Fantasy basketball, anyone?

I'm starting up a Yahoo! fantasy basketball league with some of my fellow bloggers from The Rookies. We still have a few spots left, so if you're interested in joining us, the league id is 360797 and the password is neilyoung. You should be able to join us here. Our live draft will be Friday, Nov 6 at 5:15 p.m. PST (8:15 p.m. Eastern), but you can also autorank players if you're not able to make the draft. Hope you can join us!

NHL bracket pool

Yes, this is a little late, but seeing James Mirtle's playoff bracket yesterday inspired me to create my own. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near as pretty, but it's functional. If you're interested in joining my bracket pool for fun, just go to Simply Sports Ware; the pool name is SportingMadness and the password is Sporting. The pick deadline is Friday night at 7 p.m.; that will allow picks to be made after one game in every series has been played. Let's see who comes out on top! Here's my picks:

Round One:

West:
-Vancouver over St. Louis in six games.
- Anaheim over San Jose in seven games
- Detroit over Columbus in six games
- Chicago over Calgary in five games

East:
-Boston over Montreal in five games
-Washington over New York in six games
-Carolina over New Jersey in six games
-Pittsburgh over Philadelphia in six games

Round Two:
West:
- Vancouver over Chicago in five games
- Anaheim over Detroit in six games

East:
- Boston over Carolina in six games
- Washington over Pittsburgh in seven games

Round Three:
West:
- Vancouver over Anaheim in six games
East:
- Boston over Washington in six games

Stanley Cup Final:
- Vancouver over Boston in seven games

Thoughts? Criticisms? Post them in the comments below. There's some reasonably bold picks here, so we'll see how it works out.

Oh, and the scoring system's included in the pool rules. Basically, you get points if you pick the right team to win the series, and you then get more points depending on how close you were to the correct number of games. Point values increase as the rounds go on.

Fantasy Selections for Round Three

Round Three of the NHL playoffs starts tonight, so here's the promised update on my fantasy hockey team (in the GlobeSports Fantasy Hockey Playoff Challenge). The challenge lets you pick six forwards, four defencemen and two teams' goalies (one team from each conference) for each round: you then get two points for each goal scored by your players, one point per assist, two points for a goalie's win and an extra point for a shutout. Here's the breakdown of my picks so far and how they've done.

Round 1:

Forward 1: Alex Ovechkin, WSH: 13 points (tied for Forward #1 lead with Jarome Iginla, CGY)
Forward 2: Evgeni Malkin, PIT: 9 points (leader: Vaclav Prospal, PHI, 12 points)
Forward 3: Marian Hossa, PIT: 6 points (leader, Daniel Briere, PHI, 17 points)
Forward 4: Petr Sykora, PIT: 6 points (leader, Alexander Semin, WSH, 11 points)
Forward 5: J.P. Dumont, NSH: 2 points (leader, Ryane Clowe, SJS, 12 points)
Forward 6: Jeff Carter, PHI: 7 points (leader, Joe Pavelski, SJS, 10 points)

Defenceman 1: Nicklas Lidstrom, DET: 5 points (leaders, Mike Green, WSH, and Dion Phaneuf, CGY, 10 points)
Defenceman 2: Mark Streit, MTL: 3 points (leader, Brian Rafalski, DET, 5 points)
Defenceman 3: Niklas Kronwall, DET: 5 points (tied for lead with Shea Weber, NSH)
Defenceman 4: Dan Hamhuis, NSH: 3 points (tied for lead with Mike Komisarek, MTL)

Goaltenders: Montreal (10 points, leader) and San Jose (9 points, tied for lead)

Total points for Round 1: 78
Rank: 17th overall for Round 1

Comments: I did all right here, but Dumont killed me: I figured a 72-point player who was his team's leading scorer during the regular season would be a steal at the fifth forward slot, particularly against an aging Detroit goalie corps. Unfortunately, Dumont disappeared, and so did my production. Also, when did Daniel Briere suddenly decide to earn his $10 million as one of the league's highest-paid players?

