Make no mistake, the new NHL realignment will be dominating hockey media for the next few days. I gotta admit it’s a pretty radical change in the structuring of the league. Geographically it makes sense, but what I don’t like is the fact that, essentially, you have a setup where the 14 “East Coast” teams get 8 playoff spots while the 16 teams West of Pittsburgh get 8 Playoff spots too. EAST COAST BIAS! Naw I’m not gonna pull that card, wouldn’t that technically make me a West Coast Elitist? Is there such a thing? Ah whatever bottom line is some teams (and fans) aren’t going to be happy no matter what kind of realignment you do. And of course since we are all about fantasy hockey anyway this will be the last time you hear me say the R word. It should have little to no meaning on valuing players for fantasy purposes, so suck on that Bettman!
Phil Kessel – RW (Tor): I threw in the towel weeks ago in my fight to declare Kessel overrated and a great sell-high candidate. Turns out I was right (after being wrong. But then again I was right about him last year, which actually turned out to be wrong… Confused yet?). Let’s just go ahead and project Phil to keep his current pace ROS: 48G/54A/30PPP/275SOG… If those stats were being graded by the FDA, it would be prime grade ‘A’ top choice meat…
Tim Thomas – G (Bos): Speaking of top choice meat, Tim Thomas continues being served in Ruth’s Chris Steakhouses across the country (BTW, is Ruth the wife and Chris is the husband? So she owns him? Nevermind)… Lil’ Timmy was the best player on the ice yesterday, which is saying something considering they were playing the Penguins. If you give him a mulligan on his injury riddled 2009-2010 season, the run Tim Thomas has put together over the last 4 seasons is 2nd to none. And I mean none, none.
Brad Marchand – C (Bos): I love it when a scorer doesn’t score but decides to give you a little sumtin sumtin for your troubles. Marchand did that last night by getting in a fight and totaling 7PIM’s. That brings his season total all the way up to 44 in just 25 games. Keep that up you troublemaker you!
Dwayne Roloson – G (TB): Alright Stevey-Y (AKA Steve Yzerman for you noobs. And for you no0b-noobs Steve Yzerman is the GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning. And for those of you who have no idea who Steve Yzerman is, what are you doing reading this?) Anyway back to the question at hand. Why the frijole is Dwayne Roloson still starting NHL games?
Daniel Alredsson – RW (Ott): Danny Boy is on a nice little 4 game scoring streak right now. Unfortunately he’s about as far from being a boy as anyone in the league. It other words itwon’t last but he’s still good enough to pull these streaks out of a hat once a month. Like an aging feminist…
John Carlson – D (Wsh): It’s hard for me to believe that this kid is still just 21 years old. After a huuuuuge 3 Assist night JC Superstar has me believin. Not so much this year (right now he’s a #3 in a 12 team league), but just think where he could be in 4 or 5 years….. Nice. Nice Indeed.
Florida Panthers – There’s something going on down in Sunrise, Florida. And no I’m not talking about the Sunrise Symphonic Pops Orchestra either… Have you ever seen a GM just basically throw everything he can at a wall and have everything stick? Fleischmann, Versteeg and Campbell were all acquired for very little money (or assets) and they’ve all had huge seasons. Mix in the underrated Stephen Weiss and the emerging Dmitry Kulikov and suddenly the Panthers are a fantasy gold mine.
Patrick Kane – C/RW (Chi): I think it’s only fair to note that Kane has gotten the cold shoulder from me lately. I’ve been so involved with Jonathan Toews (another 2 Goal game last night! Man he is totally awesome and…. oh yeah, Patrick Kane). He’s on pace to come close to doing what he did 2 years ago: 30G/58A/+16/29PPP/261SOG. F and Yes…
