By JIMMY D / Jimmy takes Brunnstrom with first pick | Jimmy's archive

The Fabian Brunnstrom Hype Machine has been idling the past few months.
But for a month or two last spring and summer, the Swedish Elite League forward earned the annual Best Player Outside the NHL tag and every team wanted a shot at him as a free agent.

He eventually went to Dallas, where he played some preseason games alongside Mike Ribeiro and captain Brenden Morrow.

So in our annual keeper league draft Saturday, with Jimmy’s freshly inherited roster in bad need of repairs (tried to find a diplomatic way to say it sucks, but there really is none, so ‘it sucks’), he grabbed Brunnstrom at No. 4 overall.

As regular Jimmy readers will recall, this is no ordinary keeper league. It’s been operating for 11 years, has franchise owners in Ontario, Cayman Islands and beyond and was probably the first fantasy league on Earth to draft Sidney Crosby (he was selected as a second-year Pee Wee).

Jimmy’s second-round pick was Blues goalie prospect Jake Allen. The second rounder from the June draft may have lasted longer, but this roster was completely devoid of goaltenders, so Jimmy had to take a flier on a goalie.

In the middle rounds, he grabbed NHLers Mikael Samuelsson from Detroit and Pascal Dupuis from the Penguins. Why take mediocre veteran NHLers at all in a keeper league? Both are category specialists which make them trade bait during the season.

Samuelsson can generate a solid plus-minus rating as well as power-play goals, making him attractive to contenders in this league. Dupuis could also be a solid plus and usually chips in with a short-handed goal or two. When these things happen, you trade them for prospects, injured players or future draft picks to help build your team.

The season started Saturday and Jmmy’s main franchise building block failed to score in two games overseas. Steve Stamkos was pointless in a pair of 2-1 losses to the Rangers.

Jimmy also owns Victor Hedman, the Swedish teenager who is being touted along John Tavares as the top pick in the 2009 draft. It looks like a long climb from 22nd place to first in this league, but the Lightning will try to go from 30th to first this season.

Take Frerotte

Hard to see those words in print, but Gus Frerotte could be a great Week 6 pickup for you in your NFL pool. Watch his performance in the Monday Nighter at New Orleans, but the Vikings host the toothless Lions next week.

Detroit has given up more than 400 yards a game and at least 31 points in going 0-4 so far. They look awful. Even a mediocre codger like Frerotte can have a great fantasy day against them.

Angelic DeAngelo

Carolina is for real and DeAngelo Williams is proving he is too. The Panther tailback ran for two first-half scores and caught a third as Carolina moved to 4-1 with a 34-0 pounding of the Chiefs. He chewed up 123 rushing yards, making him one of the top fantasy players Sunday.

Not-so Sage

Humiliating and debilitating loss in Houston by the hometown Texans, who led listless Indy late in the fourth quarter. Then a pair of Sage Rosenfels turnovers and three quick strikes by Peyton Manning turned a 27-10 loss into a 31-27 victory within two minutes.

The Colts’ poor play, the Patriots coming down two notches and the Cowboys barely beating Cincy show the Super Bowl is completely up for grabs in 2009. There might never be a better time to lay a Super Bowl futures wager on the team you think can emerge from the pack on the first Sunday of February.

Breaston subs for Boldin

Jimmy figured Steve Breaston would have a solid day with Anquan Boldin on the shelf. The Cardinal wideout caught seven passes for 77 yards, but it was Larry Fitzgerald on the other side of the field who snagged the TDs and the bulk of the fantasy booty on the week. Still a good performance and he is still a worthwhile trade or waiver option.

jpoole@herald.ca