For the past couple of seasons, I’ve written a few columns breaking down each of the Western Conference team’s top-six from the bottom-six. So for the next couple of weeks, I’ll go back to the well once again and give you some insight on each of the Western Conference teams for the upcoming campaign.
(Part One)
Over the past week, very little free agent goalie movement took place. But this was an expected occurrence, as spots get filled quickly and many goalies that had fantasy value last season turn up homeless. Such is the situation currently facing goalies like Ray Emery, Marty Turco and Pascale Leclaire, along with some solid AHL goalies like Tyler Weiman and Mike Brodeur.
Four years ago, the Los Angeles Kings' net minding situation was a mess. They used six different goaltenders in the 2007/08 season: Jason LaBarbera, Jean Sebastien Aubin, Erik Ersberg, Dan Cloutier, Jonathan Bernier, Jonathan Quick and Daniel Taylor. Even though Quick was handed the starting job the following season and posted respectable numbers (21-18-2, 2.46 GAA and .914 SV%), it seemed that Bernier was considered the franchise's goalie of the future.
A September '09 article of mine explained how NHL teams like to transition potential scoring forwards from the AHL to the NHL. Since the lockout, most teams have developed a three-season program for transitioning proven AHL producers to scoring NHL forwards. It's a fairly simple formula but it's amazingly consistent.
I want to run my own hockey team. Living the dream, to me, would be just that. The next Mike Gillis. The effort to live vicariously through your fantasy hockey team mellows the burning desire live it out in the real. Adding dimensions to your hockey pool can simulate an office job with a city view, while working for your favourite team. The salary cap satisfies the statistic nerd in all of us and increases the difficulty level of running a team.
This offseason edition of the Top 100 Roto Players brings you hockey enthusiasts an excellent new series: “Hockey Analytics” by Doran Libin. Better known as Big_DL on the DobberHockey forums, Doran delivers a quality piece (and introduction) on the benefits of advanced metrics. Under the Poolie Journals title, we are handed a chance to explore a new side of analyzing statistics, giving us a great advantage over our fellow managers and competition. Be sure to check it out on page 19.
Now that you got your fill on defensemen, it is time to showcase a few deserving forwards who excel in the combined ‘Hits’ and ‘Blocked Shots’ department. Forwards are a very different breed than defensive defensemen and blocked shots are not very forward friendly.
I might be new to the game in terms of column writing, but I’m well aware of good analysis when I see it. That’s why I’ve decided to bring you, the readers, an Eastern Conference flavor of Ryan Ma’s Earmarked for Success. Ryan does a phenomenal job of breaking down which players should be penciled in for top six or bottom six roles on each Western Conference team each summer.
I’ve had a fairly busy offseason in my head-to-head keeper league. I shipped out Justin Williams for Steve Ott last month, and last weekend I pulled the trigger in a bigger trade, moving out Martin Brodeur, John-Michael Liles, and a draft pick in our dispersal draft in September for Loui Eriksson and a lower pick in the same draft.
More information about the Ultimate Fantasy Pool is here.
Have you ever lived in another person’s shadow? Being constantly outshone by another is a maddening experience that can tear away at the fabric of your soul. This is because, more often than not, it is someone you genuinely like or at the very least respect who is keeping you down. Whether it is your best friend or a family member who is keeping you out of the spotlight, you cannot help but start feeling like this person is not someone you love but rather your mortal enemy. This can put a heavy strain on the relationship but even more than that it can shatter your feelings of self-worth. Consider then the plight of Brad Richards; doomed to live in the shadow of friend and former teammate Vincent Lecavalier.
