No Fantasy NHL? No Problem! Hello Fantasy KHL!

The time has come to anger the masses in a whole new way. Okay, maybe that is not quite our motive but I am sure all those Fantasy NHL pools are not going to believe this. In the next few weeks, a Fantasy KHL league is going to be organized with the help of The Hockey Writers. This is going to be a simple format for everyone involved but thankfully it can be done daily.

However, there are a few questions that we need to ask the masses.

• How many roster players would work best (that includes bench, etc.)?
• How would you like your draft? Via a platform like CoverItLive perhaps?
• Lastly, THW Live will be covering the league each week, would you be willing to come on the show for your take?

Now the hard part, as always, is timing. With the KHL in full swing, things will have to be set up in a method that allows for almost a fresh start. Doing a little math, a fair amount of time is about three weeks to get everything going. Stats will be kept up to date on a nightly basis. The goal is to keep the amount of teams relatively reasonable. It will be the type of league that works best with about 10-12 teams and a low amount of total roster slots.

The question has been asked several times. Why are we doing this? Simply, fantasy hockey poolies will play almost anything and besides the KHL does have quite a few NHL players in the league currently. That does create an interesting conundrum when or if the lockout ends but we have adjusted for that possibility also. In this league, we are going to create an NHL exemption spot. It will allow each GM to have one spot reserved on their roster for an NHL player. When or if that player goes back home, that spot is like an injured reserve spot basically. For our records, it will just look like an IR spot anyway. There will also be no IR slots for injuries because of the high amount of free agents that will be available.

What would this all look like? The goal would be to start the league right around October 31st or November 1st. That means a draft would have to be held at the latest the weekend right before so that participants can have time to adequately prepare. This is not an easy endeavor and I understand that. However, at the very least it will be a learning experience for everyone and most importantly it is hockey, Fantasy KHL style.

Now who wants to talk about scoring categories and rules? We tried to keep this easy to follow for everyone involved. Let’s go over those categories first and then the rules.

SCORING CATEGORIES:

• Goals and assists are worth one point each.
• Special teams (PP or SH) are one point each.
• Game winning goals (not shootout) are a point.
• Hat Tricks are worth three points.
• Wins are one point each for goalies.
• Losses will cost you a point each.
• Shutouts are worth a point.
• Goalie gives up four or more goals will cost a point.

This seems easy, right? Honestly, we hope so. Now there is those obligatory yet necessary rules that we have to mention in any fantasy league. Keep in mind, rosters will have to be in my inbox.by Sunday night for Monday morning because of the time difference. Also, this is a points based league so it really is all about accumulating the stats without your goaltending weighing you down so choose wisely. It probably would be a bad idea to draft Ilya Bryzgalov or maybe not.

Here is what we propose as far as roster rules, etc. This is pretty standard for pools like this and also if a nine man roster is implemented. This is what we have so far.

• Each team will have an six starters (three forwards, two defensemen, one goalie) and three bench players.
• Lineups will be locked EARLY on Monday mornings and last through the week, if you don’t submit a new lineup on Sunday night your lineup will carry over to the next week. A lineup submission is done by sending it to this email.
• To add or drop players it will be first come-first serve, any add/drops will have to be requested in email.
• Any trades agreed upon by teams will require an email from both teams, proving it was a mutual decision.
• There will be updates both on THW Live and The Hockey Writers as well.

It is also possible that we may have other websites jump on board with this. Needless to say, stay tuned on that front. This is again a free league. We would never charge to do something that is fun. The goal is to generate enough interest but most importantly it is a way for fantasy hockey and hockey fans to at least have something to bide their time. Good luck and again if you want to join the Fantasy KHL, please send an email to stevens8204@gmail.com. Thank you.