November 5, 1998

With one week to go in the first period, I lead by 20 points over Mike, 134 to 114. Mike made up a lot of ground late in the week as some of his guys got hot and all of a sudden my team got cold. Chris has moved into third place with 101 and Tony has 100. Chris knocked me from the ranks of the unbeaten while Tony and Mike go to 3-0. Two teams (Jay and Rick) are winless.

Here are some of the things going in the world of the EFHL.

I would have to guess that this week we saw a record number of moves due to some injuries and us running out of patience with guys that suck. 16 moves were made including a few reserve changes. Brett made five moves and Tony three. I would recommend checking your moves to make sure I got everything right.

I created a minor stir (at least between Chris and Brett) when I dropped Roberts. Chris won the coin flip and is rewarded with a guy on a team that has 9 goals in its last 8 games. Well, at least it's better than having two guys on a team that has 9 goals in its last 8 games like I did before I dropped him.

With the number of moves made, I guess it would be too much to ask not to have one or two moves cause some problems. Like last year Brett tried to rescind a move, and like last year you still can't do it, even when the move is to merely be in a possible random draw for a player. Brett decided on Tuesday that he didn't want Roberts after all. Rick tried to drop a player he didn't have (in this case a player he had cut previously during the week.) So, in response to this and another potential cause of confusion, here are some rule additions/clarifications.

• Once a move is made, it can't be rescinded. Once you request a player who was dropped the previous week (possible drawing), you can't take that back either. You can make another move (counting toward your 20) if you wish (such as Bill did last week, picking up and dropping Rucinsky).
• If you attempt to drop a player you don't have, the moves does not become effective and you will lose the player you tried to pick up if another team picks him up before you specify a real drop.
• If you wish to be in a possible drawing for a player (which means you want to pick up a player dropped in the last stats summary), be aware that if you give me an alternate selection (in case you lose the drawing), you will only get the alternate player if he is still available after the drawing.

Here is a hypothical example of the last item. Mike e-mails me Thursday requesting to pick up Gerald Diduck after seeing he is now available. He wants Bret Hedican if there ends up being a drawing for Diduck and he loses. If he does lose a drawing, he can only get Hedican if he has not been picked up yet. This is because if someone else would want Hedican, it is not fair for them to have to wait for the results of the drawing to know if they have him.

USA Today has added some cool stats that if you are interested, can help you determine where you stand for the week before I get the stats to you. On their main stats page, http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/shn/shnstix.htm, there are links to stats for the last 7 days for all players and goalies alphabetically. A quick look at this info on Wednesday morning and you can calculate your score and your opponent's for the week. There are also links to the stats for the last 14, 21, and 28 days, along with who's hot and who's not. One thing that they don't have from last year is the defensemen scoring leaders.

Hopefully, any calculations you make using this web page will agree with my stats. If you ever have any differences, let me know.

This week the Medicine Hat teams, currently 1-6 against the Moose Jaw division, have a chance to redeem themselves, as this week's schedule calls for interdivisional battles. The mismatch of the week features Mike (3-0) vs. Jay (0-3). At this point, Jay is probably wondering why he got into this league.

EFHL newsletters

EFHL home page