| Fantasy Hockey Grumblings: Wales Watching - Feb 14, 2008 |
| By Pete Colaninno |
Published
02/14/2008
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Wales Watching
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Pete Colaninno
Pete "Hat Trick" Colaninno has more than 20 years of fantasy hockey
experience. He was the fantasy hockey expert for NHL Extreme! and has written for a number of national magazines such as Pro Hockey Preview and has appeared on several radio sports talk shows around the country.
View all articles by Pete Colaninno
Sergei Samsonov has appeared in only 37 games
WALES WATCHING
DON’T OVERLOOK BAD TEAMS FOR FANTASY HELP
The proclivity of fantasy players is to key in on the upper echelon teams as a source for fantasy players. It’s certainly the moto thing to do-these teams have great players, have excellent goaltending, play solid defense and post good, overall stats. Teams that are at the bottom of the standings are often overlooked and fantasy players aren’t snatched up as quickly. However, these teams can offer some prime nuggets for a fantasy team. As long as you can balance out the potentially bad plus/minus ratings, there are a multitude of players that can help a team. Here are a few players from the 5 worst Eastern Conference teams that are offering some good stats to fantasy teams.
TAMPA BAY: Mired in the cellar of the Wales Conference, the Lightning offer a trio of players that can help down the stretch. Michel Ouellet was injured for a good part of the season, missing 16 games. In the 38 in which he has played, he has scored six goals and 12 assists with a +3 and 79 shots on goal. He has pitched in one power play goal and as I am writing this on Tuesday evening, I see that he has scored his seventh goal this evening. Chris Gratton can be grabbed to help bolster a sagging fantasy team. He has always been a streaky scorer and currently has nine goals and 10 helpers with one power play goal and 79 shots. His plus/minus is nothing to brag about at minus-8 but maybe, just maybe, he has a hot streak down the stretch. Jason Ward should only be grabbed by teams that do not use plus/minus as a stat. To go along with a horrific minus-14, Ward has six goals and six assists with one power play goal and one short handed goal. Only for the desperate.
TORONTO: Darcy Tucker has come alive as of late with three goals in the past three games and six points in the last six games. He is no where near the player that he once was and has been injury prone the past few seasons. He has already missed some time this season due to injury, so perhaps he will ride out the season and remain injury free. He has tallied 17 points in 49 games with two power play goals and 87 shots. Matt Stajan can offer assistance to a fantasy team looking for some goal scoring. He has 12 goals and 12 assists with 84 shots, one power play and one shorthanded goal with only a minus-2 rating. Boyd Devereaux is a third liner that kills penalties but can contribute some offensive stats to a fantasy team. He has seven goals this season with nine assists and one short handed goal. He can be used as an injury replacement if needed.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS: The Isles may be on the outside looking in as they are currently mired in a seven game losing streak. That not withstanding, the team offers three players that can be grabbed. Richard Park has been seeing some time on the first line and has made the most of it. In 56 games, Park has nine goals and 13 assists with 88 shots, one power play goal and two shorthanders. At minus-3, he is not going to hurt your plus/minus rating. Josef Vasicek has been hot and cold this season and has struggled. He has 11 goals and nine assists with 77 shots, two shorthanded goals and a minus-3. He can be used as a fill-in. Blake Comeau got the call up in mid season and has appeared in 25 games. He has four goals and four assists with 27 shots. As he gets more confidence, he will get more playing time and more scoring chances.
ATLANTA: The Thrashers have been somewhat inconsistent this season but have played relatively well under Don Waddell. They may be able to make a late playoff push but right now are on the other side of the fence. Eric Perrin may be available in most leagues and can be used to help bolster a team. He has played well, scoring nine goals with 22 assists. He has two power play goals, one shorthanded goal and 83 shots. Pascal Dupuis is a penalty killer extraordinaire. He has 10 goals and five helpers in 57 games with three shorthanded goals. Also, he averages about two shots per game and stands with 100 shots on goal. If you are in need of a defenseman, Niclas Havelid can help your team. He has 13 points with 43 shots and is a respectable +7.
CAROLINA: The Hurricanes have seesawed with the Capitals for the number one slot in the Southeast Division. Nonetheless, they have a few players that may be available in some leagues. Sergei Samsonov has appeared in only 37 games for the Canes and has four goals and 10 assists with one power play goal and 64 shots. Bret Hedican has played well this season as his +12 can attest to. To go along with the +12, he has 12 points and 65 shots in 47 games. has missed 21 games this season due to injury but is rounding into form. In 36 games, he has six goals and five assists and a check of the scoreboard this evening shows that Ladd has a pair of goals.
So there you have it-fifteen players from the 5 worst Eastern Conference teams that can definitely offer help to fantasy teams. Don’t overlook these lower echelon teams during the season as they can offer some good, capable free-agents.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT (For games played February 4-February 10)
Burning it up
Goals, assists
Jason Spezza-OTT: 4 goals, 7 assists
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 3 goals, 9 assists
Olli Jokinen-FLA: 4 goals, 3 assists
Alexander Ovechkin-WSH: 4 goals, 2 assists
Dany Heatley-OTT: 3 goals, 4 assists
Petr Sykora-PIT: 2 goals, 4 assists
Brett McLean-FLA: 2 goals, 6 assists
Thomas Plekanec-MTL: 3 goals, 2 assists
Nathan Horton-FLA: 4 goals, 1 assist
Plus/minus
Jason Spezza-OTT: +6
Dany Heatley-OTT: +5
Zach Parise-NJ: +4
John Madden-NJ: +4
Brett McLean-FLA: +4
Shots on goal
Alexander Ovechkin-WSH: 22 SOG
Eric Christensen-PIT: 19 SOG
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 17 SOG
Scott Hartnell-PHI: 16 SOG
Scott Gomez-NYR: 15 SOG
PPGs
Richard Zednik-FLA: 3 PPGs
Mike Knuble-PHI: 2 PPGs
Andrei Kostitsyn-MTL: 2 PPGs
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 2 PPGs
Derek Roy-BUF: 2 PPGs
Goaltending
Ryan Miller-BUF: 3 wins; 2.16 GAA; .925 SP
Martin Brodeur-NJ: 2 wins; 1.96 GAA; .924 SP
Olaf Kolzig-WSH: 2 wins; 2.50 GAA; .925 SP
Ray Emery-OTT: 2 wins; 2.50 GAA; .925 SP
Cold as Ice
Rick DiPietro-NYI: 2 losses; 3.65 GAA; .845 SP
Tim Thomas-BOS: 2 losses; 5.00 GAA; .818 SP
Henrik Lundqvist-NYR: 2 losses; 4.10 GAA; .840 SP
Martin Biron-PHI: 3 losses; 3.39 GAA; .882 SP
Dennis Wideman-BOS: 0 points; minus-3
Derian Hatcher-PHI: 0 points; minus-5
Ray Whitney-CAR: 0 points; minus-3
Mike Commodore-CAR: 0 points; minus-3
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