Like all other sports, hockey is very popular in India, and for good reason. The sport eventually rose to popularity among children and young adults in India due to the accessibility of huge land parcels for use as playing grounds and the simplicity of the equipment. The development of technology in our day and age has made it simpler for any novice player to actively participate in playing any sport, including hockey. In fact, because it’s so simple, playing fantasy sports online has grown immensely popular in recent years.
So, if you’re trying to build a fantasy hockey squad you’ve come to the correct place. Essentially, eight to twelve players join forces to create a fantasy hockey league. The process begins with a draft in which each participant selects one player at a time. Following the draft, teams receive points according to how the players they selected performed in actual play. Members of the league face off against one another every week. The team with the most overall points at the end of the week wins.
So the question is, how do you create a hockey team? Picking players at random is not acceptable! Worry not, for this article will be your saviour in assisting you in selecting a winning hockey team.
7 Tips for Picking a Winning Team
1. Select a capable goalie
It’s critical to find the best goalie possible. However, what is more important is how capable and good a team is around the goalie. When selecting a goaltender for this position, you not only save percentage and shutouts but also decide the winning potential of the entire squad. A fantastic strategy to get a very valuable goaltending pick is to lean towards good goalies on great teams. Be sure to select a goalie early in the team. Although the chosen goalie need not be the best available, there is still a very small pool of average goalies available before the draft is created. As a result, it is important to select a good goalie early.
2. Look out for talented players
In the same way that players coming off breakout seasons should be avoided, players with established track records coming off poor seasons should also never be written out. Consider it like this – If you reach a point in the draft where you can choose between taking player A, a player who has never accrued more points than the 71 he received the previous season, or player B, who, regardless of simply finishing with 60 points last year, has enjoyed two seasons with 50 or more goals and two seasons with 90 or more points, it might be worthwhile to take the risk and choose player B. So, throughout the draft, keep a watch on these players constantly.
3. Take advantage of sleepers
It’s crucial at this point in the draft to spot and take advantage of sleepers. Whether it’s selecting a young player with the potential to make a big impact or a player who will benefit from playing on a talented line, a player who will have a larger role or a player who might be recovering from an injury. The key to ensuring that your team will regularly score enough points around the year to compete for a title is to take advantage of sleepers.
4. Watch out for breakout seasons
Be careful not to select players whose offensive performance has recently increased dramatically. There are no certainties in fantasy sports, but if you have to choose between a player who recently had his debut season with 40 goals and one who has done it the past three consecutive seasons, go with the latter. The greatest approach to guarantee you’ll obtain the kind of point totals you’re anticipating when you choose a player on draft day is to pick players with an established track record.
5. Pick players who are on the rise
You cannot win your game on the strength of players who achieved your expectations; rather, you win on the strength of players who outperformed your expectations. So, where do you look for these players? Start by examining a player’s past several seasons’ worth of performance. If they have been steadily improving over that time, there is a good possibility that they will be able to increase their output once more. So, even if there is no established method for identifying individuals who are about to have a huge season, your best decision would be to choose players who have been constantly progressing.
6. Be sure to account for injuries
A draft requires that you enter it prepared at all times. You never want to be the person who picks a player in the first round and then finds out that the player will be out for the first two months of the season. Therefore, before you start packing, make sure you are aware of everyone’s injury status on your draft list. This does not imply that you should never select an injury-prone athlete, but if you must choose between a player on an injury-free streak and one who missed 30 games the previous season, go with the player who is most likely to play the entire year.
7. Avoid players that are experiencing a slump
A player is typically selected on draft day with the expectation that they will at least duplicate their point totals from the previous season. Therefore, a significant decline in performance from one of your key players might seriously undermine your chances of taking home the trophy. However, a gradual fall is typically a good indication that a player has reached his prime and will gradually see his point totals decline for the rest of his career.
Finding a method that will work for you and your needs is ultimately what is important. Which player you believe will perform better than the other is simply a matter of personal preference. However, finishing the draft with the knowledge that the preparation was worthwhile and that no possibilities were lost is the ultimate objective.
