King Henry the 8th gets all the accolades, but without his Dad (Henry 7), Henry 8 would’ve never been King. Henry 7 reigned for almost a quarter century and was (officially) the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle. And after that he fought off multiple rebellions while enriching the monarchy with extensive (and brutal) taxation policies that broke up the powerful Nobility & their Bastard feudalism. AND he married his cousin. That’s how you rule as King. And right now, Henrik Lundqvist is at that same level (well not literally). The King all but wrapped up the Vezina yesterday with his 7th Shutout. That lowered his GAA to 1.77 and lifted his Save % to .941 (wait, what? 1.77 and .941? Are you sure about that?? I’ve seen worse from a few NHL ‘Player’s of the Month’). If he can keep this up for another 8 weeks it would be the greatest season ever for a Goalie and I’d have no problem if he won the Hart trophy too. BEST. SEASON. EVER…
Ilya Kovalchuk – LW/RW (NJ): I didn’t lead with Kovy’s Hat Trick because it’s just a painful topic for me right now. I was desperate for Goaltending in my league so I traded Kovy a couple weeks ago for Carey Price. Granted it hasn’t been a disaster, but since that fateful day the Russian Sniper has 6 Goals and 10 Assists in 8 Games.
Jason Spezza – C (Ott): “Do you see? You must die completely before you can be reborn, and Jason Spezza died completely last year!” Thanks VTB. That’s a real nice way to say Spezza, after sucking last year, is having one h-e double hockey sticks of a season.
James Wisniewski – D (CBJ): J-Wiz was one of my preseason busts and so far so good. But it’s gotten a little crazy and I think he’s actually undervalued right now. His ownership has dipped below 50% but judging by his last 3 games (2G/2A/+3/2PPP) Wiz’s beat of the day has proven he’s still more than menudo.
Ryan McDonagh – D (NYR): At just 27% ownership this DEFENSEMAN could be had for free in some leagues. Worst case you get just a handful of points but a great +/- …
Jimmy Howard – G (Det): Congrat’s to Detroit for breaking an 80 year old record with their 21st straight home win, but the real news out of Detroit is that Howard will start on Sunday, so get him back in your lineup before you forget, or he explodes… Yeah, you’ll forget… For those of you trolling, Joey MacDonald should get 1 more start on Friday at home against Nashville (as if it matters who the opponent is).
Marian Hossa – RW (Chi): Hossa may not be the poster boy of Chicago’s current collapse (that honor is bestowed upon the Goalies), but he certainly hasn’t helped the cause. He scored his 1st point in 7 games yesterday and if Chicago claws their way back into contention Hossa will be a big reason why.
Jonas Gustavsson – G (Tor): I’ve been luke-warm on “The Monster” since last year and he and Reimer are the 2 most over-reported Goalies in the entire league. You wanna know why neither one has taken the starting job and run with it? Because they both SUCK.
Alex Tanguay – LW (Cgy): I’m officially endorsing Tanguay as my #1 ‘under 50% owned player’ in fantasy hockey. He’s got 31 Points in 41 games this year and it wouldn’t be shocking if he averaged a point-per-game the rest of the way.
Michael Grabner – RW (NYI): I have a funny feeling Grabner is the new Devin Setoguchi. A guy who scores 30+ Goals early in his career only to never come close again. Sure he’ll get to 20, maybe even 25, but the 34 he scored last year is going to stick out on his career stat sheet like a boner in sweatpants…
