Fantasy Hockey - Coming up on the Halfway Point

[Ninot]

Tonight's TSN.ca headline was humorous. It was like the Leafs should be proud of 7th place.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Ninot
Tonight's TSN.ca headline was humorous. It was like the Leafs should be proud of 7th place.

Indeed and they are tied for 7th and have played one more game so the Leafs are 8th. Even thats a bit of an illusion. Consider:

Boston 1 point back with 4 games in hand
NYI 1 point back with 3 games in hand
Pitt 4 points back with 4 games in hand

With THAT many teams being that close with so many fewer games played to date . . . well to me it means the Leafs are hardly secure in a playoff spot

[Flubber]

Calgary gets Vancouver tonight and this is a gut-check type game. The Flames have lost 3 straight to the 'nucks and Vancouver has actually played pretty well lately.

If the Flames are going to dump some their inconsistent ways and start to truly lead their division, this is the type of game where they need to show up big time

[Flubber]

IOh and the thing I find somewhat amusing is that "some" have slammed Kipper's play of late and it is true that it has been one of his weaker stretches. yet the Flames went 5-4-1 in their last 10.


HOW could this be? I "know" from this thread that the Flames are "crap" (just like Columbus and Chicago eh?) and that there is no way they should win games in these circumstances. perhaps a Leafs fan should enlighten me

[Asher]

Nedved was claimed by the Oilers off waivers.

Great thinking, Lowe -- for a team with defensive problems, let's add an old guy who is -20 in 21 games.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Ninot


I reassert that Montreal has looked like a contender since the start of the season. There's a good reason they have a firm grip on 4th place, and have beat Buffalo a couple of times.

Its just games like this one that make me doubt them

Prospal snapped a personal 20-game goal-scoring drought with a tiebreaking second-period goal, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Saturday night.

"It's just a great feeling to score," Prospal said.

Brad Richards and Filip Kuba also scored for the Lightning, who outshot Montreal 41-13.

I know that even the very best team can have an "off" game but getting outshot 41-13..... ouch They do that from time to time-- just lay a real stinker of a game out there. Sometimes Huet keeps them in said stinker. Usually they rebound by winning 2-3 in a row but we will see how they do in the return engagement.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Nedved was claimed by the Oilers off waivers.

Great thinking, Lowe -- for a team with defensive problems, let's add an old guy who is -20 in 21 games.

While the fit doesn't seem great, it strikes me that Edmonton needs to do SOMETHING to turn things around. They are already out of a playoff spot at the moment and perhaps some experience can shake things up. Slumps get a minset of their own so ANYTHING that can change things up may help.;


Or they could go for a blockbuster multiple team trade to send Rolosen to the Leafs and acquire Telqvist and McCabe.

It would actually be funny to see McCabe and Tellqvist PLAYING on the same team again. On any McCabe miscue Asher wouldn't know whether to hope for a goal to accentuate the McCabe mistake or a sparkling save to validate his view that Tellqvist is something other than a marginal NHL goalkeeper.

[notyoueither]

Nedved is a very interesting pickup with little downside.

He'll cost $600K for the rest of the season.

Last time he was in Edmonton he played well (with Hemsky as a by the way). If he clicks here again he may well want to stay after the wasteland his career became the last time he left.

The team needs a wake up call. This is one. If things don't change, players are moving. Some may be moving regardless, and this provides a bit more depth up front. Look for Horcoff to be moving on (maybe Stoll, but that would be very much not my wish).

About the only way to see this negatively is to look at the stats of a player on a last place team that was in total upheaval and cherry pick things like his +/-, as some people who don't have a very good grasp of the value of stats are doing.

[cinch]

If Lowe can unload Shawn "The Producer" Horcoff and his bloated contract on some unsuspecting GM, I will personally build him a mansion of solid gold.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Flubber
It would actually be funny to see McCabe and Tellqvist PLAYING on the same team again. On any McCabe miscue Asher wouldn't know whether to hope for a goal to accentuate the McCabe mistake or a sparkling save to validate his view that Tellqvist is something other than a marginal NHL goalkeeper.

I've never said Telqvist was anything but marginal.

But marginal is way more valuable than garbage like Tyson Nash who will never play in the NHL again.

[Asher]

Originally posted by notyoueither
About the only way to see this negatively is to look at the stats of a player on a last place team that was in total upheaval and cherry pick things like his +/-, as some people who don't have a very good grasp of the value of stats are doing.

Nedved has never been a good defensive player.

He's -16 in his career, even though he at one point put up lots of points.

You're going a long way to try to excuse his poor play. Nedved was repeatedly a healthy scratch and even under the new coach with improved play, he doesn't really play. He was one of the worst of the worst on a terrible team. Blame that on the team if you will, but his play (along with the awful play of other vets like Hatcher) are the reason Philly is doing so terribly.

If your ship is sinking, the last thing you should do is take on more weight. There's a reason no one took him on waivers til now.

[Asher]

Check out Nedved's recent play:

24-Nov-06  	Phi  	CBJ  	0  	0  	0  	0  	0  	0  	0  	0  	0  	0  	
25-Nov-06 	Phi 	Mtl 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	
29-Nov-06 	Phi 	Nas 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	
30-Nov-06 	Phi 	NYI 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	
02-Dec-06 	Phi 	NJ 	0 	0 	0 	-2 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	
08-Dec-06 	Phi 	NJ 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	
09-Dec-06 	Phi 	Wsh 	0 	0 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0

Yeah, it must be the team's fault.

Good players don't tank when their team sucks. Iginla won a couple rocket richard trophies while his team was a bottom dweller for years.

Nedved's an offensive player well past his prime. Edmonton has a HUGE abundance of underachieving forwards, your weakness is in your defense. Adding more to your salary cap for someone untradable like Nedved isn't very bright.

[Asher]

Originally posted by cinch
If Lowe can unload Shawn "The Producer" Horcoff and his bloated contract on some unsuspecting GM, I will personally build him a mansion of solid gold.

You've got a lot of those...Pisani comes to mind, too.

People laughed their asses off when the contracts were signed, and now these kids can't do **** nor get traded. It's salary bloat.

Combined with the Pronger "trade", Lowe has been spectacularly dumb since the end of the season.

[Asher]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Nedved is a very interesting pickup with little downside.

He'll cost $600K for the rest of the season.

He's costing Edmonton $1,178,000 in cap space. Where the hell do you get $600K?

"very little downside"?

Combine this with your wasted salary tied up in Lupl ($2.3M), Hemsky ($4.1M !!!!), Pisani ($2.5M), and Moreau ($1.06M), it doesn't seem like it's a good idea.

Hemsky is the head scratcher. He's making $5.5M/year, guaranteed, by 2012 with the Oilers. And why?

Daymond Langkow, at $2.4M, is outperforming him on a defense-first team.

[cinch]

The media were reporting that because they picked him off re-entry waivers, the Oilers were on the hook for only half of his remaining salary--thus the $600 000 remark. Can anyone confirm this either way?

As for the Oilers' salary woes: Some may be a bit high, but the only real stinker is Horcoff. Pisani makes too much, but he works hard and is usually one of the most reliable players on the team. I can't get too upset over him. And I also happen to be of the opinion that Hemsky is worth the money.