Hard to Yandle strengthened their grip on the FHL standings by winning Gameweek 8 with 520.1 fantasy points. The overall leader now has 3,281.6, with Ballycastle Puffins moving into second on 3,106.2. On the ice, Belfast’s productive week helped JJ Piccinich top the player rankings, while Sheffield, Fife and Glasgow all collected two victories.
🏒 Belfast fire, Sunday goes the distance
Belfast won 4–1 at Cardiff and 6–1 at Nottingham before losing 3–2 in a shootout at Fife. Those first two results supplied ten Giants goals and plenty of opportunities for their fantasy players to contribute. Sheffield also started strongly, beating Manchester 5–2 and Nottingham 4–2, before a 4–3 shootout defeat at Coventry.
Sunday’s four fixtures all needed more than regulation time. Alongside Fife and Coventry’s shootout wins, Manchester edged Cardiff 4–3 on penalties and Glasgow won 3–2 in overtime at Guildford. Glasgow had already shut out Dundee 3–0 on Friday, while Fife followed Saturday’s 3–2 victory at Dundee with that win over Belfast.
Cardiff’s week swung from a 4–1 home defeat against the Giants to a 6–1 victory over Guildford, then the shootout loss at Manchester. Dundee endured three defeats, also losing 5–2 at Guildford on Wednesday. The full results show how quickly fortunes changed across a busy 13-game programme.
| Date | Home | Score | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Oct | Cardiff Devils | 1–4 | Belfast Giants |
| 28 Oct | Guildford Flames | 5–2 | Dundee Stars |
| 28 Oct | Sheffield Steelers | 5–2 | Manchester Storm |
| 30 Oct | Nottingham Panthers | 1–6 | Belfast Giants |
| 30 Oct | Manchester Storm | 1–2 | Coventry Blaze |
| 30 Oct | Glasgow Clan | 3–0 | Dundee Stars |
| 31 Oct | Sheffield Steelers | 4–2 | Nottingham Panthers |
| 31 Oct | Cardiff Devils | 6–1 | Guildford Flames |
| 31 Oct | Dundee Stars | 2–3 | Fife Flyers |
| 1 Nov | Fife Flyers | 3–2 SO | Belfast Giants |
| 1 Nov | Manchester Storm | 4–3 SO | Cardiff Devils |
| 1 Nov | Coventry Blaze | 4–3 SO | Sheffield Steelers |
| 1 Nov | Guildford Flames | 2–3 OT | Glasgow Clan |
⭐ Piccinich leads the player returns
Piccinich’s goal and five assists produced six hockey points and a leading 61 FHL fantasy points. Ryan Tait followed on 58.5 after three goals and an assist, with Logan Roe’s four assists helping him to 51. Roe led the defencemen, narrowly ahead of Brandon Estes, whose goal and two assists brought 50 fantasy points.
Thomas Caron returned 49.5 from three goals and an assist, while Scott Conway’s matching scoring contribution earned 47.5. Rasmus Tirronen led the goaltenders with 47.1, recording a win, 21 saves and a shutout. Mike Lee added 47 fantasy points from a week featuring three assists. Hockey points count goals and assists; the fantasy totals reflect FHL’s wider scoring system.
🏆 Hard to Yandle wins the week
Hip hop mieeyyy-hooooo finished second in the weekly fantasy table on 509.9, just 10.2 behind Hard to Yandle. Panu chocolat completed the podium with 505.2, ahead of Cinnamon Rollers on 503.9. It was a close contest behind the winner, with only 6 points separating second and fourth.
Overall, Hard to Yandle’s advantage over the new second-placed Ballycastle Puffins stands at 175.4. The Puffins moved up from third and now lead Shooting Stars Watch Us Fly by just 2.8. Light the Lamppa remains fourth, while Maple Flames climbed from seventh to fifth. Csollákin’ Crackin’ also gained two places, moving into seventh.
| Position | Team | FHL points | Previous position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hard to Yandle | 3,281.6 | 1 |
| 2 | Ballycastle Puffins | 3,106.2 | 3 |
| 3 | Shooting Stars Watch Us Fly | 3,103.4 | 2 |
| 4 | Light the Lamppa | 3,057.2 | 4 |
| 5 | Maple Flames | 3,024.7 | 7 |
Gameweek 7 catch-up
With no separate review last week, the key fantasy honours deserve a mention. Ballycastle Puffins won Gameweek 7 with 446 points, followed by BetterHalfOfThatStormCouple on 406.5 and LJ’s Island Storm on 403.9. Christian Stoever led the players with 70 fantasy points from two wins, 60 saves and a shutout; Jake Kupsky followed on 68.9.
Cardiff beat Sheffield 1–0 and Nottingham 4–2, while Guildford won both meetings with Coventry, 2–1 and 5–3. Belfast recovered from a 3–2 defeat at Fife to beat Glasgow twice. Those returns provide the backdrop to this week’s changes; the previous positions above are measured against the table after Gameweek 7.
📈 Five-week form
Across Gameweeks 4–8, Kupsky leads players with complete weekly records on 228.1 fantasy points, averaging 45.62 per gameweek. Stoever follows on 183.6 and 36.72, with Brandon Cutler on 174 and 34.8. Across all eight gameweeks, Piccinich has 304.5 points, averaging 38.06.
Hard to Yandle’s weekly win has reinforced first place, but the battle immediately behind remains tight: only 2.8 points separate second and third. After the missed week, that is the contest to pick up alongside Piccinich’s latest leading return.