Hasn't the Southeast
Division been a crapshoot lately as to which team will make the playoffs as
only 8 points separates top to bottom?…Aren't the Capitals the dark horse to
take the division and wouldn't Alex Ovechkin be a joy to watch in the playoffs?...Hasn't
Montreal seized the opportunity to gain on a floundering Senators team but will
Carey Price be able to handle the pressure down the stretch?...Who will be the
big dealer come trade deadline-Toronto, Ottawa, or Florida?...Will players with
no-trade clauses such as Wade Redden and Mats Sundin agree to be moved?...Will
Don Waddell move Marian Hossa and if so, to which team?...Hasn't Philly's
Martin Biron been a bit of a disappointment this season after the strong
showing late last season?...Speaking of the Flyers, with injuries to Simon
Gagne and Joffrey Lupul, does GM Paul Holmgren pull the trigger on a trade now
with Peter Forsberg unavailable?...With the multitude of injuries to the
Florida Panthers, hasn't David Booth and Brett McLean excelled with the added
ice time and aren't both good options for fantasy teams looking for offensive
help?...Don't look now but did you see that the first four spots in points are
occupied by Eastern Conference players?...Doesn't Pittsburgh's Ty Conklin
deserve to be the number one netminder when Marc-Andre Fleury returns?...With
such snipers as Lecavalier, Prospal and St. Louis, why is Tampa Bay next to
last in power play goals?...And while we're on the Bolts, is Brad Richards' 49
points offset by his NHL worst minus-25?... C'mon, Brad, play some
defense!...Does Mike Richards win the Sleeper of the Year award with 65 points
thus far?...What Eastern Conference forward gets selected first in next year's
fantasy draft-Malkin, Crosby or Ovechkin?...If I told you at the beginning of
the season that Boston's Tim Thomas would have the best save percentage in the
Wales Conference, would you have called me nuts?...How valuable a fantasy
player has Alexei Kovalev been this season?...Who wins the Calder Trophy this
season-Kane, Backstrom or Mueller?...Until next week……
WHO'S HOT/WHO'S NOT (For games played
February 11-February 17)
Burning it up
Goals, assists
Thomas Vanek-Buf: 5 goals
Ruslan Fedotenko-NYI: 4 goals, 1 assist
Vaclav Prospal-TB: 4 goals
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 3 goals, 1 assist
Darcy Tucker-TOR: 3 goals, 1 assist
Alexei Kovalev-MTL: 2 goals, 3 assists
Martin St. Louis-TB: 1goal, 4 assists
Josef Vasicek-NYI: 5 assists
Andrei Markov-MTL: 5 assists
Plus/minus
Frantisek Kaberle-CAR: +4
Daniel Girardi-NYR: +4
Fedor Tyutin-NYR: +4
Josef Vasicek-NYI: +3
Paul Ranger-TB: +3
Shots on goal
Olli Jokinen-FLA: 17 SOG
Jeff Carter-PHI: 17 SOG
Thomas Vanek-BUF: 16 SOG
Trent Hunter-NYI: 16 SOG
Alexander Ovechkin-WSH: 15 SOG
Jason Pominville-BUF: 15 SOG
Alexander Semin-WSH: 15 SOG
PPGs
Thomas Vanek-BUF: 4 PPGs
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 2 PPGs
Ruslan Fedotenko-NYI: 2 PPGs
Todd White-ATL: 2 PPGs
SHGs
Steve Downie-PHI: 1 SHG
Jaime Langenbrunner-NJ: 1 SHG
Mike Richards-PHI: 1 SHG
Goaltending
Carey Price-MTL: 3 wins; 1.32 GAA; .963
SP; 1 SO
Martin Brodeur-NJ: 2 wins; 2.25 GAA;
.927 SP
Henrik Lundqvist-NYR: 2 wins; 1.00 GAA;
.967 SP
Olaf Kolzig-WSH: 1 win; 1.92 GAA; .942
SP
Cold as Ice
Ray Emery-OTT: 2 losses; 4.03 GAA; .882
SP
Antero Nittymaki-PHI: 3 losses; 3.03
GAA; .909 SP
Jason Smith-PHI: 4 games; 0 points;
minus-3
Wade Redden-OTT: 3 games; 0 points;
minus-5
Kimmo Timonen-PHI: 4 games; 0 points;
minus-3
Anton Volchenkov-OTT: 3 games; 0
points; minus-3
Jaroslav Spacek-BUF: 4 games, 1 assist,
minus-4
