What a great start to this gig I had last week. I'm afraid I may have set the standard too high. I managed to pick 8 of 12 winning teams and I was correct on 10 of 12 OVER/UNDERS. I know in the forum "joos" managed to pick a 4-game winner...hopefully a few more of you managed to cash in also. Good luck to us this week.
We will pass the 20% mark of the season on Saturday November 15. The good news is there is still 80% of season left to play. The Oilers still have 37 homes games left while only 29 on the road. The Kings have the opposite problem with 37 road games and only 30 home games left.
Not many people gave the Thrashers a prayer this season. Atlanta has been Hotlanta of late, winning four in a row after going winless in the previous six contests. It’s interesting to note that they’ve done this without their most experienced defenseman or top goaltender in the lineup. Schneider is scheduled to return this Friday, whereas Lehtonen reinjured his back at practice Tuesday and his status is unknown.
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 November 19.
This month, and every month through March, not only does a lucky entrant get his or her team audited, but he or she also receives a FREE book courtesy of Firefly Books . The winner can choose either "Shooting From the Lip " or "Hockey Now! "
After taking a look at players who seemed to have turned into unforeseen princes in my last article, this week I’m focusing on players who’ve been mainly frogs this season when you expected them to be your fantasy team princes. You’ll notice that there have been much more disappointments this season than there have been pleasant surprises.
The value of defensemen is a widely debated topic in fantasy hockey, a few people believe strongly in “big named” D, while some completely ignore it and depend solely on waiver wire pick ups throughout the season. My argument is that the difference in owning Niklas Lidstrom, Dion Phaneuf or Chris Pronger is quite apparent when compared to just owning waiver wire D. Let’s look at an extreme example, Team A owns, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Semin along with Alex Edler, Paul Mara, and Roman Hamrlik. Team B owns, Dion Phaunef, Dan Boyle, and Shea Weber along with Jason Chimera, Mason Raymond and Alex Ponikarovsky.
Whether it’s used correctly or not, the trendy term “goaltending controversy” is being tossed around in many markets right now. I can’t get away from it here in Denver, nor can analysts in Ottawa, Dallas, Chicago, St. Louis…and the list goes on. But no matter what the reasoning is, when you look a little deeper, all of these situations actually walk a very fine line between healthy competition and a real full-fledged controversy.
Two weeks ago I debuted the Fantasy Hockey Stock Market, where you get the lowdown on what players are out there who are undervalued (i.e. guys to buy low), as well as players who are overvalued (i.e. guys to sell high). After a typical slow start, Roberto Luongo was put on the block in many fantasy leagues, as people were worried about the Canucks and Roberto in particular. Since then, he has four shutouts in five games and three straight, and the Canucks defence is back to being one of the league’s best. Hopefully you paid attention to the first article and sent out an offer to try and pry Luongo away from an impatient owner. Chris Drury has been on fire since that time as well, potting a hat trick and a few multi-point games along the way.
The Philadelphia Flyers acquired defenseman Matt Carle and a third in '09 on Friday from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman Steve Eminger and forward Steve Downie and a fourth in '09.
It's November, but while the standings- and the stocks of players- have changed drastically, one thing remains the same. Find out what and find out who is first-round worthy in today's Bugg Bytes.
