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Normally the Playoff Hockey Challenge is but a small percentage of the great marathon that is the NHL season. Not so in this lockout-shortened campaign. This season, the Playoff Hockey Challenge will come with almost equal bragging rights to your regular fantasy hockey pool. In fact, if a team captures the cup while playing in four seven-game series, those games would represent more than half of what the NHL regular season was. If you havent participated in the Playoff Hockey Challenge before, this is your season to get into it. We had almost four months of hockey taken away from us earlier this season, and this game is a chance for the fantasy sports fans to reclaim part of that lost time. Dont settle for your fantasy hockey season ending later this month. Extend it through the postseason with the Playoff Hockey Challenge. The Basics This should be easy for those who enjoy playing the Hockey Challenge during the regular season. The rules are very similar to the Hockey Challenge and are consistent with most of your basic salary-cap games. You pick a team of six forwards, four defensemen and two goaltenders under a fantasy budget of $100 million. That team scores you goals, assists, wins and shutout bonuses to carry you to glory. Goals are worth a point, assists are worth a point, wins are worth two points, and goaltenders and defensemen get a bonus point for a shutout. Selecting a team of stars should be relatively easy as the game begins with most forwards drawing a salary just under $9 million, the top defensemen just under $8 million and the goaltenders peaking at $11 million. Do the math and you will notice you are just shy of being able to ice a roster of all the top players in the league. While that may be true, its not always the top players in the league who excel in the playoffs. You get to swap out your team after the first round of the playoffs and again after the conference semifinals, but you dont get to trade out the team after the conference finals. In other words, there is no harm in selecting players from teams that get eliminated in the first or second rounds. But when the playoffs are pared down to the four teams vying for a trip to the Stanley Cup finals, that is your final roster lock. There are no limits to the swapping as long as you stay under $100 million. In theory, you could have 36 different players on your roster during the entirety of the Playoff Hockey Challenge. Remember that all NHL players will be available to all other owners you are competing against, whether in a public, private or fan-based group. Your picks need to be shrewd, calculated and, most of all, pretty lucky. The Details Go for the goaltenders first in this game. Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown led the NHL in playoff scoring last season with 20 points. That means they led all skaters with 20 points in the Playoff Hockey Challenge. Henrik Lundqvist, whose team was eliminated in the conference finals, compiled 23 points in the Playoff Hockey Challenge.Jonathan Quick? He had 35 points in the Playoff Hockey Challenge. Evgeni Malkin had to be the seventh-highest scoring forward in NHL playoff history in 2009 to just get 36 points. Goaltenders are where the money is in this game. Pick two good ones and you have a guaranteed 48 points through the first three rounds. Pick two goaltenders who both make the Stanley Cup finals and battle in a seven-game series there? Thats 62 points, not counting shutouts. Brown, Kopitar and Ilya Kovalchuk, who was third in playoff scoring last season, didnt equal that number combined. Longer playoff series provide and advantage, but not for goaltenders. Goaltenders cannot win more than four games in a series and get zero points if their team loses. Goalies are somewhat capped for points during this game, but there is no limit on what a skater can do for point production. A skater can score in a loss as much as he pleases. Seven-game series are where the real money is at in this fantasy game. A lot of star players not only score points when their team wins games but also when their team loses. A player competing in seven games, even if three of them are losses, has a much better chance of getting more points than a player in four games that are all wins. Defensemen are still important in this game and there will usually be one or two who stand out during the postseason, but the majority of defensemen will all be bunched between six and 10 points. That isnt enough of a difference to break your bank and not be able to afford a key forward who can get into the mid-20s for points. Besides, would you have predicted Drew Doughty and Bryce Salvador would lead the pack last season? Pick the good defensemen at the start of the game and switch out for the hot ones when you get to repick your team. The ones you picked at the start of the game probably wont be the ones leading the way. Picking the seven-game series ahead of time can be a fools errand, but there are slightly smarter places to place your bets. Of the 25 seven-game series in the first round during the past 12 postseasons, only five were between the No. 1 and No. 8 seeds. The most series that went the distance -- eight of them -- involved the No. 3 seed versus the No. 6 seed. No. 4 versus No. 5 accounted for six Game 7s, and No. 2 against No. 7 made up the other six. Thats