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The Olympics are now less than a calendar year away, although the selection process is well underway for the participating countries. The defending Olympic champions (Sweden) are looking to repeat as gold medalists, but an influx in young Canadian, American, and Russian talent ensures that the 2010 games will be hotly contested. Last summer I wrote a piece on my ideas for a prospective Canadian lineup, and ideally I would like to cover the rest of the hockey powers at some point before February 2010. Here are my picks for the 2010 American lineup.

Trying to predict the next breakout star in the NHL is something we all enjoy. It involves both research and prognosticating, and often taking a risk or two. I tend to take moderate risks when proclaiming my picks for breakout stars. No guts, no glory, right? (Might be a bit of an exaggeration, as we are simply talking fantasy hockey here, but who cares!)

Before the season started, many expected Florida to be a bottom-feeder in the Eastern Conference. They traded their captain and best player (Olli Jokinen) in the off-season, in what many said was an incredibly lopsided deal (the Panthers received Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton in return). However, new head coach Pete DeBoer has the Panthers playing a very strong team game, The Panthers are built around a solid defense and a balanced group of forwards. In their past 11 games they have scored 41 goals. It is offensive production like this that is making Florida a fantasy-relevant team.

Eric Maltais first approached me with regards to joining the Industry Experts League he was running in the summer of 2008. I jumped at the opportunity to join a league featuring writers and bloggers from the likes of TSN, Yahoo, Rotoworld, Rotowire, McKeen’s Hockey; in other words the cream of the crop with regards to fantasy hockey on the internet. Maltais won the league last year, so I wanted to make sure that DobberHockey was going to be well represented in this league once again.

Late last February Chicago and Carolina swapped talented and underachieving forwards in Tuomo Ruutu and Andrew Ladd. Ruutu was drafted ninth overall in 2001, while Ladd went even higher at fourth in 2006. Both came into the league with a lot of expectations and on the whole both failed to deliver. This trade did not register anything more than a minor blip in the fantasy hockey world, but it should have.
 

Every December, the best young hockey players in the world gather to take part in one of the most prestigious and exciting hockey tournaments in the world (and my personal favourite) – the World Junior Hockey Championships. Legends are born, just ask “Double Dion” Phaneuf. Unheralded players steal the spotlight, like Swiss goaltender Reto Berra. Looking back through the past years there are a lot big names, as well as big busts. This article covers some of the junior stars from the obscure hockey nations that have entered the tournament over the years.

Now that we’re in the holiday season, I now have some precious free time to do what I enjoy the most: talk some fantasy hockey. The 2008 year was full of newsworthy events in the hockey world. Evgeni Malkin staked his claim as the best hockey player in the world with a tremendous 2008, ascending to the top of Dobber’s Keeper-League Player Rankings. Simon Gagne returned from a severe concussion to spark a potent Flyers attack. Sensational sophomore Pat Kane is leading the rebuild in the Windy City, and the Hawks are currently a playoff club in the always-tough Western Conference. Here are my 10 biggest surprises (good and bad), my Unleashed Players of the Year, and of course some Mats Sundin talk!

Every December, the best young hockey players in the world gather to take part in one of the most prestigious and exciting hockey tournaments in the world (and my personal favourite) – the World Junior Hockey Championships. Legends are born, just ask “Double Dion” Phaneuf. Unheralded players steal the spotlight, like Swiss goaltender Reto Berra did a few years’ back. Looking back, there have been a lot big names as well as a lot of big busts. For the next few weeks leading up to the tournament, I will report on what has happened to many of the young players who have starred at this tournament over the years. This weeks’ article covers Sweden and Finland.

The mass hysteria in the fantasy hockey world reached a record high recently with the news that superstar goaltender Roberto Luongo would be out with a long-term injury. Mass panic ensued, and many promising fantasy seasons went down the tube. No one will be able to replace Luongo, especially with the kind of season he was having. He looked to be a lock for the Vezina and once again a contender for the Hart Trophy. But now that he is out, what does that mean for Luongo owners?