Ramblings: Thoughts on Game 7, Round 2, Flames’ Lines (Apr 25)

Ian Gooding

2018-04-25

Thoughts on Game 7, Round 2, Flames’ Lines, plus more…

Hockey fans are blessed with their first Game 7 of the playoffs this evening (or tomorrow evening, if you’re up late reading this). Considering that the Bruins have generally carried the play in this series – particularly in the first two games – I’m surprised that the Leafs have made it this far. But the nice thing about the playoffs is that every game starts at 0-0. If you’re curious, the Bruins have outscored the Leafs 21-16 in the series.

I still think the Bruins will win this series. But it’s a Game 7, so anything can happen. Especially if you remember the last time these two teams faced each other in a Game 7 (sorry, Toronto fans).

As strong as the Bruins’ top line has been, it has slowed considerably recently.
 

 

David Pastrnak has just two assists in his last four games, while Brad Marchand has a single goal and no assists over that span. If you could sell high in a playoff pool, the time between Games 2 and 3 would have been when to do it.

The Leafs’ playoff MVP so far (at least among scorers) has been Mitch Marner. If the Leafs win Game 7, expect him to be a difference-maker.
 


*

I’m happy to say that I’ve guaranteed a record over .500 in my DobberHockey Expert Panel playoff picks with a record of 5-2 so far. I made the correct call on Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Winnipeg, and San Jose, while missing the mark on Washington and Vegas. Many of the picks by other writers were similar to mine, so I’m thinking that there will be many other writers with a winning record.

I said in an earlier Ramblings that probabilities suggest that at least one of the six 0-2 teams would bounce back to win their series. There happened to be a seventh 0-2 team, which went 0-2 the day after. That team was Washington. If Toronto wins Game 7, there would be a second team that started its series 0-2.

Here are some quick sort-of-random thoughts on the upcoming series we already know, although I may not won’t make my picks here. You’ll see them in the next experts panel article.

Nashville/Winnipeg

This is the one series that everyone can’t wait to watch. In other words, it’s what Washington/Pittsburgh was last season. #1 overall vs. #2 overall. So the team that wins this series could be your Stanley Cup winner. (By the way, does anyone want to see the #1 vs. #16, #2 vs. #15 etc. format return? Would be hell travel-wise but the most fair method).

Since I have Nashville reaching the Cup final, I should pick them to win this series. But then I have Tampa beating Nashville in the final because I think Tampa’s scoring would be the difference in that series. So if Tampa can beat Nashville, then why can’t Winnipeg? Maybe lack of playoff experience? We expected this series from midseason on and I don’t think it will disappoint.

Washington/Pittsburgh

It’s hard to believe that this series has gone from the main event in 2016-17 to the undercard in 2017-18, yet things change. Is this the year Washington finally gets over the hump that is the Pittsburgh Penguins? One day Wile E. Coyote has to catch the Road Runner, and one day Charlie Brown will kick the football. What if this is the year for the Capitals after we’ve finally thrown in the towel on them? Not a single Dobber writer picked Washington to even make the final, while only 5 of 18 writers picked them to even make it past Columbus. Should be another great series, except if you’re a Capitals fan and they lose again.

Vegas/San Jose

This is not a series that I would have picked in my right mind. Especially not Vegas. As good as San Jose has been, I have a very hard time betting against Vegas right now. I don’t know how to describe it except that it is some kind of x-factor.

Because of where I live and the time that is the easiest for me to watch hockey, this will probably be the series that I watch the most. Yet I have the least to say about it. With both teams off for over a week, this series could be a little slow in the beginning.

Start dates for each series, just announced on Tuesday:
 

📢 advertisement:


*

Regarding the Bill Peters hiring in Cowtown:
 


This kind of reminds me of 2016-17, when no-name Alex Chiasson was a frequent linemate of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Last season it was Micheal Ferland and it wasn’t even close (88.6% of Ferland’s even-strength minutes were with Gaudreau and Monahan). The new coach in town could be open to many more possibilities, so there’s a chance that this hire hurts Ferland. He led the Flames with 171 hits last season, so he’s an option in leagues that count that category no matter what. If he can stay with Johnny and Sean, then he can easily build on his first 20-goal, 40-point season. But if not, his value takes a hit.

Assuming Mikael Backlund remains as the second-line center, forwards such as Ferland, Matthew Tkachuk, Michael Frolik, and Sam Bennett will be up for possible line redistribution. But as Dobber said in his Fantasy Take, expect a bump in power-play goals for the Flames. There’s more overall talent on Calgary’s first-unit power play than there was in Carolina.

*
 


Thank you for your responses to this question on Twitter and on the Forum. By the way, the responses on the Forum were unanimously in favor (16-0) of not submitting a waiver claim when this happens.
 


This would be the most ideal solution. It would ensure that the owner receives the player back quickly and is not forced to wait several days for the player to clear waivers. In one of my leagues I’ve returned players to owners before. Not just in cases where they wanted the player back, but also in instances when they didn’t want the player (the owner wasn’t permitted to drop the player as per league rules).

But what about a situation where league settings do not grant the commissioner that power, or in this case, the commissioner did not say or do anything? In the end I’m glad no one went rogue and added the player. It would have been awkward if someone else added the player and the owner voiced his displeasure as a result. These situations can get ugly. Yes, the commissioner should have responded in some way, but not every league has an uber-responsive commish. I try to be in leagues where I volunteer for that position, although please don’t ask me to process a trade when I’m at work!  

