One of the first things I do during the first few weeks of fantasy hockey is stay away from the teams that play overseas. While a set back after returning to North American soil isn’t always guaranteed, why take the risk so early in the season?
I hate yard sales. Driving around at the behest of your better half on an otherwise perfectly beautiful weekend browsing through seldom used off items that other people found in a dusty corner of their basement and decided that they don't want or can't use anymore. That said, every now and then you can stumble across a real bargain. The same might be said for these three NHL players who were unceremoniously cast off from their former teams this past summer.
Jason Spezza - What's in Store?
With icons plucked from the famously doomed Roman Empire, a franchise like the Ottawa Senators has to be prepared to weather some downturns in fortune. Indeed, since advancing to the Stanley Cup final in 2007, and then kicking off the next campaign with 12 wins in 13 games (before collapsing in epic fashion), there hasn’t been much to celebrate in Canada’s capital.
But Sens’ fans can take heart, all was not lost after Roman civilization dissolved into the dark ages, and all is not lost in Ottawa.
A look at hits and blocked shots
I spent the weekend planning for my favourite league to play in, which is my very competitive friends’ league. After finishing in second place in consecutive years, I thought I’d be pulling a Marian Hossa and be earmarked for a championship. Surely the fantasy hockey gods would be smiling down on me considering two very close and heartbreaking 8-6 and 8-4 losses for the last two campaigns. After coming out pretty happy in my last few drafts, I was pretty confident heading into this one.
Boy was I disappointed.
I was lucky enough to be part of the Campbell league draft and online for the experts draft. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the Wales draft and by all accounts I missed a great one. The Wales draft has already had a great following online as most GM’s have already expressed their opinions on how it went.
Over the weekend, all three live drafts in the third-annual Guild Fantasy Challenge took place. As you would expect, goaltending was at the forefront of each draft, as our Yahoo! Fantasy head-to-head setup had the rare three starting goalie slots this year. Why the crazy change from the normal two-goalie setup that you’ll see in 99.9% of other leagues?
Three weeks ago I listed off the five best teams to draft multiple players from for the 2010-11 season (Five Teams to Invest In). This column will take a longer-term approach to the same issue. Below are the five teams to invest in over the next five years. My ranking system isn’t perfect, but I have tried to identify five of the most important factors when it comes to evaluating both a team’s offensive ability and potential.
People love being right, and I am no different. I have had my share of swings (Zach Parise the most notable) and misses (Steve Bernier, Paul Kariya) over the past few seasons. Making bold predictions before the season starts is something I enjoy doing, and I know many of you do as well. Last season I posted 10 Fearless Forecasts on my section of the hockey forums. I’ll review those below, as well as list off 10 more Fearless Forecasts for the 2010-11 season.
If Steve Downie can make it in the NHL and be a valuable contributor to a team – then there is hope for any prospect who has been involved in what has become known as an “off-ice incident.” Often, the term “off-ice incident” is a euphemism for a pretty serious offence. In many cases, though, the ominous sound of the term doesn’t fairly reflect what in many cases is a minor transgression.
In addition to having excellent tools that will help you make the right decisions -- from the draft through the trade deadline -- www.hockeypoolgeek.com has partnered with Dobberhockey to get the best damn projections out there (Dobber's) loaded with ease into HPG. Just follow the link from the HockeyPoolGeek article in the updated version of the DobberHockey Guide, subscribe to HPG and voila: Dobber's stats and HPG tools. If you've already subscribed to HPG, don't sweat it, the link will work for you too.
