Fantasy Hockey - Running Out of Title Ideas

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Here's Battle of Alberta's speculate depth chart:

Tanguay - Langkow - Iginla
Huselius - Lombardi - Kobasew
Amonte - Conroy - Moss
Nilson - Yelle - Ritchie
(Friesen, McCarty, Boyd, Godard)

Phaneuf - Hamrlik
Regehr - Warrener
Ference - Giordano
Zyuzin

Kipper
Noodles

THats not bad either-- Moss hasn't shown much in the last couple of games but his goals scored in limited action still far exceeds some of the regulars so I see the logic for putting him in. I still think the coaches like Freisen and he will continue to get his chances. If Iggy and Kobasew are not playing Tuesday, it may come down to who plays better in the last game before they are back.

Oh and I have a tough time seeing Ritchie as a 4th liner. He has worked his guts out far too many times and has been reasonably effective ( considering he scores infrequently)

[Asher]

Iggy skated today with the team (full contact practice).

He's either going to be back tomorrow, or friday.

[Asher]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070129.WBhockeyblog20070129194512/WBStory/WBhockeyblog/

Maki: Iginla gets his set-up man back



One minute, Los Angeles Kings’ centre Craig Conroy was headed to Calgary to face his former Flame teammates. The next minute, his former teammates were the L.A. Kings.

Did that upset Conroy? Not in the least.

Returning to the the team he helped reach the Stanley Cup finals in the spring of 2004, is a good move for Conroy, who had been lounging in a sub-par season with the Kings, scoring just 16 points in 52 games.

Some in the National Hockey League believed the Kings weren’t doing their best to enable Conroy. There were whispers the cordial centre wasn’t getting enough ice time in key situations and that he lacked a strong finisher a la Jarome Iginla, who enjoyed his best scoring seasons as a Flame with Conroy as his set-up man.

That’s why today’s trade, which sent Conroy back to Calgary in exchange for Jamie Lundmark and a pair of draft

picks, works on so many levels. A happy Conroy likely means a revitalized Iginla, who practiced today in full gear and is gearing up for a return to the line-up sometime this week, he said. Iginla has been sidelined almost a month with a sprained knee ligament.

Should the Flames stick with their top line of Daymond Langkow, Alex Tanguay and Kristian Huselius, they could reunite Conroy and Iginla on a second line that could carry the team some nights, assuming the Conroy-Iggy chemistry can be rekindled.

As for the Kings, they give up a veteran and his $2.394 million (all figures US) salary for this season and next for a useable forward (Lundmark has four assists in 39 games) and two draft picks (Calgary’s fourth-rounder this year and its second-rounder in 2008). The Kings are also off the hook for a $600,000 bonus due Conroy should he play in 150 regular-season and playoff games between 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.

Currently, Conroy has played in 130 games. The Flames have 33 games left in the regular season and appear a good bet to make the playoffs.

As for Conroy’s on-ice presence, it undeniably bolsters Calgary’s depth at centre, where Langkow, Matthew Lombardi and Stephane Yelle can provide some offence and good defence.

As for the man who let Conroy bolt the Flames as a free agent in 2004, Calgary general manager Darryl Sutter insisted he had no problems bringing Conroy back into the fold.

“All along, Connie left because (in) ’04 that was before we had a collective agreement,” Sutter told reporters. “What we could pay him and what the unknown of the market was, there wasn’t a way for us to resign him.”

But with room under the salary cap, the Flames had both the finances and the intuitive to reclaim Conroy and, now that they have, everybody is happy - except maybe the other NHL teams that were interested in Conroy.

They can no longer bide their time until the Feb. 27 trade deadline. The Flames have gotten things rolling, and that’s always good for hockey fans.

[notyoueither]

Sounds like a good trade for Calgary and LA.

Wish the Oilers could find a win-win involving a decent, experienced dman. Unfortunately, those seem to be few and far between.

[Flubber]

Asher


That globe article is an interesting take. I had thought more of Conroy rejuvenating a third line but you could make Kobasew a demotion and see how a Lombardi-Iggy-Conroy grouping does. Lombardi has played too well too often to be demoted IMHO and it could be interesting

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Iggy skated today with the team (full contact practice).

He's either going to be back tomorrow, or friday.

I hope its Tuesday. I am going to that game in one of the boxes with free food and drink-- an Iggy return would be a nice bonus

[Flubber]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Sounds like a good trade for Calgary and LA.

Wish the Oilers could find a win-win involving a decent, experienced dman. Unfortunately, those seem to be few and far between.

Good players are always in short supply , particlarly when there are probably 26 teams in the league still acting like they can make the playoffs. Perhaps if a few more teams slump you may see some dumping of older veterans for salary reasons. There are always rentals available from the teams that know they are out of it

[notyoueither]

Yeah, but last year was so sweet. The Oilers got Tarnstrom and Spacek for a couple of buckets of pucks, and they got them around Christmas.

It's getting late, it's late, and the Oilers have an important date.

[Ninot]

Hmm, I guess Flubber didn't follow tonight's game.

Habs break out in the second, Aebischer makes key saves, Habs take back 4th, and still have a game in hand.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Ninot
Hmm, I guess Flubber didn't follow tonight's game.

Habs break out in the second, Aebischer makes key saves, Habs take back 4th, and still have a game in hand.

I did. It was very good to see them defeat an Ottawa squad that crushed them last time out. They are a good team. I have always said that.

[Ninot]

Btw, is it becoming common place for teams to not come out when another team is retiring a jersey? Thrashers didn't come out for Savard and the Sens didnt come out for Dryden. I understand it, but i think it would be nice if they did.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Ninot
Btw, is it becoming common place for teams to not come out when another team is retiring a jersey? Thrashers didn't come out for Savard and the Sens didnt come out for Dryden. I understand it, but i think it would be nice if they did.

It's my understanding that this is a recent trend...last year the Flames were out any time a jersey was retired.

Less classy teams, such as the Oilers, not only hide in the lockerroom about it but publicly complain about it.

[Ninot]

I think the Oilers started the trend.

last year, the Rangers came out for Geoffrion, and Jagr was classy. And the Leafs came out for Cournoyer and Moore.

[Asher]

Kobasew is now out another 4 weeks with a busted elbow...

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Kobasew is now out another 4 weeks with a busted elbow...

Thats too bad-- while he hadn't played great, he was still stronger than most of the bottom two lines. I'd rather him in the lineup than out. This could increase the chance Conroy could see action on the top two lines with a bit of shifting about