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A fantasy hockey league involves creating fictional teams made up of real NHL players and competing based on their stats. There are different league formats, including head-to-head, points, and rotisserie. Teams use a draft to acquire players, with the popular “snake” draft format. Owners can trade and monitor player stats to improve their team.
A fantasy hockey league is a group of people who create fictional hockey teams often made up of players who actually play on different teams, and then compete against each other to determine who has put together the strongest group. Participants in a fantasy hockey league draft their own squad of players — usually those playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) — and compete based on the actual stats their players accumulate throughout the season. There are many variations in how a fantasy hockey league operates, from the types of leagues, to scoring, to how winners and losers are determined. Some of the more common types of fantasy hockey leagues use a head-to-head format, a points format, or what is known among fantasy league players as the “rotisserie” format.
A head-to-head fantasy hockey league pits individual fantasy teams against each other, much like the Chicago Blackhawks might face the St. Louis Blues. The team whose players generate the most statistics wins. A point fantasy league designates a certain number of points for hockey statistics, such as goals scored and assists, and the team with the most points at the end of the season wins.
Rotisserie leagues use a number of statistical categories, and fictional teams are ranked at the end of each week. For example, in an eight-team league, the team that has scored the most goals during the week will receive eight points, the second-highest scorer will receive seven, and so on. At the end of the hockey season, the team with the most points would be declared the champion.
Rules about the structure of a fantasy hockey team also vary by league. Some fantasy hockey league rules allow rosters to be populated by a certain number of players regardless of position. Other leagues may limit a fictional roster to just two players at each position: one starter and one reserve.
Fantasy hockey team owners use a draft to acquire players for their team. The most popular form of drafting is the “snake” draft. The team’s draft order is usually assigned by blind draft or, in the case of a league that has been in existence for more than one season, the reverse order of last season’s standings.
Teams select players based on the draft position they were assigned in the first round, but the selection order reverses for the second round in a snake draft. A fantasy hockey team that enters first in the first round and last in the second round. This “snake” effect continues throughout the draft.
For many fantasy sports team owners, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game is trying to improve their team after the draft. Many owners will look to trade to get a player they think will help them win the title. Additionally, these owners will routinely monitor NHL player stats, looking for an up-and-coming rookie or to replace an injured or underperforming player on their fantasy hockey league team roster.
