These GMs call themselves The Original Six Fantasy Hockey League and they are into their 35th season.
New members of The Original Six fantasy hockey league are told right off the bat, if you’re going to get married, tell your wife upfront that the pool is priority. “You’re allowed to miss the pool for a death in the family, but other than that you gotta show up,” says 65-year-old Cam Fischer, a member of the league since its inception in 1979. To date, four members of the original six remain; one dropped out and the other died from a heart attack.
Nowadays, fantasy hockey pools are all run on computers, but in the early years of the league, before the Internet and even fax machines, all draft picks, stats, and changes were entered manually with a pen and paper- with math being done by fingers, counting out loud or in later rounds using a calculator. The Hockey News and later The Hockey News Pool Guide served as the league’s bible. Every Tuesday, Fischer would receive in the mail his issue of THN and, by hand, would enter all the stats for each team, a process that took up to two hours. In most modern pools, GMs can add and drop players with the click of a mouse. The Original Six League instead held a “mini-draft” every quarter so poolies could make moves and acquire available players.
After drafting New York Islanders defenseman Denis Potvin third overall in the first year, Fischer created a dynasty by selecting an 18-year-old center making his NHL debut following a 104-point season in the WHA. Rival members of the pool made every effort to strip Fischer of Wayne Gretzky and separate The Great One’s goals and assists, a common practice in hockey pools during Gretzky’s career.
The genesis of Original Six was a group of guys, all hardcore hockey fans, looking for an excuse to get together for a weekend and match hockey wits. The notion to select NHLers for their own team and act as GMs grew organically. Most guys were in their late 20s during the first draft in Edmonton in 1979. Today, many of them are retired. Members ofthe pool pay annual dues. However, only a small percentage of the money is put toward the prize pool. Most of the money collected covers the cost of the draft weekend, held in various locales in Western Canada each year. It includes accommodations, meals, a round of golf and, of course, drinking. Participants live in various locations across Western Canada, but look forward to getting together each September for the draft getaway.While many hockey pools struggle to stay together and facilitate a decent draft year after year, The Original Six fantasy league has withstood the test of time, an annual tradition which, for the four original members and the new recruits, transcends hockey. “The pool developed from six guys who didn’t really know each other into a fraternity,” Fischer said. “These are my blood brothers I’ve had for more than 30 years. We have a lot of fun together. “It’s not so much about hockey anymore. It’s about camaraderie.”
Boys… I have sent a letter to The Hockey News telling them about our band of brothers and how we would love to share our story with them for next year’s edition of the THN Pool Guide, or better yet, the following year which will be our 20th Season. I have not heard back from them yet, however it is my mission to get our story in the magazine so I will pursue it with every fiber of my body!
