By JIMMY D / All-Star Game brings NHL fantasy to fore | Jimmy's archive
The unofficial second half of the NHL fantasy season kicks off tonight and it’s decision time for fantasy GMs – are you in or out of the running for your league title?
If the answer is ‘in,’ it’s time to really get busy if you hope to get lucky.
By that, Jimmy means studying first-half, second-half split stats for players on your rosters.
By that, Jimmy means studying weekly schedules for each team and snagging players off the waiver wire or in trades who have favourable matchups that week.
And by that, Jimmy means watching injury reports and projecting where the fantasy peaks and valleys will be for other players subbing for players like Sidney Crosby.
Will Evgeni Malkin elevate his game to fantasy-stud status? Can Roberto Luongo put a mediocre January behind him and produce the fantasy booty of a year ago?
Jimmy gives his first-half awards and second-half predictions.
First-Half Hart Trophy
Daniel Alfredsson
Watch the way this team plays when he is not in the lineup. Add six shorties and his seven-point game last and you have the MVP candidate. Shaving his head and losing those Goldilocks curls was the best thing he ever did.
G A P + PPP
32 35 67 +18 18
Nicklas Lidstrom
See stats and comments below in Norris section.
Jarome Iginla
No flameout for this Flame. Drop a game-winning goal, score a shorty, dominate a shift, drop an opponent with a check or punch.
G A P + PPP
32 31 63 +17 21
Honourable mention: Sidney Crosby (good, but no Gretzky pace), Vincent Lecavalier (no Hart if no playoffs), Mike Richards (emerging multi-category stud, lock him up in keeper leagues)
First-Half Vezina Trophy
Miikka Kiprusoff
Bringing in Cujo lets Kipper have a regular breather, leads league in minutes and just two back in wins. Expect his second-half GAA to plunge from the current 2.76 where he leads the NHL in goals allowed.
Evgeni Nabokov
He is your first-half goalie MVP with 27 wins and 2.16 GAA to go along with five shutouts. Jimmy doesn’t see him sustaining that clip or winning the Vezina Trophy, but his first half has been superb.
Roberto Luongo
Last year’s Vezina winner will push for a second, but early Canuck scoring woes hold him back. Boasts 22 wins, 2.10 GAA, six shutouts and sparkling .925 save percentage. Struggled a bit in January, allowing at least two goals in eight straight, expect a surge in February.
Honourable mention: Pascal Leclaire (former Moosey is great if save percentage and shutouts count in your league, like a Yahoo! league, where he leads with .928 and eight whitewashes despite missing time to injury)
First-Half Norris Trophy
Nicklas Lidstrom
Award it now, he’s the Norris shoo-in again, slick Swede has simply sick stats for Red Wings. He will push for Hart Trophy consideration if he maintains this clip.
G A P + PPP
5 41 46 +40 19
Chris Pronger
Lone him or hate him, he is a scary (sometimes dirty) beast who is one of the best. When he is on his game, suddenly the Ducks get a lot mightier and you’ll see that plus inching higher and higher.
G A P + PPP
11 25 36 -3 24
Zdeno Chara
Penalty kill, power play, drop the gloves, reach 90 feet across the ice with his condor arms – you name it, he does it. Bruins out of the playoffs will count against him, but he is back to elite blueline fantasy status.
G A P + PPP
7 27 34 +7 16
Honourable mention: Sergei Gonchar (leads league in defensive power-play points, which is important stat for Yahoo! leagues and others)
Calder Trophy
Patrick Kane
All the doubters who pointed to his dwarfian size as reasons he would fail have been silenced. He is small, but slick, creative and will become tougher on the puck by the time he’s a three-year veteran and out of his teenage years. Will join Ed Belfour in 1991 and Steve Larmer in 1982 as recent Blackhawk ROYs.
Jonathan Toews
Injury slowed him, but he reminds Jimmy of a turbo-charged Rod Brind’Amour, which means long-term fantasy productivity. He is the league’s best first-year player but won’t win the Calder, check on his injury status to scoop him up.
Nicklas Backstrom
Not to be confused with Minny Wild keeper Niklas Backstrom, the slick Swede is coming on strong. He is usually paired with Alexander Ovechkin, which means assists up the wazoo.
Honourable mention: Peter Mueller (stud center emerging quickly in the desert), Tobias Enstrom (Jimmy predicted good things from Thrasher blueliner), Martin Hanzal (tall centerman another reason for optimism in Phoenix).
Stay busy, stay lucky and enjoy Super Bowl XLII Sunday.
jpoole@herald.ca
Jimmy D |
