbers continue to grow. In 1990, for example, the United States had about 5,500 registered women hockey players; by the year 2000, there were more than six times as many.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

A player from the opposing team has just received a penalty for tripping, and for the next two minutes, your squad has a man advantage. Congratulations, you're about to go on a power play! Few things are as important to the success of a hockey team on any level as its ability to score goals during a power play. A power play occurs when the opposing club is whistled for a penalty and one of its players goes to the penalty box. Thus, one team has the numerical superiority during the penalty time — unless the team with the advantage scores, in which case the power play ends. Coaches use a variety of plays to try to score while they have the advantage, and the power play often creates some of the game's most exciting moments — whether it's a flurry of slap shots from the point (that area on the rink just inside the blue line near the boards) or a scramble for rebounds in front of the net. A good power play is a deadly weapon, and no team can win a championship without one. Control is a key when it comes to setting up the power play. Control and patience. Most National Hockey League teams use what is known as the umbrella (see Figure 1). In the middle of the ice, just inside the blue line of the offensive zone, is the shooter (#2), the player on the power play team who fires the puck at the net best. To his right, farther down the ice and along the boards, is another forward (#3). And on the opposite side of the zone, perhaps a bit closer to the blue line, is another teammate (#1). Parked in front of the net is another forward (#4), usually a tough guy who can muscle his way around the opposing defensemen, screen the goaltender, punch in rebounds, and deflect in shots. A little bit higher up (closer to the blue line), but still in the middle, is the center (#5). Figure 1: The umbrella in action. The basic idea is to move the puck among the five offensive players until one of them has an opening and can shoot. Crisp passes are essential, and so is making use of the man advantage. Get the two-on-one situations. Get the puck to the open man. Get off the shots. And be sure to take what the other team gives. If a defender comes to you, then one of your teammates is open somewhere. Try to find him. And even if you don't have the puck, make something happen. Get in the goalie's way. Look for rebounds. Keep the puck in the zone if a defender tries to shoot it out. A good professional team can work a power play like magic, but kids don't have to be quite so sophisticated. Forget about slap shots, for example. The big windups look flashy but are far too difficult for younger players to translate into good shots. Kids should concentrate instead on basic wrist shots, which can be even more effective, not only in scoring goals but also in setting up deflections and rebounds.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Hockey teams may dress no more than 18 players, excluding goalies, for each game. A list of all eligible players must be given to the referee or official scorer beforehand, and after that no roster changes can be made. Teams may use any number of goalies that they wish. Generally, a club has two goalies ready to go each game, one of whom starts while the other sits on the bench. If both should get hurt, the rules allow a team to put any other player in goal, provided he is on the roster. NHL franchises often have several players that regularly practice with the team but do not dress for games. They make up a sort of unofficial taxi squad and play only sporadically during the regular season and hardly at all in the playoffs. General substitutions Skaters can enter the game from the bench while play is in progress, provided that the people coming off the ice are within five feet of their bench and out of the play before the switch is made. That's known as changing on the fly. If a player doesn't get within five feet of the bench before his replacement hits the ice, his team is whistled for having too many players on the ice and loses a player to the penalty box for two minutes. When play has stopped, the visiting team has the option of replacing its players on the ice. The referee allows a reasonable amount of time (5-10 seconds), and then he puts up his hands to indicate that the visitors cannot make any more changes. At that point, the home team may make its desired substitutions. This setup gives the home team the advantage in determining matchups, letting it put out the players it wants to face those on the opposing squad. To counter this, the visiting team often substitutes as soon as play begins again and gets the people it wants onto the ice by quickly changing on the fly. Goalie substitutions As for goaltenders, they may be substituted at any time (usually during a stoppage in play — but not always). The new player coming in after a stoppage is allowed warm-ups only if his team's two goaltenders have already been knocked out of the game and he is goalie number 3. In that case, the netminder is allowed two minutes to get ready, unless he is being inserted for a penalty shot. Then he must go to work stone cold.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

