Along the way during the draft I’d delete the lines for players drafted, which allowed my ranking system to dynamically reflect the changing nature of the available talent remaining. At times it became apparent that only a few relatively elite performers remained in a given position, and that helped inform my choices during the middle rounds.

So yeah, there's the one paragraph explanation of why I won't be winning Mirtle's hockey pool this season. I had my usual draft: thrilled with the early parts, then lost the ability (or perhaps, will) to select the best player available about halfway through, and it ended up being a bit of a monkey show.

In an 18-man draft, I had the coveted/dreaded corner spot at the far end -- #18. The upside of this spot is that you just take the guys you have targeted, and don't concern yourself too much with whether it's 15 picks early, because Hey! -- there are 34 picks before it comes back to you. The downside -- apart from picking 18th in the first round -- is that it's a bit too tempting to reach for guys; "I have two picks, I can afford to gamble with one of them!". Here's how it went:

Last pick of 1st/First pick of 2nd: Kipper and Lidstrom. Kipper could return to his spot as the #1 fantasy goalie this season, Lidstrom will have points, ST points, +/-, everything except the PIM. One of the few elite D-men (PS Phaneuf was already gone).

L3/F4: Paul Stastny and Nicklas Backstrom. With an anchor goalie and d-man on board, it was time to try to load up on forwards. Here's two guys who could quite conceivably finish Top 10 in scoring this season. Backstrom's value is somewhat contingent on how much he plays with Ovechkin, but he was a 4th overall pick and is probably near the point where he'll produce regardless.

L5/F6: Alex Tanguay and Martin Havlat. Don't suppose I need to explain why I like Tanguay for the umpteenth time. As for Havlat, his health is a gamble, but he's a superstar when healthy.

L7/F8: Niklas Kronwall and Sam Gagner. When two of the scoring categories are Shots and +/-, Red Wings d-men seem like a good bet. I went too early with Gagner, somehow not realizing that Horcoff was still on the board.

L9/F10: Jason Blake and Kari Lehtonen. Blake is due to bounce back in the offensive categories, I think. He was, what, 3rd in the league in SOG last season? Lehtonen was the last undisputed starting G on the board, and had a surprisingly decent .916 SV% last season.

L11/F12: Mark Giordano and Jason Williams. I wanted Gio, so I took him. Williams seemed like the last decent bet for 25 goals on the board.

L13/F14: Matthew Lombardi and Mats Sundin. I always pick Lombo; wouldn't want to be left behind if this is finally the year he busts out some impressive counting stats. Sundin or Havlat figures to be my steal of the draft.

L15/F16: Jaroslav Halak and M-A Bergeron. There's a non-trivial chance that Halak will be the #1 G on one of the best teams in the league by mid-autumn. I'm guessing MAB's icetime will be massively torqued by Lemaire to the direct benefit of his stats (lots of O-zone faceoffs, PP time, shifts against 3rd/4th liners). Either that or he'll be a healthy scratch.

L17/F18: David Moss and Curtis Glencross. Moss I wanted, I remain convinced that he's going to play an important role this season. Glencross (god love him) was a panic pick, I just could not find anyone I wanted scrolling through the board. I just dropped him for Richard Zednik. No offense GlenX!

L19/F20: Denis Grebeshkov and Tomas Fleischmann. I needed a 5th d-man... perusing the FA wire, I see a couple of guys I probably want more. Last pick was between Fleischmann and a C who shall remain nameless for now; I needed the depth on the wing more.

Prognosis: same as usual. A regular season placing somewhere in the mid-to-high single digits, followed by a loss in the quarters or semis. Good times! More chitchat about this same league here and here.