Can Fantasy Hockey Save the NHL?

I try to pay attention to the NHL. No really...I do. The problem is that I was born and raised in Connecticut and anyone familiar with Hockey in the northeast knows what that means. It's been ten years now, but the faithful fans in Hartford haven't forgotten Peter Karmanos' evil doings which led to the departure of the beloved Whalers. This post is not meant to cry about the Whalers (another post-another time), because Connecticut isn't the exception, but the rule in terms of Hockey interest in the United States. Listen, I'm no Hockey expert, but that's the point. The NHL needs passionate sports fans with a passing interest in Hockey to have more reason to watch their sport. This is why Fantasy Hockey needs a complete overhaul.

A few weeks back when the NHL season got underway...what's that?...yeah, the season already started...don't worry, you're not the only one who had no idea. So like I was saying, I signed up for a Yahoo Fantasy Hockey team just for sh*ts & giggles mostly, but also to force myself to follow the NHL season. Right from the start, I realized this was going to be much more difficult than I initially realized. First of all, it's impossible to pronounce more than half the league. With the exception of Sid the Kid (the only recognizable player by 95% of the non-hockey sports population), the best players are all foreign. In other words, a live draft is out of the question. After all, can you imagine trying to pronounce names like Alexander Ovechkin or Miikka Kiprusoff for two or more hours?

If by some miracle you actually got through the draft process, then you'd have to deal with the impossible task of establishing a scoring system. If I were in charge, my first order of business would be to make sure Goaltenders are treated just like pitchers in Fantasy Baseball. Goals Against Average is the same as Earned Run Average, with Wins & Losses other obvious categories. Just like in baseball, Shutouts should earn some sort of bonus points as well.

Offensive categories need to be kept as simple as possible in hopes of keeping the interest of the average fan. Goals, Assists and...umm...uhh...here we run into a major dilemma. There's not enough categories and how do our Defensemen gain any stats? That's where the fighting could come into play. Fights, Fights Won, and Knockouts would all be categories worth looking into. I have no idea how to keep track of the (+/- ) or what any of it means, and I don't think I'm alone. I realize some leagues keep track of shots on goal as a category, but that makes little sense to me. That's like rewarding a QB for incomplete passes or a Shooting Guard for missed jump shots. Finally, what in the Holy Hell are the 'PIMP' stats? PIM & PPP are both listed as categories in my Yahoo league, but I haven't the slightest clue what either of those are. I don't know if they are a good thing, a bad thing, or if somebody is just making these things up at this point. My suggestion is to dumb-down everything when it comes to Fantasy Hockey and then maybe we can work from there. Our country is enthralled by fantasy sports and this could be the only way to save the NHL at this point. Oh yeah, and bring back the Whale!