A great point that was made throughout: Should there be a statute of limitations? In other words, how long does this owner have before it’s too late? For the record, this owner posted his message within a day of accidentally dropping the player. I think a day or two is fine, although I’m not sure this scenario happens often enough where a league rule is needed. Usually the owner would post the message fairly quickly anyway.

*

For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

8 Comments

  1. Striker 2018-04-25 at 08:34

    I’m sitting 6-1. I had Columbus & I have Bos. I need to reset my 2nd round match up with Columbus losing so I now take Pit over Was. I had Bos beating TB so will need to wait & hope I that series doesn’t slip away from Boston.

    I had the west so all stays the same. I have SJ beating Vgs, Win beating Nas & Win beating SJ. I had a Bos@Win final with Win winning.

    We don’t need to have 1 play 16, 2 play 15 although that would seriously balance out travel, the east has it easy come playoff time. We play a div, conf weighted schedule lets return to 1 plays 8, 2 plays 7, etc.. Then reseed after each round. The best team in the NHL shouldn’t be playing the 2nd best team in the NHL in the 2nd round. When the NHL brought this out they said 3 years, it’s been 6 now & it sucks, nor is it fair.

    I am the Commish & if you drop a player mistake or not you dropped him. The world is a harsh place. Although in our league you have to make your waiver claim, then actually set it so you have not 1 but 2 chances to catch your error. If your to stupid to read or look at your selections your loss.

    • number54 2018-04-25 at 10:57

      Please tell me that “if your to stupid to read” was a troll job…
      Also, I think you should worry less about the guy who just dropped a player, and more about how that could ruin the league if someone else just picked up a free Nikita Kucherov.

      • Striker 2018-04-25 at 12:06

        The “if your stupid to read” comment was directed at the member teams in the pools I run as both Commish & administrator not at anyone on this site or you.

        If you accidentally drop a player in those leagues your out of luck. The real world doesn’t allow for corrections to mistakes at least not very often. Our rules are black & white we don’t try to determine the merit of 1 persons claim against another. If the GM who made the error isn’t happy he has choices. We have waiting lists to replace anyone that’s not enjoying the format & it’s strictness.

        Do it right the 1st time. Does the NHL allow do overs. Just 1 moment viewers Mr. Bettman is heading to the podium. ” Ladies & gentlemen. I know we are 6 selections in but we have a correction, the 2nd selection has been changed, they made a mistake, so we are starting over from there. Or the NHL today announces that the trade made yesterday between team A & team B has been voided. Team A made a mistake I didn’t actually mean to trade that player even though they submitted it.”

        Take the time to make sure you did it right the 1st time, no do overs. In my 27 years of running pools this has never happened with a superstar or star having run dozens of pools & currently running 5 leagues. Other players, yes quite ofetn & the GM reaches out & I say no. We have even had them ask the league to override my decision. If you follow me here you know how that played out. He got the votes, was overturned, I resigned that league died in under 2 years & had been running for 17.

        Again my comment wasn’t directed at anyone here but at the GM’s who participate in the leagues I run. I have never made such a mistake & I have participated in 100’s of pools of leagues. I’m not making that mistake, ever.

        • Kudelskis Krushers 2018-04-25 at 12:22

          haha I think his/her point was more about the two grammatical mistakes in the quoted excerpt.

          • MarkRM16 2018-04-25 at 15:43

            People have labelled me a troll several times for correcting people’s writing errors, but there is no excuse for an adult (except for dyslexics) fluent in English old enough to be writing a column using “your” instead of “you’re” or “to” when they should use “too”, etc.
            Fortunately, the authors on this site very rarely make spelling and/or grammatical errors. At least they have a good excuse for it, as they are often writing late at night after the games they’ve been watching/following are over.

          • Lebowski1111111111 2018-04-26 at 15:58

            This is not a spelling bee, it is a hockey forum. I have never seen you in here calling out spelling, but if you have and were called a troll, people were right.

        • Karl Paquette 2018-04-25 at 14:09

          Mistakes happen in fantasy hockey because it’s a hobby for fun and even if we choose to take it seriously nobody is losing a career over a mistake like that. I feel as for the people in your league. Mistakes happen and meeting people halfway on a solution creates a better atmosphere for everyone involved. Then net gain is a league without lopsided mistake trades throwing off the competitive balance and happy ownership who will logically be more committed and engaged. Apparently * you’re * too stupid to see that though. (I don’t think you’re stupid I’m trolling your absolutely poetic grammatical mistakes though)

        • anonymouse 2018-04-26 at 07:17

          What silly logic. You need to take that stick out of your ass and realize that fantasy hockey is a GAME, and if someone actually made an honest mistake dropping someone they didn’t want to they should get that player back, provided they said it was an accident within a reasonable time frame.

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Mar 29 - 19:03 BUF vs N.J

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
JURAJ SLAFKOVSKY MTL
AUSTON MATTHEWS TOR
NATHAN MACKINNON COL
JACK QUINN BUF
FILIP FORSBERG NSH

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
IGOR SHESTERKIN NYR
IVAN FEDOTOV PHI
FREDERIK ANDERSEN CAR
LOGAN THOMPSON VGK
ALEKSEI KOLOSOV PHI

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency EDM Players
21.8 RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS CONNOR MCDAVID ZACH HYMAN
17.8 COREY PERRY RYAN MCLEOD EVANDER KANE
17.1 ADAM HENRIQUE WARREN FOEGELE LEON DRAISAITL

DobberHockey Podcasts

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: