maaaasquito

Another look at some hot and cold players in the Western Conference...

For many of you who are lucky enough to play in a head-to-head matchup this week to keep your fantasy drive alive, this column is meant specifically for you. We’ll look at a lucky seven players who could help make your fantasy season, and a dreadful six who could break it for you.

The trade deadline has come and gone which leaves about 15 games until the end of the fantasy season. This week we’ll take a closer look at what occurred at the trade deadline and how the deals helped or hurt each team involved.

The trade deadline is quickly approaching which will definitely involve plenty of GM’s in the decision-making process. You, as a fantasy GM have just as many decisions in order to get your team towards the finish line. Hopefully the buzzing this week will make your decision-making process a lot easier.

Dictionary.com defines complacency as, “a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.”. Complacency is one of the most dangerous aspects of fantasy hockey. You might be enjoying a 20-point lead in your roto-league, but that can vanish very easily in a course of two-to-three weeks. Complacency is also key in head-to-head leagues, where you could be leading the regular season by 200 points, but still get beat down by a hot team during the playoffs. It is vital that you keep up to date with all your information during the stretch run to maintain your lead, or make it a photo finish in your league with the current leaders. 

The final stretch of the fantasy season is about to begin, whether you are 20 points up on your competition or 20 points down, now is the time to make a late season surge. The waiver wire is littered with tons of potential pickups and if you are in a position where you are looking up at the competition, you’ll need to take some gambles in order to get you to the finish line.

If you have ever been to London, England, I’m pretty sure you would have attended the changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. It’s actually quite a neat tradition to observe and seems fitting for the many changes that have come down this week in the Western Conference.  

You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get.

Although that quote was made famous by Tom Hanks portraying Forrest Gump in the 1994 film, it could be very fitting for plenty of fantasy hockey pools out there. The All-Star break has come and gone, and with a little over 30 games remaining for each team for the rest of the season, most teams will be either preparing for the postseason or prepping up for the future. We’ll take a look at what’s been happening in the Western Conference leading up to the All-Star break and into some insight as to what potentially could happen in the final two and a half months of fantasy hockey.   

I’ve been travelling New Zealand for the past month and during my time here I’ve participated in a few Lord of the Rings tours. I figured I’d have a bit of fun this week to see if I could match some Western Conference players to some of the characters from Lord of the Rings trilogy.