Anthony Lancione breaks down Giroux's slow start.
Claude Giroux, who blossomed into a 90+ point producer last season, has struggled out of the gate in 2013. Why? His PPG (points per game) last season of 1.21 put him up with the likes of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby with regards to offensive production. However, four weeks into 2013, his underwhelming 0.57 PPG drop-off marks less than half the rate of production he was accumulating last season.
Marty sets the table for Saturday's NHL action.
I got called in to give Anthony a hand as he’s off to see the Hawks and Kings do battle in Chicago. Our four-legged comrade came crashing back to earth last week only selecting a single winner, while yours truly had some decent picks with the Ducks, Devils, and Capitals all picking up important wins. Lots of good action on TV this weekend so let’s crack a cold one and jump right in!
The 'Looking Ahead' series helps you get the edge when setting your fantasy lineups.
A tough decision can be made easier with these charts showing you the best five and worst five schedules for upcoming seven-day periods. Some of you used them last year but for the benefit of new readers here is a refresher. The number next to the team indicates the 'multiplier' to use on a player's point-per-game pace to give you an idea how many points to expect for that week.
Eric Daoust rips into the Islanders for their recent cap trickery.
The New York Islanders have been a poorly run franchise for years. Many hockey fans have never seen this team enjoy a string of consecutive strong seasons during their lifetime. Their history of poor trades, signings and drafting is well-documented. They have given us glimpses of promise and even an occasional playoff appearance but have found themselves for the most part in the basement of the league. Meanwhile most of their high draft picks have either failed to deliver or found success elsewhere.
Jeff Angus shares his thoughts on the Karlsson injury.
Seth Jones, Nathan MacKinnon, or Jonathan Drouin? Unfortunately, after the Erik Karlsson
injury yesterday, that question will start getting asked more and more in Ottawa.
The Senators were able to weather the Jason Spezza injury (the offense struggled, but they were competitive in most of the games they played in after Spezza was placed on the injured reserve), but they won’t be able to replace Erik Karlsson.
What can poolies expect from Ottawa players for the rest of the season?
Read on to find out.
Ma tells you what to do with your players - better listen up!
The 2012-13 fantasy campaign has certainly thrown poolies a few curveballs. In a shortened 48-game season, there’s no time to dilly dally or sit and wait to make a decision. Every week that you sit on a decision, you’re essentially burning close to 10 percent of the fantasy season. If you’re after a league title, decisions need to be made promptly! This week we’ll look at a couple of slow and hot starters and my thoughts on what you should do with them.
I have been looking forward to publishing this piece for a while. Selecting Canada’s roster for any international hockey competition is never an easy task. There were a number of quality forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders that didn’t make the cut. I made sure to cover the “why” for each selection and omission. There may be a surprise or two as well....
Steve Laidlaw takes a look at the NHL's best rookies.
During the lockout I’d hatched this fantastic scheme – if the season were to be cancelled I would put together the first ever Cage Match Prospects Tournament. There were a ton of fantastic prospects tearing apart their respective leagues. Following a strong 2012 draft class as well as several of the best international prospects having waited a few years before coming to North America there was an absolute glut of talent waiting to break into the league. That tournament would have been bananas but instead we have to suffer through this shortened NHL season and one of the best rookie classes in memory. Thanks a lot, Bettman.
So in lieu of the first ever Cage Match Prospects Tournament and in celebration of this fantastic rookie class we shall instead have the first ever Cage Match Rookie Tournament. For simplicity’s sake and because of my bias towards defensemen (I really hate those fickle bastards) the field has been limited to just forwards. Now before you go and cry yourself to sleep in your Justin Schultz jersey I have to acknowledge that Schultz is my personal favourite to win the Calder this year, which is all the more reason to lock him out of the cage – that’s right, another lockout, suck it defensemen.
Russ Miller takes a look at the Southeast Division.
After only a dozen or so games, it is clear to this author that there are only two teams that are going to compete for the title of division winner in what has perennially been the worst division in the NHL. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes, aka the Natural Disasters, will battle it out all season to see who will snag that third seed in the East. The rest of the teams in this division are simply disasters.
Tampa Bay has lost four in a row and are a single point behind Carolina for first in the division. The Lightning struck early and often in winning six of their first seven games, recording 37 goals for (5.28 per game) and only 15 goals against (2.14 per game).
Unfortunately, in their last four games, Tampa has scored only six goals (1.5 per game) while allowing 14 goals against (3.50 per game). Anders Lindback and Mathieu Garon have combined for a 0.876 save percentage in the last four contests. Clearly, that's not good enough, but it doesn't all fall on the goaltenders. If you can only muster a mere 1.5 goals per contest, you aren't going to win very many games, unless you play airtight defensively.
Rick Roos takes a look at several types of players who are frustrating to own in fantasy hockey leagues.
What’s great about fantasy sports is that even if you don’t win your league, at least you can whine to your competitors - and in the DobberHockey forums - about your misfortune. Fantasy hockey in particular makes it pretty easy to complain, because there are so many ways your team and its players can let you down. For example, DobberHockey readers already are well aware of all too familiar frustrations like Band-Aid boys (players who are great when they’re healthy, but always seem to get hurt) and Windex Wonders (players who are either ice cold or red hot), but there are many other ways players can become sources of frustration.
This week I thought I’d go over the different types of players who can disappoint a fantasy team; and instead of an overall “Final Verdict” like I usually have in this column, I’ll rank each category of player on a “frustration meter” that ranges from one gray hair (a little annoying sometimes, but not a big deal) to five gray hairs (a major source of constant aggravation). One key thing to keep in mind – frustrating doesn’t always mean bad. Even a guy who gets a four or five on the frustration meter usually can still help your team; he just might drive you crazy in the process!
Now onto the list…
