ESPN TBL Fantasy Hockey 2008/09

Post by **B. Stinson** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:37 pm

Surprisingly enough I failed to find any existing fantasy hockey threads to put this in, so if you mods find one and would like to move it, that'd be great.

Anyway, in preparation for the approaching hockey season, I just joined a free public ESPN fantasy hockey league. It's a standard 10-team league, and there are currently 6 spots still open... so if anyone is interested in playing, and wants a league with someone you know, I'm right here.

Probably the kicker is that it will be a live draft, held on September 27th at 19:00ET... which is GMT -05:00.

P.S. I guess with enough interest, I could always create a custom private TBL league...?

List of teams

Aussie Sharks: sjsharks
Boston Maulers: bruins72
Catchup's Ketchupheads: CatchUp
Cearphilly Knights: Andyjayp
Corinthians Smilodons: Corinthian
Djurgården IF: joehelmer
Fernie Fog Devils: batdad
Karlstad Killers: Manimal
Kent Mighty Turnips: Archibalduk
Love Love Love: LoXish
Manchester Phoenix: Calv
Might Ducks of Getzlaf: getzlaf15
Philadelphia FHC: B. Stinson
real hot tabasco peppers: tabascoward
Team Aiming for 19th: bobmcgoo
Thundercliff Rage: m0fownz0r
Turku Turkeys: rottamies
Vancouver Canucks: StarboardWinger
Västrås Vikings: Lidas
Vienna Devils: Devils88

Andyjayp · Post by **Andyjayp** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:07 am

I've just joined.... Go Jackals!!!

Post by **getzlaf15** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:11 am

Maybe, if we hav enough people, we should create a league just for TBL?

I'm up for it Stinson. Theres number 1.

Anyone up for it. Post your interest.

sjsharkz · Post by **sjsharkz** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:59 am

I'd be interested.

bobmcgoo · Post by **bobmcgoo** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:13 am

TBL-only league? Count me in.

Check http://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.com/hockey before you sign a TBL league up to the ESPN site though. Haven't looked at the ESPN one myself but the Yahoo one also has a live draft option and looks pretty good, it may appeal more?

sjsharkz · Post by **sjsharkz** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:34 am

I entered a yahoo fantasy hockey league with a few mates 2 years back, it was really good, the live draft was fun.

Post by **Manimal** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:09 pm

I'd love to join but the live draft is a bummer for me (GMT+1). How long does such a draft usually take?

Post by **B. Stinson** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:14 pm

I've done Yahoo! a few times before, but wasn't a big fan of it. Something about it just wasn't very exciting for me.

And I've done ESPN once before with the TBL 2006 Football league, and I had a lot of fun with that... so I'm gonna see if their hockey is just as good. I've been tinkering quite a bit doing research for the draft, and it seems pretty nice so far.

Manimal, the public league I joined says 90 seconds per pick. So, 17 players per team, with 10 teams would come out to about 4.25 hours if every manager took the full 1.5 minutes for all of their picks. Though, I don't believe you have to be there for the draft. If you don't make it, your team will be picked automatically according to your pre-draft ranking list. Of course, that wouldn't be as fun, but it'd be something.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:36 pm

I've done a Yahoo league every year now for the past 3 or 4 years, at least. I really liked the way that one worked. I signed up for a ESPN one with my wife's cousin but the league ended up not having enough people, so they scrapped it before it ever got started. I might be interested in giving it another try though. Like sjsharkz said though, I really liked the Yahoo one.

This just reminded me. I haven't even signed up for a fantasy football league yet either.

bobmcgoo · Post by **bobmcgoo** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:08 pm

Manimal + other Europeans,

Want to start a European-only league with a live draft? We could have a lot more participation if everyone was awake to do the draft at the same time. There are quite a few of us as far as I know; I'm sure there'd be enough interest to make a decent-sized league.

Post by **archibalduk** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:44 pm

I'm definitely game for a TBL-only fantasy hockey. To cater for the Europeans, how about we don't do a live draft. I know on Yahoo, for example, each player can set up a list of draft preferences (i.e. a list of players you want to draft, in order of preference). We did this for a few TBL-only Yahoo seasons and also some myself and my bro played in before TBL was born.

I don't mind who we go with - but I'm only going to be interested in a non-live draft. Or if the live draft gives the option for preference lists for those that cannot take part in the live draft.

bobmcgoo · Post by **bobmcgoo** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:11 pm

I'd be game to join either a live draft or a "not live" draft or both, personally. However, if we can organise a live draft at a time that suits enough people then I would think that would make the whole thing more exciting, especially given that the auto draft can take ages to get right*.

*EDIT - as far as I remember, anyway. It might be different since I last used it.

Post by **B. Stinson** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:00 pm

archibalduk wrote:I don't mind who we go with - but I'm only going to be interested in a non-live draft. Or if the live draft gives the option for preference lists for those that cannot take part in the live draft.

ESPN has pre-draft lists:

EDITING DRAFT LISTS
We highly recommend that all live draft users customize their draft list before the actual draft. This protects you on the off chance that you are unable to participate in your live draft (on our calendar, nothing is more important than fantasy draft day).

The list can be ordered using our Pre-Rank or Lite Version Tool available on your Team page (Edit Pre-Draft Player Rankings link). Your list will be used as your default rankings if you are disconnected for any reason during the draft. The links to editing your draft lists are available in two places:

* On your preseason League Office page in the Draft Info box.
* On your main Team page.

