And that's a wrap......

Well folks, there you have it. Another year of fantasy hockey under our collective belts. Here is how the prize money will be distributed:


First Prize Regular Season -- $200 (MR MATT JACKSON)
Second Prize Regular Season -- $100 (MR JOHN ALLDIS)
First Prize Playoffs -- $120 (MR MATT JACKSON)
Second Prize Playoffs -- $60 (MR JOHN ALLDIS)
Highest Weekly Point Total -- $50 (MR GORDON LAKE)
Highest Nightly Point Total -- $50 (MR JOHN ALLDIS)


In summary:

$320 MR MATT JACKSON
$210 MR JOHN ALLDIS
$50 MR GORDON LAKE

A rather concentrated source of wealth we have there.

Nevertheless........congratulations fellas. Enjoy the loot.

Before any payment can be sent out to the winners, I think it fair that a stool sample from the above GMs be sent to me for an in depth analysis.

We want a clean league damn it.

Stool sample in the mail, as requested.

Thanks for the great (though reduced) season gentlemen. I'm glad we got our fantasy hockey fix for this season. And even more thanks to Greg for all his hard work on behalf of the league, which includes, but is not limited to, the weekly synopses.

Thanks to Brandon for managing the spreadsheets -- with FAAB and all the trading activity that has definitely become a bigger job. Much appreciated!

I also can't forget to thank Jarrett for handling the weekly match-ups for the win-loss predictions. Thanks Jarrett!

As well, a big thank you to John for sitting Jagr most of the week, and for feeding the rest of his Bruins paint thinner for the final few games. It helped to take the sting away from losing a few quality man games on my own squad.

And finally, I can't forget to thank Ray for the Uma Thurman avatar. You may only be half as good looking as Uma, Ray, but your veteran presence and wisdom (along with Scoop's) is always appreciated around these parts.

Another great season guys. Congrats to the lucky ones who took money and for Matt who handed it to us once again.

And thanks to all managers, you all played a big role in having such a great league!

I want you gentlemen to know, that I am coming out guns a blazing next year.
No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Charlize, not Uma.....don't want Charlize thinking I'm having an affair!

Oops ... don't know how I got that wrong!

no biggie, just don't want to get in trouble....

Hey Matt, have you given any thought to what I had asked a few weeks ago?

Thanks, no rush, just wondering that's all.

Ray

Hi Ray,

Yes, I was thinking about that again this week. It's on my to-do list.

I've been working hard at trying to get the editing finished on a new humour anthology, as Stacey and I are planning to go to Ontario for the month of May -- we leave on May 6th. We're introducing the new little one around to family and friends.

Nevertheless, I'll try to get some thoughts to you before we leave.

Take care,
Matt

No worries if you don't. When you get back is fine. No pressure bud! Enjoy your trip and Happy Mother's Day to Stacey!

Thanks Ray. It sounds a bit weird to hear you say "Happy Mother's Day" to my wife, but also very nice.

I'll be in touch.

What is the draft order for September now that the playoffs are over?

thank you,

Ray

Hey fellas

I can't open up my ESPN here at work so I am a bit stuck here, but working from memory, I can fill in some of the holes.

10th Matt
9th John

OK, that was easy.

1st and 2nd go to Jarrett and Scott, cannot remember who has the 1st.

I have 3rd as I topped Gord in R3 of the playoffs.
Gord has 4th then.

5th goes to Brandon as I recall he beat Scoop in R3.
Scoop has the 6th then.

And who won between you and Chris Ray? Whoever it was will have 7th and the other will have 8th overall.

There you have it, working strictly from memory of course.

Perhaps if someone out there has access to ESPN we can piece this together and make a pretty list.

Okay, I think you have some of those backwards...

Do you mean this?---

1-Scott
2-Jarrett
3-Ray
4-Chris
5-Scoop
6-Brandon
7-Gord
8-Greg
9-John
10-Matt

It is surely possible Ray. I have had a checkered past ......

That said, here are our rules directly out of the Manifesto:

Order of Draft and Keeper Totals: The first place team keeps 10 and drafts 10th, second place team keeps 11 and drafts 9th, teams 3-8 hold 12 and will draft according to their standings come the end of playoffs with the better performing teams securing the more valuable picks, and the last two teams will hold 13 and will draft according to the Total Points Against determiner where the team with the lowest TPA is rewarded with the top pick of the draft.

So, I think that I would need to tweak your list a tad.

