Five wins, three of them by shutout. Only four goals allowed. The Minnesota Wild have absolutely rocketed out of the gates this season, thanks to sublime goaltending, rock-solid defense, and timely offense. They have also amassed an undefeated record with only small contributions from star forwards Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra. Once Gaborik gets his offensive game on track, watch out.
With the 2007-08 fantasy hockey season getting underway, I decided to focus two columns specifically on players in the Eastern Conference and players in the Western Conference. Furthermore, I’ll be focusing specifically on players that do more than just get points.
As DobberHockey readers, many of you already know a great deal about point potentials of various players, but for those of you in leagues that include non-standard scoring categories, pay attention. These two columns are for you.
Every goaltender faces different struggles throughout their career, such as unfair criticism from the media, bad goals and disgruntled fans. But one thing that separates a good goalie from a great one is handling all of the finger-pointing and controversy by turning it into success when failure is expected.
Some play through long stretches in their career without having to handle these pressures, while others face it on a daily basis. Some let it affect their game and others fend it off and survive to see another day.
Just two weeks into the NHL season and there are more than a few surprise producers around the league. Here is what you can expect from two of them, in both the long and the short term.
The 2007-08 season has been underway for a while now in Europe, so it's about time we checked in. Prospects from past drafts- as well as the next two- are making plenty of noise in Sweden, Finland, Russia and everywhere in between... and a couple of blasts from the pasts are, too. Find out who they are- and learn a bit more about the developmental systems in each country- in today's Bugg Bytes.
It’s only been a week and I sense that some fantasy owners are starting to get antsy over the slow starts by some established players. Ok, so Sidney Crosby has started slowly, why even Marek Malik has more points than the former Art Ross and Hart trophy winner does at the moment. It is definitely time to panic; I think we’re seeing the real Crosby here. Now that he’s signed his fat long term contract, he’s turned into Sendme Cashby.
For the Crosby owners in my fantasy leagues, I’d gladly take him off your hands at a fair price.
Eric, Jordan and Marc Staal will all be in the NHL this season. Can the three of them combine for 200 points? I think it’s possible.
We’re basically a week into the season and already some players have seen their fantasy value fluctuate, either positively thanks to a great start to the season or on the down side because of early struggles. So let’s separate the Frogs from the Princes as we take a look at the hot and the not after a week of play.
All poolies are aware of the dreaded sophomore slump. Talented second year players for whatever reason cannot rekindle the magic of their rookie seasons. They struggle with consistency, and over the years have killed many fantasy teams. Many second year players are often overlooked because of this perceived slump, which may allow some talented youngsters to slip down the depth chart.
The first week of the season was full of competitive games and some really wild results. The Blackhawks coming back to defeat the Red Wings in a shootout, Columbus shutting out Anaheim and Washington doing the same to Carolina were just three of many impressive games that transpired in the last five days.
And while some team managers are reaping the rewards of having goalies like Chris Mason, Martin Gerber and Pascal Leclaire in their lineup, others are left feeling like a homicidal maniac perched high atop a bell tower with a trembling and itchy trigger finger, just waiting to drop or trade some of their top two goalies.
