Once again, much like last year, here's a list of players who just won't tickle my fancy. There are a variety of reasons ranging from my dislike of some players, changes to the team during the off-season, recovery from off-season surgery, overvalued rookies/prospects, or just plain over-inflated stats from last season.

But first a recap of the hit or misses for the players listed from last season:

Overall not a bad hit/miss ratio, but probably not the best. I'm a perfectionist so anything less than 100 percent, I'm definitely not happy with. The Ryan situation worked out well for him as Lupul was out for most of the season due to injury. If Lupul was healthy I don't think Ryan would have put up the numbers that he did last season. Kipper was a miss on my part, as he did finish with a decent line of 35 wins, a 2.31 GAA along with a .920 save percentage, but I think in some people's books that might have been a hit if they were expecting 40+ wins from him. Keith was my big miss. He silenced all doubters with another great season in Chicago and, with the new stats of hits and blocked shots added to the Yahoo database, could arguably rival Mike Green as the number one fantasy D to own this campaign. Eriksson was another miss on my part. I thought Morrow would be a more dominate force last season, but that just didn't happen. Burrows finished with 67 points, 121 PIMs and 209 SOG. Pretty significant numbers for the fantasy season really, can't argue with my miss there. Probably the biggest miss for me last season was Anderson. I just didn't believe in the Avs and the inexperience of Joe Sacco, like many others out there, it blew up in my face.

Here is my list of players from the Western Conference that you won't likely find on my fantasy rosters in 2010-11:

Joffrey Lupul Ana

I know I slotted Lupul into my sleepers column for the fantasy guide, but I'm going to pull a quick 180 based on the info coming out of Anaheim. The latest news is that Lupul is suffering another blood infection in his back and won't even start training till September 20 when his next rounds of antibiotics are finished. Give or take another month to get back into game shape and you're probably looking at the beginning of November, at the earliest, before he even suits up for a game. By then Teemu Selanne, Bobby Ryan, Dan Sexton, or Jason Blake would have sorted out the top-six and Loops would have missed the gravy train. Consider him a mid-season acquisition rather than someone to actively seek during your pre-season drafts.

Daymond Langkow Cal

At a price tag of $4.5 mil this season, that's a huge amount of cash to just bury on the third line, but that's the most likely scenario that will happen with Langkow this campaign. Sutter brought back Olli Jokinen for a second tour of duty, and combining that with the services of Matt Stajan, I just don't know where the Flames are going to slot Langkow into their line up. Ice-time will be the key for the veteran Edmontonian, and I just don't think he'll get enough of it to be productive fantasy-wise in 2010.

Jay Bouwmeester Cal

Despite popular belief, JBo is not an offensive defenseman and probably never will be. Yes, I understand that he played for a few very untalented Florida teams to skew the stats, but if you look at his career numbers, they actually average out to a very mundane: 79 GP, 8.3 G, 26.2 A, 34.4 points, a minus three rating, 56 PIMs, 12.8 PPP, and 156 SOG. Considering another defenseman by the name of Denis Seidenberg, who was probably less than five percent owned in Yahoo! Leagues last campaign, put up numbers of 32 points, plus six rating, 39 PIMs, 2 PPP and 153 SOG, which certainly makes JBo's numbers nothing really "special" does it. Someone is certainly going to buy into his "big name" status, just make sure it isn't you!

Brian Campbell Chi

There's not much to dislike about Campbell and the way he approaches the game, but what turns me off from him is the lack of peripheral stats that he brings. It's nice to have the 40+ points that come attached with his name, but the high teens PIMs, and the low 100's in SOG could be a major detriment in many fantasy leagues. I've had a play around at www.hockeypoolgeek.com, and if you haven't done so definitely check it out, it takes a lot of the hard work out of researching. They've ranked Campbell with a HPG value of just six, when Mike Green has a value of 128 so that should give you a perspective to his overall fantasy value.

Craig Anderson Col

As discussed earlier, I missed on Anderson last season, but I think this campaign is a whole different ball game. Anderson finished with a great stat line of 38 wins, a 2.63 GAA along with a .917 save percentage, but considering he had a 10-3 record and a 1.77 GAA along with a .939 save percentage against the Oilers, Flames and Blue Jackets. It's safe to say that those teams are revamped and he'll have a much more difficult time to repeat those numbers in 2010-11. I wouldn't doubt a return to Earth this campaign.

Kristian Huselius Clb

If you look at the overall numbers, Huse is definitely not a bad fantasy own, but the problem that truly affects him is his inconsistency, which is deadly in H2H leagues. His month-to-month breakdown resulted in numbers of 0.75, 1.10, 0.38, 1.21, 0.67, 1.36 and 0.2 last season. Even a Yo-Yo has less up and down cycles. Save yourself the headache and pick up someone more reliable.

Kari Lehtonen Dal

Strained groin, sprained ankle, back surgery, the list goes on for the poster boy for Dobber's band-aid list. I just don't trust him to play a full season as a number one goalie in the NHL. Plenty of people out there will probably echo the same sentiment, which is why you won't find him on any of my fantasy rosters this season.

Jimmy Howard Det

Last year I invested heavily on a sophomore goalie named Steve Mason, and was burned in two of my major fantasy pools, one of which included the widely popular Yahoo! Friends and Family league. A few recent examples of Cam Ward, Carey Price, Steve Mason and to a certain extent Jon Quick, has led me to a conclusion to not invest too highly on sophomore goalies. Howard might buck the trend, but with a seasoned veteran like Chris Osgood lurking in the shadows, you definitely have to be open to the fact that Howard's number one status won't be etched in stone.

Nikolai Khabibulin Edm

Continuing the trend of do-not-touch goalies, I'll add the Bulin wall to the list as well. He's recently been dropped the hammer on his drink driving case and will most likely miss some time this year because of it. With three other goalies in the mix, Jeff Deslauriers, Devan Dubynk and Martin Gerber, Khabibulin will face some stiff competition when he returns back to the line up and certainly won't be guaranteed a number one job. Any fantasy value that he might have had entering the season has been destroyed with the latest news.

Justin Williams LA

Playing with Anze Kopitar certainly brings plenty of potential upside, but the problem is if you spend 60 percent of your season on the shelf with an injury that potential becomes entirely moot. If you're after Williams you probably wouldn't have to spend too high of a draft pick, but I'm utilizing my late-round picks on a player with much lower risk.

Devin Setoguchi SJ

As discussed widely on the forums, I'm a firm believer in artificial caps for certain teams. It's fairly safe to say that Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski will be the top four point producers in SJ. Factor in Dan Boyle's production and unless the Sharks suddenly become a five goals scored per contest team, there's going to be limited supply of points to be spread around. Ryane Clowe and Setoguchi will draw the short end of the stick, which is why you won't see either of them on my fantasy teams.

Blues Forward Corps (minus Backes)

The Blues are quickly becoming an offense by committee team, which means that I have no clue who's going to be the team's leading scorer by season's end and that's generally not a good thing. The Blues have so many interchangeable players that a player slotted on the top-line for one game, could easily find himself in a third line role the next. Instability is never a good thing for fantasy hockey, which is why I'm going to shy away from many Blues during my drafts in the upcoming weeks. Backes is probably my lone exception because I like the across-the-board numbers (including FW) that he brings to the table. Also don't forget his 266 hits along with his 60 blocked shots, which are now included in Yahoo! leagues.

Alex Burrows Van

Shoulder injuries are never a good thing especially if they relate to the dreaded "torn labrum" surgery. Recent victims include Vinny Lecavalier, Zdeno Chara, and Mike Richards, all of which suffered a decrease in point production the year after off-season torn labrum surgery. He's not slated to return to the Canucks line up till late-November or early-December, which probably dramatically decreases his overall fantasy value anyway. Either way his across-the-board stats are glaringly attractive, but you should know better…

Stay Away From These Murky Goaltending Situations:

Mason/Mathieu Garon

This could be the bounce back season for Mason, or it could be another long struggle. Garon did post adequate 2.81 GAA and .903 save percentage numbers as a number two last season and could very well do the same once again this season. If you have better options, you'll probably prefer that over this situation.

Lehtonen/Andrew Raycroft/Richard Bachman/Brent Krahn

As discussed earlier, injury proneness and a plethora of quality backups is never a good combination at attempting to play the goalie guessing game. If you snag Lehtonen, it'd be in your best interest to bag yourself the backup as well (although I don't know who it is going to be).

Jaroslav Halak/Ty Conklin

If you really think about it, we really only have a bank of around 100 games of data to draw a conclusion on Halak. The Blues management have invested heavily on him, and so will many poolies in the upcoming drafts. The problem for me is that he's in a division where there are quite a few high scoring teams and he won't have the protection of a veteran defensive corp. If you decide to invest heavily on Halak make sure you have his buddy in Conks as a plan B.

Questions or comments? Like always I'll be ready and willing to discuss them with you in the comments section below.