z-Archives (other articles)

The NHL player's long path to the big leagues is not as easy and enjoyable as one might believe. The journey certainly has its bumps along the road and challenges to overcome and the players who are able to survive, persevere and learn from each challenge will certainly develop the intangibles to become better professional athletes. Each year the NHL entry draft rewards two-hundred ten players for their hard work and effort fulfilling long time dreams of donning an NHL sweater for many kids. That moment when Brian Burke, Ken Holland, George McPhee or some other NHL General Manager calls out your name on stage provides the player who has spent hours upon hours working towards their goal of becoming a National Hockey League draft pick with a sense of satisfaction. The toughest part of that journey towards the NHL draft might just be in the ten months before their NHL eligible draft year. As players enter into this critical year there is an added pressure to maintain that high level of performance under the critical eyes of many important hockey personnel.

Since today is Thanksgiving here in Colorado, it’s a rare day off for me from GoaliePost and The Goalie Guild. But I still wanted to have some fun by showing thanks to a set of coaches and goalies that have made my fantasy teams successful so far. It has been quite an entertaining first quarter of the season, so with that in mind, here’s a crew of characters I’m grateful for on this Thanksgiving holiday.

There was a thread created at the DobberHockey forums recently which questioned what strategies should be used in a one year salary cap league.  I’ve only ever been involved in salary cap keeper leagues, but this question piqued my interest.  How much of a different approach does one need to take in a one-year compared to a keeper, or is their really much of a difference at all?  I’ll try and pinpoint the similarities and differences, as well as distinguish a basic strategy that can be utilized in any type of one-year, salary-cap leagues.

The Hurricanes have suffered a total core meltdown in November. The defense is deplorable, Eric Staal is now a league-worst -18, and Cam Ward is just 2-6 with a 4.34 goals-against average and .878 save percentage this month. Poolies know he’s too valuable to drop; he’s currently projected to play 76-78 games. He’s also an elite talent, so we all know he could turn things around on his own, or be a major beneficiary of any potential coaching staff shakeup.

If you own Tim Connolly, Alexander Semin, Sami Salo and Pascal Leclaire all on the same roster, you should think of trying something else. One can potentially weasel their way out of such sticky situations with deft late-round drafting or perspicacious waiver wire picking. Yea, I may use thesaurus.com, so what?  What’s bad is running with a roster of the aforementioned players without the appropriate bandages, er… depth to fill in when they are down and out.  Acquiring this depth is most easily done through your draft and a strategical focus and plan can help.

Download the November PDF right here.

By request, accompanying the Roto Exclusive this time around are columns dedicated to shorthanded points (SHP) and faceoffs won (FOW). In addition, following the Black Aces report this month are two featured articles by Peter Harling and Brandon Landry.

Welcome back to An Expert’s Audit.  Every month we’ll take a look at a reader’s keeper league team in the hopes of helping him toward a championship.  If you’re interested in getting an audit for your own keeper team you can begin the process by emailing Dobber about it.

Have you ever looked at your team's fantasy roster and wonder why the hell they're not much further up in the standings?

This column is a part of the Province newspaper's "Replace the KB" blogging competition. Give it a thumbs up here!

There are few certainties in the world of hockey each and every season. Daniel and Henrik Sedin will be near the top of the scoring race. Tim Connolly, Ales Hemsky, and Sami Salo will keep their respective team doctors busy. Teemu Selanne will continue to defy father time, and Pierre McGuire will remind us why every single young Canadian is the next Bryan Trotter/Joe Sakic/Steve Yzerman/all of the above.

There will always be disappointments, and this year is no different. Some proven stars are off to brutal starts, and some inconsistent players are unsurprisingly struggling. Let’s get to the first quarter LVP’s (Least Valuable Players) at each position.