By JIMMY D / Pigeon shits on the rest of NHL contestants | Jimmy's archive
This is what happens when you invite someone who covers major junior hockey for a living and who contributes to the Hockey News to play in your hockey contest – he’s got a leg up on you.
Or in this case, he has a beak and some feathers up on you. Or shits on you.
Pigeon (aka Herald sports guru Willy Palov) won the NHL DraftMaster Contest at Fanjack.com, where Jimmy D organized a competition to take on all comers. It turns out many of them know their junior hockey stuff more than Jimmy D, who finished tied for 12th.
Pigeon won with 68 points, while KBouts of Boutilier’s Point (61) and Flyerfan16 of Bridgewater tied for third with GamerRoy. Phaneuffan79 (54), cbcougars69 (53), AntiCena (53), bkeys (51), MacPheelr (50), ChalkDave (48) and ProScout (43) all finished ahead of Jimmy D.
The game called for your predictions on Friday’s first round of the NHL Entry Draft, where speedster Steve Stamkos was taken first by Tampa Bay. A pair of stud blueliners – both of whom should be able to play right away – went second and third (Drew Doughty to LA and Zach Bagoshian to Atlanta).
Beyond that, few others have a chance to end up earning you fantasy points this fall, but there are a half dozen top-flight prospects who should remain on your fantasy radar. One who won’t be a fantasy stud, but who will be a fan favorite is Luke Schenn, taken fifth by Toronto.
Toronto management seemed intent on upstaging the Senators while the draft was in their hometown. First, they grabbed feisty Jamal Mayers from the Blues, then announced they had given Mats Sundin permission to speak with the Habs.
Then, they traded up to grab the hard-hitting Schenn, who has been likened to a bigger, nastier version of Adam Foote.
Montreal made some more waves by peddling a first rounder for former Moosey Alex Tanguay. Start looking now at the Habs roster for overachievers last year or underachievers who might get the boot from the top two lines. Tanguay will ride shotgun on one top line and will hog some power-play minutes. A couple of brothers named Kostitsyn come to mind…
Calgary basically replaced (while upgrading) that forward slot, while getting a cheaper replacement in Mike Cammalleri from Loa Angeles. The problem is that Cammalleri is unrestricted after this year.
Phoenix got serious, grabbing Mikkel Boedker with the No. 8 after trading blueliners Nick Boynton and Keith Ballard to Florida for Olli Jokinen. With some of the young talent in the desert combined with the veteran savvy of Shane Doan, Ed Jovanovski and others, the desert dogs could pack some bite in the West this year.
The other swap involving an established player was R.J. Umberger moving from Philly to Columbus for a first rounder (Swiss defenceman Luca Sbisa). Philly has wanted goalie Chet Pickard, but he was snatched up by Nashville with the pick before.
Umberger had a dynamite playoff for the Flyers, who couldn’t afford to keep R.J., re-sign Jeff Carter and also sign a free agent defenceman which they badly need. Philly made two good depth moves in the past week, getting Steve Eminger from Washington for a pick and Danny Syvret from Edmonton.
Columbus grabbed Russian Nikita Filatov, who might be a little too cute to be an impact NHLer. He’s fast, skilled and seems determined to play in the NHL right away, but he’s also prettier than many of those hot Russian tennis chicks.
Expect things to heat up in a huge way this week as free agency looms July 1. Players looking to stay will be squeezing the last few pennies from their current employers, while teams that figure they can’t sign a player will be looking to peddle them for picks.
Last year, Philly used the final week before July 1 to trade for and lock up Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen from Nashville.
Brian Campbell may fall into this category. San Jose figures they can’t sign him and the Rangers, Thrashers, Habs, Bruins and Senators apparently all have permission to talk turkey with the slick blueliner.
Lightning gesture to Carle
Tampa Bay drafted the brother of San Jose Shark Matt Carle Saturday, but not because they expect David Carle to play for them. The younger Carle was draft-eligible, but found out during medical testing that a heart condition prevents him from continuing his hockey career.
“The kid worked his whole life to be drafted in the NHL, and I don’t see a reason he shouldn’t be,” new Lightning owner Oren Koules was quoted as saying. Koules’ son went to the same Minnesota high school where Carle graduated. Nice touch.
Stay busy and stay lucky.
Jimmy D
jpoole@herald.ca |
