Offense wins games, defense wins championships. And yes, fantasy sports is a game, and we get points, categories, and weekly matchups from offensive stats. But let’s not get beyond ourselves here. Defense matters. Which just might be why the Winnipeg Jets lead the Central Division. From November 9 until this morning, there have been ZERO [...]
I’m honestly not a fan of the Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule that had fantasy managers suddenly able to - gasp! - talk with their significant others, and maybe interact with family members who are still returning Christmas presents. Honey-do lists? Out to dinner? Something ELSE on television - OMG, Lifetime Channel? Thank goodness we had the IIHF [...]
Ilya Samsonov shut out the Nashville Predators on December 9. Why does this make the news today? Because there’s at least a shred of evidence that he is an NHL-caliber goalie. However, since that effort he’s been caught in a nightmare - both for himself and for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Samsonov, in his last [...]
All I want for Christmas - some players coming off absence this week were Dylan Larkin, Andrei Svechnikov, Auston Matthews, Cale Makar, Jacob Markstrom, Aaron Ekblad, Charlie McAvoy, Jack Quinn - injuries are inevitable, but the NHL is better to have these men playing. Now my January wishes will be for Kyle Connor, Jake Oettinger, [...]
The Pittsburgh Penguins looked a lot better against the Panthers last evening, but were again unable to find the net more than once. Their power play, now 0-for-recent memory, has to wake up if the Pens have any chance to rescue their 11-12-3 start, now tied with Montreal for 12th place in the East. Reilly [...]
It’s not much surprise, at the season’s quarter pole, that Alexander Ovechkin leads the Washington Capitals in scoring. But it may surprise readers that of the 32 NHL teams, all of the other 31 have at least one player ahead of Ovi’s 14 points. Okay, try this one - Jonathan Huberdeau, after an awful start, [...]
It’s two days after USA Thanksgiving, and as a bona-fide descendant of those first Pilgrims, here’s a short list of things to be thankful for: The Old Guys - Of the top 20 scorers (and ties) at the turkey-day milestone, seven have passed their 30th birthday, led by Sidney Crosby at 36 years, and by [...]
Goalies (in fantasy hockey): I’m going to discuss this from a number of angles. First, for our Yahoo or Fantrax fantasy leagues, goalies tend to make up an inordinate percentage of categories (or points, to a lesser degree) compared to skaters. The current Yahoo default skater categories are Goals, Assists, Shots on Goal, Power-Play Points, [...]
I’m unabashedly a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, so the biggest news this week from their organization was that Jaromir Jagr’s #68 jersey retirement will be honored on February 18 at PPG Arena, after his playing days finally ended (?) at age 51 in Czechoslovakia. Jagr has delayed his own Hall of Fame induction by continuing to [...]
Almost a month in, what have we learned about the beginning of this NHL season, and how can we use the information to our advantage (and make better wagers?) Let’s look at a few variables that we’ve been programmed into believing. First, home teams win more. (My statistics are through Thursday.) For this season, home [...]
