Four Keeper League GMs decided to make the tournament a little more interesting with a fantasy pool. The only restrictions were that you could only take one player from any team, you needed three from Pool A and three from Pool B, and you had to take a defenceman, although the defenceman could be from either pool and from a team from which you already had a forward (this is what happens when four people come up with the rules, over email and text). We also allowed substitutions when it turned out a player didn't make the team or was injured before the tournament started.
The stakes: The winning GM would take the 8th round pick in the 2014 Keeper League draft from the fourth place GM. Second and third place lost and gained nothing.
The draft: We randomly determined the draft order and then conducted the draft via text messaging over a couple of days around Christmas. It was a snake draft with Greg leading off and Micah at the turn. Greg went with Jonathan Drouin, the consensus #1 pick. Micah was able to take Teuvo Teravainen and Filip Forsberg, employing the classic "pick players you have heard of" strategy. Because of the one-forward-per-team restriction, Micah was able to take his Canadian forward with his last pick, and Anthony Mantha was still on the board. As evidence of just how twisted Canada's selection logic has become, Mantha, who led Team Canada in scoring, almost didn't make the team because he is considered one-dimensional (that dimension being putting pucks in nets).
The results:
(The asterisks represent substitute picks and how many points they missed out on in their first game.)
Overall, it was a fun way to make the Junior tournament a little more interesting. Here's hoping next year Canada prioritizes skill and scoring over grit/checking/role-playing and makes the tournament even more interesting.
Also note how Schizz traded his add/drop to Stefan for Stefan's 1st round pick in next year's Junior's draft.
ReplyDeleteSo meta
Delete