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Higgins Hockey Fantasy Index
by Paul on 09/07/10 at 05:20 PM ET
Comments (5)
If you are in a fantasy league and need some help, maybe the Higgins Hockey Fantasy Index: 2010-2011 by Rob Higgins could give you that one piece of advice you are searching for. And besides, I have a small blurb in the book.
The book will soon be available at Amazon.com and you can get it in Kindle format too.
I asked Rob “why a fantasy hockey book?”
Rob Higgins: I just wanted to create the book I have always wished existed. An annual hockey book that comes loaded with information that speaks directly to the tracking of player values. With tools that I can actually use. My stat - HFI - is a scouting tool that a hockey fan can utilize to evaluate players for the purpose of a fantasy league and it’s a much more telling and reliable resource than, say, a bunch of dudes predicting the future, with all due respect to the dudes whose job it is to write thousands and thousands of words about what’s GOING to happen.
My book is more review than preview and tracks HFIs all the way back to the lockout. With a large enough sample like that patterns emerge that create a sense of comparative value. Patrick Marleau has hit the 2.00 HFI mark every year since the lockout but one, for example. Before the lockout he didn’t hit that mark once. Nada. I’m comfortable expecting him, despite his obvious shortcomings, to be a 2.00+ player in the modern game. That’s something I can use.
Hockey may be one of the most random and variable-driven sports in existence, but broaden your perspective enough and there are pictures to be seen and stories to be told. That’s the essence of the book - taking in enough data that goes through a common filter in order to get a sense of actual value. I incorporate all of the metrics the league itself puts out there and when you take a step back and use it to look at all 800+ NHL hockey players, you get a sense of what the league’s population is comprised of, statistically speaking, and in what numbers they exist.
I introduce two stats of my own ... HFI and RV. Both are driven by the numbers the players produce and are per-game, rate-based perspectives that reflect a player’s value in terms of the stat categories kept by the NHL and used in the majority of fantasy leagues. Just understanding how players relate to each other in terms of HFI and RV puts one ahead of most folks as the majority of hockey fans still look to goals and assists as prime indicators. HFI is the only single statistic I’ve put much stock in for as long as I can remember and it’s a proven winner. .
Hell, I’ll put it up against the trains of logic being currently employed by certain NHL franchises ...
As people that listen to XM know, I watch alot of hockey and LOVE doing in-depth analysis of the game. As I always say, the absolute best way to understand how good a hockey player is, is to watch him play. It’s that simple. When it comes to numbers, no single stat that the NHL employs today gets to the core of a player’s actual value quicker and more accurately than HFI - I know this to be true because it’s what I’ve been using to win my keeper league for 6 years in a row now. That ain’t bragging, that’s just plain truthin’.
I’ve always seen stats for their totality, since I was a kid when I ran hockey pools for my grade school teachers (sans internet) .. I’ve just always been fascinated by the single digit that reflects the sum of a player’s contribution. When I pair that perspective with the amount of hockey I watch filling a book for Simon and Schuster / Touchstone proved to be much easier than I anticipated it would be. They had to cut me off at 500 pages!
It’s a pretty huge book and I can honestly say that’s it’s so loaded with fact-driven information that it’s an interesting read for a hockey fan, whether they’re into gaming or not. In one of the book’s chapters I apply the HFI filter to the NHL’s 1,000 point club to gain some historical perspective and that stuff is just plain fun to discover. Brian Propp would have been gaming GOLD!
So, yeah, as much as it’s a fantasy hockey book it’s the annual read / bible that I’ve always wished I could buy in early September. It also features team reports from 30 beat writers from around the league including Garrioch, Panaccio, Hunter, Heika, Harrington, Conroy, Al-Bashir and many, many more as well as contribution from Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy fame, ex-Leaf Asst Gm Bill Watters and Hockey Night in Canada personality and Hall Of Fame writer Scott Morrison.
Even Steve Larmer weighs in on some of the variables that one cannot ignore when discussing player values and life in the NHL. It was an honour to put the Higgins Hockey Fantasy Index together and the contributing writers all did so out of the kindness of their own hearts, and for that I am truly grateful. Having their day-to-day, insider perspectives to augment the statistical analysis for each team is absolutely killer.
Note to Toronto area fantasy hockey players- You may be interested in this (spend an evening with Rob and get some helpful hints).
Filed in: Fantasy Hockey and Gaming | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
I preordered from Amazon and just today got an email stating that the book as not yet been released and they have no date. This sucks. My draft is coming up in a couple of weeks and I was really hoping to have it by then.
Anyone know where I can get it today?
Posted by awould on 09/08/10 at 11:09 AM ET
awould, I have been told it will be available shortly on Amazon.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 09/08/10 at 11:11 AM ET
Good, thanks! I was hoping that was the case and my order is still open. Was thinking of getting it on Kindle (it is available), but I use the iPod app and I suspect this book is more of a thumb your way through thing and not very kindle-friendly.
Posted by awould on 09/08/10 at 11:15 AM ET
Very cool!
FYI one of the other bibles of fantasy hockey forecasting I use is available online now too:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VP2ZL8
—
I know this to be true because it’s what I’ve been using to win my keeper league for 6 years in a row now. That ain’t bragging, that’s just plain truthin’.
Boy that must be a fun league to be in.
Posted by Hippy Dave from Portland by way of Detroit on 09/08/10 at 12:57 PM ET
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Awesome Paul!
I’ve had mine pre-ordered ever since I saw Higgy post this on facebook. I’ve listened to Rob on XM for the past 2.5 years and value his opinion on fantasy hockey more than anyone. No I’m not on his payroll.
Posted by Heaton on 09/07/10 at 07:03 PM ET