z-Archives (other articles)

Now that we’re in the holiday season, I now have some precious free time to do what I enjoy the most: talk some fantasy hockey. The 2008 year was full of newsworthy events in the hockey world. Evgeni Malkin staked his claim as the best hockey player in the world with a tremendous 2008, ascending to the top of Dobber’s Keeper-League Player Rankings. Simon Gagne returned from a severe concussion to spark a potent Flyers attack. Sensational sophomore Pat Kane is leading the rebuild in the Windy City, and the Hawks are currently a playoff club in the always-tough Western Conference. Here are my 10 biggest surprises (good and bad), my Unleashed Players of the Year, and of course some Mats Sundin talk!

It's that time of year again, and Bugg Bytes kicks off its World Juniors coverage with six days of roster reports. That's right- half the time of that annoying song, quadtriple the amount of useful information! First up: the peksy Finns, who are woefully underrated entering the tournament.

The goalie’s eyes say it all. A blank stare to the heavens after an innocent shot sneaks through, a piercing glare at their defenseman after a deflection in front, or a vengeful look towards the referee in anticipation of an interference penalty. All of these looks of desperation and helplessness are increasing by the week and no goalie can escape the perils that lie ahead, not even those that have eluded it many times before.

C’est un peu plus compliqué que ceci, mais une vue d’ensemble d’une équipe de hockey qui a du succès nous démontre de bonnes performances de ses gardiens de buts, un défenseur étoile par quatre joueurs d’attaque étoile et une bonne deuxième vague d’attaque. En entrant dans la saison 2008-09, les Bruins avaient Zdeno Chara comme défenseur, Marc Savard comme attaquant-étoile et ils espéraient que Patrice Bergeron allait récupérer de sa commotion afin d’être le deuxième marqueur de l’équipe. Les Bruins espéraient aussi que le duo Tim Thomas et Manny Fernandez allaient les garder dans assez de parties pour qu’ils fassent les séries.

Welcome once again to “An Expert’s Audit”. This audit will be posted here as well as on my fantasy hockey blog at Hockey Analysis . During the season I do weekly reviews of teams for people who email in to me for a look-see, they’re less indepth but just as much fun. Dobber audits will continue to appear here monthly and if you’re interested in having your keeper team “worked over” then you can begin by emailing Dobber about it BEFORE December 19th.

My column is a couple of days late this week and it’ll be a short one since I just moved into a new house last week and there are a million things to get done. Despite my busy days, I found the time to pull off a huge deal in the Dobber Expert League. An 11-player trade that will have major repercussions on the outcome of the season. One of the most fun aspects of fantasy sports is the opportunity to act like a general manager and to some wheeling and dealing so it’s always a rush when you pull off a huge transaction. Here is the detailed analysis of the trade and how you can achieve such deals in your fantasy league.
 

Every December, the best young hockey players in the world gather to take part in one of the most prestigious and exciting hockey tournaments in the world (and my personal favourite) – the World Junior Hockey Championships. Legends are born, just ask “Double Dion” Phaneuf. Unheralded players steal the spotlight, like Swiss goaltender Reto Berra did a few years’ back. Looking back, there have been a lot big names as well as a lot of big busts. For the next few weeks leading up to the tournament, I will report on what has happened to many of the young players who have starred at this tournament over the years. This weeks’ article covers Sweden and Finland.

Like giant glowing moons, the two ominous I’s of goaltending linger and sulk in the night sky. One of them, Injury, represents the physical component of the position, along with the notion that anyone can fall victim to the dreaded IR list. The other is Inconsistency, representing the mental toughness component, along with the notion that “hot streaks” or “crease takeovers” don’t last very long. And sometimes they don’t even last for an entire week.