In the September 2011 edition, Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review fills you in on what's been going down at Pens training camp. Brian Kom discusses some mistakes poolies often make, and Dobber himself comes on at the end to answer phone calls, e-mails, and tweets from you!
Ed. Note: This is the first installment in a series in which we’ll look at different aspects of the NHL game and how to value them appropriately in your fantasy league scoring, with the objective of creating scoring systems that reflect real life value as closely as possible.
Jaroslav Halak is looking for more consistency this season and he's a pretty good bet in pools to do so, especially since you won't have to sacrifice an early pick to get him. He's stronger, has trimmed 2.5% body fat and has a deeper and healthier team in front of him. But a hidden key [...]
In the last decade there have been a number of elite forwards who were slow developers. They either got stuck in deep organizations, suffered injuries or simply needed more time to produce. These late bloomers didn't emerge as potential stars until their early twenties. They are hard to distinguish from players who go on to have average careers or no careers at all. Some recent examples of late blooming forwards include Logan Couture, Michael Grabner and Bobby Ryan in 2009. In the last 10 seasons there has been roughly one late blooming prospect per season. These players emerge on average at age 22 and all have gone on to some variation of fantasy stardom. Who is going to be this season's Logan Couture or Bobby Ryan? Here is a list of candidates, their age this season, and their point predictions.
Does Vincent Lecavalier have any MVP-calibre seasons left in the tank, or is it now a case of him settling in as a 60-75 point supporting offensive player? Fantasy Guide is updated as of Friday, September 23. To grab your update, please go to your "Downloads" section. Then download the same guide again - [...]
The 2011 prospect tournaments are all wrapped up and several key recent draft picks certainly made their marks on management and their fan base. The NHL pre-season schedule is underway and now is the time for the prospects to prove their readiness in hopes of earning an extended stay. The Dean’s List takes the opportunity to address those 2011 NHL Draftees who have performed well at their team’s prospect events and are showing signs of life in exhibition play as well. There are plenty of draftees who enter camp full of piss and vinegar but cracking the opening day rosters takes more than a few good shifts.
Fantasy Guide is updated as of TODAY (Friday, September 23). To grab your update, please go to your "Downloads" section. Then download the same guide again - it will be the updated one. Dobber here - see my dark horses piece on Yahoo! Puck Daddy right here. I wrote a piece on Mikael [...]
It’s unlikely that Frans Nielsen will be drafted in any of your leagues unless it is an extremely deep league, but he is a guy that has raised a few eyebrows over his short career. Even in Long Island of all places, Nielsen has certainly shown promise. I don’t want you guys to go out and draft him right away, but I do want you to keep an eye on him. Chances are everyone else in your league isn’t paying attention to him, so if he starts to take off, you’ll be a step ahead.
Fantasy Guide is updated as of today. I apologize - my last update did NOT go through (I'm pretty sure) as I found a 'different' (slightly) title in the one I uploaded vs. the one that was assigned to the shop. But that is fixed and this update IS in now. Easy way to [...]
Confession time guys. I’m still way into the 90’s. Seinfeld re-runs still crack me up, my favourite bands are mostly grunge, and my fashion sense is still awkwardly horrible (probably because my clothes from grade six still fit me). Beyond my cell phone (which I abhor) and high speed internet I really haven’t moved on from that decade. I know this because over a decade later I still don’t find it the least bit weird that I still have an Austin Powers “Oh Behave!” poster hanging above my bed. The irony has never ceased to crack me up, just like I’ll never get over the awe I feel for players who played back then. I don’t know if it is nostalgia or if I am a complete loser, my friends won’t tell me.
