.jpg?resize=450%2C375&ssl=1)
Ye members of the Nation (who don’t employ ad blockers) have probably noticed a new banner on the right that looks curiously like the header pic above.
Allow me to explain.
Jonathan Willis – scholar, gentleman and ceaseless writer about all things hockey – walled himself up in an abandoned coke oven this summer and, a few weeks later, emerged blinking into the sunlight with his laptop in hand.
"Here." He said, thrusting the virtual manuscript at Wanye,
"I’ve written a 150-page, 50,000 word fantasy draft primer." Wanye, at once confused and amazed by such a large collection of words declared he would only part with it for the rarest Faberge egg or ambrosia bestowed by the gods themselves. Or a lock of Ryan Smythe’s golden locks (naturally).
While impressed by his ambition, I convinced Wanye to settle on a slightly smaller price for Willis’ labor of love – particularly since we can sell as many of the infinitely replicable file that people will buy.
Less Than a Happy Meal
And that is how we have come to offer you Willis’ monstrous tome for the relatively modest price of $5 USD.
At this juncture I have been directed to note by our gregarious overlord that the Nations will always be free to read, listen to and (one day) watch. But because free doesn’t pay Robin Brownlee’s monthly Ferrari lease payment, we continue to look for non-annoying ways to generate revenue.
In addition, we figure it would be nice to reward Willis for his singular effort on this project. The Primer (it will be simply known as The Primer from now on) boasts essays on uncertain goalie situations, sleeper picks and potentially overrated players. Player profiles are in alphabetical order, include the last three years of each guys results, his injury risk and projected output. Heck, there’s even handy checklists at the back to help you during the draft itself.
So if you’re looking for an edge in your upcoming hockey pool, look no further than the The Nations Fantasy Draft Primer! You’ll win your pool guaranteed!**
**Not a guarantee
Click the button above to order The Primer and we will ensure rapid delivery of your very own .pdf file straight to your in-box. If you want to think about it for a bit, then worry not! The aforementioned banner at right will enable your purchase just as ably. It will remain on the site for as long as it take us to raise enough to pay for Wanye’s gold teeth caps.
Happy drafting everyone.
UPDATE – By popular demand, I’ve made up a sample of The Primer available to all interested parties. Simply click below to download.
The sample includes some parts of the opening sections as well as a couple of player profiles.
Great!
What if we all are in the same pool?
(I know, there will be bubbles at Wanye’s end.)
(ha, you are quick one!)
(that’s what she said)
Is The Nation going to hold a fantasy pool of their own? It would be a great chance to put some of these citizens and contributors hockey knowlege to the test. Could be a lot of bragging rights on the line.
We’ll see what we can do.
Hello Kent,
Maybe it is my superb internet skills!:((
However, I can’t seem to figure out how to buy this draft primer!
HELP!
I was hoping for an actual Nation Draft.
Yes please!
This is basically exactly what went down. I love that the image to get the pdf doesn’t work. Classic Nation.
Also, I would guarantee there isn’t a more complete primer anywhere online or offline. Mr. Willis has done a magnificent job per usual.
The image works on my computer. Must be sumthin’ wrong with you.
That second phrase explains him 100%
(having read the comments about a NationDraft)
What would that look like? I don’t get it.
Thats what she said 😉
FIVE DOLLARS? Why you greedy, no good, heartless bast…
*Laments the end of everything free on the internets*
**Goes back to watching download progress of Babylon 5 movies torrent**
Babylon 5 kicked ass….
And I sir have the master torrent. All the movies and every epi. Heh heh.
#RealTalk #Loser
You do realize the US$ is less than the Canadian$ lol
We did that as a way to give loyal Canadians readers a small break on the price.
USD? Alberta isn’t officially American. (yet)
Is there a sample we can see?
I can email samples to anyone interested. Just send me a request at [email protected].
Alrighty, instead of folks having email me and wait for my response, I’ve decided to put up a link to the hosted sample in the post above. Just click and follow the instructions.
Thanks Kent… I debated e-mailing you but since my only e-mail address is [email protected]* I didn’t think you would actually read or take it seriously..
*Yes that is my actual e-mail address, don’t bother spamming me either, I never check it eh.
I gotta admit, it’s pretty impressive.
Fun point: like THN, this primer has 500 projections. Unlike THN, it includes write-ups and statistics on all of them (THN has a little over 300 full writeups).
It’s also cheaper!
I am now going to enter every single pool that J.W. does and use his own manual to beat him! Muaaaaaa hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa!
EDIT: Paypal has their conversion rates screwy, so it actually costs $5.08 canadian.
Huh. That’s weird. We’ll convert it to CAD then.
THEN I DEMAND MY 8 CENTS RETURNED!* YOU WILL HEAR FROM MY LAWYERS!**
*No, I do not.
**No, you will not.
As the Minister of DraftÂâ„¢ I approve this Primer.
[Breaking News]
Oilers GM Steve Tambellini has just announced the Edmonton Oilers have acquired a previously undiscovered collection of player-related background information.
“I’ve been looking for this sort of thing for years. It took the combined lobbying efforts of both Kevin (Lowe) and myself to convince Oilers owner Darryl Katz to release the necessary funds to acquire this information, but now that we have it in our possession I can assure Oilers fans that we will be in the lead position in all player acquisition and negotiation efforts going forward.” said Mr. Tambellini.
In other Oilers news, sources report Stu (Magnificent Bastard) MacGregor has been reassigned by the Edmonton Oilers organization. He will now head up game-day up beer sales at Rexall Place.
Well done JW, good player synopsis. And I like the checklist at the end of the document.
Pardon my ignorance I have never done a pool. Where can I read about how they work and why it is fun to do? Why would I bother?
I also have never participated in a pool but would love to. Could anyone here get us started? Provide some names or links to some pools to enter?
Any hockey news??
I have been considering starting up a keeper pool for some people from ON.
I would have to limit it to people I recognize as long term ONers to ensure future participation…and I guess writers here in the unlikely event that any writers wanted in.
I was thinking somewhere between 12-15 teams.
Categories could be discussed and it would either be keep 7,10 or full dynasty style with a farm team.
If anyone would be interested let me know. If a few people reply here then I will Normally I prefer my pools to be for money, but in this case there may be enough range of opinion for bragging rights to be sufficient motivation. Plus collecting from you deadbeats might be too much to ask. 😉
I would be in for a draft. I can offer to pay in blocks of cheese.
Thanks for the sample, Kent. Looks good JW!
A Nation fantasy draft would be a sweet idea. There would probably be lots of people interested.
A NationDraft… this sounds familiar….
Oh wait! That’s right. WE USED TO DO THAT HERE.
I’ll email you so we can try to figure something out.
Looks great! Amazing collection of analysis! My only complaint? I have to buy a new computer now, since this one was re-directed to an oilers fan site (ON) and I’ll never be able to get that image off my monitor!! Ruined for good! 🙂
I imagine it must be pretty daunting the first time you see all the comments.*
*Buuuuuuuuuuurn!
Well it is pretty said when we average more comments in our polls then they do on blogs 😛
For anyone looking for something a little more in depth that your typical playoff pool, you should look into sim hockey.
The BRHL http://www.brhlhockey.com (pages are under repair) has openings in both the BRHL, (free league) with San Jose, Edmonton, Philly, and LA available. And the BRHL2 (cash league) with Vancouver, Washington, NYR, San Jose and Pittsburgh open.
If you’re interested, let me know. [email protected]
How are the projections calculated? Is there some formula similar to VUKOTA or is it just educated guesses based on past stats, age, potential line-mates/ice-time, etc?