Round 2:

Forward 1: Sidney Crosby, PIT: 6 points (leader, Pavel Datsyuk, DET, 10 points)
Forward 2: Evgeni Malkin, PIT: 11 points (leader: Henrik Zetterberg, DET, 14 points)
Forward 3: Daniel Briere, PHI: 5 points (leader, Marian Hossa, PIT, 9 points)
Forward 4: Petr Sykora, PIT: 4 points (leaders, Brenden Morrow, DAL, and Saku Koivu, MTL, 9 points)
Forward 5: Ryane Clowe, SJS: 2 points (leader, Johan Franzen, DET, 19 points)
Forward 6: Sergei Kostitsyn, MTL: 2 points (leader, Jeff Carter, PHI, 6 points)

Defenceman 1: Nicklas Lidstrom, DET: 4 points (leaders, Brian Campbell, SJS, and John-Michael Liles, COL, 5 points)
Defenceman 2: Brian Rafalski, DET: 3 points (tied for lead with Ryan Whitney, PIT, and Craig Rivet, SJS)
Defenceman 3: Niklas Kronwall, DET: 3 points (leader)
Defenceman 4: Mike Komisarek, 1 point (leader, Jason Smith, PHI, 2 points)

Goaltenders: Montreal (2 points, leader, Pittsburgh, 9 points) and Dallas (8 points, tied for lead)

Total points for Round Two: 51
Rank: 38th overall for Round Two

Comments: This round hurt. My picks were still decent overall, but Clowe and Briere returned to normal (read: mediocre) form after I jumped on their bandwagons, while guys I dropped like Hossa and Carter promptly responded with fantastic rounds. Also, Carey Price proved extremely vulnerable to a not-very-good Philly team, as did the Canadiens as a whole. The overall question from this round: who the hell is Johan Franzen and why is he suddenly amazing?

Now, on to my Round Three picks. This round encompasses both the Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup finals, leaving entrants with a tough decision: do they stack their teams with players who they think will advance, or do they try and cover their bases with some guys from each team? I'm going all-in, and stocking the lineup with only Penguins and Stars (see my predictions for reasons why I think those teams will win). As each slot only has one player available from each team, this makes the decisions somewhat easier: I've gone from four players at each slot to two. Thus, below is a breakdown of the options at each remaining slot, along with my selection and comments.

Forward 1:
Option 1: Sidney Crosby, PIT
Stats: 2-12-14 in 9 playoff games, 24-48-72 in 53 regular-season games

Option 2: Brad Richards, DAL
Stats: 2-9-11 in 12 playoff games, 20-42-62 in 74 regular-season games

Pick: Crosby

Comments: Crosby's clearly the better player here. Both are playmakers, so they won't give you huge production on the goals side, but Crosby's put up more points in less games during both the season and the playoffs.

Forward 2:
Option 1: Evgeni Malkin, PIT
Stats: 6-8-14 in 9 playoff games, 47-59-106 in 82 regular-season games

Option 2: Mike Ribeiro, DAL
Stats: 3-11-14 in 12 playoff games, 27-56-83 in 76 regular-season games

Pick: Malkin

Comments: Another pretty easy choice, pitting an MVP candidate against a very good player. Malkin's additional goals also swing the scales his way, as Ribeiro is more of a setup guy.

Forward 3:
Option 1: Marian Hossa, PIT
Stats: 5-5-10 in 9 playoff games, 29-37-66 in 72 regular-season games

Option 2: Mike Modano, DAL
Stats: 4-6-10 in 12 playoff games, 21-36-57 in 82 regular-season games

Pick: Hossa

Comments: I love Modano, but Hossa's numbers are a lot better. Modano's just as valuable and perhaps more to his team due to his complete game, but this fantasy pool is all about offense, so Hossa's the pick.