NOTE: You can edit your draft list as often as you like until one hour before your scheduled live draft time.

(Full fantasy hockey 2009 rules)

Also, one thing that has me most against Yahoo, albeit just a personal circumstances thing, is that my work blocks Yahoo's fantasy sports section. Which really ruined my team last year - I signed up thinking lunch break would be a perfect opportunity to have true free-time to play around with my team, only to find out it was blocked. In fact, that was actually my only reason for switching to ESPN for this year - they're not blocked; allowing me to have a time every day to set-up my team.

EDIT: Was just thinking, and wondered how a Saturday draft would help things...? It could be at 15:00ET or somewhere around there... that way, it'd be 12:00 noon for our west coast'ers, and 22:00 for our Scandinavian friends. Still not great times, but at least it's not an extreme like 3 or 4 AM.

Andyjayp · Post by **Andyjayp** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:15 am

What would that be in GMT??

My guessimate would make it about..... actually I don't know. Maybe a European league would be best for me too. I'm in for any European league.

Post by **B. Stinson** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:44 am

US/Can Eastern Time is (GMT -05:00). So, 15:00 ET would be 20:00 for the UK.

Andyjayp · Post by **Andyjayp** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:19 am

Excellent.

Thanks. Thought it would be some strange time that only postal workers and chickens know.

bruins72 · Post by **bruins72** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:54 pm

In regards to Draft Lists, in the past I've found that the default ones work out really well for fantasy football but the fantasy hockey ones always seemed a bit off. You'll really need to think hard on your list. The only place I really see a problem is that sometimes you might have too much talent at one position and be really weak at another. I've been in many live drafts and you'll see a run on a certain position. Everyone will start grabbing all of the talent in on position and if you don't get your man right then, you're going to be hurting. This seems to happen with goaltenders a lot.

mtsouth · Post by **mtsouth** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:31 pm

I'm interested. Live or Ranked draft is ok with me. Be gentle, I'm a fantasy hockey noob (played american football and baseball for years though)! Let me know where to sign up.

Post by **B. Stinson** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 5:14 pm

So, if we were to get a TBL league going, it looks like we currently have 9 interested members(assuming we don't have a simultaneous Euro-league). Not sure about Yahoo league sizes, but ESPN's standard leagues are 10 teams (but can be set to anywhere from 4 teams to 20 teams).

Post by **archibalduk** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:15 pm

I'm definitely game for an ESPN league then.

I know there's a potential disadvantage in me setting a ranked draft list whilst others take part in the live draft, but that's absolutely fine with me - I'm just happy to take part (it's been a few years since I last took part in one).

Post by **Calv** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:44 pm

I could be up for this

Post by **B. Stinson** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:28 pm

Looks like Mr. Calv makes it an even 10 teams.

Should I go ahead then on an ESPN league, or is anyone dead-set against ESPN...?

In case of the go-ahead, I've got some questions:

- What does everyone what in terms of rules/scoring: A fully customised league, or stick to the standard league set-up?

- What scoring format should we use? (Scoring Formats)

- Due to the availability of pre-draft rankings, should we go ahead with the live draft? If so, what day and time should we go with? Personally, I'm in favour of Saturday 27th September at 15:00 ET. That'll give a whole month for everyone to prepare their pre-draft lists and do any research they want, and will also be exactly one week before the NHL season opens. And the 15:00 ET start time will be 12:00 noon for the west coast US/Canada, 20:00 for the UK, 21:00 for Stockholm, and 22:00 for Helsinki... hopefully maximising everyone's chances of making the draft.

-And lastly, should I take it easy on everyone come puck-drop, or would everyone prefer to see my sweet fantasy management skills?

sjsharkz · Post by **sjsharkz** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:10 am

B. Stinson wrote:Looks like Mr. Calv makes it an even 10 teams.

Should I go ahead then on an ESPN league, or is anyone dead-set against ESPN...?

In case of the go-ahead, I've got some questions:

- What does everyone what in terms of rules/scoring: A fully customised league, or stick to the standard league set-up?

- What scoring format should we use? (Scoring Formats)

- Due to the availability of pre-draft rankings, should we go ahead with the live draft? If so, what day and time should we go with? Personally, I'm in favour of Saturday 27th September at 15:00 ET. That'll give a whole month for everyone to prepare their pre-draft lists and do any research they want, and will also be exactly one week before the NHL season opens. And the 15:00 ET start time will be 12:00 noon for the west coast US/Canada, 20:00 for the UK, 21:00 for Stockholm, and 22:00 for Helsinki... hopefully maximising everyone's chances of making the draft.

-And lastly, should I take it easy on everyone come puck-drop, or would everyone prefer to see my sweet fantasy management skills?

What time is that for me, I'm in Australia. Hopefully I can make it.

Post by **B. Stinson** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:28 am

Depending on where in Australia you are, I believe it'd be anywhere between 08:00(west) and 10:00(east) Sunday morning... assuming the draft is set on Saturday for the rest of us.

sjsharkz · Post by **sjsharkz** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:30 pm

B. Stinson wrote:Depending on where in Australia you are, I believe it'd be anywhere between 08:00(west) and 10:00(east) Sunday morning... assuming the draft is set on Saturday for the rest of us.

I'm in Adelaide, South Australia. Sunday morning would be a good time for me...hopefully closer to 10am:p