Slap-Stick

Fantasy Failure: My Underachieving Players

2008-11-18T14:39:00.000-08:00

I have decided to periodically write about the woes of my current fantasy hockey team in a segment called "Fantasy Failure."

Lets start with my forwards. Dany Heatley is playing pretty solid, which is awfully fair considering the poor play of the Senators. Pretty much everyone else is under-performing, such as Roy, Drury, and St. Louis. The only saving grace of my forwards are my goons, which i have a lot of it (Carcillo, Burish, and Voros). Voros is actually good since he actually gets points from time to time. And in case you were wondering, penalty minutes are a stat in the pool I am in. The bottom line with most of my forwards are that they are not getting goals or assists, especially on the power play, which puts me last in each of those categories.

My defense has a couple gems in it. Rafalski and Green were highly drafted, and despite Rafalski's negative plus/minus, they haven't disappointed. Boucher and Keith make up the rest of the roster, who both could be doing better.

Goal tending...where do i begin. I drafted Nabokov and Huet, and later picked up Vokoun. All of these goalies are playing sloppy hockey and with the recent injury to Nabby, I am without wins. Vokoun is the only goalie i have with a shutout, but of course he got this BEFORE i picked him up. I need all of these guys to step up their game, because my team has a 2.77 GAA, yuck!

Overall the only stat I am good in is penalty minutes, and currently I am last in goals, assists, power play points, short handed points (a dumb stat to have in my opinion), and shutouts.

To say the least, the rest of the season better be nice to me.

Gut Reaction: Sydor/Boucher Trade

2008-11-17T11:59:00.000-08:00

The Dallas Stars and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both are hurting in the defenseman department.
I was a little surprised when I heard that the Stars and the Penguins made this trade. Sydor might just be what the doctor ordered for Dallas Stars, who are underachieving big time. The Pen's get Boucher, who can help run their powerplay, which is key since they lost Gonchar and Whitney. Of course, health is always a concern for this guy so they are taking a chance.
Both teams win with this trade though. They are both excellent defenceman who will both fit in reasonably well with their new teams. I think the fit will be a little quicker with Sydor as he has played the majority of his career with this team.
I however do have high hopes for Boucher, who has been under performing for my last place fantasy team. With the help of Crosby and Malkin, he better rack up those points on the power play.

Roberto Luongo

2008-11-12T16:55:00.000-08:00

"Lui" has 5 shutouts in 14 games so far this season, compared to the 6 he had last year, and the 5 he had the year before that. This stat seems to be a tad misleading to me though, as in the 9 games he didn't record a shutout, he has posted a terrible 3.79 GAA.
Don't get me wrong, he's a solid goalie and is one of the best in the league, and its hard to complain about going for a 4th straight shutout if your a fan of the Canucks. All i am saying is that he has much to improve upon this season if he wants to be the owner of this years Vezina trophy, and with Brodeur out 3 to 4 months, he could easily be the runaway favourite.
For the record, i think its a shame that the NHL won't allow goalies to wear the "C" on their jersey. Loads of soccer teams has their keepers as captains, so why not let Luongo rep it.

Jump on the Bandwagon!

2008-11-06T21:29:00.000-08:00

During the Calgary Flames playoff run in 2004, most of Canada rallied behind the team and Paul Martin (Prime Minister at the time) had dubbed them “Canada’s Team.” The following year the Edmonton Oilers made the trip to the Stanley Cup finals, and the year after that, the Ottawa Senators did as well. Canada seemed to rally behind these teams just as much (save for Leaf fans in 2006).

Three Canadian teams, zero Stanley Cups.

The Canadian teams took last year off, but I’m sensing this year might be different. I think the Montreal Canadiens will not only be able to reach the Stanley Cup finals, but be able to bring the hardware back up north. Now I may just be saying this because I’m a Habs fan, but I seriously think they can do it.

Carey Price backed up by Jaroslav Halak should be a good combo, and other than the departure of Mark Streit, have not lost anyone significant. The addition of Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang provides some help up front, while Georges Laraque will play the role of tough guy.

So with this excellent start to the season, and the inevitable playoff run, why doesn't Canada (or anyone else) just jump on this bandwagon now?