By far, this may be the juiciest but the shortest of the three pieces. For those who do not remember, there were two parts before this.
The only drawback about a scrolling chat during a draft is that you cannot quite keep a record of it because everything moves so fast. In this business, there is a lot of competition. It gets pretty down and dirty in fantasy hockey. However, for the most part there is a healthy respect among “experts”.
It was a privilege to be able to sit down with 11 other heavyweights of the industry in a no-holds-barred chat. I think the best part of all may just be the conversations afterward. There is a certain instinct that screams make the mock a full fledged league. Again, that is not my decision but just a thought. There are so many diverse experts — from daily to redraft to keeper in this mock. It would be interesting to see how a year gets played.
Here were the three prevailing thoughts I had from this mock draft.
1. Experts say “you busted my queue” more than anyone else.
It was like “you destroyed my battleship” but this is really true. This phrase was uttered so much that it was amazing anyone made picks. Okay I am kidding but you do get the idea. The fun was seeing experts making 8-10 picks in advance then waiting a round only to find none of those players left. It just kept happening over and over. The worst is laughing about it until it happens to you. Basically one has seconds to make a pick after because of the slow scroll of shame to find a pick. Sometimes those picks work out but most times they do not. I had it happen twice and sadly I probably did not choose wisely. C’est la vie!
2. The term “sleeper” was just not used quite as much.
It seemed more about value. Maybe it was just me, but no slumber was to be had. People were ready from the get go. This was refreshing because so many drafts just seem to go off kilter. Even in guides and mocks, all I hear is sleeper this and sleeper that. After awhile, you just want to go okay it is enough! I try to avoid the term like the plague. I really do. The problem with early guides is this. By the time, a sleeper is out there, is he really a sleeper anymore? That answer is no and yet every year the beat often goes on fantasy hockey fans.
3. Picking Scott Cullen’s brain more would have been great.
Let’s face it. I respect Scott Cullen a ton. People forget that he covers other fantasy sports sometimes. Now his picks were top notch as always but it would have just been nice to get a little more insight. At some point, we’ll do a Q&A with Scott or another radio interview. Either way, even his picks spoke volumes.
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Just think the season is going to be something else fantasy hockey fans, strap on in!