1-Scott (correct)
2-Jarrett (correct)
3-Ray (Greg)
4-Chris (Gord)
5-Scoop (Brandon)
6-Brandon (Scoop)
7-Gord (Chris)
8-Greg (Ray)
9-John (correct)
10-Matt (correct)

The idea with this type of format is that it is always in a teams best interest to win. With our old format, there were times when it would be advantagous to lose (gaining of a keeper slot or a more valuable draft pick). With the new strategy, there is almost never a time when a GM would benefit from losing. This is not implying that anyone was tanking, but as John mentioned in an earlier post, it takes some of the fun out of the whole experience when a loss is move valuable than a win. This method also makes the playoffs more exciting because the match ups matter right up until the finish. OK, I will admit for teams ranked 9th and 10th there is not much going on at this time of the year, but for all others, there is really something to play for right to the end.

I should mention Ray that because I can't open up ESPN here at work, I really am not certain who won between you and Chris.

Whoever it was would then be the owner of the more valuable draft pick.

Cant speak for rest of order but since I beat scoop in last week I shoukd have higher pick. Not like it matters cuz I don't own it anymore haha

You are correct my friend.
You own the higher pick.

Not that you need it!

Malkin, Crosby, Ovechkin, Giroiux, Green .......

Crazy.

Also John owns my 2nd overall pick
And i Own Matts 10th overall pick

So, according to what you are saying, a team that finishes in worse position would end up with a lower standing in the order. That doesn't make sense to me. If that is the case, then I think that is absurd. Why should a team who had a worse outcome be punished and pick behind a team that had a better season?

According to your order, since you almost had a chance to play for the championship and I didn't, you get to pick before me?

There is something flawed in that reasoning. The whole purpose of the draft being in reverse order of the standings is to help the poorer teams get better in order to compete.. This rule does not incorporate that at all, in fact, it contradicts the whole meaning of a reverse draft.

My team finishes the regular season in 7th place, I lose the first round of the playoffs and I get the 7th pick of the draft? Doesn't sound kosher to me.

Well, it is tricky to find a perfect balance Ray. That is for certain.

Under our old method, many of us were finding that there was often an incentive to lose. Either to gain a better draft pick or to gain a keeper. I experienced it and found it very deflating. If memory serves, 1st and 2nd place held 10, 3rd and 4th 11, 5th and 6th 12, 7th and 8th 13 and 9th and 10th 14. The draft order was inverse order of finish in the regular season. The playoffs tended to be a rather exclusive ordeal where once teams lost (ie were out of the money) interest plummeted.

It seemed to me that if we tweaked things by introducing this new system that we would in one swoop completely remove any 'incentive' to lose as well as make the playoffs a far more competitive and meaningful experience. Teams ranked 3-8 would be battling it out for the more valuable draft picks. To be truthful, there is often very little difference between teams ranked 3-8. This season it looked like this:

Soo 7-4
Row 6-5
Tigers 5-6
PoPo 5-6
Cab 4-7
Oshie 4-7

Under the old system, here is what the draft order would have been:

3 Oshie
4 Cab
5 PoPo
6 Tigers
7 Row
8 Soo

But drafting based on overall records is certainly not perfect. What is really the difference between a 4-7 team and a 6-5 team? Often just a couple of bad bounces. Meeting the wrong team at the wrong time for example. If we looked at ranking the teams based, inversely, on overall points generated in the regular season here is how it would have looked:

3. Oshie
4. Row
5. Cab
6. Tigers
7. PoPo
8. Storm

Let's look at the three different systems side by side (Current, Old, Total Points)

3. Row - Oshie - Oshie
4. PoPo - Cab - Row
5. Soo - PoPo - Cab
6. Tigers - Tigers - Tigers
7. Oshie - Row - PoPo
8. Cab - Soo - Soo

So, there is the summary. It is interesting to study I find.

I really enjoyed this season. I loved never having to fight that feeling of ''hoping'' to lose in order to gain a keeper or a better draft position. I also loved the playoffs. From start to finish meaningful and interesting. That said, looking at the results above, the system is certainly not without its flaws.

I am absolutely motivated to come up with a system that is as fair as possible for everyone involved, but also at the same time keeps intensity levels high and any incentive to lose out.

If we need to tweak our current system I am all ears.
If we need to tear it down and build something new I am all ears.

We have lots of time to work it though. We are all intelligent. We are all fantasy hockey studs. We are all lovers of Chris de Burgh's music. Let's talk it out and come up with the best possible solution.

G

So if I won the championship, I would have received the 3rd overall pick in the draft? I would never expect to get the 3rd overall pick if I won.

In regards to your piece about a few bad bounces and team records. Well, those are the breaks.

I never expect in any league where a team that "wins" or "betters" another team is rewarded with a BETTER draft position. That's absurd!