NHL FanHouse http://nhl.fanhouse.com NHL FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif NHL FanHouse http://nhl.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Blue Jackets Give New Meaning to 'Fantasy Hockey'http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/09/03/blue-jackets-give-new-meaning-to-fantasy-hockey/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/09/03/blue-jackets-give-new-meaning-to-fantasy-hockey/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2009/09/03/blue-jackets-give-new-meaning-to-fantasy-hockey/#commentsFiled under: ,

It's every fan's dream to own an NHL team, and I'm sure we've all spent some time thinking about what we would do if we actually did own one. Maybe take the Zamboni out for a spin? Challenge the star player to a bit of one-on-one? Or -- if you're really thinking this one through -- you can split up your players and draft fantasy teams during training camp and have a full-on competition. That's exactly what the Columbus Blue Jackets are doing during their first two days of training camp.

According to the Columbus Dispatch the idea was thought up by coach Ken Hitchcock as a way to get management more involved without stepping on any toes and to familiarize the players and owners with each other -- two groups that sometimes are very unfamiliar with each other. The team's four owners got together and drafted four teams which will play each other in a mini-tournament during training camp. They each drafted 16 skaters as the goaltenders will rotate throughout the teams.

There's no word on who got first pick and Rick Nash -- does that just go to the majority owner? -- and the draft order is being kept under lock and key. They certainly don't need a real life version of the South Park episode in which the girls make a list of the cutest boys and all hell breaks loose. Personally, I'm putting my money on whichever team happens to end up with Steve Mason.

Now if only I could get the money to buy a hockey team myself. This sounds like way too much fun to pass up. I guess I had better start buying some lottery tickets!

Blue Jackets Give New Meaning to 'Fantasy Hockey' originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Kevin SchultzThu, 03 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST Ovechkin's 85-Minute Drought Endshttp://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/10/12/ovechkins-85-minute-drought-ends/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/10/12/ovechkins-85-minute-drought-ends/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/10/12/ovechkins-85-minute-drought-ends/#commentsFiled under:

Never fear, Capitals fans and Ovechkin fantasy owners - last year's MVP is off his very brief season-opening slump.

There was a lot of concern around the nation's capital last Sunday when the Washington star took a Zdeno Chara shot off the foot in the Caps' final tune-up game, and worry increased when Ovechkin left practice early Wednesday with an undisclosed injury. Then, like most of his teammates, Ovechkin struggled in the team's opener in Atlanta, with the turning point being him getting turned away by Kari Lehtonen on a penalty shot early in the third period in Washington's 7-4 loss.

In that game against the Thrashers, Ovechkin didn't flash his usual speed, and last year's leading scorer was held without a single point despite a wide-open pace to the contest.


So, after looking sluggish in the first 25 minutes of Washington's home opener against Chicago, Ovechkin does what he does best - take over the momentum of a game.Five minutes deep into the second period, Ovechkin corralled the puck at center ice, and then made the Blackhawks' big-free agent signing Brian Campbell a $7.1-million dollar screen in firing home his first goal of the season through the defenseman and fellow Russian Nikolai Khabiboulin.

Then, in the third period, Ovechkin added his second of the year by blasting a puck past Khabibulin to seal a 4-2 Washington win to give the sellout crowd of 18,277 a sigh of relief after Ovechkin's (and Washington's) slow start to the season.

The spotlight is much brighter on the Caps and Ovechkin this year, with the team's superstar being the first player in a dozen years to eclipse the 60-goal mark and Washington being the heavy pre-season favorite to capture the Southeast Divison for a second straight season. Some pundits are calling for a 70-goal season, with some even suggesting a near goal-per-game pace for the scorer over 82 contests.

Ovechkin's role with the Capitals has expanded this season as well, as despite the scare off of Chara's heavy shot, the Russian star is playing on the Capitals' penalty-killing unit now, with him spending over four minutes of ice time Saturday with Chicago having the extra man. He also logged over 24 minutes of total ice time, second only to the Caps' young defenseman Mike Green.

How big a deal is it for Ovechkin to get going?

