Well that’s what I assume happened after the Lightning gave up 7 Goals to the Leafs. It really amazes me that a team that went to the Conference Finals just last year would be so slow to address such a glaring weakness. Yeah yeah their Defensive corp is lacking as well (Jeremy Roenick seems to think thats the only problem), but the reality is a better Goalie, with that offense, is plenty good enough to make the playoffs. And after that who knows, maybe they catch……………. wait for it………….. lighting in a bottle! Okay sorry. Bottom line is Mathieu Garon and Dwayne Roloson stink worse than an old bar stool and if you have either guy on your roster you’re probably not reading this blog. And you probably haven’t checked your league since October…
Dion Phaneuf – D (Tor): I’m a big enough man to admit when I’m wrong, just not when it comes to Dion Phaneuf. I fail to acknowledge his great season and look forward to ignoring him as the season progresses.
Joffrey Lupul – LW/RW (Tor): Ditto…
Phil Kessel – RW (Tor): Ditto II…
Ales Hemsky – RW (Edm): I didn’t even know Hemsky was back to be honest. When he went down a few weeks ago I just assumed his season was over… IF (If I were allowed to switch Font sizes that IF would be a whole lot bigger) he is healthy my opinion of this guy is higher than most, but it’s getting hard to give a reason why. Oh wait, he had 2 Assists yesterday? Alright! There you go!
Drew Stafford – RW (Buf): Drew is proving to me that last year was a fluke. He’s not a RW2 and I doubt he’s even a RW3. 31 Goals is never going to happen again. “Don’t be so harsh DC! He just needs to re-establish the warrior mindset!” Quiet VTB, you defend everyone…
Nicklas Backstrom – C (Wsh): Sweet! 3 Assists! (You say when you look at your roster) but if you own him and don’t realize it yet, he left the game after getting elbowed in the head. I remember breaking my nose playing flag football with an elbow to the face, it wasn’t pretty. Backstrom didn’t break his nose, but this wreaks like the “C” word pretty bad and that’s worse.
Tomas Vokoun – G (Wsh): Has quietly begun to heat up, and in fact he is starting to turn his season around. In 12 games since November 29, Vokoun has given up 2 Goals or less 10 times. Good buy low opportunity here if his owner hasn’t realized the turnaround.
Matt Moulson – LW (NYI): Moulson Ice is heating up again with 4 points in the last 2 games. I don’t see whey he can’t score 35 Goals, even though it’ll be a bumpy ride getting there.
Jamie Langenbrunner – RW (Stl): Langenbrunner is what he is at this point – old and crotchety and not capable of playing more than 14 minutes. It was as recently as 2009 however when he was fantasy relevant (29 Goals), so maybe there is still a 10 game streak in those old bones somewhere…
Jaroslav Halak – G (Stl): Had another nice game last night and I really think if he can (somehow) get regular playing time he’ll take off. Brian Elliot’s other skate has to drop at some point…
Valtteri Filppula – C (Det): I’ll admit I didn’t think he could keep this up, but I swear it hat nothing to do with his hair…
Jiri Hudler – LW/RW (Det): It’s really amazing how Detroit develops players. They take their time with guys and coach them up, then put them in the perfect situation to succeed. It allows guys like Hudler and Filppula to reach their full potential…
