…o.k, so now what?
There’s an old baseball broadcasting anecdote that goes something like this…
—two broadcasters who’ve worked together for the entire season have just finished calling the last out of the last game of the year. One of the guys breaks down in tears after the game and the other says to him, “Hey man. It’s alright. There’s always next year.” The first guy comes back with, “It’s not that. Now I have to go home.”
That’s sort of what it feels like after a fantasy hockey season. Not that any of us laments the idea of “going home,” but…
…you know what I’m saying.
With Week 26 coming to an end…
…Finally! Ugh. What a slog. Enough with the “Os,” “DTDs,” and “Illnesses.” No more Week 26 Leagues for me.
Unfortunately, that’s what you get in a Public League as the usual default setting.
So what to talk about in this last installment for the season that already hasn’t been explored on the many of podcasts we’ve all been listening to over the past winter of our collective contents and, hopefully not, discontents?
The Professor’s Final Report Cards:
Three leagues (two Points and one Category):
1. Home League: Yahoo 10 Team Points League: First Place.
Studs:
Filip Forsberg– End of season league Rank 7. What a beast. Carried the day in so many of my weekly matchups.
Nathan MacKinnon– Rank 1. My overall number one draft pick exceeded expectations by a long shot. Perhaps over-valued next year?
Nick Suzuki– Rank 69. After vowing never to roster him again when he laid one egg after another down the stretch last year, this glutton for punishment got back in the buffet line and, I have to say, I’m low-key into Montreal’s top line going into next year. Shhhhh.
Roman Josi– Rank 10. I bet hard on the Preds this year, not because I believed in the team (who knew?), but rather because how do you pass on drafting Forsberg, Josi, and Juuse when presented with the chance on draft day?
Evan Bouchard– Rank 18. As mentioned in a previous article, you hold on tight when one of your guys exceeds the preseason hype.
Juuse Saros– Rank 47. The early year gray skies turned brighter as the weather turned.
Zach Hyman– Rank 16. I don’t care how they go in, 54 goals is a yes please for me.
Duds:
Brandon Montour– Rank 219. Still waiting…Best line I read all year in the Yahoo Player Discussions about Monty, “leads the league in almost goals.” Hammer meet nail.
Mitch Marner– Rank 40. His late season injury and “Can’t Cut” status put this championship in serious jeopardy as I scrambled to replace his production. Sorry Leafs fans, but tbh/imo, he was kinda high key meh for me.
Andrei Vasilevskiy– Rank 133. Picked up off of waivers, Vasy was a fingers-crossed every game proposition all year.
Timo Meier– Rank 163. Still a bromance after crawling through the first three quarters of the year only to watch him round into form late. Even so, he’s still my guy.
2. Yahoo 12 Team Categories Public League: First Place
Studs:
J.T. Miller– Rank 5. Super underrated, super reliable, and super productive. All year. In a categories league, he was a monster.
Filip Forsberg– Rank 7. See above.
Tomas Hertl– Rank 440. Picked him off waivers (IR) and he just might have been the reason I squeezed out this title. Hits, blocks, goals, assists, positive +/- (yeah, this was one of those leagues), and shots coupled with Vegas’ unreal playoff schedule (especially during the Week 26 molasses drip), Hertl was the turtle.
Mike Matheson– Rank 163. Hab-er-dasher. Plus he’s a Professor too.
Devon Toews– Rank 149. Plus 28 for the season, he was the definitive plug and play player on my team this year. I never had to think twice about his roster spot.
Auston Matthews– Rank 4. Dude. Seriously?! In my view, his season was the quietest, sickest campaign of all.
Thatcher Demko– Rank 18. My Zero-G pick this year. Enough said.
Dud:
Ilya Samsonov– Rank 327. Rooted hard for him all year, but just too close my eyes I can’t watch anymore for my liking.
3. Yahoo 12 Team Points League (Apples and Ginos Listener League 2): Seventh Place (Consolation Bracket Champion)
If I may be so bold, this finish was my proudest fantasy hockey accomplishment in 23-24.
After cringing through my first overall pick’s (Jack Hughes) year and Very Little Timo Time to be had, I found myself challenging for last place for three quarters of the season. Slowly but surely and with a ridiculous amount of agonizing and obsessing, I crawled back into the middle of the pack with a streak of seven straight end of year matchup wins and earned a bye in the Consolation Semis.
At the conclusion of the second stringers’ finals, my team had “won” and had me reprising one of my short list songs as this team’s theme.
Studs:
Tons of A&G streamer recommendations helped salvage this season for me. A few of note included:
Brayden Schenn, Anders Lee, Jason Zucker, Alex Killhorn, Travis Sanheim, Gustav Forsling, Matt Roy, and Seymon Varlamov.
Joe Pavelski (Rank 68) and Clayton Keller (Rank 53): Set and Forget 101.
Nick Suzuki (Rank 51): Mon Capitan and all is forgiven.
Duds:
Jack Hughes: Rank 49. I get the feeling that some folks forget what a ri-doink-u-lously hot start Jack got off to this year only to be utterly dismayed by the rest of his season. His injury was a big part of the Devil’s collapse. Sorry, but I said it.
If you’ve read my articles, you know that I’m a NJ fan and this season was an unmitigated disaster in so many ways. Hughes’ year was a microcosm of one for the Dark Ages. Undervalued next year?
Timo: Rank 103. Insert sad face emoji here. Again, undervalued next year?
…noticing a pattern here?
Overall Takeaways from the 2023-2024 Season:
1. The number one lesson I’ve learned over the past three years is to PAY ATTENTION. I do this by subscribing to and listening to fantasy hockey podcasts like Apples and Ginos.
Whatever your “go to” is, I’d recommend you continuing to do so. Nothing has been as instrumental to any successes I’ve had.
2. Set your lineups. Doing so allows you to see where you may have “holes” in your respective lineups.
3. Use your allotted adds every week. A glance at your league standings usually illustrates that the teams that use the most adds every season usually have the most success.
4. Be nimble. I use the Left Wing Lock app on my phone for last minute updates, goalie starts, and relevant news. This information is often a huge difference maker.
5. Subscribe to any of the number of Discord channels available that focus on fantasy hockey. The Apples and Ginos channel was especially helpful. There are others to be sure, but I’ve found the community there extremely helpful and supportive.
Finally, while some of this may seem like work, it’s what you need to do to enhance your chances for a successful season.
Thank you for reading and for all of your support over the past two seasons. Enjoy the warmer weather and I’ll see you back here next season.
Mike@TheFantasyHockeyProfessor.
Apples and Ginos 