Yahoo Fantasy Hockey is one of the most popular fantasy hockey games on the internet. The basic premise of this game is that you are drafting teams of NHL players from the 2019-20 season and trying to win as many games as you can. There are several different ways to win in Yahoo Fantasy Hockey including scoring the most goals and collecting the most points.
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Each week in the NHL season, fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and other teams vote for their favorite players on Twitter using the hashtag #TopThree. As part of the game experience, players accumulate points based on their voting totals. These points are then translated into winning tickets that can be redeemed for prizes.
The game makes use of several different scoring systems including Total Points, Win Probability, and Game Score.
Thoughts On Strategy:
Table of Contents
Drafting
One of the most important strategic decisions in any fantasy sports game is drafting. Just like in real life, the best players are usually the most sought-after commodities in fantasy sports. In Yahoo Fantasy Hockey, this is made even more evident because of the high fantasy football draft capital that is required to play the game. This is probably why many people who play fantasy sports tend to lean towards defense and goaltending even in non-hockey settings.
If you want to draft an effective hockey team, you need to take into consideration several factors including:
- The current NHL standings – You want to draft players who will realistically have a chance of winning games this season
- The upcoming NHL fixtures – Certain players have been known to have game-breaking streaks and can ruin your entire season if you are not careful
- The strength of the opposing teams – The Maple Leafs and Canadiens are two of the most popular teams in the NHL and will be challenging for the cup all season long. You may want to avoid picking players who will be shared between the two teams
- The current supply of good players available – The cap has been lowered to its lowest level in years and there are a number of star players who will not be available for your purchase
- How much you are willing to spend – You will need to set a budget and stick to it
- The number of games you want to win – Though it is not realistic to think that you can win every week, taking a contrarian approach can get you closer to that goal
With so much at stake, it is not advisable to choose a sidekeel or kicker in the first three rounds because you might end up with a completely ineffective hockey team. Though it is great to have versatile players who can score goals or dish the puck out, you will need someone who can be the anchor or the heart of your team.
Even with all that in mind, it is still extremely difficult to predict which players will have a good season and which ones will underperform. The best approach is to take a balanced team that can give you a good shot at the playoffs and work your way from there.
Fixture Analysis
After you have drafted your team, you need to assess how well they will do in the upcoming fixtures. Just like in real life, the games you are most likely to lose are often the ones played on paper – the Maple Leafs will be traveling a lot this season which will test their mettle against the world’s best hockey teams. Some of their games will also be played at home which will boost their performance.
A player’s home arena can have a significant impact on their statistics – if you are playing on a computer, you can use the MyLeague feature to track a player’s home and away performances. You can also use this feature to compare different players’ statistics to see which ones are most valuable to your team. For instance, if you are building a top-tier team and decide to go for a sniper, you will want to avoid choosing a player who has a lot of games on the road – on average, players perform better at home than on the road.
Injuries
Another important consideration when building a hockey team is injuries. Just like in real life, the NHL is an extremely physical game and players are liable to get injured. When this happens, your team will be sidelined and you will lose valuable match points.
Though it is important to make use of analytics when approaching the game, there is still a lot to learn from watching the games and assessing which players are performing well while carrying injuries.
It is also important to remember that the players are the same as those who were injured – some will play better than before the injury while others will struggle to hit their stride. Injuries can also alter a player’s statistics – if a goalie gets injured and has to sit out several games, their save percentage will take a sharp decline. In addition, a lot of injuries are position-related and affect certain playtypes especially hard. For example, a player who is used to carrying the puck might suffer a major drop in production once they lose their ability to do so.
Roster Management
The last but not least important aspect of building an effective team in Yahoo Fantasy Hockey is roster management. Just like in real life, the more you put in, the more you get out. It is all about having a good strategy going into the season and sticking to it.
The most effective way to approach roster management is with a “win-now” strategy rather than a “build for the future” strategy. The former is more suitable for shorter leagues as you want to focus on winning now rather than stockpiling players who are only going to help you in the long run. In the end, you can’t predict the future and it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Just imagine how different things would look if the team you managed to put together had a winning record when all was said and done. In this case, you would have spent a lot of time and effort trying to figure out ways to improve your roster rather than spending all your time worrying about winning the match.
Hopefully, this article gave you a clearer understanding of what are fan points in yahoo fantasy hockey and the strategies and tips that can help you improve your game. Sticking to a few basics can make a huge difference and get you much closer to winning the coveted cup. In the end, it is still more or less a crapshoot and you might just have to chance upon a good squad.