Game notes, Thursday Nov. 20

Chi vs. Dal

Will Turco survive this season? Time to bring in the backup.

Dustin Byf did not play tonight. Will he respond with a big game on Saturday or will he be benched again?

Versteeg is for real!


NJ vs. Fla

Clemmensen! Elias!


PIT vs. Atl

Sykora and Satan show up on the score sheet.


Van vs. Minn

Mikko Koivu, hero in a losing effort, including one SHP.

Vancouver's top line of Demitra and the Sedin twins is doing what it was supposed to do: winning games.


Cal vs. Col

Colorado cannot score! Langkow playing well on Cal's top line gets the game winner.


Det vs. Edm

Visnovsky and Souray looked strong in the loss. Hudler and Lidstrom looked good in the win. Lidstrom's 4 PIMs an extra bonus for Lidster owners.

Kronwall, Holmstrom, and Cleary were all scratched. Holmstrom had back spasms and Kronwall had an ankle problem. Only Zetterberg, Datsuyk, and Lidstrom have been reliable so far. Hossa did not show up on the score sheet but was the number three star. Why?

Mike Fisher!

Pick him up while he's on the top line between Heatley and Alfredsson

dropped wideman

and he just got an A and G today. So if he's available in your league, pick him up.



I like the SH teams of PHI and SJ. Grier, and the PHI D, and Mike Richards are good. Tonight, Crosby also has an SHP.

Keep an eye on these defencemen who may be available in your NHL fantasy league

Roszival: While the Rangers have had a wonderful start to the season, Girardi has more points and Wade Redden has more buzz (both positive and negative). But Roszival has more ice time and _if_ the Rangers continue to do well, he will get his points.

Vancouver D: Almost every player in Vancouver contributes in points, +/-, and PIMs. All are worth looking at. With Salo injured, other players will get ice time. If Bieksa, who usually gets the most PIMs, is available in your league, you should take him. Ohlund, Edler, and Mitchell are all good. Edler gets the most ice time and gets the best +/-; Ohlund has the highest potential for PIMs in a season.

Ruslan Salei is one of the nastiest defencemen in the league. As a rookie, he won his roster spot with the Mighty Ducks (as they then were) by slashing someone in the face -- in the pre-season. He seems to be restrained so far.

Other truly unpleasant characters include O'Brien of Vancouver, who isn't getting much ice time, and Montador in Anaheim. Because of Anaheim's slow start, Montador doesn't show up on the radar of many people, but you can expect Anaheim to lead the league in fighting majors.

Colin White is more of a foolish retaliator than an instigator, but that also gets the PIMs, and so far he has a decent number of PIMs, assists, and +/-. No Devils defenceman is at the top of anyone's fantasy rankings, however.

The Flyers' D is hurt and in trouble, but Coburn and Timonen should be reliable. Coburn will get PIMs and Timonen will get points on the power play. However, both will have problems with +/-.

Mike Van Ryn, currently in Toronto, put up reasonable numbers in Florida, an equally bad team, and is doing well so far this year.

Preissing was an astonishing fantasy surprise last year, finishing the year at +40 with the Senators, but is expected to be a healthy scratch in his next game.

This early in the season, it's difficult to predict who will be the best D. There's not much data. The most revealing stat, in my mind, is shots on goal

http://tinyurl.com/6qpc44

The list of leaders in shots on goal, I believe, is a good predictor for who will lead the league in offence.

The top four are: Phaneuf, Boyle, Blake, and Green. If they're available if your league, grab them now.

There's a surprise appearance by Beauchemin of Anaheim in this list. He's a risk. He's already scored three goals in nine games, but Anaheim's having a strange season. Take a gamble on him if you wish, but only if other options are not available.

Gainey's Idea Would Reduce Injuries

NHL to consider shot-blocking rules to increase offense?


The idea is to forbid players from sliding full length along the ice to block shots. I think that reducing blocked shots is a good idea because it injures players but Gainey just wants more goals in the NHL.

Don't Panic, Nabokov Owners

The bad news: he gave up six goals tonight, and he often has bad nights on the road in pairs. The good news: for the first time in memory, he gave up six goals and WON!

Expect a pair of shutouts next week

Mark Eaton: Surviving

This defensive defenseman, with a sad history of injury, is playing a key role for the Penguins now that Gonchar and Whitney are out. Don't pick him up on your fantasy team -- he's not going to score much -- but I'm glad to see he's healthy and hope he gets a chance to shine

Chicago: real or not?

Is Chicago a real deal or a work in progress? Huet was weak tonight, but he has a great defense and offense in front of him. The team should be able to win games -- but it has not yet done so.

Check out these players

Voros

Nylander

Keith

Vanek

...

and if, for any reason, Phaneuf is not owned in your league, take him immediately.

...

Keep an eye on

Hamrlik, Spacek, Rivet, and the entire Vancouver D.

Bernier, Setogouchi, Krejci, Tkachuk, Booth.

This is a very good list of players

Looking for a list of hockey players? Check out the draft in Yahoo's Friends and Family league:

http://hockey.fantasysports.yahoo.com/hockey/52090/draftresults?drafttab=team

And here's Q&A with Janet Eagleson, who got the number one pick.

Notes:

round 2: surprised Lundqvist went before turco and giggy, but that probably has a lot to do with injury fears and Lundqvist's number of SOs.

