NHL Franchise Boys

Surely you remember these fellas from Alberta and Saskatchewan who make up the Original Six fantasy hockey league… the oldest of its kind dating back to 1979. Their story was in the 2013-14 THN Ultimate Fantasy Guide and now they published more details in the online version of THN Post-to- Post, where they invited Matt Larkin (editor/writer) for some golf, storytelling and, of course, their annual draft. Below is an excerpt from the article as told by Matt… hopefully he will do our story this summer.

Joe L is the guy on the far right down on one knee… ha ha ha!

“The group gives me a royal welcome when I arrive at the golf course. They’re eager to get down to brass tax and discuss their league, which includes keepable players, trades and free agency. They ask me who to retain and drop on their teams and for draft sleepers, but they truly don’t need to, as they really know their hockey and are fine without my expertise. I’m impressed.

The draft weekend is expertly planned – and awesome.

Night 1 is the “THN versus the World” draft for bragging rights. On one team: members of the pool’s original incarnation. On another team: the “rookies.” And on the third team: just me, representing the magazine.

But Night 2 is what matters, what these guys have spent the summer preparing for, and it’s the most elaborate draft I’ve ever seen. It opens with “official business,” as Gord reads meeting minutes about rule changes – seriously, they have meeting minutes – and the gang holds votes on rules. This is how hardcore a 35-year-old fantasy league is.

Then there is a ceremony with official trophy presentations for the regular season and playoffs. As reigning king Conrad (regular season champ, and that’s who is acknowledged as the true big Kahuna) explains upon accepting, the league creates a pretty-looking trophy so it can go on their mantles and not piss off their wives. Cam passes a bottle of Sambuca around the room and everyone takes a swig to honor Lawrence. The guys take turns showing me their names on the trophy over the years. Some are in decade-long droughts, while others, like Conrad, are enjoying dominant stretches. Then the draft commences. Between selections, the only sounds are shuffling papers and pins dropping. Each guy announces his pick like he’s an NHL GM: “From the Pittsburgh Penguins…right wing…James Neal.” The early rounds belong to Jim (Ryan Getzlaf, Anze Kopitar) and Craig (Logan Couture, Evander Kane) and the late ones to Helmut (Alex Galchenyuk, Slava Voynov), which is not a surprise after he and I discussed the night before that drafts are won in the trenches. Conrad is in a tough spot, having no picks for several rounds after mortgaging his future by trading picks last season to win the title. And when he does pick, they are head scratchers, or so I think. Marcus Johansson? Alex Killorn?

And so the season commences. At various junctures throughout, the league will hold “mini drafts” allowing the GMs to add and drop players in free agency. The experience is more analog than digital, done without a wifi connection. The picks are spoken in person instead of blips appearing in an online draft window. When I explain the modern way to the guys, they furrow their brows. An online draft seems so foreign to them – as it would defeat the purpose of the whole weekend. It’s about keeping a group of friends together for decades, not winning. Well, maybe a little about winning. It’s the perfect way to run a fantasy hockey league – and it’s no surprise that the world’s oldest sets such a good example.”

UPDATE: As you know, I have sent a letter to THN commending them on this enlightening story and also to let them know about our franchise pool. They have acknowledged receipt of the letter and I received an email from Edward Fraser, Managing Editor of THN, advising he has forwarded our letter to the editors of the hockey pool guide. How cool is that, huh????

The clock is ticking for a few rookies. It is getting dangerously close to the time for NHL teams to make a decision on whether their prized teenagers should stay in the NHL or be returned to their junior teams without burning a year off their cap-friendly entry-level contacts. Junior-eligible rookies can play up to nine games before activating the first year of their entry-level contract on the 10th.

Who will stay… Who will go… (stats as of Oct.20, 2013)

Good Luck Kids!

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!