z-Archives (other articles)

We did a Deep Analysis of Jeff Angus’ team, The Crosby Show, before last season and we’re back again to give him another edge. Check all of our fantasy hockey tools out over at the HockeyPoolGeek.

(Editors note: considering my entire league will be reading this, not sure how much of an edge I actually get!)

Before I begin, allow me to recite the Golden Rule of fantasy goalie rankings. “Explain the format, lay out the parameters and clearly state the stipulations that create every ranking.” With that in mind, this year’s Top-10 Fantasy Goalies ranking for one-year leagues is focused on volume. It includes goalies that I feel will not only play a ton of games and see tons of shots, but also make a high percentage of saves and have the best odds of playing consistently well from start to finish.

In the September 2011 edition, Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review fills you in on what's been going down at Pens training camp. Brian Kom discusses some mistakes poolies often make, and Dobber himself comes on at the end to answer phone calls, e-mails, and tweets from you!

The 2011 prospect tournaments are all wrapped up and several key recent draft picks certainly made their marks on management and their fan base.  The NHL pre-season schedule is underway and now is the time for the prospects to prove their readiness in hopes of earning an extended stay.  The Dean’s List takes the opportunity to address those 2011 NHL Draftees who have performed well at their team’s prospect events and are showing signs of life in exhibition play as well.  There are plenty of draftees who enter camp full of piss and vinegar but cracking the opening day rosters takes more than a few good shifts.

In terms of sheer depth at the 2011 Colorado Avalanche Training Camp, I can safely say it was the most talented group of defensemen and goaltenders I have seen (since 2006). With a star in Semyon Varlamov and a mentor in J-S Giguere, this new tandem, if they stay healthy, will be flat out sick. But by adding the steady Jan Hejda, the burly Shane O’Brien, the healthy Kyle Quincey and a fully acclimated Erik Johnson into the mix, both fragile goalies are bubble wrapped and on their way to being potential fantasy darkhorses.

Before we get started on the inaugural Q&A with Nichols here, I wanted to pass along a little info.

Welcome to the Roto Guide 2.0 (click here to read in PDF).

With puck drop under a month away and a new season upon us, it seemed like perfect time to take the opportunity to bring about the next chapter of the Roto list – extended categories. The Top 100 now officially features eight categories: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, Hits and Blocked Shots (BS).

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.

Jonathan Quick was arguably the most undervalued fantasy goaltender last season. He entered training camp as the “not-so-clear-cut” starter in LA, but put pundits in their place by winning 35 games (the league-high was 38), posting a 2.24 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and six shutouts. Considering he did all of this in just 61 games, those numbers were pure, unexpected fantasy gold.

Welcome to Hockey Pool Geek’s Deep Analysis. Our goal is to dig deep into the team and league that is being analyzed in order to bring out some insight and push you into really getting the most out of your team and ultimately taking down the rest of the league.

Neil McWilliams, aka wendelclark17 on the DobberHockey forums, was one of the lucky winners of our contest.  Let’s dig right in.