T.J. Galiardi is out four to six weeks for the Avs. He is in a walking cast and has an ankle injury. Ryan Stoa is a team-worst minus-4 in the AHL, so don't look for him to be recalled at all soon. Nashville has sent Cal O'Reilly down. Where is the O'Reilly that impressed [...]
Not even one full game. That’s how long Ottawa training camp standout Peter Regin stayed on the second line. It’s a story replayed in every NHL city. You’ve got to love the patience of NHL coaches who need to win if they want to stay employed. They are never far away from being the General Managers scapegoat of convenience.
The team I’m keeping a close eye on this week is Anaheim, in particular Ryan Getzlaf and Scott Niedermayer. Going into this season I expected them to start where they left off. The line of Getzlaf – Perry – Ryan has not established the chemistry to lead this team offensively. Getzlaf is still recovering from off-season surgery but is traditionally a slow starter and it was the end of October last season where he turned his year around. Niedermayer is the leader of this team and when he gets going the team will follow. The Ducks are not this bad and this may be the week they explode. Hiller has been the only positive and if he can earn a few more W’s his fantasy stock will rise.
Lots going on in the world of fantasy hockey, but I've really been out of touch this week. By this evening I should be back on track. Valterri Filpulla is out six to eight weeks with a broken wrist. Remember in the preseason when I said that the Red Wings were a Henrik Zetterberg [...]
Jason Blake is a classic case of "streaky", and his three points last night indicate that he's heating up. I think he makes a great pickup as a depth guy - and ride him for a few weeks. When a player plays 40 games with Sidney Crosby and scores just his second goal in [...]
Columbus forward Andrew Murray will miss about four weeks with a shoulder injury, according to the Dispatch. This is of fantasy interest only because it pretty much ensures that for four weeks Nikita Filatov will probably not be scratched. He'll still get eight minutes of ice time, but he won't be scratched. Probably. From [...]
The Anaheim Ducks, Hockey Canada, and fantasy GMs everywhere are hoping Ryan Getzlaf is going to have a career season, so what’s with the slow start?
Similar to the last couple of weeks, I’ll walk you through the Western Conference to see what’s been happening and catch you up with the latest trends plus this week’s hot pickups/must drops.
Column 500 is up - Top 10 scoring race disappointments. Saturday's THN column was on my Top 10 scoring race surprises. Today the column will feature the Top 10 scoring race disappointments. Today's column will also be my 500th Fantasy Pool Look for The Hockey News. It all started right there for me. [...]
Did you see the thread I started last Sunday in the School of Block forums about Roberto Luongo and the main issues surrounding his slow start? If you didn’t, I highly suggest reading it, because over the last week, it has been proven that crease crashing and traffic in front of the net - and subsequently a goalie’s depth in the crease - is a major factor in fantasy goaltending so far this season.
Although it may not directly impact your goalie’s value in every game, the dynamics of overall net presence and depth in the net must be understood in order to make even better fantasy goaltending decisions. Do your goalies challenge shooters effectively? Do they get run into more than once or twice a game? Are they complacent, or do they have a fierce side to them? And how strong are the defensive efforts in front of said goalie?
