We are basically at the half way point of the season now…hopefully most of you are in decent shape in your fantasy pools and I have been able to help out. Whether it be a couple sophomore players I pointed out in my early blogs, or perhaps pointing out a player who is hot or even as simple as listing off the starting goalies so you can plug in a backup for the night. My goal was and still is to help out people who are great at fantasy and of course any newbies. It’s not easy trying to predict what’s ahead but I will continue to do my best and hope some of you win some cash or at least gloating rights in your pool by winning a week or the whole season!
There are so many factors that contribute to a players worth pending on how your pool(s) are setup. It’s amazing these days how many different types of fantasy setups there are…I can recall years ago being in a pool that was strictly goals only. How thrilling that was…(sarcasm). With that being said, I wanted to thank all of those who have been following me and continuing down the stretch here as we meet the half-way point of the season. If I miss one of your questions about a trade or a player in the comments section feel free to ask me through a private message and I will do my best to get back to you.
There have been some big surprises in the early going of the season and some eye opening production. Who’d have thought Kopitar would have been so horrible through the first 30+ games production wise…not I! How about Vladamir Tarasenko and the tear he has been on this season. Electric. The biggest drop and disappointment I think so far this season is Mike Smith, he’s been brutal beyond imagination. Yet, it wouldn’t surprise me the least bit to see him come back next season and be the glue that holds the Coyotes together.
Last night I came across a couple Leafs tickets and was at the game…it was by far the worst NHL game I’ve attended in my life…I was expecting to see a Maple Leaf team on the rebound after removing their coach and proving to the hockey world that Randy Carlyle was a big part of the problem and not the players. Wow was I ever wrong about that. I will leave it at that as I am sure there are enough chats going on about what to do and where things went wrong for the Buds.
The second half of the NHL season is always different from the start of the season, especially for fantasy. You are going to start to see some of the veteran players taking their game up a level and likely their production will increase. Priming up for the playoffs and keeping a keen eye on the scoreboards and standings as they want to push their team into the playoffs and of course hopefully win the Stanley Cup; which of course also leads to teams making trades. Sometimes this can make a player who was borderline worth having on your roster a lock and must have. Be sure to keep a close eye on trading over the next few months, you could score a mid/late season gem for your team and that can be huge going forward!
One thing that I like to do when going down the stretch is to put a bit of time into looking into teams top 6 players who of course are the players on average with the most fantasy value. Check to see if the top six players change, but more importantly if there is any change on the power play. Sometimes it could be due to injury that a player moves up and others because they have been hot and or earned a spot on the top power play unit.
Thursdays are usually quite a busy night in the hockey world, and tonight is no different with ten games lined up.
Starting Goalies:
(NJ) Schneider VS (BOS) Svedberg (WSH) Holtby VS (PHI) Mason (BUF) Enroth VS (CAR) Ward (CHI) Crawford VS (MIN) Backstrom (DAL) Lehtonen VS (NSH) Rinne (SJ) Niemi VS (STL) Elliott (OTT) Anderson VS (COL) Varlamov (WPG) Pavelec VS (ARI) Smith (FLA) Luongo VS (VAN) Miller (NYR) Talbot VS (LA) Quick
Bold is starting for sure – Italics is probable.
Best of luck in tonight’s games and thanks again for reading.