The rules:

• 250 words or less
• Get creative (can use video, photo, whatever)
• Post your submissions here
• Top three picked by myself and Dobber will be awarded

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Follow me on Twitter: AngusCertified
Check my blog out: Angus Certified

Pick up the 2013-14 DobberHockey Keeper League Fantasy Pack today!

I love fantasy hockey because it is something that not only allows me to talk trash on my friends (and their girlfriends), but it truly brings a group of people together. As Matthew Berry might say, fantasy is meant to be fun, and the real fun derives from building a cohesive bond between your core group of friends while debating Crosby's neurological condition, Gary Bettman's like-ability, or just the latest racist/homophobic Biznasty tweet.

All the distinct personalities present in our everyday lives are condensed and somehow amplified through the lens of fantasy hockey, and when our true personalities shine through on the fantasy world, then everyone wins. Sure, the purpose of fantasy hockey is to win. We flock to sites like Dobberhockey in order to glean every last shred of information about the studs and duds on our squads, and we read the words of Angus, Dobber, and Chris Nichols until our eyes bleed. Why, you ask? To win, of course. To have bragging rights over our friends and to admire the sight of a trophy on the mantle.

But all these things cloud the true benefit of fantasy hockey, one based on camaraderie and rooted in the hearts and minds of us all. In short, I love fantasy hockey because it brings me closer to the ones I love.

-Dylan

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mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

Ah, fantasy! The word that specifically DOESN’T describe everything else in my life. Responsibility here, consequences there – family, work, community involvement – life is serious business. Fantasy hockey is my release valve. Miss a deadline at work? Got to explain. Forget to take the garbage out…again? More ‘splainin’ to do. But if I forget to dress Cory Schneider for back-to-back shutouts, nobody cares! No real consequences.

And yet amidst this risk-free fantasy world that we indulge in, we simultaneously have the untamed ability to crush another man’s self-esteem as he scratches and claws to catch you in the standings, with weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth as the end of the season rapidly approaches. He seems to call out, “Oh, why…why did I ever think myself to know as much as you, O Great Hockey Maestro?!” …or at least that’s part of the fantasy. The Dobber Fantasy Guide also deserves some significant kudos in that scenario, but I digress. Either way, it’s part of the beauty of the whole charade.

Also, it makes me stay up and watch crazy games like Phoenix against San Jose simply because I’ve got one D-man on the ice. Maybe that’s not why I love fantasy hockey, but it’s certainly a testament to my ongoing romance with it. It’s a sport that defines us, bringing us together in a forum in which we can compete at times for nothing more than bragging rights. And when you have the privilege of enjoying it with friends, that’s all the reward you need.

-Alex

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NHL 12 Team Full Keeper, Roto
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, GWG, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, SHO

C - Crosby,Getzlaf,Granlund
LW - Pacioretty,E.Kane,Hartnell
RW - Backes,Simmonds,SamGagne
D - Letang,Byfuglien,Subban,Hamilton
G - Lundqvist,Fleury,Schneider,Bryz
IR - Kovy

MLB 9 Team Full Keeper, Roto
R, H, HR, RBI, SB, BB, K, AVG, W, L, SV, BB, K, ERA

C - C.Santana
1B - Butler
2B - Kinsler
3B - Freese
SS - Andrus
OF - Trout,McCutchen,McLouth
Util - Ortiz,Nava
BN - Kemp,Profar,Alvarez,Gyorko
SP - Price,Gio,Moore,Harvey,Miller,Bailey
RP - Chapman,Frieri,K.Jansen
DL - Beachy,Pineda

Where to start? Well to begin the girlfriend hates it and not sure why but that makes anything more enjoyable.

The numbers aspect of it just flows through me, charts, graphs, advanced stats, projections... if only my 8th grade math teacher centered class around hockey!

Being able to watch any game any cheer for a player that you own or against your friend's star player.

Getting your buddy to say shutout when his goalie is 1 minute away from one and then lets one in.

The Draft party! All the prep and studying for it and the most shit talking and beer drinking the world has ever known!

Staying up till 12:30 to watch the outcome of the west cost games.

The internal struggle when your goaltender plays against your hometown team

Winning a slap-bet against your buddy for best season stats and saving the slap for the perfect moment

And well, because it's the cup... or at least the one we made.
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ESPN, One year H2H, 10 teams, daily line ups.
-G,A,+-,PIM,PPP,BS,FOW,ATOI,SOG,HIT
W,SO,SV%,GAA
-9 starting forwards, 5 starting D-men, 1 utility, 2 starting G's, 5-bench spots, and 2 IR

F--D.Backes, J.Pavelski, R.Callahan, E.Kane, M.Stajan, D.Stepan, M.Duchene, Z.Smith, J.Iginla, J.Neal and D.Roy

D-- S.Weber, P.K.Subban, J.Muzzin, T.Hamonic, R.Mcdonagh, L.Schenn, S.Robidas, and P.Martin

G--P.Rinne, I.Bryzgalov, R.Lehner,

I love fantasy hockey because even on a day with depressing news like today, I just spent 3+ hours in a bar with my co-commissioners debating how to set up the NHL portion of our our inaugural multi sport keeper league....and we didn't even get past the stat categories.