Forward 4:
Option 1: Petr Sykora, PIT
Stats: 4-2-6 in 9 playoff games, 28-35-63 in 81 regular-season games

Option 2: Brenden Morrow, DAL
Stats: 7-4-11 in 12 playoff games, 32-42-74 in 82 regular-season games

Pick: Morrow

Comments: The first Star to crack the lineup. Morrow's been carrying his team offensively, whereas Sykora is a depth scorer (a very good depth scorer, though!).

Forward 5:
Option 1: Jordan Staal, PIT
Stats: 2-1-3 in 9 playoff games, 12-16-28 in 82 regular-season games

Option 2: Jere Lehtinen, DAL
Stats: 4-4-8 in 12 playoff games, 15-22-37 in 48 regular-season games

Pick: Lehtinen

Comments: Lehtinen's clearly the better player here, as Staal's still mired in his sophomore slump.

Forward 6:
Option 1: Gary Roberts, PIT
Stats: 2-0-2 in 4 playoff games, 3-12-15 in 38 regular-season games

Option 2: Niklas Hagman, DAL
Stats: 2-0-2 in 12 playoff games, 27-14-41 in 82 regular-season games

Pick: Hagman

This one's a bit of a tough call, as Roberts is a proven clutch-time performer, but I'm going with Hagman based on his regular-season sniping ability. He's also more durable, as Roberts has missed several games with groin trouble these playoffs.

Defenceman 1:
Option 1: Sergei Gonchar, PIT
Stats: 1-4-5 in 9 playoff games, 12-53-65 in 78 regular-season games

Option 2: Stephane Robidas, DAL
Stats: 1-7-8 in 12 playoff games, 9-17-26 in 82 regular-season games

Pick: Gonchar

Comments: This one's a bit tough. Robidas is the better all-around defenceman, and has actually had a better playoffs offensively (but in more games). However, Gonchar's proven to put points up there, so I'm going with him, as this game's all about offence.

Defenceman 2:
Option 1: Ryan Whitney, PIT
Stats: 0-4-4 in 9 playoff games, 12-28-40 in 76 regular-season games

Option 2: Matt Niskanen, DAL
Stats: 0-3-3 in 11 playoff games, 7-19-26 in 78 regular-season games

Pick: Whitney

Comments: I'm going with Whitney here: he's got the better offensive track record and also plays on a more offensively-minded team.

Defenceman 3:
Option 1: Kristopher Letang, PIT
Stats: 0-2-2 in 9 playoff games, 6-11-17 in 63 regular-season games

Option 2: Philippe Boucher, DAL
Stats: 0-0-0 in 3 playoff games, 2-12-14 in 38 regular-season games

Pick: Letang

Comments: Letang has the better stats, and Boucher's also injured (hip strain) and may not crack Game 1.

Defenceman 4:
Option 1: Darryl Sydor, PIT
Stats: Healthy scratch so far in playoffs, 1-12-13 in 74 regular-season games

Option 2: Trevor Daley, DAL
Stats: 0-0-0 in 12 playoff games, 5-19-24 in 82 regular-season games

Pick: Daley

Comments: Daley is the obvious choice, as Sydor may not even get to play, but he has pretty good stats for a fourth defenceman.

Obviously, I'm going with Dallas and Pittsburgh for goaltending as well. Let's see how this goes.

Fantasy hockey update

Just a quick note about the hockey playoffs: I've entered a team in the globesports.com challenge, which works on a pretty simple basis: pick one player from each list (i.e. a list of #1 forwards, #2 forwards, #1 defencemen, etc) until you have six forwards, four defencemen and two teams' goalie tandems. You get one point for each assist and two for each goal any of your players score, plus two points for each win your goaltenders put up and an extra point for each shutout. You can also completely retool your roster after the first and second rounds. Thus, I wasn't too concerned about picking teams that could go deep into the playoffs: I was more interested in finding the most offensive player available at each slot, and particularly those playing against teams with weaker defence and goaltending. My players and their performances to date are listed below. So far, I've accumulated 15 points from the first two nights, good enough to put me into a tie for eighth (however, that's a tie with a lot of other people).

