Fantasy Hockey Investigators: Yahoo And The IR?

Pittsburgh Penguin James Neal - Photo By Andy Martin Jr
Pittsburgh Penguin James Neal giving fantasy hockey fans fits and now Yahoo is worsening the blow- Photo By Andy Martin Jr

This is part one hockey fans. The problem is there are certain things in fantasy leagues that drive owners insane. So when the Pittsburgh Penguins finally placed James Neal on the injured reserve, you would think that Yahoo Fantasy Hockey followed suit. Unfortunately, you would be wrong.

The Fantasy Hockey Investigator Evidence:

Here is the snapshot……

James Neal is still day to day fantasy hockey fans (File Photo)
James Neal is still day to day fantasy hockey fans. Exhibit 1. (File Photo)

This was taken on Tuesday at 2:30 PM ET. After that, we zoomed in to simply drive home the point. Now let this be a lesson. Imagine the horror of Neal owners that still cannot place him on IR while in contrast, ESPN, had him listed as an O. O means out which allows an ESPN owner to put him on the Injured Reserve.

First, we had a little better evidence before that ESPN image…..

Clearly marked Day To Day in Exhibit 2.
Clearly marked Day To Day in Exhibit 2.

Honestly, I had happened to appear on NHL On The Ice on Tuesday during their fantasy hockey show where this very thing came up. It has developed into a situation where now Greg Wyshynski is being asked something he really has no answer for. Honestly, he shouldn’t have to either.

It is a question that needs to be directed to Yahoo Fantasy Hockey. Naturally it was time to go digging. Keep in mind that Yahoo is partnered with NHL.com and this is all part of the NBC Sports Network. I think most could see where this might be heading. Trying to find an answer felt like trying to find a needle in a haystack. The help screen does not deal with roster issues of this nature. The 1-800 number is for customer care and login issues mostly. The complaints are numerous…over 100 at last count but this one strikes at the heart of the problem. 

For the life of me I dont understand why yahoo forces a player to be on “real life” IR in order to go on “fantasy” IR. At very least let players designated with the “DTD” status be placed on IR. When you have a player on the cant cut list who is also DTD you get stuck playing a man short. (See James Neal hes out up to 4 weeks and I cant drop him or place him on IR) Also if you are going to keep this silly rule do a better job updating players’ status’s. If they move from DTD to IR update the darn system. (See Kari Lehtonen hes on IR yet still designated DTD so hes taking up a spot on my roster). — User mvp0207

There was little response at first. Sometimes it has to be asked is it because it is not fantasy baseball or fantasy football? So we went searching even further and found some answers. @YahooSportsNHL is run by editor Sam McCaig. Thanks to him we were able to get a hold of someone from @YahooFantasy and then there was this tweet.

Again, this is an inexact science. I was personally informed that a new system is being worked on and was just put in place so check your Yahoo settings. Mike Graben from Yahoo Fantasy was kind enough to reveal that a new “IR+ setting” has come to fruition.

I have to give a special thanks to everyone who has helped  The feedback back and forth all day of course reveals the reality that this had been worked on for some time. Fantasy hockey fans can rejoice that finally their “can’t cut” players that are hurt can be stashed away so other moves can be made. Here is one last snapshot.

Yahoo has put Kari Lehtonen on the IR. See fantasy hockey fans?
Yahoo has put Kari Lehtonen on the IR. See fantasy hockey fans?  — 6:00 PM ET

As you can also see, Left Wing Lock also has a link to the news as well. Please note that owners have to ask their commissioners to make the necessary changes. The IR and IR+ slot designation is a long time coming. Hopefully fans appreciate it and make the best use of it going forward this fantasy season.

The settings are pretty self explanatory. Just go to “Commish Tools” and then click on “Ediit Roster Positions”. There will be an IR edit and and IR+ (D2D) edit. There can now be as many as 15 “non-active” players on your roster. Keep in mind that most owners and commissioners may not be all that flexible in making this change in their “Commish Tools”. At least now the option is there.

Its a fantasy hockey miracle! (File Photo/ Left Wing Lock)

Last but not least, good luck tonight.

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