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12 team H2H Keeper
G,A,PP,PIM,SOG
W,GAA,SV%,SO
C:Giroux,Zberg,Marleau,Kadri
LW:Ovi,Neal,Pach,Benn
RW:Perry,MSL,Wheeler
D:Yandle,Subban,Edler,OEL
G: Lundqvist,Miller,MAF

12 Team H2H
R,2b,3b,HR,RBI,AVG,SB,BB,K,E
W,L,SV,HLD,K,ERA,WHIP
C:Santana
1B:Blanks
2B:Kipnis
3B:Zimmer
SS:Rutledge
LF:Cespeds
CF:McCutch
RF:Pence
Util:Profar
SP:Cain,Moore,Latos,Kennedy,Ryu,Medlen,Cole
RP:Bailey,Rivera,Jansen,Gregerson,Axford
DL:Anderson, Pineda,Tulo

My addiction to fantasy hockey started many years ago
My buddy asked me to join his league but little did I know
I bought a book, gave it a look and headed to my first draft
It took me years of making terrible mistakes before I honed my craft

I started out quite simple, one team was enough for me
Points only with a bunch of friends and a little bit of money
But soon I’d learn that I would yearn for leagues a’plenty
Not one, not two, three or four, my league count grew to twenty

I’d pour over the waiver wires looking for a steal
I’d scour everyone’s trade block hoping to make a deal
I studied charts, and goalie starts I pinned standings on my wall
Multi-cat and points only leagues I learned to love them all

As a hockey player myself, I’m naturally a competitive guy
Its all about the win for me, I don’t play the game to “try”
I hate to rebuild, I try to be filled with guys who help me win
You better be ready if you’re in my league cause I’ll hit ya on the chin

So why do I love fantasy hockey I believe was the question asked
A lot of it comes from knowing that real life can be masked
When lifes not fair, and your teams going nowhere best hope you have a good wife
Fantasy hockey is more then a game, its simply a way of life

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10 Team, Points Only, $$ League, Keep 20/25 at seasons end
25 Man Roster, top 20 monthly point getters count
Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt

Stamkos, Tavares, Hall, Couture, Hanzal, Wheeler, Stastny, Versteeg, Fisher, Hornqvist, Eriksson, Hodgson, Setoguchi, Turris, Steen, Letang, DRoy, Yakupov, Grabner, Byfuglien, Baertschi

G-Rask, Halak, Schneider

I love fantasy hockey.
I love carpet.
I love lamp.

- I love watching hockey.
- It provides a much needed cure for my boredom while in class, at the library, and at work.
- It has given me the opportunity to get to know more people
- I have been known to have a love for gambling. So much so that my friends sometimes call me Gamblor

LFMAO, I love it!

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12 Team keeper league, rosters cannot exceed 23 after the draft. We have to drop players in order to use our draft picks.
Stats: G(1) A(1) W(2) SO(1) OTL(1)
Count only the best 10 F, 4 D & 2 G
Pts traded with players

F - Ovechkin, Parise, Nugent-Hopkins, Couture, Lucic, Berglund, Couturier, Burmistrov, Brassard, Granlund, Strome, Grigorenko, Kassian, Nyquist, Kuznetsov
D - Burns, McBain, Faulk, Schultz
G - Howard, Schneider, Markstrom

Picks - 2013: 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 5th
2014: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th

I love fantasy hockey because (-besides all the obvious fun-) it even turned out to be of some PRACTICAL USE to me:

Being Swiss and playing in a league with 11 North American guys (1 gal) has helped me big time to keep my English. We're a busy, wheeling and dealing, constantly bantering league, so I've simply never managed to maintain my English at the same level before joining fantasy hockey. Now I'll never lose it

Because of the time gap (I'm usually already in bed when the games start in NA) fantasy hockey even helps me to get up in the mornings! I keep jumping out of bed just to turn on the computer because I wonder how my players and my team did, how my last proposal was taken, etc.

Isn't fantasy hockey doing me a huge service there?

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12 team H2H dynasty
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FW, HIT
W, GAA, SV*, SV%, SHO
C,C,C,LW,LW,RW,RW,W,D,D,D,D,Util,Util,4xBN,2xInf

Team:
C: Stamkos, Tavares, Kopitar, Hanzal, Legwand
C/RW: Backes, Pavelski
LW: Lucic, Landeskog
LW/RW: Lupul
RW: Clarkson, Hornqvist
RW/D: Byfuglien, Burns
D: Letang, Streit
G: Smith, Bryzgalov, Hiller, Fasth
IR: Kovalchuk

Farm:
S.Bärtschi, M.Foligno, E.Kuznetsov, J.Morrow, N.Niederreiter, T.Tatar