Rambling about Champions: both fantasy and reality. And – of course – much more…

***

Congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins, your 2016 Stanley Cup winners!

It’s not often I get the Ramblings after a Cup win. And in so doing, I also get our last piece of hockey results for three months…

Congrats to Phil and the rest of the #Penguins ! pic.twitter.com/fVEMv5ZOK4

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) June 13, 2016

*

As you know, Sidney Crosby won the Conn Smythe Trophy but by no means was that a slam dunk. This was one year where it truly was a team win. For the last two weeks most hockey fans figured it could go to Crosby, Phil Kessel or even Matt Murray – and after Game 6 I’d probably add Kris Letang to the list. And frankly I would have given serious consideration to Martin Jones, had I a vote. Jones won me over with his final round performance. As for Murray, he got a little shaky in the final round and wasn’t superb in Round 3 either – he just gets consideration because he powered the team past the Capitals. And that's a feat that shouldn't be undervalued.

I was hard on the Penguins for their hiring of Jim Rutherford. Who got the last laugh? I softened considerably, however, as he made his moves. I liked his acquisition of Bonino and Kessel, but I didn’t like how long he stuck with his coach. I liked his acquisition of Trevor Daley, but was hard on him for his acquisition of Carl Hagelin. The Kessel move is what won me (and many others) over. In the end though, he made all the right moves. Amazing when you consider how horrible the Penguins were back in late November. Remember?

So who was handed the Cup first? My guess was Pascal Dupuis. But no, Sid passed the Cup to Daley (then Daley to Dupuis).

*

Look at this. Here were the NHL standings at Christmas:

If your team is 29^th at Christmas, they can still make the playoffs.

If your team is 19^th at Christmas, they can win the Stanley Cup.

If your team is 18^th at Christmas, they can go to the Cup Final. Optimism!

*

Congratulations to Dobbernomics team: Gyrfalcons! Your 887.65 points beat out the next team by 22 points (I’m assuming that second place didn’t suddenly gain those 22 points last night, as the standings are not final). Gyrfalcons also managed to boost the team value up to the high $98.37 (we start at $50).

I finished 28th in points and 38^th in value (738.17 and $60.42). I say I “finished”, but the reality is that the final points aren’t in until after the Ramblings are posted, so I may have gone up one spot, or down two spots.

*

In my league I ended up second, as I figured I would. In the end, I needed Malkin and Hornqvist to get three more points than Letang/Burns/Pavelski/Thornton. And my guys actually fell one point further back, so I lost by four. Came down to that though. How many “Malkin to Hornqvist – great save!” did I see the last two games? They weren’t even linemates, yet they crossed paths a lot and I figure I heard those words about three times…

*

Lake Eric Monsters swept the Hershey Bears to win the AHL’s Calder Cup. Of note, three of Columbus’ prospects impressed: Oliver Bjorkstrand, Zach Werenski, and Lukas Sedlak. Sedlak gets noticed because he had 16 points in 17 games clicking on a line with Bjorkstrand. Sedlak’s regular season high in three years in the AHL is 18 points (in 54 games). He practically did that in one-third of the time. Dubious – extremely dubious – fantasy upside, but if it turns out that he and Bjorkstrand go hand in hand at the next level as linemates, then perhaps something will come of it. Because it’s Bjorkstrand who is looking like a legitimate future star.

During his 12 NHL games last season, Bjorkstrand tallied eight points and impressed John Tortorella. To me, the latter is every bit as important as the playoff performance (which by the way won him the Calder Cup MVP). Get into Torts’ good books like that and you’re golden. I’m confident that he’ll make the Blue Jackets in the fall and spend just as much time in the top six as he will on the third line. Here was the OT winner with just under two seconds left in the period:

*

The other story in the AHL was covered by Ian yesterday regarding the Anton Forsberg domination and the Joonas Korpisalo collapse. Korpisalo had the fantasy value wrapped up so tight that Forsberg shoved aside and stuck in my fantasy hockey drawer alongside Dustin Tokarski and Steve Penney, never to be seen again. But the only thing that could have happened to change all that – actually happened. And now I have no idea how this will go. Forsberg really made a huge impression on the franchise and there can only be one backup goalie. And a goalie who backs up Sergei Bobrovsky may as well be the starter (given Bob’s Band-Aid Boyness). Before I pick ‘my’ winner in this little battle, I would like to let things settle down. I’ll keep my ear to the ground over the next two months and try to get a feel for how the organization feels as camp approaches. Right now the ‘passion’ and the ‘last guy to do something’ are affecting my judgment.

*

Well there you go – Connor Carrick, a defenseman for the Toronto Marlies/Maple Leafs, wins the AHL playoff scoring crown with 18 points in 15 games. Didn’t even play the final round.

*

The Fantasy Prospects Report will be re-released on Tuesday. I’ve already added four more profiles and plan for about six more. Aynsley Scott has 10 more ‘draftee’ profiles in there, as well as the Mock Draft and a few error fixes.

*

Scott Hartnell has reportedly waived his no-trade clause. Of course he did. Why would he want to stay? The Jackets could make a killing from trading him, even though he’s 34 years old. And they can simply replace him with the NHL-ready Kerby Rychel. If Hartnell goes to a good team and gets a bit of buzz in the fantasy world, I’ll classify him as a ‘sell’. Meanwhile Rychel, who is one of the add-on profiles in the aforementioned Prospects Report, is a candidate for 35 points/80 PIM this season. Josh Anderson is another prospect on the cusp who could also play a similar game – though Anderson is more for PIM and a little less for points potential.

*

For what it’s worth, Pave Datsyuk’s journey home to Russia to finish off his hockey career is not yet official. GM Ken Holland, in what can only be interpreted as a Hail Mary pass, will meet with Datsyuk about his future. That meeting was put on hold until after Gordie Howe’s funeral. I think Datsyuk is gone, but we’ll see what magic Holland has left.

*

And finally, the newsletter. We did some cleanup and adjustments to it last week and I hope you like it better now. Those of you who use Hotmail may not get to receive it because I think Hotmail blocks my site – and rather than send it to your junkmail they just take it upon themselves to ‘disappear’ it altogether. Anyway, you can subscribe or unsubscribe to the weekly newsletter easily via the ‘downloads’ link above or click here. Any suggestions on how to improve, let me know.

*

The win…

*

The Smythe…

*

Stanley…