I believe that players should draft D early. Some experts did and others did not.

round 5: Nathan Horton and Pominville (round 4) finally getting the respect they deserve.

round 6: Bryan McCabe -- overrated? Underappreciated? Time will tell.

round 7: Huet will be a steal if the Hawks can convince Khabi to play in Russia this year. I picked him and I'm hoping that happens. Biron, I believe, is overrated. Stastny still doesn't get respect. A lot of goalies in this round. Goalies go in bunches, but not necessarily in any particular round.

round 8: IMO, Wade Redden's overrated. I expect Kronwall and Liles, for example, to do better.

round 12: I pick Ryan Clowe as sleeper -- if he can make the top line in SJ and also have a lot of PIMs.

Sami Salo underappreciated.

Jordan Staal's value rises as he gets time on the PK or PP. I hope he gets it.

round 13: I dropped Duncan Keith (I expect him to be the stay at home guy, and Campbell the power play quarterback) and kept Kuba, who has 2 assists in each of his first two appearances. I expect him to do very well. Pick him up if he is available.

round 14: Ray Whitney, if healthy, is the steal of this round.

round 15: I'm betting on Lupul, but that was a nasty injury last year. I'm also keeping an eye on Bernier -- everyone wants to know who will fit on the top line with the Sedin twins. So far, defencemen seem to be getting the extra points on Sedin goals.

round 16: Vermette delivers an interesting combination of PIMs and SHP.

Practice Drafts!

Now being offered by CBS. That's a freebie that got me to register, and almost any other giveaway would have left me cold.

They're here:

http://mockdraft.1.hockey.sportsline.com/

Do this a few times and you'll see that picking first is a huge advantage, even over picking second.

Also, a normal strategy is to go HERO, G G D D whereas I think this year it might be better to go HERO D D G G

Heroes: Ovechkin, Malkin, Crosby, Iginla, Datsuyk, Zetterberg, Thornton, Lecavalier

I would say top seven in points

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/statistics?stat=nhlscoring&sort=pts&season=2008&seasontype=2

unless your league puts a serious premium on goals, in which case

the top three or four are extremely important:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/statistics?stat=nhlscoring&league=nhl&sort=goals&order=true&qual=true&season=2008&seasontype=2&pos=all

The top 11 defencemen are special and Phaneuf pays a special PIM dividend and DET defencement provide wonderful +/-

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/statistics?stat=nhlscoring&season=2008&seasontype=2&pos=d

The New Schedule

This is a step in the right direction. They felt they needed 82 games, so there are three "wild card games". That's wrong. They should have gone with 79 games. The players are injured as it is.

But if you're going to have "wild card games" why not play them all during week 1? Then they would matter less.

Better still would be 4 games vs conference teams (16) and two games vs other conference (30) and two games vs other teams in conference (20) = 66 games.

OR

1 game against each team in the other conference to start the season (15)

6 games against division opponents (24)

4 games against conference oppoenennts (40)

= 79 games

No need for the extra three! Give the boys a rest. And use the shoter schedule in Olympic years.

Changes in Phoenix and Tampa

Tampa has the most new players of any team -- 14! -- but that is overstating it, because some of those players are on a PHI - TAM rotation. CBS Sportsline has a great summary of moves, sorted by team, split between Eastern and Western Conference.

In the East

http://www.sportsline.com/nhl/transactions/playermove/EAST

Tampa stands out, but Prospal's been here before and Recchi and Roberts should fit right in. Little noticed: the team's collecting tough guys. First O'Brien, now Koci.

Strangest addition: Kolzig, unless they want him in the future as a goalie coach, giving Tampa their Godzillas of the future.


In the West, Phoenix is building, and will benefit from the pain in Anaheim of the loss of Selanne and in San Jose of the loss of some key Defense. But most of all, Phoenix will benefit from LA's decision to play for the top draft pick this year.

Biggest beneficiary -- Shane Doan, who gets to play with Jokinen and if that doesn't work out, will get to work with rookie Mueller who had 54 points in a surprise season on a bad team.

The big question mark for PHO is how will Dallas be this year.

Violence Wins Again

Whether it's Avery hitting Brodeur's head and slashing him in the face, or the takeout hit on Marleu, the NHL seems determined to allow blood on the ice and injuries to marquee players.

The blood has to stop and Campbell has to go.

Playoffs -- and injuries -- start tomorrow

Will Campbell allow players to harm each other? Alfredsson is out due to a head shot. End head shots now! And I don't even like Ottawa!

End Touch Up Icing Now

Europe doesn't use it. We don't need it. It slows games down and it's dangerous.

Fix Disciplinary Process!

Burnside is right. The process needs to be more open.

3 games for Laraque and 8 for Pronger mean they will do it again.

No more head shots!

And absolutely no skate blade stomping.

Glad I Didn't See This

For once, I'm glad the Sabres weren't televised. This is wrong. Laraque should be suspended.

Turned Off the Rangers Sabres Game

Avery should have gotten five for intent to injure. That was just sick. The NHL should be sued for promoting injuries and concussions.

Hooray for Rob Blake, Fight Stopper

From the AP:

Jack Johnson had injured Avalanche leader Ryan Smyth on a clean hit. Avalanche's fistfigher came over to him in response. Then the typical hockey narrative changed, thanks to the respect both teams have for Rob Blake, currently a leader of LA, former stanley cup winner in Colorado.

“The kid knew exactly where I was coming from,” Laperriere said. “He wanted to fight and Blake came right in there. I have so much respect for Blake. I knew he wasn’t going to punch me.”

So there it is: some of that respect that people are complaining doesn't exist in the game anymore.