Poolsters prepare to name the names that will bring them fame

With the start of the regular season set for  it's Finish debut on Thursday, hockey fans across North America and beyond are putting the final touches on their fantasy draft listings, the annual ritual of the hockey season which provides those at home to become the GM they always dreamed of being.

From local pools in pubs, bars and offices to the more professional of pools such as the Kenaston Saskatchewan  Lions Club annual offering hockey fans are sharpening their pencils and scouring the plethora of guide books to uncover that one hidden gem of a player that will lead them to victory.

Hours and hours of research all comes down to placement in the rotation or ability to handle the salary cap provisions in any particular pool. In the end it all really comes down to who has the most successful lineup and one that is able to avoid injuries during the length of the regular season.

This year as they did last year, the CBC offers up their own fantasy draft opportunity, where participants can log on and select their roster of players to carry them on towards success and perhaps the keys to a new KIA.

TSN is also getting into the hockeypool sweepstakes with their own version of a draft conducted through the ESPN portal.

Yahoo Sports is also a popular location for pollsters, providing a home for the hockey obsessed who love nothing better than to scour the post game box scores to see if their team is taking them on to bragging rights as the sage of hockey for 2010-11

Below are some of the links to the pools that we have discovered thus far, if you have one that we've missed out on, leave us a comment and we'll take a look at it and add it to the inventory.

CBC Fantasy Hockey
TSN Fantasy Hockey
Yahoo Sports Fantasy Hockey
Kenaston Lions Club SuperDraft Hockey pool

For those organizing their own office pool there's a site online that will help manage your pool for you


Reference materials for hockey pool players:

McKeen's fantasy hockey guide
Dobber Hockey
The Hockey News