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Every fantasy sports enthusiast has a different strategy and favorite type of league.
If you're new to fantasy hockey, then this is the guide for you!
There are many aspects of fantasy hockey that can be overwhelming at first. Sure, it seems like an easy game on paper: pick your team and go from there – but fantasy hockey veterans know how complex it really is.
Luckily, we've got everything figured out for you right here in this blog post! Read on to get started with fantasy hockey today!
What Is Fantasy Hockey?
Fantasy hockey is a fantasy sports game – like fantasy football or fantasy basketball, for example. You pick players to make up your team and earn points according to what those players do in real-life games (goalies can also accumulate points).
Fantasy hockey has been around for decades and it has skyrocketed in popularity since the introduction of daily fantasy sports platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Millions of fans are now playing fantasy hockey every year, participating in different types of leagues for more fun.
How To Play Fantasy Hockey?
Getting into fantasy hockey is easy. The game is free to play and you can join a fantasy hockey league at any time!
At the start, all you have to do is pick your fantasy hockey league and draft players according to their fantasy value or projected performance.
The game mechanics are straightforward: each player has a certain amount of points attributed to them that you can accumulate throughout the fantasy season based on how well they perform in real-life games – just like any other fantasy sports game!
You can play fantasy hockey in different ways, depending on what type of league you join.
Different Types Of Leagues
There are many different types of fantasy leagues – each with their own rules. The most common fantasy hockey league types are head-to-head, head-to-head points (HHP), rotisserie, and fantasy playoff.
In a head-to-head league, you'll play another fantasy owner in your fantasy league once per week throughout the season – either on Monday night or Tuesday morning depending on what time zone you're in. In a head-to-head points fantasy league, each fantasy owner's team earns one point for every goal their skaters score and two points for every assist they accumulate during the week – similar to what we mentioned above in our description of fantasy hockey scoring systems.
In rotisserie fantasy leagues, you'll compete against all owners in your fantasy league. Each week (or day), fantasy owners in the same rotisserie league will earn fantasy points according to how their players do relative to other skaters in that particular week. For example, if Joe Thornton has more goals than Sidney Crosby during a given seven-day period – then Joe would get nine fantasy points while Sidney gets eight fantasy points. In fantasy playoff fantasy leagues, you'll compete against other fantasy owners in your league based on how many fantasy points have been accumulated by each team at the end of a certain number of weeks (usually two or three) – similar to what we mentioned above in our description of head-to-head fantasy hockey leagues.
In all types of fantasy leagues, you'll gain fantasy points for what players do in real-life games that match the scoring system you've chosen (similar to head-to-head fantasy hockey).
Preparing For The Season
The best way to prepare for your fantasy hockey season is by doing research online. Our favorite place to start? Reddit's FantasyHockey subreddit! Reddit fantasy hockey is a great place to start familiarizing yourself with the fantasy hockey community, learn about different types of fantasy leagues – and most importantly: find out what players are being drafted in your league draft. A lot goes into fantasy hockey research before drafting day, but it's always good to have an idea of who you might want to draft as your fantasy team's first pick.
In addition, our fantasy hockey cheat sheets help you learn about the players who might be most valuable in each scoring system against other skaters playing different positions – and how those values change based on what type of league you're drafting for (head-to-head fantasy leagues vs. rotisserie fantasy leagues, etc.).
Drafting Players And Team Management Tips
One of the most important parts of fantasy hockey is draft day. In a head-to-head league, you'll have to prepare for your fantasy draft by doing research online – but don't worry! Our fantasy hockey cheat sheets will help you learn about players who might be most valuable in each fantasy scoring system against other skaters playing different positions.
In addition, our fantasy hockey rankings will help you learn about the players who might be most valuable for your draft – and how those values change based on what type of league you're drafting for (head-to-head fantasy leagues vs. rotisserie fantasy leagues, etc.) and what positions fantasy owners in your league are drafting.
The best fantasy hockey managers know how to keep track of their team's stats throughout the fantasy season with a fantasy spreadsheet or fantasy app – like FantraxHQ, ESPN Fantasy Hockey (iOS), and MyFantasyLeague (Android). Keeping track of player injuries is also important during your fantasy hockey draft and throughout the fantasy season. Fantasy owners should always be on the lookout for injuries that could impact their fantasy roster!
Keep Track Of Your Stats
Keeping track of fantasy hockey stats is one of the most important things you can do to be competitive in head-to-head fantasy leagues. While it's impossible to predict how many goals or assists each skater will score – it's always a good idea for fantasy owners to keep track of their team's stats throughout the fantasy season with fantasy spreadsheets or fantasy apps – like FantraxHQ, ESPN Fantasy Hockey (iOS), and MyFantasyLeague (Android).
In addition to keeping track of your team's stats in fantasy hockey, you should also be on the lookout for injuries that could impact your fantasy roster! Always remember: it is impossible to predict how many fantasy points fantasy owners will earn during the fantasy season.
Conclusion
Fantasy hockey is a fun and exciting way to keep track of your favorite NHL players’ stats. To make sure you get the most out of it, we want to provide some tips on how to play fantasy hockey and prepare for your draft day. You can find everything from drafting strategies to team management tactics in this guide!
Be sure not to miss our section on keeping tabs on all your player stats; that will help you stay ahead of the competition throughout the season. We hope you enjoy reading about what makes fantasy hockey such an exhilarating game!