a fairly even split, but if you are picking between two players where everything else is even in your mind, lean toward the tighter seeding between the teams. One final point: Treat the bonuses as a bonus. Last season was the first time in several years that shutouts in the regular season were an indicator of shutouts to come in the postseason, with Quick, Lundqvist and Mike Smith all notching three playoff shutouts for bonus points. Only three goaltenders during the 2007 through 2011 NHL playoffs posted more than one playoff shutout after finishing top three in shutouts during the regular season: Tim Thomas in 2011, Antti Niemi in 2010 and Dominik Hasek in 2007. Does that mean Pekka Rinne, Cory Schneiderand Smith are bound for great postseasons? Based on last year, yes. Based on the previous five years, no. That leans toward the conclusion that the bonus points are somewhat unpredictable. That said, Lundqvist and Smith sure do seem to pick up a lot of shutouts. If you like the New York Rangers orPhoenix Coyotes chances (if they make the playoffs), those two particular goaltenders do show personal trends for shutouts. But remember some of these facts: In the 2010 playoffs, Michael Leighton led the way with three shutouts after posting one during the regular season. In the 2009 playoffs, Chris Osgood, Cam Ward, Jonas Hiller and Semyon Varlamov led all goaltenders with two shutouts each. During the preceding regular season, they recorded a combined 12 shutouts. TSN Playoff Hockey Challenge is brought to you by Kia. Fake Black Friday Shoes . Their 38th instalment is arguably their biggest fight card to date, including three-title fights and a main event which was selected by the fans. The promotion boasts 14-straight years of business and is operated by MFC president Mark Pavelich, who is often overlooked in this country for the foundation hes established for MMA in Canada. Black Friday Shoes Store . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U. https://www.shoesblackfriday.com/ . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. Black Friday Shoes Free Shipping . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. Black Friday Shoes Deals . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. MASON, Ohio -- Rain repeatedly interrupted the first full day of matches at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.Stan Wawrinka -- one of those who could benefit from an open mens bracket without Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer -- lost the first set to wild card Jared Donaldson 6-2, but he led the second set 3-0 when play was suspended for the night because of rain.One of the few who was able to complete his match on Tuesday was John Isner. The American overcame two delays while beating Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-2, aided by the Italians four double faults in the second set.The mens bracket provides an opportunity for second-tier players to move up for a week. Defending champion Federer and top-ranked Djokovic are sidelined by injuries, and Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal are still recovering from hectic weeks at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The four of them have accounted for 54 of the last 58 Masters titles.Theres a chance for somebody else to get a Masters trophy on Sunday.I played 23 hours in seven days, Nadal said Tuesday, referring to his Olympics stay. My body is a little bit tired. Obviously, its going to be tough.Nadal had a lot of fun in Rio but came away running on fumes.The 30-year-old Spaniard missed two months with an injured left wrist and returned in Rio, where he reached the semifinals in singles -- a good showing, given how much time he was away from the court. Hes hoping to get in more matches in Cincinnati to get ready for the U.S. Open without aggravating the wrist.It was not an easy injury, and it still bothers me a little bit, Nadal said.Murrayy beat Juan Martin del Potro in a wild, four-set match for his second Olympic gold medal on Sunday, leaving him drained.dddddddddddd Then came the flight directly to Cincinnati -- yes, he brought his medal along.The match against Juan Martin was so up and down, so emotional, physical, Murray said. It was a really, really hard match, one of the hardest matches Ive played.Doing the long trip straight afterward was tough. Hopefully, it will be able to rain in the next few days.Angelique Kerber has a chance to become No. 1 in Cincinnati.Two-time defending champion Serena Williams pulled out of the tournament with an inflamed shoulder, making it possible for Kerber to overtake her in the rankings. She would move up to No. 1 by winning the tournament for the first time.Williams has been in the top spot for 183 consecutive weeks, the second longest such stretch in WTA history.Theres a long way to go, Kerber said Tuesday. Im not thinking about that. Somebody told me about that, but Im trying not to listen.Everyone dreams about being No. 1. It would be amazing. I would give everything to reach that goal.Kerber opens play on Wednesday trying to extend a successful season that includes the Australian Open championship, a Wimbledon final and a silver medal in Rio.That was a special week, Kerber said of the Olympics. I had a lot of experiences. The atmosphere was different than a normal tournament. I had a great week. I won a medal. That was my goal. ' ' '