| Picking a winning hockey pool involves more than | | | | is pick a player who is going to see a ton of ice time |
| simply going online and downloading last year's scoring | | | | each night and is also going to be a major factor on |
| statistics and starting from the top down. Anybody | | | | the power play. |
| can do that! To be a successful hockey | | | | In some hockey pools, it's also customary to pick at |
| prognosticator, you must be able to find players who | | | | least one goaltender for the year. Depending on how |
| will exceed their point totals from last year and not | | | | points are allocated, goaltenders can be big point |
| simply go with last year's Art Ross Trophy winner with | | | | producers in any hockey pool. The best advice is to |
| your first pick. | | | | pick a goaltender that is an established number 1 that |
| This theory holds true if you picked Tampa Bay's | | | | will play 65 to 75 games and has a good defence in |
| Martin St. Louis to repeat his 2003-2004 season when | | | | front of him that can earn him a few shutouts. Be |
| he tallied 94 points. Last season, I'm willing to wager | | | | careful in picking a good goaltender that plays for a |
| that St. Louis was a hot commodity and probably | | | | bad team - i.e. Nikolai Khabibulin on Chicago or Olaf |
| picked in everybody's hockey pool in the first or | | | | Kolzig in Washington. Remember, no goalie is capable |
| second round because he had one good season. Can't | | | | of winning a game alone, so make sure he has a solid |
| find St. Louis on last year's scoring list? Well, that's | | | | a solid team in front of him. |
| because he didn't make it into last year's Top 50 | | | | It also pays do some homework and find out if any |
| scorers - in fact St. Louis finished tied for 76th overall | | | | players are injured before the season starts or if they |
| in scoring with Maple Leafs "super sniper" Darcy | | | | are involved in contract disputes. Having players |
| Tucker with a grand total of 61 points. | | | | missing from your line in the early months will set you |
| Another strategy to remember in picking a winning | | | | back early in the season and you may never get a |
| hockey pool is selecting players who have a history of | | | | chance to catch up. Similarly, if want to pick injury |
| consistency. When I think of consistency, I think of | | | | prone players, make sure your hockey pool rules |
| players like Joe Sakic, Brad Richards, Mats Sundin, and | | | | include a re-draft halfway through the season where |
| Daniel Alfredsson. These players are also consistent | | | | you can drop players who are injured or |
| "point-per-game" players which is crucial in picking a | | | | underperforming. You may also want to check in to |
| successful hockey pool. Even though some of these | | | | find out what players are in the final years of their |
| players won't compete for this year's Art Ross trophy, | | | | contract and may be looking for that big raise the |
| they have a history of finishing in the top 25 players in | | | | following year. Players who are due to become |
| scoring. These types of players are guys you know | | | | unrestricted free agents at the end of the season are |
| who are going to show up every night to play and you | | | | usually the best examples of this philosophy. |
| will thank yourself every night when you look at the | | | | Keep in mind too; a player may have missed some |
| box scores. | | | | games the previous season, thus his stats might not |
| In most hockey pools, it is usually required to take at | | | | be at the very top of the list. An excellent example of |
| least a couple of defensemen but knowing what round | | | | this strategy is Bruins centre Marc Savard. Two |
| to start picking defensemen is another strategy. Last | | | | seasons ago, Savard tallied 52 points in only 45 games |
| season, the top scoring defenseman in the NHL was | | | | and therefore didn't register in the top 25 in scoring. |
| Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom who finished with 80 points - | | | | Last season, Savard played in all 82 games and rung |
| good enough for 25th in overall points. The next | | | | up 97 points with the Atlanta Thrashers. |
| highest defenseman was Dallas' Sergei Zubov who | | | | So on draft day, print out a copy of the top 250-300 |
| had 71 points and finished 48th overall in scoring. The | | | | players from the previous season and go through |
| bottom line here is only 2 D-Men finished in the top 50 | | | | every player thoroughly and ask yourself, can this |
| so don't waste your time worrying about selecting a | | | | player improve on his stats from last year? Could this |
| defenseman in the first few rounds of your hockey | | | | player do better now that he's playing on a different |
| pool. If you think a forward is still out there that could | | | | team with different linemates? |
| conceivably score more points then the defenseman | | | | Follow this advice closely and with a little luck, you may |
| you want to pick, take the forward - it will probably | | | | find yourself taking home the big prize when April rolls |
| pay off in the long run. However, when it does come | | | | around next year! |
| time to start picking defensemen, the number one rule | | | | HockeyDraft. |