maaaasquito

Sifting through the players in the Western Conference, Ryan Ma comes up with some suggestions for hidden gems.

Plenty of “busts” so far this campaign. Let's discuss a few that have caught my attention and see if a deviation is expected or are things going to remain status quo to drive you further insane.

Taking a look the ice time, shot total and production of Western Conference pivots and giving a buy or sell recommendation in the final part of this month-long series.

Continuing with the fourth part of the series, this week we’ll take a closer look at the Western Conference left wingers.

The value of a winger can easily be identified by interpreting the same two stats used to identify the value of blue-liners, which is PP ice-time and SOG (shots on goal). The reasoning behind it is very simple. PP ice-time usually separates players who are offensive-minded from those that are defensive-oriented. Similarly with SOG, the more a winger shoots, the higher the chance it goes into the net or creates offensive chances.

The fantasy value of a blue-liner can easily be identified by interpreting two main stats: PP ice-time and SOG. The reasoning behind it is very simple. PP ice-time usually separates players who are offensive-minded from those that are defensive-oriented. The more PP time they receive usually equates to more opportunities they’ll have to score with an offensive advantage. On a similar note, SOG usually maintains a similar line of thought. The more a defenseman shoots, the higher the chance it goes into the net or creating offensive chances. The opposite also holds true, the less a defenseman shoots, the lower the chance that the puck has of going into the net and the lower point production. Now that we’ve established clear indicators on determining the fantasy value of defenseman, let’s take a closer look the defenseman from the Western Conference.

There are a couple of key indicators to look for in terms of predicting success for a goaltender. There’s your basic goals against average (GAA), save percentage (SP) along with overall win/loss record. Of the three mentioned, GAA and overall record could be directly influenced by the skill of the team in front of them. For example, if a team is highly offensive (Washington, Detroit, or San Jose), their goalie is going to pick up more wins than a team that struggles offensively (Minnesota or Columbus). On a similar scale, GAA could also be affected by the team’s selected style of play (St. Louis, Phoenix, or Nashville), versus the run-and-gun style of Washington/Tampa Bay. One true indicator to determine how well a goalie is playing is to examine their save percentage. If a goalie stops nine shots in every 10, he owns a .900 save percentage. If he stops 27 in every 30 he also maintains a .900 save percentage. In the end, save percentage rarely lies about how well a goalie is playing.

The start of the 2011-2012 NHL season is well and truly underway and many of you might be a bit disappointed with your fantasy squad at the moment. What you thought three weeks ago was an invincible team has now been returned back to Earth with a thud. Keep in mind that it’s only three weeks into the season and there’s still plenty of time left to compete for the title come April. This week I’ll list off a few players that were largely ignored at the draft table, but may provide you with a much needed shot in your arm for your fantasy squad.

The start of the 2011-2012 NHL season is well and truly underway. There have been a few pleasant surprises, as well as few “red alert” moments involving key injuries. The main thing that you need to keep in mind is that the season is still young and there’s still seven months of quality hockey remaining. Similar to last season, I’ll provide you with weekly updates so that you have access to the latest news that’s been happening from the Western Conference front.