How to Set Up a Hockey Pool

Determine whether you wish to have a software service host your hockey pool, or if you will be updating league scores manually, perhaps through a spreadsheet program. Check the Resources section below for links to free hockey pool managing software. Some websites, such as the Fantasy sections of Yahoo! or ESPN, are dedicated to running hockey pools online, and are updated daily by the website managers. You may also find downloadable programs that will let you run the league from your computer; some may have daily downloadable updates, or you may need to keep track of statistics manually. In either case, both free and premium versions of website pool servers and downloadable programs exist online. Keeping track of statistics yourself without any software aid is free and gives you greater control over the league, but logging statistics, updating scores and publishing standings to members is time consuming.

Decide the league's point scoring system. Software programs will have plenty of options for scoring systems, and some even allow a manager to customize the scoring system to a large degree. Common statistics to track for skaters include goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes, power play points and shorthanded points. Scoring systems for goalies generally focus on goals against average, save percentage, wins and shutouts. Also decide how many goalies and skaters will be active at one time and how often managers may change their lineups.

Register all hockey pool members prior to the draft day. For manually-run hockey pools, this only entails ensuring the participant's interest and communicating the scheduled draft day. Software-run hockey pools, especially those hosted on a website's server, will require participants to sign in and register electronically.

Hold a draft to determine the rosters of your hockey pool. Website servers will often have virtual draft rooms that will host the draft for your league. Manual leagues, as well as some hockey pool software programs, will require an offline draft in which the league's records are then updated by a manager. For offline drafts, you may decide to hold a draft day party. Provide your guests with beer, soda and snacks, and plan for the entire draft to take a few hours. In a typical draft setup, the order of selection for the first round is selected by a random draw. The order is then reversed in each succeeding round until rosters are full.

Maintain the hockey pool over the course of the season. Automatically updated hockey pool servers will not require much maintenance, although manual leagues will require an abundance of box score research and updating statistics. Take all required measures to facilitate trades between hockey pool members. If your hockey pool is a round robin league, where teams play each other on a rotating basis, plan for a championship series near the end of the regular season to declare a hockey pool champion.