A Rookie's Perspective

As my first full season of the FNHL draws near to an end and unfortunately my team was nowhere near playoff contention I am very pleased to give the league an annual report card on what my experiences have been thus far. As a veteran of fantasy hockey leagues I must say this is by far the best league I have ever been apart of that I have not ran myself. To be honest, the level of participation put in by all GMs in the FNHL rivals my best ran league and sticking to my motto that the best part of a fantasy hockey league is the GM's then this league does take the cake. But back to the topic of grades, I am going grade this league based on areas that are crucial to having a successful fantasy hockey league. These areas include GM Participation, Commissioner Participation, League Website, League History and Team Balance.

Lets begin!

GM Participation - Grade: A-

With 15 out of the 30 GMs netting half or more than half of their GM points for the season that shows a great amount of participation with such a large league (30 teams). With 4 of the GMs netting their full GM points and 2 others only missing a point or 2 this league is in great shape. GM participation is truly contageous and if those 6 GMs all of a sudden died off, the FNHL would quickly become a ghost town. You can never expect all 30 GMs to be fully "on board" but in my experience with the league thus far even the quiet GMs will still respond to email and that is a good sign.

The reason I gave the GM participation grade a lower "A" grade is that close to a third of the GM's have under 1/5 of the total GM participation points that they could of had.

The whole system of GM participation points is a great air-tight way of showing who is up for the task as a FNHL GM but I do believe a slight tweak in adding points for trades could go a long way, especially for GM's who do not like writing articles but love to be an active FNHL GM. My example would be Toronto's John van Teunenbroek. He basically got his near league worse 26 points by sending in lines. There was barely a week that didn't go by without him sending in lines which shows great participation but his points do not reflect it. If he were to gain 5 points for ever trade he had made, he would have garnered another 40 points this season. That would give him a decent 66 points for the season.

Overall I am very impressed by the amount of league participation being put forth by all GMs. It is very special when you have this many dedicated GMs.

Commissioner Participation - Grade: A

The heart of any league is it's GMs, the brains of any league is it's commissioner. Just like the body, without a good brain, the heart will slowly die and without a good heart the brain will die. I must commend Dave and his relentless simming and his excellent communication skills. Whenever there is active conversation in the league he always takes the neutral side of things and puts a calming approach to the the conversation, this is what a great commissioner will do. He must always be the voice of reason and so far Dave has shown this thru and thru.

Dave is always open to new ideas to make his league better and that is a great quality to have especially in a league so large. A league with a closed minded commissioner will NEVER survive as things will become a dictatorship and there aren't too many GMs out there that will put up with that.

Sometimes it almost seems as though Dave isn't even a commissioner. You couldn't ask for anymore than that as a GM.

Overall this league will continue to be successful as long as Dave Broche is at the helm.

League Website - Grade: C

This is the lowest grade of my report card and it's not because I am criticizing the work that our great commissioner has done but moreso that I am very picky with web etiquette. With the history that this league has built up over the years this website deserves to show that off and display all the stats that have accumulated throughout the years. I have already approached Dave about the website and as usual he was very open to the idea of a new website concept. Once I get more time I will be finishing the concept I had created and together we will bring this grade up a notch or two.

By no means is the league site the worse I have ever saw, I just believe that it deserves more for the league that it is. To be honest when I first signed up I didn't give the league high hopes because I wasn't sure what the league had. Well after I got to know the GMs and the commissioner I was absolutely shocked. We just have to put more effort in displaying our history and our GM participation.

Overall the league website does the job but could be given an overhaul and this is one area in which I have expertise and will be moving forward on.

League History - Grade: A-

Wow is all I can say about the history of the FNHL. With over half of the GMs being here since day 1 the history that surrounds this league is phenomenal. Currently sitting in season 10 and all previous seasons stats still readily available complete with draft lists and such, it really brings the feeling of being apart of something bigger than your own team. When I inherited my Bruins I quickly jumped over to the seasons past to see what former players I had and how they did. Who did the Bruins draft.. etc etc. This is amazing as now I feel like I inherited a franchise that needed a new direction and can look back on some of the greatness that it once had.

A league that has only played a couple of seasons does not have the same nostalgia that a league that has survived 10 seasons have. Being only apart of this league for one season has already given me great pride that I was able to join something so great.

Overall I would have given the league's history an A+ but I don't believe we are displaying it the way we should and again I will be working together with the commissioner on fixing that.

Team Balance - Grade: B

What I mean by team balance is the talent gap that exists between the worse team and the best team and how hard it would be to narrow that gap. It is a well known fact that a team with little talent or future talent is a reflection of the work put into it by the GM. When a GM is either not cut out for his job or is just downright no good as his job, his team will suffer. I do find a pretty big gap between the heavy hitters of the league and the bottom feeders. This gap is mostly due to the terrific job done by the heavy hitters and the horrible job (or lack thereof) by the bottom feeders. A gap is fine, but how hard is it to narrow that gap?

In the FNHL the talent turnover seems to be mostly done through smart trading and not with free agency so any new GM taking over a bottom feeding team must keep that in mind. Mind you being a rookie I haven't been apart of the free agency period so I cannot definitively say that but I can say that through a season of observation. That being said if a team has no valuable talent to trade and any draft picks, that GM will be in for a long challenging build. This is why I give team balance a grade of "B". It is not necessarily a bad thing to have the systems we do as it it most mimics a real sports league but for new GM's coming in, it could be very frustrating if they are expecting a quick turnover. I will be the first to say that I took over a decent team in the Bruins but I know with all the systems in place (salary cap, slow player development and shallow drafts) I have to be in it for the long haul.

Overall this league is not a beginner GM league. It is definitely meant for someone who has prior FHL simulator league experience. That being said, the help from fellow GMs is absolutely amazing in this league so whenever a new GM with the right attitude comes to the league they will find themselves enjoying the challenge and still enjoy the league even if their team isn't playoff bound.

Conclusion

In conclusion I have immensely enjoyed my first season as an FNHL GM. Honestly, I had come out of "retirement" from fantasy hockey leagues hoping to have a couple of months of enjoyment before A) the league folded or B) I would quit. But after 5 months of being apart of this great league I am now dedicated as much as I was when I was a commissioner, and for that I am thankful to Prez Broche and the amazing GM's that make up this fantastic league. I always ran my own leagues because I could never stand being just a GM because of the idiocies of the commissioner, in the FNHL I am fully content just being one of the GMs as the league is in more than good hands.

So here is to next season and the fun that it will bring because as far as I am concerned, the Boston Bruins have hired their final GM. This guy is in it for the long haul and will continue to be one of the most active GMs this league has ever seen.

Jeff Nagle
Boston Bruins GM