Well, consider the last two times in the past decade when Washington has come into the season with the kind of expectations surrounding this team, the Caps have fallen flat.

In the season following the team's 1998 Stanley Cup finals run, Washington was ill-prepared for playing the favorite and recorded a miserable 68-point campaign. On the heels of the Jaromir Jagr trade in 2001-02, Washington wasn't quite as bad, but still missed out on the postseason and the Czech star never quite fit in with the Caps before he was shipped off to the Rangers.

So, with Washington getting lit up by Atlanta Friday night, and falling behind just 26 seconds on a soft goal allowed by Jose Theodore minutes after raising last year's division banner to the Verizon Center rafters, the crowd wasn't happy. Ovechkin seemed to struggle out of the gate Saturday, and didn't quite have the step he flashed last year to get separation from opposing defensemen over the first four periods of the campaign.

But, with that move on Campbell, Ovechkin showed the flair that made him the MVP last season and seemed to get into the groove.

Which gave the Caps fans, and his fantasy owners, a big sigh of relief.

Ovechkin's 85-Minute Drought Ends originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:09:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Ted StarkeySun, 12 Oct 2008 00:09:00 EST Sorry, But Fantasy Hockey is Better Than Everhttp://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/09/09/sorry-but-fantasy-hockey-is-better-than-ever/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/09/09/sorry-but-fantasy-hockey-is-better-than-ever/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/09/09/sorry-but-fantasy-hockey-is-better-than-ever/#commentsFiled under: ,


So, don't get me wrong. I have nothing against About.com's Jamie Fitzpatrick. I'm sure he's a nice guy and has a smart hockey mind, but when I read his article entitled 'Whatever Happened to Fantasy Hockey for Regular Folks?', I get a bit confused.

When the hockey pool first gained popularity, back in the 1980s, it was considered a good excuse for drinking beer and talking trash.

Those days are long gone. For starters, it's not called a hockey pool anymore. It's a fantasy hockey league.

And it's not about drinking beer. Fantasy hockey is serious business, an all-consuming, number-crunching hobby for fans who don't get out much.

Wow. Really? I'm not even going to touch on the beer thing. There are already enough excuses to drink in today's world that fantasy hockey does not need to be one of them.

Anyway. So Jamie, you're telling me that all of a sudden fantasy hockey has become too analytical and people are obsessing over it way too much. Not fantasy football. Not fantasy baseball. No, for those leagues people just close their eyes and pick whichever player their finger lands on. For hockey, of all sports, people are going too crazy over it. Right.

And he continues:

So be warned. If you join one of these outfits, you're going up against guys who spent the summer cross-referencing power play line combos and ranking prospects in the Latvian midget league. Good luck.

The Latvian Midget League? Good one. Where have I heard these kinds of disses before? Oh that's right, every time a traditional baseball fan rails against the well-meaning sabermetrics people. And that line before about "fans who don't get out much?" That sounds like it was taken right out of the How the MSM Defends Itself Against Bloggers Playbook. It's an archaic and outdated read, if you ever get a chance.

But what amazes me the most is how Fitzpatrick's description of the current state of fantasy hockey affairs is actually a more accurate description of how fantasy hockey, er, I mean hockey pools, used to be. You had to be the All-Consuming, Number Crunching Fan Who Didn't Get Out Much because you had to sit at home and play your pool through snail mail. Yes, the post office would carry the Hockey News to you, and advertised in it would be hockey pools. You would send them money, they would send you back all the info on your pool and so on and so forth.

Imagine how fun that must have been. Sitting next to your mailbox all day drinking beer. Now that fantasy hockey has gone mainstream, you just pop open your web browser and check your team, add/release players all at the cost of... Wait... Actually, now a days it doesn't cost anything! And on top of that you don't have to sit by the mailbox, or in some cases phone, all day drinking. You can, you know, get out and do other things like drink bottled water as all the liberal hippies do these days.

But hey, if you disagree with me, you can always join Fitzpatrick's pool.

If a hockey pool sounds like fun, but you don't want to spend your weekend running spreadsheets on plus/minus rankings among third-line centermen, we have a solution. Here's our format for a dirt-simple fantasy hockey league. It's ideal for casual fans, lazy fans, and office pools where half the gang wouldn't know Vernon Fiddler from the Fiddler on the Roof.

