Good evening everyone and welcome to the first of many Fantasy KHL updates. We will be doing these here and on The Hockey Writers as well. Keep an eye out for them and again please remember this is a league where points are fairly easy to come by if you have the right players. The biggest obstacle presented has been the end of the NHL Lockout. Honestly, there was a feeling it was going to come but the finality still leaves a sting when one has to scramble half their roster to just get their starters in. Granted, there are only six starting slots and three spots for the bench but again, it is a league not familiar to many which makes it a challenge.
For those wondering, the league is done completely by spreadsheets. It really was a labor of love when it started and the demand was unexpectedly high. In the end, we came up with a nice round 15 participants. The season did start a little late because of Hurricane Sandy but in the end, it has turned out to be quite the interesting experience.
Again here are the scoring rules:
- 1 point for an ES goal or assist
- 2 points for a special teams goal or assist (PS, SH, or PP)
- 1 point for a GWG.
- 3 points for a hat trick
- Goalies lose a point for every loss — shootout, OT, or regulation
- Goalies get 1 point for a win and 1 point for a shutout.
- Goalies get 1 point for 30+ saves
- Goalies get 2 points for 40+ saves
- Goalies get 3 points for 50+ saves
See? Those are pretty easy to keep up with. With a pretty modest amount of transactions, teams have been on the move all year but there are a few teams that have stood out all year. It was tough to narrow this down but there was a clear line between the have's and have not's. Let's finish this quickly while we list the top four teams in our fantasy league.
- Team Wassel — 132 pts
- Team Parkinson — 119 pts
- Ak Bars Kent — 94 pts
- Team CSKA Slappy — 84 pts
It was a league where several plans were definitely needed to be in place. It was not hard to figure out going with some ex-pats would be helping in high scoring numbers. Add in some NHL'ers that could be dropped later and not wasting time worrying about goaltending too much was a help. While some focused hard on goaltending and it has helped them some. Ultimately, this league comes down to consistent offense (especially of the special teams variety).
There are still a couple months left. Who will prevail? Don't worry. We will keep you updated as the finish line comes closer with the Fantasy KHL.
