Welcome to week 1 of the Steemit Fantasy Hockey League (SFHL)!

For those of you that haven't been following our progress closely, this league is intended as a proof of concept for how the Steem block chain and Steemit posts can be used to fuel fantasy hockey leagues. To provide incentives for participation throughout the season, post rewards are added to the league prize pool, to be distributed at the end of the year.

Nobody has paid to join this league, yet all team managers will get something at the end of the year.

To date, the following prizes have been funded:

This is the first weekly interactive post previewing the upcoming matches.

Here at SFHL, we're huge fans of @steemsports, and the work they've done bringing risk-free sports betting to the platform. We've been inspired to model our weekly posts after their approach. By letting users pick the winners of fantasy league matches, we will be able to give weekly prizes to fantasy team managers while letting the end of year pool continue to grow. And also, we are giving an opportunity for outside observers to engage with the league and earn some Steem along the way!

We welcome the participation of the entire community.

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How it works:

Upvote the main post, and one winner per match up.

To be an eligible voter, users must have a minimum reputation of 40. Voting on more than one team in a single match will void all of your votes for the week.

SP rewards from the main post will be added to the prize pool to furnish prizes at the end of the year.

Liquid Steem and SBD rewards will be split 50/50 between winning team managers and the voters who chose the correct team.

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Week 1 Matchups

Game #1: @Shenanigator Vs. @Bacchist

@Shenanigator’s top players are his defensemen and goaltenders, will this defense-focused strategy pay dividends? Also, Brayden Schenn is suspended for the next three games for a high hit on T.J. Oshie. With Schenn out, @shenanigator will need his other players to pick up the slack.

@Bacchist should also get a lot of points from his goaltenders, especially Braden Holtby. However, his top forward is battling an injury. Without Tyler Seguin at 100%, he’ll need Carlson, Parise, and company to perform.

Analysis provided by @shenanigator.

Game #2: @Full-measure Vs. Campbell69soup

@full-measure:

@Full-measure decided quality goalies were of the utmost importance for his team, taking Carey Price and Martin Jones in rounds one and three, respectively. Pavelski scored 38 goals and had 40 assists last year. With 78 points and the C/RW flexibility, it’s difficult to argue that he wasn’t a good 2nd round pick.

Campbell69soup (@bryce-campbell):

Alex Ovechkin claimed the honor of #1 fantasy draft pick. He’s a proven all-star who knows how to find the back of the net. Defensemen finished off the next two picks. Ekblad is a controversial 2nd round pick due to relatively low output and injuries. He missed four games last year with a concussion, and recently sustained a neck injury in the world cup of hockey. Will the risk pay off?

Game #3: @Heroic15397 Vs. Shane’s Team

@heroic15397:

Patrick Kane led the league in points last year, eclipsing the elusive 100 pt mark. Letang racked up nearly 70 points as a defenseman last year, putting him amongst the top defensive producers. @heroic15397 chose to go a well-rounded route choosing a forward, defenseman, and a goalie as the top three picks.

Shane's Team:

Wayne Gretzky is known as “The Great One.” At one point, Gretzky called Sidney Crosby “The Next One.” That was until Connor McDavid came around. Wayne Gretzky called Connor McDavid the best prospect he has seen in 30 years. Unfortunately, in his rookie year, we didn’t get to see much of McDavid since he broke his collarbone in the beginning of the season. He came back with a vengeance, though, and tore up the ice after recovering. Can he stay injury-free this year?

Game #4: Bossrammers Vs. JL

Bossrammers (@bossram):

We see an offensive-heavy top three picks here. Tarasenko eclipsed the 70 point mark last year. OEL, despite being a defenseman, led his team in points scored last year - A rare feat for a D-Man.

JL:

Beginning in 2009, Stamkos has three 90+ points seasons in a row. Can he produce those kind of numbers again? We’ll see. P.K. Subban is one of the best defensive players in the league and should be a solid pick.

Game #5: Arfon Vs. Oilerado

@arfon:

Jamie Benn is recovering from an off-season injury. If he can stay healthy, this should be a great 7th-overall pick. Only Patrick Kane scored more points than Benn last season. In goal, Ben Bishop had one of the league’s highest save percentage last year and has notched at least 35 wins in each of the last three seasons. But will he have the opportunity to play 60 games this year? It’s questionable, because the Lightning signed Andrei Vasilevskiy to a high-valued three year contract - thus will likely see a good amount of playing time.

Oilerado (@oilerado43):

Gaudreau is one of the NHL’s smallest players at 5’9”, 157 pounds. But that didn’t stop him from notching huge numbers. Only 5 players in the league scored more points than him last year. Gaudreau is a restricted free agent, but will probably extend his contract with Calgary.

Game #6: Dicks Out For Harambe Vs. VamPardyLkeARockstar

Dicks out 4 Harambe (@will-zewe):

Tavares, Kopitar, and Wheeler were all near the top in last year’s point leaders, scoring 70, 74, and 78 pts, respectively. This team certainly won’t be lacking on the offensive front, but will the defensemen and goalies be able to perform?

PartyLikeARockstar (@newerasparky):

If you know of only one active hockey player, it’s probably Sidney Crosby. Well...unless you know “That one guy who’s married to Carrie Underwood.” coughMikeFishercough. In typical “PartyLikeARockstar go-big-or-go-home” fashion, it’s all forwards in the first three rounds.