Fantasy Hockey - Coming up on the Halfway Point

[Asher]

Originally posted by 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.

Perhaps the problem with his "performance" in Toronto has more to do with inept coaching staff, bad systems, and terrible defense. And also that Toronto fans suck and rip into their players all the time, adding tons of pressure.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher

Injuries happen.

Brilliant insight. Here is another: Injuries reduce a team's ability. Lose one player and other players can step up, but lose six players and there's bound to be a problem.

And if you want to claim that six players missing doesn't make a difference, go for it, but I haven't got the time to respond to such an obvious troll.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Brilliant insight. Here is another: Injuries reduce a team's ability. Lose one player and other players can step up, but lose six players and there's bound to be a problem.

And if you want to claim that six players missing doesn't make a difference, go for it, but I haven't got the time to respond to such an obvious troll.

It shouldn't make you lose.

Calgary was missing 6 players recently and still won. We're missing 4 right now, including our captain and leading scorer, and we're still winning games.

You need to have depth to win in the long run in the NHL. The Leafs don't got it. Hell, even their starting defense corps is weak.

If you saw how terrible the Marlies were you'd see where the problem is. I was lucky enough to see the Baby Flames vs the Marlies a few months ago, and it was a beating. Boyd got a hattrick.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher

It shouldn't make you lose.

Unrealistic. very few teams will play as well when dealing with injuries. The Flames struggled somewhat when Hamrlik was out for instance. Could be a coincidence or maybe not.

Originally posted by Asher

We're missing 4 right now, including our captain and leading scorer, and we're still winning games.

Actually you can even say Calgary are missing FIVE since Regehr junior was injured in the bigs IIRC. The lsit though is encouraging as no one is definitively out for a long time


F Jarome Iginla (01/04/06 - current, knee, day-to-day)
F Chuck Kobasew (01/04/06 - current, concussion, day-to-day)
F Marcus Nilson -(12/07/06 - current, leg, indefinite)
F Darren McCarty - (12/27/06 - current, hip, day-to-day)
D Richie Regehr - (12/27/06 - current, concussion, day-to-day)

But Asher -- probably more important than the number of injuries is WHO gets injured. Other than Iginla, the Flames are easily deep enough to compensate for the rest. Heck three of them are candidates to be healthy scratches and Kobasew isn't likely to see the top two lines anytime soon. Heck on Iggy's return it will be tough to demote Ritchie so Amonte may return to 3rd line duty.

A third line of amonte Yelle and Kobasew ??


But Asher is correct that injuries reveal your depth. The "good" thing about these injuries for Calgary so far is that some players have stepped up and its becoming more and more apparent that there are 3-4 AHLers that are becoming more and more ready to play with the Flames full time-- I'll actually be interested what they do if they get everyone healthy

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Tingkai


Brilliant insight. Here is another: Injuries reduce a team's ability. Lose one player and other players can step up, but lose six players and there's bound to be a problem.

And if you want to claim that six players missing doesn't make a difference, go for it, but I haven't got the time to respond to such an obvious troll.

Well I'll state the obvious that it depends on who the 6 players are- but ONE player can make a huge difference if its your star .


Tingkai , who in your view is the most important injured player . TSN has the list as


Defenseman Ian White (1/9, left shoulder) left Tuesday's game against Carolina.
Forward Darcy Tucker (1/6, ankle) missed Tuesday's game against Carolina and is day-to-day.
Center Kyle Wellwood (12/30, hip flexor) is sidelined indefinitely.
Left Wing Alexei Ponikarovsky (12/26, separated shoulder) missed Tuesday's game against Carolina and is day-to-day.
Center Michael Peca (12/22, fractured fibula in right knee) is expected to be sidelined until late March. Forward Nik Antropov (12/27, ankle) is sidelined indefinitely.
Defenseman Andy Wozniewski (10/15, shoulder) is expected to be sidelined until late January.

[Asher]

None of them are pillars of the team. Tucker produces the most but he's also the worst +/- player, which says a lot.

I don't expect nye or Tingkai to understand that part, but Toronto and Edmonton are both at the top of the list in the league in terms of turnovers and the like (Edmonton is #1)...

Also, White just got injured. Toronto was short 5 guys, none of them all that important, in their last losses.

I don't find it to be an acceptable excuse, as a good team is a deep team. Injuries are part of the game.

[Asher]

For interest only...Calgary and Edmonton forwards, even strength scoring.

Still don't understand why Oilers fans are high on Hemsky.

[Asher]

Your "dominant goalie" in the league just got owned by that awful western team, St. Louis, Tingkai.

[Asher]

The Oil are getting away with murder and scoring because of it, on top of Nabokov looking off. The Sharks are getting called for breathing.

Lucky for them.

Edit: Reasoner just scored on his own net.

[Asher]

Mad props to the SJ fans, that was a very loud and very clear "BULL ****" chant.

[notyoueither]

Huge win for the Oilers in SJ.

Some continuing signs for concern (playing in their own end way too much) but also played with 3 rookies on the blue line.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Flubber
Tingkai , who in your view is the most important injured player . TSN has the list as

Definitely Peca. He plays a huge defensive role and is an important leader on the ice. Few players in the league can match his abilities. It's something that is rarely reflected in stats. His checking line shuts down the other team, but may not score much so his +/- doesn't look impressive.

With him out of the lineup, and with injuries on the blueline, the Leafs are going to struggle defensively. White had been getting better every day.

As much as I hate Tucker, he does add energy to the Leafs. I'm hoping Newbury can step up and replace him.

The loss of Wellwood further reduces the Leafs' offensive power.

Antropov's injury is probably a blessing in disguise.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher
Also, White just got injured. Toronto was short 5 guys, none of them all that important, in their last losses.

Try it again: 1, 2, 3...

Ian White (1/9, left shoulder)
Darcy Tucker (1/6, ankle)
Kyle Wellwood (12/30, hip flexor)
Alexei Ponikarovsky (12/26, separated shoulder)
Michael Peca (12/22, fractured fibula in right knee)
Nik Antropov (12/27, ankle)
Andy Wozniewski (10/15, shoulder)

[Asher]

Sorry, I guess I forgot about Andy Wozniewski. See, I just don't consider him an injury for the Leafs...he's more of a Marlies injury.

BTW, saw an article today...apparently no one is going to Marlies games. You've got how many millions of people in the GTA but you can't sell enough tickets for your own farm team? What a lame "hockey city" this is.

The Calgary Hitmen (not even the Flames farm team) does way better in a much smaller city.

[Asher]

Wozniewski has played all of 3 games for you this season.

Last year he played an impressive 13 games.

He's got 1 point and is a -7 for the leafs in his 16 career NHL games.

You must be desperate to excuse your team's awful performance if you're using players like him as an excuse for the Leafs' suckiness...