Hard to Yandle surged from ninth to first in the FHL standings after Gameweek 2, while JJ Piccinich edged David Goodwin by a single fantasy point at the top of the player rankings. Belfast Giants’ two emphatic victories supplied the week’s leading three individual fantasy returns, with Mike Lee joining Piccinich and Goodwin on the podium.
No Regretzkys won the fantasy gameweek with 550.1 points, but Hard to Yandle’s 523.1 was enough to take the overall lead on 874.3. That leaves a 22.2-point advantage over opening-week leader Tellmema, with a much narrower gap between second and third.
🏒 Belfast scores freely as Guildford responds
Belfast beat Dundee Stars 8-1 and Fife Flyers 6-0, scoring 14 goals while conceding just one across the two games. Piccinich struck a hat-trick against Dundee, including two power-play goals, and scored again against Fife. Goodwin recorded seven assists across the weekend as the Giants’ attack produced substantial fantasy returns.
Guildford Flames answered their two opening-week defeats with a pair of wins: 5-1 at home to Cardiff Devils and 4-1 away at Nottingham Panthers. Sheffield Steelers also won twice, beating Nottingham 3-2 in overtime before a 6-1 victory at Glasgow Clan. Ryan Tait settled the Nottingham game at 64:23, after Mitchell Balmas had scored Sheffield’s first two goals.
Elsewhere, Cardiff beat Manchester Storm 4-2 before their defeat at Guildford. Manchester responded with a 5-3 win at Coventry Blaze, while Fife edged Glasgow 4-3 in overtime. Coventry finished the gameweek with a 4-3 win at Dundee.
Gameweek 2 results
| Date | Home | Score | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 September | Cardiff Devils | 4-2 | Manchester Storm |
| 19 September | Guildford Flames | 5-1 | Cardiff Devils |
| 19 September | Coventry Blaze | 3-5 | Manchester Storm |
| 19 September | Sheffield Steelers | 3-2 (OT) | Nottingham Panthers |
| 19 September | Fife Flyers | 4-3 (OT) | Glasgow Clan |
| 19 September | Belfast Giants | 8-1 | Dundee Stars |
| 20 September | Nottingham Panthers | 1-4 | Guildford Flames |
| 20 September | Glasgow Clan | 1-6 | Sheffield Steelers |
| 20 September | Belfast Giants | 6-0 | Fife Flyers |
| 20 September | Dundee Stars | 3-4 | Coventry Blaze |
OT denotes overtime. Scores are shown home team first.
⭐ Piccinich tops a strong Belfast trio
Piccinich finished on 75 fantasy points from four goals and two assists. Goodwin followed on 74, with one goal and seven assists. Goodwin therefore recorded eight hockey scoring points to Piccinich’s six, but Piccinich finished ahead under FHL’s fantasy scoring.
Lee’s five assists helped him to 71 fantasy points, the leading return among defencemen. Balmas followed on 66 after scoring five goals across Sheffield’s two wins. Scott Conway added 54 from one goal and three assists, while Kyle Maksimovich returned 51 with three goals and an assist.
Jake Kupsky led the goaltenders with 47.3 fantasy points, recording one win, 23 saves and a shutout. Matthew Greenfield, the opening week’s overall player leader, collected 44.3 from two wins and 58 saves. His two-week total now stands at 112.1.
🏆 A new leader and big climbs
Hard to Yandle’s rise to first puts them ahead of Tellmema on 852.1. No Regretzkys moved from 52nd to third on 851.4, just 0.7 behind second place, after posting the week’s highest fantasy-team score.
Scott Land Nil climbed from 59th to fourth with 830 points overall, while Macoys salt n vinegar erkamps rose from 96th to fifth on 812.4. Their weekly returns of 535.2 and 545.1 respectively placed both among the gameweek’s leading three teams.
The opening week had belonged to Tellmema, whose 413.8 led Letitia Mewindmill Save on 375.1 and Ballycastle Puffins on 359.7. After another round of scoring, the season table has a different leader, with both Hard to Yandle and No Regretzkys making sizeable climbs into the leading three.
📈 Two weeks of form
Only two completed gameweeks are available for this review, so the five-week form window is still building. Lee’s 46 points in Gameweek 1 and 71 in Gameweek 2 give him 117 overall, averaging 58.5 per gameweek. Greenfield follows on 112.1, an average of 56.05.
Piccinich has reached 103, Conway 101 and Goodwin 99. They show how strongly this week’s Belfast performances have contributed to the early-season picture.
Hard to Yandle now has the lead to defend, but second and third are separated by less than a point. With Lee setting the two-week player pace and Piccinich taking the latest weekly honours, the opening standings have already given way to a new set of benchmarks.
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