Fantasy Hockey - Running Out of Title Ideas

[Asher]

Conroy got his first goal as a Flame, against LA, in his first game as a Flame (again).

Lookin good.

[Asher]

Conroy just got #2...

[Ninot]

Quick results! Good on the Flames and Conroy!

[Asher]

He got standing ovations on both goals. He had the biggest grin on his face all night, from pre-game interviews to post-game interviews.

[Asher]

Conroy has scored more in 1 game with Calgary than Nedved has in 10 with Edmonton.

[Flubber]

Flames lines looked like this

Forwards
Moss Langkow Huselius
Tanguay Conroy Amonte
Nilson Lombardi Ritchie
Friesen Yelle Godard

Comments

They were shifting things around a bit and other than the fact that Godard didn't play much (4 minutes) they kind of rolled 4 lines with different players taking turns where Godard should be. Ritchie had the next least time with 11 minutes which is pretty normal for a regular shift MINUS PP and PK.

Conroy was the biggest guy on the PK with Yelle, Freisen and Nilson. No other forward got real PK time. Fior instance Lombardi got none which is a little bit of a surprise given his speed and shorthanded goals. Oh and Conroy got double shifted a little at the end, probably to give him a chance for the hat-trick.


The only surprise to me is I expected somehow for Lombardi to stay on the top 2 lines but I guess they didn't want to do the position shifting that would entail. It will be interesting to see what they do on Iggy's return . There is a lot of speculation he will play with Conroy but on last nights lines that would require a major juggle . I do expect that Moss will be the one to drop from the top two lines.

As for the injured, Kobasew will get a chance once his injury heals but it might be third line duty -- Kobasew\Lombardi with Ritchie/Moss\Nilson or whatever could be a very good third line.

McCarty?? I just don't see that guy getting into games on a regular basis barring a number of injuries

[Flubber]

Although its a light night tonight, it does feature a key matchup for Leafs fans. The Leafs despite winning 4 of 5 still remain outside the playoffs and face a Rangers team with which they are tied for 9th place. So a key four-pointer.

I actually like the Leafs in this one. The rangers had been slumping and their recent wins have come against Boston and Philly so they are not necessarily signs of a turnaround.

But the Leafs are so freaking inconsistent that tonight might be the one where they blow up and lose 6-1 or 8-2 or something.

IN the other games both Phoenix and Edmonton are starting to be in must-win territory as they try to catch up in the playoff race. ( now 10 and 6 points out respectively). The problem is that Minny, Vancouver and algary are beginning to act like they want to take strangleholds on playoff spots. Each of those 3 are often managing to garner points even when they are not particularly good.

[Flubber]

Oh and to Asher


Have you been following Telqvists stats lately ? I'll refresh your memory
.781
.933
.875
.846
.889

THats his last five games which now brings him to a season stats of

2006-2007 17 1,021 9 6 2 53 516 1 3.11 .897

THat .897 is shockingly close to the .895 that he had posted year in all of his previous NHL years. He has gone back to being the goalie he always was. A 3.11 and .897would put him in 32nd place among active goalies.


All that said , it does place him marginally above Raycroft on sv % and marginally behind on GAA. . . but clearly better than Aubin.

So bottom line is in Tellqvist we have a goalie that will post a sv% of less than .900 but will give some occasional very good efforts. He's clearly better than Aubin this season although Aubin's best years in the NHL are better than Telqvists ( and Aubin's worst years are worse). Since they were betting on Raycroft to return to his great form of a couple of years ago (ie .926) they then had the choice of two backups. I agree that they chose wrong based on this years's stats but I still question what you expect to get for a guy that loses out on your backup competition

OH and how was dinner?? Did you give in and have sex with a lesbian?

[Asher]

Tellqvist is a decent backup I think. For Phoenix probably a starter, if Joseph's off.

And dinner was okay, nothing special. No sex.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher


And dinner was okay, nothing special. No sex.

Ah I thought you might try to pick up the cute waiter or busboy or whatnot

[Asher]

In these types of restaurants the waiters are hideously old...at least 35.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
In these types of restaurants the waiters are hideously old...at least 35.

How do they even allow themselves be seen in public??

[Asher]

Kipper on his slashing penalty last night:

"I was planning to hit him," said Kiprusoff, "but I saw the referee and I kind of stopped (his swing). I pretty much didn't hit him at all. It was a bad penalty and bad timing, good thing our players did a great job (on the penalty kill) and they didn't make me look like an idiot." -

[Flubber]

The Leafs

This time Raycroft was a big factor in the win. The Leafs have stepped it up when needed . Although they still technically sut 9th , they are opening up some gaps from some of the other contenders behind them.

My fear for the Leafs is that they have won 5 of 6 to get this far. A coild spell now could be a disaster.

The good thing for the Leafs is that they get a few days off before facing Ottawa . . but that is the start of a challenging 5 game stretch-- Sens , Blues (hot lately), Preds, Pens and Isles.--

[Flubber]

Hey NYE

Are you still predicting Phoenix for the playoffs?? My take

Phoenix is 10 points back of MIneesota. I assume Minny will play .500 hockey the rest of the way so they would in that scenario get 88 points. ( I think they will get more )

Phoenix has 48 points and 31 games left. To get to 88 points then need 40 points. That means they need a record of better than 20-11-0 or 18-9-4 or 15-6-10 or whatever. Bottom line is that they need to win more than 9 more games (however) than they lose in regulation.

Even if they do that, they will only get to the playoffs if Minny plays just .500 ( note that Van and Calgary would be 91-92 points as a target).

The reality is that it is much tougher since those teams have exceeded .500 all season and I see no compelling reasons they would not continue. The chance that one of those teams will go into freefall is counterbalanced by the chance that one of Colorado or Edmonto will soar or heck . . . that Columbus or St. Louis will outpoint Phoenix the rest of the way.

Bottom line is that right now . . for a team 10 points out, its almost impossible for them to catch up without teams ahead faltering pretty badly. . . and the problem for Phoenix is that all 3 of the teams they need to pass are in the NW division and those teams have a heck of a lot of games with each other and SOMEONE will be getting points from those games



I think that the situation will be much clearer in a week to 10 days. I don't think that teams like Phoenix have given up hope yet .. . . but its getting pretty close to that point