Congrats to seadawg for winning the 2010 DobberHockey Draft Contest! He finished with a score of 40 points. He correctly predicted the picks of Hall, Seguin, Gudbranson, Connolly, Campbell, Bennett, Howden, and Kuznetzov. Dobber here - just letting you know that I'm on the Draft Chat now - link below. (5:30pm ET) [...]
Fantasy Analysis: Florida has dealt defenseman Keith Ballard and winger Victor Oreskovich to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for wingers Steve Bernier, Michael Grabner, and the 2010 1st round draft selection (25th overall).
The live chat is going swimmingly - Bugg is on, live from LA. Dobber, Angus, Ma and Goldman are on. As well as Russian expert Alessandro Seren Rosso and forum stalwarts Crazynuck, Doulos and Praba - and 200 other readers. Join the chat now! click here Full fantasy breakdown on the Ballard deal [...]
Cyberpresse is reporting that Pouliot may be qualified before Monday, the Habs are still evaluating. I had forgotten - every year around draft time it's Matt Bugg's birthday. This year - it's today. Happy B-Day Mr. Bugg! Everyone's jumping in with ramblings today - gotta love the coverage. It's Dobber again, back a [...]
Dobber Hockey Live Draft Chat
After posting my 2010 Mock Offseason for the Vancouver Canucks on the weekend, I received a few emails from readers asking for my take on their favourite club. Naturally, a significant portion of these messages were from Leafs fans. I decided to tackle the Leafs for other reasons besides the numerous requests – the Tomas Kaberle saga, the need for offense, and Dion Phaneuf’s swagger all drew me to Toronto’s offseason situation.
Right now, the Leafs have a lot of holes up front, a lot of high-paid defensemen, and a stable goaltending situation.
I do not hide the fact that I am a fan of the Vancouver Canucks. I (attempt to) remove my bias when helping with player evaluations in fantasy hockey, and to this point I have done a great job of separating my personal bias with how I build my fantasy teams. In my five keeper leagues (I used to be in more, but five is the most I can manage without over-committing myself), I only own one Canuck – Roberto Luongo. I own Luongo in two of the five leagues. I tend to avoid drafting and trading for Vancouver players because I do not want to be clouded by optimism. This has both helped (Steve Bernier) and hurt (Christian Ehrhoff) me over the past few years, but it is a principle that I don’t anticipate myself changing.
The New Jersey Devils acquired center Jason Arnott from the Nashville Predators today, in exchange for prospect Matt Halischuk and a 2011 2nd round draft pick.
Why did Guy Boucher choose Tampa Bay over Columbus? Elliotte Freidman of CBC sums it up best: “Word is the biggest reason was time, as in he's got more of it in Tampa. When Steve Yzerman took over, he preached patience. “It's going to take some time” was his mantra, repeating it often and to everyone. It's the right path for that organization.” Boucher will have time to build and mold Tampa Bay’s on ice product to his exact specifications. His coaching philosophy is one centered on a consistently aggressive offensive attack. Pushing the puck up the ice is a significant part of that, and it places a huge emphasis on a defenseman’s ability to skate, make plays, and pass the puck quickly and accurately.
The Devils are going to have to undergo a massive rebuild in a few years. Brodeur is 38, Arnott is 35, Langenbrunner is 35, Elias is 34, and Rolston is 37. Thankfully they have Parise, Zajac, and a pair of strong prospects in Tedenby and Josefson. This is just me speculating, but Tomas [...]
