I signed up for a Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey League for the first time in a few years. I’ll be honest, I missed it.  When you’re in a fantasy league, you quickly grow accustomed to absorbing any and all information relating to your fantasy sport of choice.  Once you do that a few times, it is hard to ignore that hunger ever again.

Thankfully, I’m in a league with at least a few people I know, unlike the league of strangers I was in last time (note: League of Strangers is a cool name for something, must remember that one…)

I’m in a head to head league–meaning, all of my players’ stats go up against my opponent’s players’ stats for the week, similar to the way most Fantasy Football leagues are run (ex: I have 10 goals at the end of the week, Player B has 7, I win that category). In the past, I’ve mainly done what are called rotisserie leagues–your points fluctuate based on your ranking regarding each stat, usually based on how many teams in your league (ex: if I’m leading in goals at the end of the day in a 14 team league, I earn 14 points. But, if I drop to third the next day, I only have 12 points in that category).

Each type of league has its advantages and disadvantages. It is easier to come from behind in a head to head league, as if you have a great couple of weeks you can jump to the lead. But in a rotisserie league, if you get in a rut from the start, you might never climb out.

We had an auto-pick draft for our league, forgoing a live draft due to our crazy schedules. However, I customized my pre-draft rankings and I think I did pretty well considering we had a fairly large league of 14 teams.

I drafted 2nd overall–which is good, but also bad. The draft order is serpentine, meaning that while I get to pick second in round one, I pick second to last in round two, 27th overall (the person picking 14th overall gets two picks in a row: 14 and 15). By the time I get my second pick, 26 other players have already been picked (assuming my math is correct).

My crew, in the order drafted:

The Yellow Scarfs

My team’s logo and patron Saint, Proto Man. Image © Capcom</p>

(my team name, named after Proto Man, which in turn inspired the character Zeroth in my novel/podcast The Magic of Eyri.  Zeroth also wears a yellow scarf)

1. (2) Evgeni Malkin – MVP candidate last season, keeps getting better and better.

2. (27) Dany Heatley – Disgruntled sniper that demanded a trade to a new team. 50 goal scorer.

3. (30) Joe Thornton – Great set-up man, line mate of Dany Heatley. Wins lots of faceoffs.

4. (55) Steve Mason – Rookie of the year winner last season.  Goalie.  Getting a great goalie or two is key in fantasy hockey.

5. (58) Sergei Gonchar – Scoring defenseman.

6. (83) Scott Gomez – Capable center playing on a line with two sniper wingers, could be the center of one of the best lines in the league.

7. (86) Henrik Sedin – Another high scoring center.

8. (111) Tomas Kaberle – Decent scoring defenseman.

9. (114) Mikko Koivu – Developing scoring center, 60+ points last season, wins lots of faceoffs.

10. (139) Petr Sykora – New team, could be a sleeper winger. I’m hoping he is.

11. (142) Mathieu Schneider – Scoring d-man, hoping playing with the Sedin twins will help him rack up a bunch of points.

12. (167) Marco Sturm – So-so winger, but Boston has been playing really well as of late.

13. (170) Andrei Kostitsyn – Another so-so Left Wing. Sub-par season last year. Hoping he rebounds.

14. (195) Ryan Whitney – Scoring d-man, will get more minutes with Pronger not being on the team any more.

15. (198) Jose Theodore – An OK goalie, probably good for 30 wins. But, could lose his starting gig to a young upstart rookie goalie.

16. (223) Derick Brassard – Was in the running for Rookie of the Year until injury/surgery shortened his season.

17. (226) Mike Comrie – Meh. A prime example of someone I wouldn’t have drafted had I been running the draft live.

18. (251) Sergei Samsonov – Another possible sleeper winger.

19. (254) Ville Leino – One time scoring leader of the Finnish hockey league, now a rookie with the Red Wings.  After losing three wingers to free agency, it is looking like Lenio will have lots of chances to step up.

20. (279) Radim Vrbata – Back with Phoenix, had  a great season the last time he was there (27 goals).

21. (282) Jonas Gustavsson – The Monster.  Could steal the starting goalie gig on the Maple Leafs.

22. (307) Andrej Meszaros – Lame season last year with the Bolts. Will probably drop him.

23. (310) Andrej Sekera – Will be dropped ASAP.

