With the month of December- and the World Juniors- over and done, it's time for a new '09 Draft review. Instead of a mock, though, check out an honest-to-goodness, old-school Top 30 inspired by all the always... creative... NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings.
It’s time to get on a roll and shake this deep freeze. I don’t know about you but I’ve had just about enough talk about wind chill factors and exposure warnings and temperatures falling below Rod Brind-Amour’s +/- rating. Get some money down on a few games this week and spend your winnings on a car starter. That’s my plan!
From January 22 to January 26 the All-Star breaks gets in the way of fantasy hockey. It interrupts all NHL team's weekly schedules. Nashville gets eight days off. St. Louis, Montreal and NY Islanders, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh get seven days off. The rest of the teams only get five or six days rest. The charts below have a bit of a different look this week to give you an easier view of the number of games teams play around the All-Star break.
With this being right around the halfway mark for most NHL teams, I thought it would be appropriate to try and come up with a list of Eastern Conference All-Stars. Of course, my list will have a healthy twist. I’ll give you the actual All-Stars, my All-Stars, the All-Sucks and All-Steals:
Our monthly look at who did what in the three DobberHockey roto leagues (Expert, Pro and Entry)...
Late last February Chicago and Carolina swapped talented and underachieving forwards in Tuomo Ruutu and Andrew Ladd. Ruutu was drafted ninth overall in 2001, while Ladd went even higher at fourth in 2006. Both came into the league with a lot of expectations and on the whole both failed to deliver. This trade did not register anything more than a minor blip in the fantasy hockey world, but it should have.
When the Anaheim Ducks (at the time more Mighty than now) selected Bobby Ryan second overall in 2005, he was being touted as the next big power forward to dominate the NHL. It has taken three long years for Ryan to finally emerge as that, but he finally looks well on his way to earning the title of NHL star.
Injuries are part of all fantasy sports. It’s how you find quality replacements that can make or break the situation.
It’s quite amazing what a trade can do to rejuvenate a goaltender’s game. But it’s also equally impressive how it can totally destroy one. Some thrive in a new setting and others simply crash and burn. For fantasy owners, the only question left to ask is just how long a goalie can play well in his new surroundings. Sustainability is all that matters to you, because that puts points on the board.
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 January 19th.
