This is the second installment in Armchair Pool's seven part series on how to manage a hockey pool. For a summary of the entire series, see the blog post entitled "How to organize a hockey pool. A seven part series".
So you've
decided on your hockey pool format and you're ready to get things going. Unless you have decided to do a box style pool, you are going to have to organize a draft. While there are many things you need to do to execute a successful draft, right now there are only two things you need to worry about. Where is the draft going to take place? and when is the draft going to take place?.
Where should you hold the draft?
There are really only two choices here. You either hold the draft at your house, or at a pub. And this decision is easy. If the draft is going to be relatively short - say no more than 3 hours - then you can hold it at a pub. If the draft is going to be longer than 3 hours, forget the pub. Concentration begins to wane as the wings, the beer and the cute waitress all descend upon your poolies and you will find that later rounds will be difficult to get through. Team lists get ruined by a spilled beer, cheat sheets are misplaced on a trip to the bathroom and chaos will take over your pool as your poolies begin to get tired and full of booze.
The other downside of the pub is space. Hockey pool drafts nowadays are complex affairs and a lot of poolies arrive with a large footprint. Multiple cheat sheets, magazines and even lap tops are not uncommon at a draft. This can be hard to accommodate at a pub table. On the flip side, a comfortable living room with lots of amenities (comfy chairs, lots of table space, a fridge, wireless internet and a clean bathroom) will go a long way to help you get through your 7 hour marathon draft.
When should you hold your draft?
Some people insist on holding their draft a few days or a week into the regular season. The rationale being that if you wait a week, you can see how the teams are playing, what goalies are starting, what rookies are going to stay with the team, etc. Having this information will help you make better picks.
No kidding. And if I wait until the All Star break my picks will be
even better.
The whole point of the draft is to use hard research and hockey savvy to make great picks. If you are able to just wait and see who plays well and who doesn't before your selections, then it really takes away an aspect of the draft. So, without question, you should hold your draft before the regular season starts. This allows enough time for information regarding rosters and injuries to become available while still keeping enough of the unknown to make the draft challenging.
I recommend holding the draft the weekend before the regular season to avoid the majority of work conflicts. Pick a Saturday or Sunday and do a late morning draft that ends before dinner time. This gives pool participants enough time before the draft to do any last minute research and get to the draft on time. It also allows people to make it home for any dinner plans they may have, Sounds silly, but it will make a difference when trying to recruit people to join your pool.
Tune in tomorrow for Part 3 of our series, "Inviting your poolies". It will discuss tips and tricks to get people to commit to your pool.