I’m happy with the results for the most part, by my last two picks irked me a bit, as both are rather lackluster defensemen. The problem was that my list was based on us originally have 16 teams drafting, but then we dropped to 14 at the last minute, which changed things a bit.

The problem with the auto-draft is that while it follows your order, it also looks to fill what you need how it sees fit–and I don’t know how it decides. For example, there might be a great Right Wing available, but it sees that you need a Left Wing and skips down to that, avoiding the better player. I think this is why I have a bunch of Centers. The advantage of a live draft is that you can make calls like that on the fly “Oh, that guy’s still available…I really need a Right Wing, but this Defensemen is awesome…”

Where my strategy paid off was with picks two and three–Heatley was ranked lower this year because of a crappy season in Ottawa. He was recently traded to San Jose, and plays on the top line with Thornton. The good thing here is that I could be doubling my points on a given night–if Thornton assists on a Heatley goal, I get both of those points.

I also got some nice steals in the early and later rounds, mainly Brassard (a rookie of the year consideration last season until having season ending surgery: 25 points in 31 games, not bad) and Gustavsson (a goalie nicknamed The Monster because he is so big).

And I’m really happy I was able to get Leino from the Red Wings. After Heatley though, I’m fairly weak when it comes to wingers, but a few of my guys could be sleepers. Penalty Minutes is one of our categories, so I gotta pick up some goons.

…How the heck did my last two picks both end up being guys named Andrej?

And I leave you with this:

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

This year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs was one for the history books.

And I’m not just talking about the Finals, which featured the same teams as the previous year for the first time in 20+ years. The whole run was epic, East and West. Yes, the big story line is the Red Wings falling to the Penguins, the opponents they bested last summer, but every round was chuck full of some great hockey. And honestly, this year’s playoffs probably helped draw more fans in than playoffs in years past.

We got to see Washington and Pittsburgh duke it out in the second round, which was a gift for everyone. Detroit renewed their storied rivalry with division-mates Chicago. And then there was Montreal, celebrating its 100th season, imploding in the first round as they faced their fellow Original Six member, Boston. This was one of my favorite playoffs in recent memory.

As a Red Wings fan, the Finals were indeed heartbreaking–but Pittsburgh deserved to win, especially in the fabled Game 7. They just played better. The Red Wings looked sloppy and nervous in Game 7, a far cry from the well-tuned powerhouse that spanked the upstart Penguins in Game 5 last weekend at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. And every game was an epic battle (well, except for maybe Game 5). You saw some of the best hockey ever in this series–that’s why the final score of Game 7 was 2 to 1. The teams were that good, especially the goal tenders.

I was one who felt that if even the Red Wings had won the Cup, that Penguins forward “Geno” Malkin should have won the Playoff MVP. He was that good, and better than his highly touted team mate, Sidney Crosby. Malkin is the total package: he can skate, score and he has size. I like watching him play way more than Crosby.

Yes, I’m upset the Red Wings didn’t win–but I’ll live. The fact they even GOT to the Finals two seasons in a row is a staggering achievement. My one complaint, or even question, about the latter half of the series is why Red Wings coach Mike Babcock did not continue to play Red Wings rookie Justin Abdelkader. He had two goals in the first two games–and super star sniper, Marian Hossa had zero goals in the Finals. Abdelkader seemed to have the speed, along with Darren Helm, to keep up with the Penguins.

But next season is a chance to start again, and we’ll see what happens. That’s part of the fun. If anything, this loss–especially in a Game 7 at home–will fire up the Red Wings and inspire them to redeem themselves next season. I don’t hate that the Red Wings lost so much as I hate that Sidney Crosby won the Cup. Now, that’s all we’ll hear about forever, and ever. He’s already the NHL’s Golden Boy (for whatever reason), and this Cup win will make it even more so. Sigh.

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

I don’t get it. Well, actually I do. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

During the Stanley Cup Finals, NBC (and the NHL) recently decreed that both Pittsburgh and Detroit could not have public ‘viewing parties’ for Finals games. The reason? People who attend such parties (an outdoor big screen for the Pens and Joe Vision at Joe Louis Arena for the Wings) would not be at home watching the game.

Wait a second. So, instead of being a captive audience at a place where they can’t change the channel, NBC would rather people watch the game at home where they can switch stations, leave the room, multi-task or any other of number of options?

NBC’s logic? People need to be at home so they can determine viewers and base advertising rates on that. Really? Couldn’t you just call the Joe and say “Hey, how many tickets were sold for Joe Vision last night? …18,000? Great!” and have people do head counts at the out door things.