The best way to pick up any sport, and to get better, is to listen to the professionals and learn what they do. Here's what two of the best have to say on the subjects of passing and face-offs. Wayne Gretzky on passing "There are two primary kinds of passes," the Great One explains. "One is solid and hard, and the other is known as the feather. If the player you are passing to is standing still, use the firm pass. And if he's going at a good rate of speed, use the feather, and make sure you get it out ahead of him so he can skate into it." "I think it's important to practice the backhand pass as much as the forehand one," Gretzky continues. "And you want to do that as much as possible at a young age so you grow up feeling comfortable with it, especially if you want to be a centerman. Some youngsters ignore the backhand and don't feel relaxed with it as a result." Number 99 was famous for skating behind the net with the puck in his offensive zone and looking for teammates to get open in front of the net. (He camped out there so often, in fact, that commentators referred to that part of the ice as Gretzky's office.) "When I got back there, I preferred to use a backhand pass to get the puck out front," he says. "I liked to use the net as a sort of screen, to buy time from the opposing defensemen who may have been trying to get me, and to buy some time back there. I tried to keep the puck away from them as long as possible so I would hopefully make a play." One final tip: Use plenty of tape on the blade of your stick. "It gives you more control on your passes and shots, and it enables you to pass the puck flatter [meaning not lifting it] when you have a decent amount of tape on your blade," Wayne says. "I tried doing it like Bobby Orr, with only a couple of pieces on the blade, but I couldn't do it." Mark Messier on face-offs "A centerman should always watch the linesman's hands when the puck is about to be dropped [on any face-off]," says the perennial All-Star. "Forget about the other player, but keep your eyes on the linesman because he's the one who actually has the puck. In the defensive zone, the best thing to do is try and adjust to what your opponent is doing. Read him. Look at his eyes, where his stick is facing, how his body is turned, how he's holding the stick, and where he's telling his teammates to line up. All that should give you some idea of what he is going to do with the puck, whether he's going to shoot off the draw, pass the puck to one of his defensemen behind him, or over to one of his wingers. And then you should react accordingly. "Probably the best thing you can do with the puck [in a face-off] in your defensive zone is bring it back behind you so one of your defensemen can pick it up and try to get it outside the zone. To do that, turn the hand you put on the lower part of the stick into a backwards position [palm over the top of the stick], which will give you more power as you bring the stick back when the puck is dropped. "We work on set plays off the face-off all the time in practice," Messier says. "And we also practice things that we might do when time is running out and there may be only a minute or so left in the game. It's sort of like the two-minute drill in football, and we have a little bit different way of doing things then. Also, many times in practice, a coach will take a dozen pucks or so and drop them for two centermen so they can work on their face-offs. Your best position for that is having your legs spread for balance and your stick down, so you are set up almost like a tripod. "Remember, in a power play situation especially, the centerman is the quarterback, and he should know where every player on the ice is," Mark continues. "It is his job to set everybody up and know what he will do with the puck when the linesman drops it. And he should also be aware of the tendencies of the opposing centermen he will face on a particular night and watch them closely from the bench to see what they are doing with the puck after a draw [another name for face-off]. That way, he will be better prepared when he steps onto the ice."

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

An ice hockey team is made up of six players, each with a specific position and job. The job of offense is to score goals, and the defense is there to protect the goal. The following list describes each of the hockey positions: Goalie: Perhaps the toughest position in all of sports, the goalie is the one player who can control a team’s confidence. His job is to keep the puck out of the net, and if he’s good, he can take his team a long way. Good goalies win championships. Defensemen: A team at full strength has two — one on the left side and another on the right. Nowadays, there are three primary kinds of defensemen. One is creative and offensive-minded; he likes to handle the puck and lead the team up ice, but is not too physical. Another is defensive-minded, a stay-at-home bruiser who plays a physical game and doesn’t often venture out of his zone with the puck. And there are those rare athletes who are a combination of the two. Right wing: He works the right side of the ice for the most part. He needs to be a physical player who is good along the boards and in the corner. He is responsible for the opposition’s left defenseman in the defensive zone. Left wing: Traditionally a left-handed shot, but the NHL is seeing more right-handers playing this position now, a practice picked up from the Europeans. A right-hander has a better angle to shoot from when he’s coming in on his wing. Like the right wing, he needs to be able to dig out the puck from the corners and battle in front of the net. Center: He quarterbacks his club at both ends of the ice. Must be good at face-offs and passing, and it doesn’t hurt if he's a good shot as well. Coaches want a lot of creativity in this position — and a lot of hockey smarts.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

In ice hockey, a penalty results in a player spending time in the penalty box. Ice hockey has three types of penalties: minor, major, and misconduct. The harsher the penalty, the harsher the punishment. Hockey penalties include: Butt ending: When a player jabs an opponent with the top end of his stick. Checking from behind: Whistled when a player hits an opponent who is not aware of the impending contact from behind and therefore cannot defend himself. Cross checking: When a player makes a check with both hands on the stick. Elbowing: When a player uses his elbow to foul an opponent. Fighting: Called fisticuffs in the National Hockey League rule book, it is assessed when players drop their gloves and throw punches at each other. Hooking: When a player impedes the progress of an opponent by “hooking” him with his stick. Interference: When a player interferes with or impedes the progress of an opponent who does not have the puck. Also assessed to a player who deliberately knocks the stick out of an opponent’s hand or who prevents a player who has dropped his stick (or any other piece of equipment) from picking it back up. Kneeing: When a player fouls an opponent with his knee (of course!). Roughing: Called when a player strikes another opponent in a minor altercation that the referee determines is not worthy of a major penalty. Slashing: When a player hits an opponent with his stick, or “slashes” him, either to impede his progress or cause injury. Spearing: When a player stabs at an opponent with the blade of his stick, whether he makes contact or not. Tripping: When a stick or any portion of a player’s body is used to cause an opposing player to fall.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Effective drills are a very important part of any hockey practice session. They can help beginner players develop their skating, puck-control, and passing and receiving skills. To aim for conducting excellent drills, start by having your rink diagram board available in a highly visible location. Be consistent with the location so that players know exactly where to go for their pre-practice or on-ice instruction.