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Every kid who plays hockey growing up wants to become a professional hockey player, that’s just how it is when you are young. Many a times I remember telling my family and their friends that playing hockey would be the best job ever! Funny, I still feel that way now; I just know I will never make the big show…which is fine; I figured this out around 14 years old after 9 years of hockey. Didn’t you just love those 6am practices as a kid? Over the years I have acquired lots of great memories with my dad driving us to the rink when it was still dark out; all for a hockey practice. These are the type of things hockey related I am grateful for and that’s why I am proud to be Canadian. I’m thankful to all those before us who have given their lives to make things a better place for us.
Remaining games this week:
(2) Calgary – Detroit – Philadelphia - St. Louis – Vancouver – Washington
(3) Anaheim – Boston – Buffalo – Carolina – Chicago – Columbus – Edmonton – Florida – Los Angeles – Nashville – New Jersey – New York Islanders – New York Rangers – Ottawa – Pittsburgh – Tampa Bay – Toronto
(4) Arizona – Dallas – Minnesota – Montreal – San Jose – Winnipeg
Boston beat New Jersey last night (4-2) and Carolina beat Calgary 4-1.
If you are hurting for a goaltender, look no further than Cam Ward for the Hurricanes. He has won 5 games in a row and looks like the thirty year old net minder may have the Canes back on track…Maybe by the time Jordan Staal returns Carolina will be in better shape. It seems that Skinner is starting to produce a bit more and of course Eric Staal being back in the lineup can’t hurt things.
A few other things to note would be the return of Boston’s defenseman Torey Krug. With no Chara around I see Krug getting ample opportunities to put up points. Derek Stepan has also come back from injury and played his first game of the season on Saturday evening; he picked up an assist in his first game back.
Starting Goalies:
(MIN) Kuemper VS (NJ) Schneider (COL) Varlamov VS (NYI) Halak (PIT) Fleury VS (NYR) Lundvist (CLB) McElhinney VS (WSH) Holtby (SJ) Stalock VS (FLA) Luongo (WPG) Pavelec VS (MTL) Price (BUF) Neuvirth VS (STL) Eliott (EDM) Fasth VS (NSH) Rinne (TBL) Bishop VS (CHI) Crawford (DAL) Lehtonen VS (ARI) Smith (OTT) Anderson VS (VAN) Miller
Remember: bold is playing for sure and italics are probable to start.
A few players who have bursted into the top 10 points after last week’s games..
Mark Giordano: 19 points in 17 games with a +6 rating and 17 penalty minutes with 5 power play points and a shorthanded goal; Giordano is the highest valued defenseman at this time.
Tyler Johnson: Who thought last season was a breakout for Tyler? Well, he’s on pace to have his best season yet with 18 points in 15 games and a solid +10 rating with only 3 powerplay points you can see most of his points have been acquired at even strength.
Vladimir Tarasenko: Wow. Tarasenko is on fire…how long will it last? Personally I don’t see this pace continuing; but I have been wrong before! I’d consider selling high if I owned Tarasenko; nothing against him; but I feel his value is at a peak. If the right deal came along and I owned him in one of my pools, I’d certainly consider it…17 points in 14 games with 6 being on the powerplay.
Thanks for reading,
Best of luck tonight in your fantasy hockey!