Yes, I realize on some level where they are coming from with the people being home so they can use the (horribly outdated) Nelson Rating system. But, I would argue that having a captive audience in the thousands at such events would be a pretty good indicator of who is and isn’t watching the game.

Think about it: say they’re using the NBC feed for Joe Vision and let’s say 10,000 people show up (which is probably more than actually do, but humor me). During commercials, most of that 10,000 is forced to sit through advertisements and they’ll have a better chance of hearing them than at, say a bar. This the same reason we’re seeing more and more commercials in movie theaters as of late (something I loathe) — a captive audience. They can’t watch something else.

But, at least NBC is better than VS in terms of coverage, although NBC’s overly pro-Pittsburgh/Sidney Crosby stance is annoying.

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Yesterday was a good start to the year.  Watched the NHL Winter Classic (Red Wings vs. Blackhawks outdoors at Wrigley Field), spent quality time with loved ones (including playing various board games with mom and The Girlfriend) and finished watching season 3 of VERONICA MARS (the last season and not as bad as I had been led to believe).

My uncle is having his second marriage tomorrow (he's a widower), so that'll be an interesting start to the New Year.  It'll be a good time, and to quote Jack Sparrow: "A wedding?  I love weddings! Drinks all around!"  I have the duty of being an usher at the service, a task I hope I am suited for.  Dad advised me to have a stock of one-liners ready to go, to which I instantly replied: "We'll take the scenic route."  "I hope the roads are clear."  "Lousy church traffic!"  "Bride or Groom?  Bride, eh?  Its it true that (fill in the blank)?"

The Girlfriend and I are moments away from venturing out to get the happy couple a wedding gift, which is considerably more challenging with both of them having previous marriages (not to mention homes and plenty of house-hold stuff that you typically get newly weds).  According to some quick online researche the etique in regards to gifts for second marriages is that you are not obligated to get them anything, but I still will.

Here's to the New Year.

Yesterday was fun:
Found out two copies of The Magic of Eyri were sold. This puts me at 123 sold with 205 copies in print (includes freebies, donations, copies I ain't sold -- don't worry, I don't have 80 copies in my closet, I think only about 5). I've sold six copies online since April (so since my stint at Penguicon), not too shabby. I may not sell a bunch of copies at once, but sales have been pretty steady. I'm still hovering around my ten copies a month average.

I think these two copies were bought on Amazon, because I noticed my ranking changing a bit here and there over the past couple weeks. I really wish Lulu specified who was buying copies from where. Sales that are through non-Lulu channels are all lumped together, be it Amazon, Barnes & Noble or a store buying copies for their shelves through a distributor. I'd really like to know how people are buying copies, especially if a store is buying copies to sell.

Finally got Juno on DVD from Netflix. My only real complaint about Netflix is the difficulty in getting popular new releases right when they come out. Juno has been out on DVD for at least a couple months (or close to it) and it has been at the top of my queue since before its street date. Oh well, regardless I'm excited to watch it.

Oh, and the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. Now it is time for my obligatory "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"-and I didn't even have to use my AK."

I had the extreme fortune of going to game one of the Stanley Cup Finals two weekends ago and here are my promised pictures.


a FanFoto of Jon and I (he's the one who gave me the ticket to go). I can't believe (well, yes I can) that they charge you to get these photos from them. I got my curtousy of my screen capture software. Ha! Anyway, we're posing in front of the Gordie Howe statue with Jon's homemade Stanley Cup. I'm wearing my  Vlad Konstantiov jersey from his team in Russia. Jon is wearing a Chris Chelios jersey I think.


Inside the Joe, pre-game. LOTS of Penguin fans. It was a sea of red, white and black. Sorry for the blurry picture, I only have a point and shoot camera.


In our seats, pre-game. We got there kind of early. When asking the usher where our seats were, she added "And be LOUD, there are a lot of Penguin fans up there." That was an understatement.


Lots of Crosbys.


Crosby. Lemieux. Crosby. Lemieux. Crosby.


During game play, 19:10 to go in the first period. It was good to see all the seats filled again. And was it LOUD. Yowza.


Bonus Picture: The girlfriend and I outside Comerica Park this past Saturday. We volunteered at the Detroit Race For the Cure (hence the matching t-shirts. We don't normally dress alike. Honest.).