It's a good idea, I can't believe no one has thought of it yet. I mean, how often is it that you get to play casually against fans who aren't uber competitive? Oh, wait. Actually when you register a team in a Yahoo! Public League, the second question you get asked is if you want to play in a casual league or a competitive league. You can even have your team drafted for you. The internet is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Sorry, But Fantasy Hockey is Better Than Ever originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:13:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>about.comfantasyfantasy hockeyfantasy sportsFantasyHockeyFantasySportsKevin SchultzTue, 09 Sep 2008 01:13:00 EST NHL's Best Bargains: Johnny Oduyahttp://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/07/22/nhls-best-bargains-johnny-oduya/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/07/22/nhls-best-bargains-johnny-oduya/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/07/22/nhls-best-bargains-johnny-oduya/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Johnny Oduya has a really cool name, but that doesn't get the New Jersey Devils defensemen all that much attention. After being selected in the 7th round by the Capitals way back in 2001, the Caps gave up on him fairly quickly and he headed back to Europe, probably thinking he'd never get a shot in the NHL.

The New Jersey Devils, in search of a cheap defenseman to plug into their blue line, ala Brian Rafalski, signed Oduya away from the Swedish league, and the bullish defenseman has quietly become one of the better defensive defensemen in the NHL.

Oduya had 26 points and was +27 (eighth best in the league) in 75 games last season, suggesting he is a pretty solid piece of work. There is more, however, than meets the eye.

One of my favorite bloggers, the man who runs The Puck Stops Here, crunched some numbers to come up with an Adjusted +/- stat. Basically, how does a player affect the game while he is on the ice compared to when he is off the ice?

The top defenseman on the list? Johnny Oduya! That's right, he ranks even higher than pretty boy Nicklas Lidstrom.

Does this mean that Oduya is the NHL's best defensive defenseman? No. The stat does have flaws, but it does highlight the fact that Oduya's defensive play is excellent, and his effect on the New Jersey Devils is very much understated.

And for all of this, the New Jersey Devils had to pay a paltry $600,000 in salary to Oduya last season. Kinda makes that Jeff Finger contract look even worse than it already does.

NHL's Best Bargains: Johnny Oduya originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Johnny OduyaJohnnyOduyaNHLNHLs Best BargainsNhlsBestBargainsJes GolbezTue, 22 Jul 2008 15:10:00 EST NHL Fantasy Focus: Jason Blakehttp://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/07/18/nhl-fantasy-focus-jason-blake/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/07/18/nhl-fantasy-focus-jason-blake/http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2008/07/18/nhl-fantasy-focus-jason-blake/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Jason Blake is a player I have a lot of respect for and one that I enjoy watching. The dude plays like a border collie, bouncing around the ice with boundless energy. It's hard not to like a player that works so hard and seems to enjoy the game as much as he does.

Blake is also a very adept 2-way player, and is the type of guy a coach can feel comfortable about playing in any situation. Blake's hustle makes him a great penalty killer as well as a team picker-upper. Just look at the way he battled back from his cancer!

What Blake is NOT, however, is a big offensive producer. Yes, he once scored 40 goals for the lowly New York Islanders, but one need only look at his career history to see what an outlier that was.

Here are the numbers ...

The people who got suckered in the most were, obviously, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who inked the diminutive winger to an expensive, long-term 5-year $20M contract.

Blake will be 35 years of age (yes, older than you thought!) when next season starts, and despite getting loads of shots on net, is only going to decline from here on out. Losing Mats Sundin will also be a blow to his offensive chances.

Prediction: 50 points. Age and a lack of support will make times tough for Blake, but he should be able to come close to his average numbers. Just don't take the bait thinking that Blake is going to get 40 goals again, or even 30. It's just not going to happen.

NHL Fantasy Focus: Jason Blake originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Fantasy FocusFantasyFocusJason BlakeJasonBlakeNHL Fantasy FocusNhlFantasyFocusJes GolbezFri, 18 Jul 2008 15:54:00 EST