Author: Buffalo Winter

ESPN  Fantasy Hockey League

Here along the Lake – When you choose to participate in an ESPN FHL you become a team manager with multiple tools at your disposal, beginning with your draft and up to each day of player movement.

Buffalo Winter manages one fantasy team each NHL season going all in no matter what, be it first place or ninth place even with no chance of a playoff seeding, mustering all the hockey acumen to have fun and be competitive.

Managing an ESPN FHL team requires a bit of commitment, usually five or so minutes a day should be bare minimum if you are endeavoring to be successful, now life takes precedent over fantasy and we all have lives to live, and 22 weeks is a long season.

Chicago Pro H2H Points 10 Team League

After the first week Buffalo Winter manages to earn the second highest score overall earning first in the West Division with Big City Snipes who happens to be this week’s matchup.

Goaltenders (use them or not)

Immediately upon conclusion of the draft, Buffalo Winter dropped both goalies that were required selections in the draft and picked up two more point producing skaters.

The theory is that goaltenders earn numerous points with a shutout or low scoring win, but a high scoring win or loss will cost severe subtraction of points, goalies are a high risk, high reward player, and every goaltender loses and gets pulled from a game eventually.

Watch List

This tool enables a manager to create a list of skaters and goaltenders to monitor easily and to switch out non-point producing players with ones that are generating points while making up to seven transactions each week that enables flexibility in getting the best players available.

Tonight and this afternoon’s Matchups

This is what we have been waiting for

Sabres 5 (en) – Panthers 2  The Florida Panthers are enduring injury, illness, and playing without their number one goaltender in net, and that was all the opportunity the Sabers required to win big at home for victory number one.

Head Coach Ruff insists that this is how the Sabres play and I believe him, the only time Buffalo did not look good last night was during the Panthers’ first goal nine minutes into the game.

It took “Get out of the Way” Greenway who just manned his way to the front of the Florida net to score and Mr. Thompson’s goal 81 seconds apart to tie the game and then take the lead with less than three minutes remaining in the first period.

The Sabres score early and late in the second period to take the commanding 4-1 lead before the Panthers get a tip in goal from some of their top players in the last couple minutes of the period to get within two.

With barely over one minute left in the game Mr. Tuch with a great read and takeaway snaps a high wrist shot into the empty net from along the dasher boards for the 5-2 final score.

ESPN FHL Update  A fantasy update/report/analysis will be posted for 22 consecutive Mondays beginning tomorrow, following Buffalo Winter’s only FHL entry for the 2024-25 NHL season with waiver wire transactions, watch list use, standings and statistics.

Exasperating and disappointing

Sabres 1 – Kings 3 (en)  In the first period Buffalo had a 5-on-3 for over a minute followed by a 5-on-4 for just under a minute, then the Sabres during a penalty were awarded a penalty shot, amassed a 13 SOG 5 bombardment, yet the period ended scoreless.

Another Buffalo barrage brought a 14 SOG 6 shelling where the only goal scored was a shorthanded breakaway courtesy of penalty killer Tuch providing the Sabres a 1-0 lead heading into the third period.

In the third period the Kings tuned the tables with a 12 SOG 6 volley of their own as their Captain scores a natural hat trick with the third goal an empty netter to seal the road victory for Los Angeles.

It is only game three but a very disappointing two game Global Series followed by a tight, low scoring home opener loss is enough to create some inkling of doubt in Buffalo’s head coach, but it is still early, right?

“Original Six” fans have been misled

Here along the Lake – Most casual fans of NHL hockey make the supposition that the media coined term, “original six” applies to the very first six teams of the NHL, and nothing could be further from the truth.

As a young man I tended bar in my city for over 20 years and have benefited from cocksure customers that have implored me to “wager” with them about this very subject, and after reluctantly agreeing to do so…collected their money, sheepishly, but still collected.

The following is a timeline from 1917 and the inception of the NHL after the folding of the NHA to the most recent expansion, including the only time two teams merged into one.

1917-18  First NHL games were played, a 22 game schedule with 5 Teams

1918-19  One team withdraws, 4 Teams

1924-25  The NHL granted two new franchises, 6 Teams  (These are the “Original Six” teams of the NHL)

1925-26  One team withdraws, two additional franchises granted, 7 Teams

1926-27  The NHL increases by three new franchises, 10 Teams  (The NHL grew to 10 teams in its first decade of operation)

1931-32  One team withdraws, another only for one season 8 Teams

1932-33  One team resumes play, 9 Teams

1935-36  One team is terminated, 8 Teams

1937-38  One team withdraws, 7 Teams

1942-43  One team withdraws, 6 Teams  (Nearly 20 seasons pass before the NHL drops back down to six teams)

1967-68  The NHL increases by six new franchises, 12 Teams  (Over 20 seasons of having returned to only six teams before the media coined the term, “original six”)

1970-71  Two new NHL franchises awarded, 14 Teams

1972-73  Two new NHL franchises awarded, 16 Teams

1974-75  Two new NHL franchises awarded, 18 Teams

1978-79  Two teams merge, 17 Teams

1979-80  Four new NHL franchises awarded, 21 Teams

1991-92  The NHL grants one franchise, 22 Teams

1992-93  Two new NHL franchises awarded, 24 Teams

1993-94  Two new NHL franchises awarded, 26 Teams

1998-99  The NHL grants one franchise, 27 Teams

1999-00  The NHL grants one franchise, 28 Teams

2000-01  Two new NHL franchises awarded, 30 Teams

2017-18  The NHL grants one franchise, 31 Teams

2021-22  The NHL grants one franchise, 32 Teams 

All in all the NHL has increased 17 times and decreased six times including one merger over its long history.

The media coined term, “original six” was meant as a nod from the press describing and to discern between, the established teams from the incoming six teams that made up the new and large 12 team NHL.

First week of competition

I appreciate a time honored trophy that has been retired, brought back and then retired again, with different uses for well over three decades in the NHL.

You have until next Monday night to make a selection, you can privately email buffalowinter61@hotmail.com the answer or post it in this discussion thread if you prefer.