Fantasy Hockey - Coming up on the Halfway Point

[Flubber]

Great game for the Flames. The whole team stepped up and played well. Kipper gets a shutout and was obviously good but he didn't need to be great. The Flames severely limited the MInny chances

[Flubber]

MOntreal comes back to gut our a win

Michael Ryder

[Flubber]

and Toronto is now OUT of a playoff spot once again

I believe

Washington passed them
Tampa is now tied with them(and would be ahead of TO on tiebreak

NYI have joined a new 3 team pack a point pack from TO so the pack now has 2,3 and 4 games in hand.

TO is wild to watch and they may snare a playoff spot down the line. BUt currently they are 10th and on winning percentage they are actually tied for spots down to 13th

and it was an even worse night from the Leafs point of view in that the teams ahead of TO were all winners except for the Rangers. THose teams still have a gap to the pack and it could very well be that TO is in a pack of 5 teams where ONE of them makes the playoffs

[Flubber]

Phoenix . . . . wow and wow again

They are obviously a different team but I keep thinking that they are not THIS good. THats 7 in a row and I can't help but continue to think that they must cool off markedly

IN spite of their string I will still predict they will not make the playoffs

[Asher]

Do you still think the Telqvist trade wasn't a fleecing? That guy is far more important than the "3rd string goalie" most of you had him pegged as. He's helping Phoenix win a lot of games.

[Asher]

Word is the 6'7 270lbs Boogaard is out with a "serious concussion" after his brawl with Eric Godard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d86wx-cU1n4&eurl=

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Word is the 6'7 270lbs Boogaard is out with a "serious concussion" after his brawl with Eric Godard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d86wx-cU1n4&eurl=

Yup when I watched the game I was suprised at how clearly Godard won the fight. It was ironic since the Flames commentator had previoisly stated that Boogard had very few fights since no one usually wanted to take him on and Boogaard himself was quoted as saying there just weren't many out there to take him on

[Flubber]

Oh and Warrener has a "middle body injury". There is no word on whether he will be out next game.

[Flubber]

Did you folks realize that at 8-1-1, the Coyotes are the hottest team in the league over the last 10 . Interestingly, second hottest in the west and 3rd in the league at 7-2-1 is . . . . . St Louis. I find it wild how even the worst teams have stretches where they play well.

The reason I keep doubting Phoenix though is the fact that first I don't think they are an elite team-- the kind of team that will go win at .600 clip or better for the rest of the season. Secondly I find that a team will follow a hot streak with an inevitable lapse, There is too much parity in the NHL for anyone to just keep winning and winning and winning. Given that, I think that Phoenix will inevitably lose 3 of 4 sometime soon and soon find themselves 8 points out of a playoff spot once again.

Also a part of me thinks the Oilers are due for another hot streak ( although they don't have an easy schedule at all in the next two weeks).

Although perhopasd I really should believe in Phoenix. After all, ahead of them is

the Oil -- wildly streaky
Minnesota-- very consistent-- wins at home and loses on the road-- but their next 3 games are on the road

Colorado-- probably the most solid of the 3 despite lacking a star in goal

Calgary/Vancouver-- both a bit further to catch and playing much better lately than the other 3.

But one only needs to catch the first 3 teams.

Phoenix gets Detroit on THursday so thats a big test . . . a better team that has NOT been sucking lately and then follow with the Sharks, whom they owned last time out. IN a practical way, they is no real way the Coyotes can gain much ground on the last playoff spot this week. On Friday the Wild play the OIlers. I don't know much but I am certain that SOMEONE will leave with two points

[Flubber]

The Flames

I find it crazy that the Flames are 3-0 in the games since Iginla got hurt. Its like they all suddenly realized that other players were good too. Although I love how Iginla plays I sometimes wondered at how they kept putting him out there for even more and more minutes when they were losing and on a night where he was being contained pretty well. I'd see a great energy shift from the 3rd line and then not see them again for 7-10 minutes.

It just seemed like some of the other players never really got an opportunity to produce.
The lines now are

Tanguay-Langkow-Amonte
Huselius-Lombardi-Ritchie
Yelle-Moss-Boyd
Friesen-Lundemark-Godard

Waiting on the injured list are
Iginla, Kobasew, Nillson, McCarty

If I was Nilson or McCarty, I don't know that I would assume I would be seeing much ice when I get back. Even Kobasew who was a regular second liner may have issues. On the night he got hurt he had been demoted to third line duty.

The other guy that should probably be worried is Jamie Lundemark. He saw the second least ice time of any FLame last night and this is pretty regular. So once Iginla and Kobasew come back, if there are no other injuries, I'm thinking he could be in the pressbox.

Friesem?? seems to have "good games" despite his lack of production. He still gets reasonable minutes but his prodcution has been a disappointment. He almost seems snake bit and you think that if ONE could just go in instead of rattle off the post, he might pop a few more.

While I don't think Moss and Boyd will stick for the rest of the season (mainly because I think the coaches like to have them in Omaha getting big icetime-- hence the fact that they bring up different guys all the time) it is tough to send them down-- particularly when you are seeking scoring and these guys have chipped in.


Bottom line is that there are now something like 6 forwards that have come up with the big team and they are looking increasingly good.

I wonder would any team out there be interested in Kobasew, Zuyzen, Lundemark, Nilson and McCarty in return for one excellent scorer????

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Flubber
and Toronto is now out of a playoff spot once again

At this points, with so many injuries, I'll be happy if the Leafs stay close to a playoff spot. The reality is that in the east there are 13 teams capable of making the playoffs. It'll go down to the wire.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Tingkai
At this points, with so many injuries, I'll be happy if the Leafs stay close to a playoff spot. The reality is that in the east there are 13 teams capable of making the playoffs. It'll go down to the wire.

Sorry, that is not an excuse. Injuries happen.

Calgary's been riddled with injuries for a long time. Iginla's been out for 3 games now as well, and the Flames have won all three.

Good teams do well with adversity. In a deep playoff run (which, I'd expect is something you have not seen in a while, being a Toronto fan ), depth is key. The Leafs are very lacking in that area.

The fact is the Leafs are going to be on the bubble at best all season. If they do make the playoffs, they'll squeak in and get eliminated in the first round.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher
Do you still think the Telqvist trade wasn't a fleecing? That guy is far more important than the "3rd string goalie" most of you had him pegged as. He's helping Phoenix win a lot of games.

Still creating strawmen, eh.

I think it's great that Tellqvist is winning again, and I hope that he can consistently play well.

Perhaps, being out of glare of the media spotlight has helped him relax and find his game. In Toronto, every game is dissected and every move is scrutinized. How many people pay attention in Pheonix?

Oh, and if you paid attention to hockey, you might know that his name is Tellqvist, not Telqvist.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Still creating strawmen, eh.

If you look at your own quotes, you've called him a 3rd string goalie, haven't you? Where's the strawman?

[Tingkai]

You're suggesting that I unfairly labelled him a third string goalie for purely subjective reasons when all I was stating was the fact that he was number three behind Raycroft and Aubin. And he was number 3 because of his performance.

I never said that he would forever be a third-string goalie.