Hockey Pool Primer: Home vs. Road

Here's 2008-09's top scorers at home and on the road:

Home

Player        GP   G   A   Pts
------------------------------
Ovechkin      39   34  25   59
Parise        41   22  36   58
Malkin        41   16  41   57
Crosby        39   17  37   54
Cammalleri    40   27  26   53
Datsyuk       41   14  39   53
J. Carter     41   29  22   51
Havlat        40   21  30   51
Iginla        41   17  33   50
Getzlaf       41   17  32   49
Savard        41   14  32   46

Road

Player        GP   G   A   Pts
------------------------------
Malkin        41   19  37   56
Ovechkin      40   22  29   51
Crosby        38   16  33   49
Kovalchuk     39   21  26   47
E. Staal      41   22  24   46
Datsyuk       40   18  26   44
Backstrom     41   10  34   44
Savard        41   11  31   42
H. Sedin      41   11  31   42
Getzlaf       40    8  34   42
Nashrd        40   23  18   41

Hockey Pool Primer: Top 25 Scorers Since All Star Break

Often a good indication of who will be hot this year will be players who were hot down the stretch the previous season. Here's a look at the top 25 scorers after the All Star Game last season.

Player        GP   G   A   Pts
------------------------------
Ovechkin      33   25  26   51
Crosby        30   16  27   43
Malkin        34   16  27   43
Kovalchuk     31   23  19   42
Datsyuk       35   13  28   41
E. Staal      34   20  20   40
M. Green      33   19  21   40
Havlat        36   14  26   40
Backstrom     34   10  30   40
Parise        35   17  22   39
Ribeiro       37   11  28   39
Cammalleri    36   17  21   38
Semin         32   16  22   38
H. Sedin      34   14  24   38
Ray Whitney   34    9  29   38
Connolly      35   13  24   37
R. Nash       35   21  15   36
Iginla        36   16  20   36
Spezza        38   14  22   36
Langenbrunner 35   21  14   35
Boyes         36   13  22   35
Getzlaf       33    8  27   35
Kesler        34   17  17   34
M. Richards   33   14  20   34
St. Louis     35   13  21   34

By the way, "lesser" players who strong down the stretch included

Ott           35   14  19   33
Weiss         36    7  26   33
Ponikarovsky  35    9  22   31
Eriksson      37   14  17   31
Burrows       34   18  11   29 
Backes        36   15  14   29
Booth         33   12  17   29

Hockey Pool Primer: Most Consistent Performers

When drafting players in a hockey pool, it is a wise idea to select players who historically are very consistent. They may not make you look like a genius, but you will be in the running for the cash. Here's a look at the most consistent performers from the past three seasons.

Goals:
167 - Alex Ovechkin
137 - Ilya Kovalchuk
130 - Dany Heatley
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Assists:
220 - Joe Thornton
202 - Sidney Crosby
200 - Marc Savard
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Points:
314 - Alex Ovechkin
304 - Evgeni Malkin
296 - Joe Thornton
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Games Played:
247 - Brian Campbell
246 - multiple
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Power Play Goals:
57 - Alex Ovechkin
54 - Thomas Vanek
48 - Teemu Selanne
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Even Strength Goals:
109 - Alex Ovechkin
89 - Ilya Kovalchuk
85 - Jarome Iginla
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How To Win Your Hockey Pool

The NHL season is nearing which means it is one of the favorite times of the year for hockey fans. It is hockey pool time again folks!

No doubt most poolies are busy studying all of the various guide books and websites, resting their hopes and their pocketbooks on these projections.

The only problem is those projections are based on last year's performance and often mean diddly squat this year. It's like the stock market. You don't want to buy high. Or to reword Wayne Gretzky's famous approach to hockey, you want to go where the poolie points will be, not where they were.

All poolies know that luck has as much to do with pool success as knowledge. But the smartest poolies know that hockey history teaches us how to maximize our luck. Hockey history teaches us where to look.

With that in mind I have several categories identified. If you pick the right player or players from these categories, you should be a contender for your 2008-09 hockey pool championship!

Models of Consistency
----------------------
Some players you can rely on year in and year out. They are top minute men and rarely miss games. You can almost count on them to score their consistent point totals of the past several seasons. No, you won't hit a home run or look like a genius for taking the right gamble. But if you fill your roster with enough consistent performers, you should find yourself in the thick of the hunt.

Candidates: Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Vincent Lecavalier, Jarome Iginla, Eric Staal, Joe Sakic, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Daniel Briere, Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf, Marian Hossa.

Rebounders
------------
Every year a few players slip from their point productions of norm. The following year these players tend to slip down poolie draft lists too. Some are probably good to stay away from, but others will undoubtedly rebound. If you can pick up a rebound player with a middle draft pick, you will be rewarded.

Candidates: Patrick Marleau, Slava Kozlov, Mike Cammalleri, Michal Nylander, Simon Gagne, Jonathan Cheechoo, Patrice Bergeron

Good Players On Bad Teams
-----------------------------
If you have participated in just a few poolie drafts, you will have noticed how the players from the best teams are generally picked first. But many of these players, especially support players, are going at a premium price. Just because good players plays for a weak offensive team does not mean you should wait to take them. In fact, you'd do pretty well in your pool if you took the top scorer from each of the worst 10 teams in the league. So don't overlook teams like the LA Kings or Atlanta Thrashers.

Candidates: Ilya Kovalchuk, Marc Savard, Anze Kopitar, Olli Jokinen, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Rick Nash, Nathan Horton,

Young Potential
----------------
Picking rookies is always a risky gamble, so I prefer to look at young players who have been in the league a couple of years but are still looking to reach their potential. Players like Mike Richards and Mike Green from last season.

Candidates: Steve Stamkos, James Sheppard, Corey Perry, Jordan Staal, Nathan Horton, Nikolai Zherdev, Steve Bernier, Jonathan Toews, Kyle Turris, Mikko Koivu, R.J. Umberger, Andrew Ladd

Players On The Move
----------------------
Joining a new team is often a rejuvenating spark for veteran players. Perhaps a breakout season is in the works for some of these players.

Candidates: Markus Naslund, Micheal Ryder, Miroslav Satan, Nikolai Zherdev, Vaclav Prospal, Alex Tanguay, Erik Cole, Brendan Morrison

On the flip side, savvy poolies will note the vacancies from those who left have to be filled by someone. Watch for increased ice time possibilities in these situations.

Point Men
-----------
Generally speaking, forwards score more than defensemen. But selecting a top defenseman who sees lots of power play time is worth considering. Here's the top PP defensemen:

Candidates: Dion Phaneuf, Sergei Zubov, Sergei Gonchar, Andrei Markov, Tobias Enstrom,
Nicklas Lidstrom, Kimmo Timonen, Brian Campbell

Also note the NHL's top PP scorers amongst forwards from last season: Alexei Kovalev, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Alexander Ovechkin, Daniel Briere, Joe Thornton, Henrik Zetterberg, Ryan Getzlaf

By the way, tune in tomorrow when I dedicate my top ten list to ten players I think could have breakout seasons in 2008-09.

Stanley Cup Playoff Hockey Pools

I am far from the best person to ask when it comes to who you should take in your playoff hockey pool. My only real suggestions, stick with the tried and true, and pick players from the 4 teams you think will go the furthest.

I'll let you decide who the final four will be, but here's a little help with the top 25 active playoff performers:

Now obviously this includes a couple of players who will not be in this year's playoffs, and a couple of old warhorses who likely will have slowed in pace by now. But hopefully this list gives you an idea as to who is a good playoff performer historically.