Week 1: Mid-Week Analysis
/Don't get used to these mid-week scoreboard updates, but I had some time to enter stats tonight so you guys can get a look at where your teams stand going into the weekend. The stats include games played Tuesday through Friday of this week.
The AHL's schedule is heavily skewed to the weekends, so the majority of your team's stats will be earned over the next two days, as opposed to the last four. Still, it's probably better than having nothing to go on. And it's our first week, so I know everyone is very curious to see how this experiment in fantasy hockey will actually work. That said, here are some noteworthy stats from the two leagues.
East Mid-Week Analysis (AHL)
The Archers currently hold the league lead in overall points with 29, thanks to Justin Schultz and Oliver Ekman-Larsson each scoring two goals and an assist. That's right, it's the defense putting up the offense for this team. They're currently up 29-12 over the Nighthawks.
The match-up currently yielding the most combined points is between the Arsenal and (my) Barracudas, who are tied at 21 apiece. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault is putting up numbers in all three stat categories for Atlanta while all of Tampa Bay's forwards are chipping in.
The most lopsided game going on right now has the Lagers up 27-5 on the Mammoths. But it helps that Milwaukee is the only team currently getting points from all six of its players.
Elsewhere, the Sentinels are up 24-3 against the Guardians, who made no roster changes after being 100% Autopicked at last weekend's draft. The Motorheads are just edging the Hitmen, 18-17 while the Olympiques and Armada are tied at 10. The Blue Crabs have a 20-16 advantage over the Steelcats and the Mariners are up 9-6 on the Colonials.
West Mid-Week Analysis (AHL)
As of right now, the defending champion Beasts are running away with it in the IceHL WEST, with a dominating 36-6 lead over the Cavalry. But 15 of those points stem from a major penalty and game misconduct assessed to Chris Kreider for a boarding incident on Friday.
There are a couple of other very uneven games going on at the moment. The Huskies are up 29-3 on the Sharpshooters. Zack Kassian already has 17 points for Alaska on 2 goals and 9 penalty minutes. Meanwhile, the Renegades are showing life with a 24-2 lead over the Narhwals. Brian Connelly leads the way with 10 points for Regina. The Northwest expansion team is the only one in either league to currently be without a single point in the offensive stat categories.
The Lumberjacks and Wave are currently combining for a league-leading 41 points, with Vancouver on top 28-13. T.J. Hensick has 2 goals and an assist for 11 points so far. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is putting up the same numbers for California.
Elsewhere, the Winterhawks lead 27-9 over the Hellcats while the Gators enjoy a 17-6 cushion over the Outlaws. In a Pacific Northwest battle, Portland is ahead of Seattle 17-14 while the lowest-scoring match-up to this point belongs to the Kodiaks and Scorpions, where Edmonton is up 8-2.
And that's where the IceHL stands late on a Friday night. Hope you guys are enjoying the AHL action. It may be all we see for a while.
So you know how I keep referring to this IceHL/AHL thing as an experiment? It's mainly because there are so many unpredictable factors. And we got our first one this morning.
After I posted the mid-week scoreboards last night, Archers GM Ryan Laden emailed me to say that he picked up on some discrepancies in stats. Basically, some players were being credited with more assists than they actually earned this week.