Just because I don't know much about the sport, doesn't mean fantasy sports strategies and luck don't apply. This past weekend was a prime example as I managed an improbable comeback in one league, and got caught on the wrong side of luck in the other.
I'll talk about the unlucky one first so I can end on a high note! I am in 3rd place (out of 10) in the league run by Matt. I was matched up against the guy who was, and currently is, in 2nd. The whole week, my players were doing everything in their power to surge into 2nd place. The final line in the matchup gave me wins in goals, assists, and powerplay points (all by 5 each). By the end of Saturday, I had goalie categories locked up. I was up a comfortable 7-2, with sure losses in +/- and game-winning goals. On Sunday, I had 3 skaters to his 5 and no goalies to his 1. Not that I would have started my goalie(s) if i could have; I wouldn't have wanted to risk goals against average or save %. I felt my one shutout was pretty safe because those are fairly rare. And i was up 3 wins to 2 so even if he got the W, i would still win 6-2, and move into 2nd place. And that's when the bad luck took place. I didn't think it was all that bad, having him start Pascal Leclaire. Even when I saw he got a shutout on Sunday, I decided
I'd be alright with a 5-2 victory. Then of course, I checked the final score when I woke up...I LOST!!! The shutout cost me more than I bargained for as I went on to lose GAA and SV%. Thanks to Ottawa and their shorthanded play, I lost shorthanded points in the last 4 hours on Sunday, giving me a final score of 3 categories to 5. It kept me in 3rd, fortunately, but I couldn't believe how rapidly the score changed from 7-2 to 3-5, and on the last day. I don't remember the last time I saw the score change so drastically so late in the week.But then I went to check the matchup in Derrick's league. I'm in 6th place (out of 10). I moved up from 7th following a spectacular comeback on my part, including knowledge of the game's interior rules, that too many people fail to take note of. I was just quick enough to catch the fact that my goalies were about to fail the minimum games requirement. A lot of people don't know what that is, or if they do, forget it's there, because if you have 2 or more goalies, odds are you'll meet the requirements week in and week out. Basically, your goalies have to play a combined 3 games to have their stats count. This prevents someone from recording a shutout on Monday, and benching their goalies to preserve their win in GAA, SV%, and SO. I noticed that of the four games my goalies could have played in between Monday and Friday, I managed to start them the three games they didn't play. And I only had 2 more goalies with games on Saturday or Sunday. Meaning I would for sure lose goalie stats. It looked like a sure loss of probably 4-6. But then one of my players went on IR. I had to pick someone up for him, preferably a LW, since that's who went down. But instead, I dropped another player, and picked up the 2 remaining goalies who had a shot of possibly, perhaps, maybe playing Sunday. If even one of them played, I would maybe win a goalie category. For some strange reason, both of the goalies I started on Saturday actually played! And one of the guys I picked up for the Sunday spot start made an appearance. He didn't start, but the starter let 3 of 6 shots go by giving him playing time. Meaning I was going to meet the requirement!! Somehow, I managed to scrape up GAA and SV%, as well as an extra SHP (ironically from the same game that cost me the category in my other league) and GWG on the weekend to win 8-3! What a beautiful victory!
And what a great week in fantasy hockey! I'll keep you posted if I do anything else remarkable. (It's up to you to decide whether to expect lots of posts or very few)
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