Despite never having laced up a pair of skates (except for those of his two young sons) and growing up in Red Sox crazed Massachusetts, Rick Roos has been a huge hockey fan nearly all of his life. Inspired by often wearing a Canadiens jersey to the old Boston Garden (it’s a long story…) and living to tell about it, Rick started to join fantasy hockey leagues back in the 90s, where he found himself waiting eagerly by a fax machine for weekly stats updates. He has since been in – and won – leagues featuring elite fantasy hockey writers. In real life, Rick is an attorney, which made him the perfect choice to write his previous “Holding Court” column on DobberHockey, where he debated both sides of a fantasy hockey issue and rendered a verdict for readers to debate. Later, for several years, he did similar for the popular “Cage Match” series. Today, Roos is freewheeling through a variety of monthly pieces: Forum Buzz takes a look at some hot topics our readers are discussing in the forum; Mailbag allows readers to write in to Roos with fantasy hockey questions; Goldipucks and the Three Skaters takes a look at three players (in the spirit of the old Cage Match, except Roos determines who is too hot, too cold…and ju-u-ust right); The Tournament is where Roos polls the readers and the forum community on a certain topic, just the way Tourneys ran in the old Cage Match, until a winning player in that topic is declared.
Goldipucks and the Three Skaters: Playoff Edition (Part 1)
Most regular season fantasy leagues are now wrapping up, but playoff pools are around the corner. So what better time for Goldipucks and the Three Skaters to cover skaters on teams bound for the playoffs! This week’s skaters are Filip Forsberg, T.J. Oshie, and Torey Krug, each of whom has the luxury of playing for [...]
Cage Match: PK Subban vs. Roman Josi
It’s rare enough to find top defensemen who match up well for this column, but this week’s battle is a true first in the nearly five years I’ve been doing Cage Match because it features two rearguards from the same team: Roman Josi and P.K. Subban. Who should you pursue in your leagues going forward? [...]
Fantasy Cage Match: Barzal vs. Draisaitl
This is one of my favorite times of year for Cage Matches, since I have enough season-long data to see if breakout players are for real or simply enjoying a long but ultimately unsustainable spike in production. Case in point is Mathew Barzal, who, although always highly touted, has already far and away exceeded rookie [...]
Goldipucks and the Three Skaters: Vegas Baby! – Part 2
Welcome to part two of the “Vegas Baby!” edition of Goldipucks and the Three Skaters! For first time readers, or those who missed last week’s part one, the concept is a play on Goldilocks and the Three Bears, except instead of bowls of porridge I’m covering skaters and declaring one too hot (i.e., doing unsustainably [...]
Goldipucks and the Three Skaters: Vegas Baby Part 1
Goldipucks and the Three Skaters, featuring the Golden Knights […]
Cage Match: David Pastrnak vs. Patrik Laine
Could David Pastrnak be a better fantasy option than Patrik Laine? […]
Cage Match: Digging deep on Aaron Ekblad and Darnell Nurse
Usually I’d be wary of covering two players who’ve combined to score barely 150 points in nearly 450 career games; but when they happen to be heralded young rearguards Aaron Ekblad and Darnell Nurse, those concerns disappear. Let’s dig deep to see who’s the better own at present, and for down the road. Cage Match [...]