Big things can come in small – and unexpected - packages. Cases in point for 2016-17 are Conor Sheary and Viktor Arvidsson; neither stands 5’10”, but they’ve been two of the season’s most significant fantasy surprises. Are they flashes in the pan, or for real? Let’s find out – Cage Match starts now! Career [...]
Cage Match; Klingberg vs. Hamilton I’ve been wanting to cover John Klingberg and Dougie Hamilton in a Cage Match for a while, but never felt like there was a well-matched opponent. Now lo and behold - they’re right near each other in production for 2016-17, so let’s dive into this battle! Career Path [...]
Goldipucks is digging deep on Jonathan Toews, Rasmus Ristolainen and Nazem Kadri to determine which one is too hot, which is too cold - and which one is just right. Good news - after the success of the first Goldipucks and the Three Skaters column, Dobber decided to turn it into a monthly feature [...]
Believe it or not, I’ve never covered P.K. Subban since I took over this column in 2013. Mainly that was due to what I saw as lack of comparable opponents; however, with Victor Hedman’s superb 2016-17, they seem well aligned to do battle. Are we at a crossroads where Hedman becomes a fixture among [...]
How long has it been since the last Max Pacioretty Cage Match? Long enough that Andrew Ladd was his previous opponent! Facing MaxPac is Taylor Hall, who was covered a bit more recently, but as an Olier. Can Pacioretty stay on pace to achieve his first 70+ point season? Does Hall have what it takes, [...]
This week I’m trying something new. The idea is to take the “pick a winner” concept of Cage Match and make it appeal to a wider audience. How? Covering more players (three, instead of two) and focusing on each player individually (versus by comparison) within a shorter column, yet still providing the thorough information [...]
Like last week, today’s battle is between one player (Sean Monahan) who achieved early success but has yet to take that all-important next step, and another (Charlie Coyle) who had disappointed for his entire career but has broken out this season. Can Monahan improve; and if so, when might he turn a corner? Can Coyle [...]
This week’s battle is between Mark Stone and Mikael Granlund. For Stone, 2016-17 could be his third straight 61-65 point season, while for Granlund it would represent the first time he’s bested even 44 points. Does Stone have another gear, or has he peaked? Is Granlund breaking out, or is his 2016-17 production entirely - [...]
This week we take a break from the usual battle to cover a question that’s come to the forefront of fantasy hockey due to the production of Sam Gagner. Thanks to Gagner’s 60-point scoring pace over his first 45 games - despite averaging only 13:38 of Total Ice Time per contest - he’s been [...]
Some of my most favorite Cage Matches are what I call “will the real [insert names] please stand up” battles. What I mean is, I like to cover players whose production has varied considerably from year to year, since the analysis in this column usually can reveal who the real version of each player actually [...]