Forward #1: Alexander Ovechkin: 0 points
Alexander the Great was a pretty easy choice here, seeing how he ran away with the Rocket Richard and Art Ross trophies and should claim the Hart as well. He's also up against Martin Biron and the Flyers, not the league's best defensive team. The first game is tonight. It's impressive that my team's doing decently when my biggest star has yet to play a game: I'm expecting a solid performance from Ovechkin to help me down the stretch.

Forward #2: Evgeni Malkin: 4 points
I loaded up on Penguins, seeing as they're facing the carcass of the Ottawa Senators, who could be described as defensively-inept at the best of times. Also, any time you can take a Hart Trophy candidate who put up the second-highest points total in the league (106, second only to Ovechkin's 112) as a second forward sounds pretty good to me. The only reason Malkin was available in this slot is each list has only one player from each team, and Crosby was picked as the Penguins' top forward. Malkin's made me look pretty good so far, putting up a goal and two assists in the Penguins' 4-0 win over Ottawa Wednesday. Game Two's tonight, so hopefully he'll keep it up.

Forward #3: Marian Hossa: 1 point
Picked Hossa for most of the same reasons as Malkin: Ottawa can't play defense, and Hossa's got the advantage of playing with a great offensive team. Also, he had better regular-season stats than most of the other #3 forwards (other choices included Sakic, Modano and Bertuzzi). He rewarded me with an assist Wednesday night.

Forward #4: Petr Sykora: 2 points
Again, tremendous value for a fourth forward, especially going against a weak defensive team. Other choices included Hejduk and Shanahan. Sykora scored Wednesday, and should keep that up.

Forward #5: J.P. Dumont: 0 points
I like Dumont for the numbers he put up this year (led Nashville in goals and points with 29-43-72). I don't understand how he's their fifth forward, seeing as he outperformed Arnott, Radulov, Erat and Legwand this year, all of whom are listed above him. Other choices included John Madden, Ryan Smyth and Sergei Federov. He's also playing against Detroit, a good defensive team but one with iffy goaltending in the reanimated corpses of Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood. He played 19 minutes in the opener last night and got off two shots, but didn't score.

Forward #6: Jeff Carter: 0 points
Carter put up a very respectable 29-24-53 campaign this year for Philly, far better than most of the other options at sixth forward (Rob Niedermeyer, Chris Neil, Sean Avery). Also, Washington isn't known for its defence. We'll see how he does tonight.

Defenceman #1: Nicklas Lidstrom: 1 point
Hard not to go with the league-leader in points by defencemen (10-60-70). Lidstrom's key to Detroit's offence, and Nashville isn't known for great defence. He got an assist last night.

Defenceman #2: Mark Streit: 1 point
I've loved Streit ever since watching him play for the Swiss in the 2006 Olympics. He's had a great campaign this year for Montreal (13-49-62), and I expect him to put up some good numbers against Boston. He had an assist in the Canadiens' 4-1 win yesterday.

Defenceman #3: Niklas Kronwall: 1 point
This was one of the tougher picks to make, as Mathieu Schneider of the Ducks had better stats (12-27-39 vs. 7-28-35). However, I figured Nashville-Detroit would be higher-scoring than Anaheim-Dallas, and Dan Ellis would be more beatable than Marty Turco. So far, Kronwall has an assist and Schneider has nothing, but both teams have only played one game.

Defenceman #4: Dan Hamhuis: 0 points
Again, the possible high-scoring nature of Detroit-Nashville influenced this pick. Hamhuis is a pretty good offensive defenceman as well (4-23-27) this year.

Goalies: San Jose Sharks (3 points) and Montreal Canadiens (2 points)
All that matters in this system for goalies is wins and shutouts: I was the most confident in Montreal and San Jose winning their matchups going in, so that influenced this pick. Nabokov's also pretty good in the shutout category, while Boston doesn't have much offense, so those factors came into play as well.

I'll post perodic updates on the team during the playoffs.