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Cage Match - Iginla vs. St. Louis: Now that the All-Star Break has passed it is time to gear for your championship run. Whether you are playing head-to-head or rotisserie identifying the most productive players over the final 30 or so games is crucial. This means it is time to start loading up on proven options. Sure there are other strategies out there but like that classic TLC song says, “Don’t go chasing waterfalls, just stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to.”

Duncan Keith vs. Ryan Suter: Who makes up the best defensive pairing in the National Hockey League? While there are a number of plausible answers there are really only two duos who fit the bill in my mind: Keith-Seabrook and Suter-Weber.

Gaborik vs. Semin: I am going to let you guys in on a little secret; I loathe Band-Aid Boys. What’s the use in owning a player who could, at any moment, spontaneously combust? Sure, anyone could go out for an extended period in today’s “Noggin Hurts League” but there is still something off-putting about knowing that there is a high probability a player will miss 20+ games. With Band-Aid Boys it is basically a coin flip. Heads you get Jekyll, tails you get Hyde.

The Blackhawks-Canucks rivalry is truly a thing to behold. Over the past three seasons no two teams have faced off against one another in the playoffs as much as these two have. The result is a familiarity that breeds tight-checking, hard-hitting action even in regular season contests and yet, the Blackhawks and Canucks are among two of the most skilled teams in the league so in the midst of their tightly contested matches there is plenty of skill, speed and creativity on display.

Happy Festivus everyone! It truly is a Festivus miracle that every year the NHL shuts down for two days around the holidays. It is the perfect time to gather your fantasy squad around the aluminum pole and take part in the airing of grievances. Here is an excerpt from my Festivus dinner this past Friday evening:

Cage Match: Jamie Benn vs. Evander Kane

The single toughest aspect of fantasy hockey is analyzing breakouts. Obviously you want to get ahead of the game but pre-season estimates are hit and miss. You just can’t know for sure until you see the product on the ice. Once you see a breakout in action you need to quickly decipher its validity and the future implications. In this week’s Cage Match we look at to players in the midst of breakout seasons and analyze what these breakouts mean going forward. It’s Jamie Benn vs. Evander Kane – and no, it is not a boxing match.

The St. Louis Blues annoy me. Nay, they downright piss me of. This franchise has received more hype than Avatar. The next big thing? Hardly. Avatar was alien Pocahontas and the Blues are hockey’s Kansas City Royals.

Callahan vs. Heatley - I wish I could have gotten this week’s Cage Match out before the start of the season. I feel like it could have saved you all some pain. Much like last week’s Filppula vs. Ribeiro Cage Match I will be comparing an in-decline veteran with an up-and-coming youngster. This week it is Dany Heatley vs. Ryan Callahan. Does the vet have anything left in the tank? Is the youngster ready to usurp him? Let’s find out. Ring that bell!

My two favourite mantras in fantasy hockey are; buy low sell high and; proven over potential. As we saw last week in the Giroux vs. Kane Cage Match sometimes you just have to throw those out the window. Things do eventually change. Learning to tell the difference between a buy low stock and a sinking ship is tremendously valuable. Being able to tell the difference between a breakout player and a fast starter is similarly valuable. In this week’s Cage Match we look at two different players in two very different situations – one in the latter situation and one in the former. It’s Valterri Filppula vs. Mike Ribeiro. Are these two contenders or pretenders?

I cannot lie to you guys, I have been afraid to write this Cage Match article for quite some time. I mean, it is easy to compare Patrick Kane and Claude Giroux but how do you discern a difference beyond the logo on the front, and the name on the back of their sweaters? They are pretty much the same guy, as far as fantasy hockey is concerned.