NHL Blog Roll
OhCanadiens.com: Addition by Subtraction
Eric Meliton, from our Montreal Canadiens' blog, looks into the injury of goal scorer Mike Cammalleri.
" The Habs are definitely in another pinch due to that pesky injury bug. Over the weekend, leading goal scorer Mike Cammalleri suffered a right MCL injury, which leaves him out for upwards of six weeks. His return is expected in mid-March and with the recent speedy recovery of Andrei Markov from his tendon injury, one can only hope that Cammalleri returns sooner rather than later.
However, subtracting the 26 goals from the lineup, the Habs will be hard-pressed to find a replacement within the ranks that can pick up the scoring absence left behind by Cammalleri. The next leading scorers on the club are Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta, and Benoit Pouliot. There are signs that the Habs are going to be able to balance out the scoring woes amongst the three forwards, however, the team already had trouble scoring before the injury to Cammalleri. The loss of Cammalleri may motivate the team to band together… similar to what happened with Andrei Markov's early injury. Things could improve just from the fact that the team may become more desperate in the coming weeks."
Impact: Losing a big scorer like Cammalleri won't be easy to replace, but the Canadiens do have multiple skaters in their lineup that have the potential to step up their game. Tomas Plekanec has been a great source of production so far this season and fantasy owners (as well as the Canadiens) hope he can step up his production while Cammalleri recovers. It also wouldn't hurt if Scott Gomez started earning his salary.
SpeakingoftheDevils.com: KOVALCHUK!
Carlos Figueiredo breaks down the blockbuster deal that sends Ilya Kovalchuk packing to New Jersey.
" Now, how is this a bad deal? Because, there are LOTS of people, lots of Devils fans, who are annoyed, no…PISSED OFF…that the Devils made this trade. These people, I'm assuming, have never seen Kovalchuk play (kinda like anyone who lives in Atlanta). Kovalchuk immediately becomes the top scorer on the Devils with 58 points. Parise has 57. Another fun fact about the newest Devil… since the Thrashers drafted him #1 overall in '01, he leads the NHL with 328 goals. Pretty nice, huh? Yes, he may be (likely) just a rental. But if someone told you that you had to give up a few nice things…nothing of too much value…to get something you've really been working hard for, wouldn't you do it? I would, and Lou Lamoriello just did.
Sit back and enjoy Kovalchuk, even if it's just for a few months. We may send him off to free agency with a nice little parade."
Impact: Ilya Kovalcuk may be a Devil just until the end of the season if the two sides can not agree to a long-term deal at the conclusion of this campaign. This may make the sniper an expensive rental, but many around the NHL believe the Devils did not pay as steep of a price as Atlanta could have asked for, so perhaps the blow would be somewhat softened if he wasn't resigned. In terms of his fantasy value, you can expect Kovalchuk to keep on producing but perhaps with a new sense of motivation now that he has been dealt to a new team. Stay tuned to see where he exactly fits into the New Jersey lineup as he should have a positive effect on the values of players around him. For more on Kovalchuk click on Frozen Pucks - Blockbuster Deal
FrozenNotes.com: Pick Your Fighter: Janssen or King
Our St. Louis Blues correspondent, yours truly, wonders which fighter in St. Louis is a better fit for the Blues moving forward.
" Fighting Janssen, the smaller of the two, can certainly hold his own in fights but isn't in the same weight class as King whom most would deem as a heavyweight. However, Cam has still gotten into many scraps where he is at a size disadvantage and not only held his own but came out the winner in the bout. King can be dominant in fights, but Janssen's ability to strengthen the longer the scrap lasts is an intangible that the numbers really can never reflect.
Energy Who is better at pumping up the crowd with a big hit or making all the fans stand during a rousing fight? King's dominance in fights is certainly a crowd booster, but Cam's energy and hits on the ice in addition to his thrilling style of fighting give him the edge for my money. Strictly in terms of creating energy in the crowd when not discussing fighting, the edge here must go to Cam."
Impact: In the fantasy world, penalty minutes can make or break a season, so you never want to find yourself lacking in that category. Cam Janssen has been a monster in that department, finding his name amongst the league leaders in penalty minutes all season long (he is seventh with 121 PIMs). However, the return of fellow fighter D.J. King and limited space on the roster means there simply isn't room to deploy both. If you rely on Janssen as your main source of PIMs, monitor this situation as he may see a sharp decline if his ice-time is limited.
CapitalsGains.com: By the Numbers
Matt Leighton, the voice behind our Washington Capitals blog, looks behind some of the numbers behind the Caps winning streak.
" Alex Semin is riding a 10-game point streak and has 22 (10+12) points in his past 15 games. He has only been held pointless in two of those games.
Brendan Morrison is +16 on the road, but just +2 on home ice. On the contrary, Nicklas Backstrom is just +7 on the road, and +21 at home.
Jose Theodore is currently riding an eight-game win streak. The last time Theodore beat the New York Rangers (December 2008), the win started a six-game streak (Jose would go on to win nine of his next 11 starts)."
Impact: The Capitals are widely regarded as having one of the most potent offenses in the league and lately they have been clicking on all cylinders on the road to an impressive winning streak. As the Caps are showing no signs of slowing, fantasy owners should be starting all their Washington players each time they take the ice.
David Rogers is an Associate Editor for Fanball.com Owner's Edge and Rototimes.com. You can follow also follow the happenings of the game of hockey on our Twitter Page: FanballNHL.
Eric Meliton, from our Montreal Canadiens' blog, looks into the injury of goal scorer Mike Cammalleri.
" The Habs are definitely in another pinch due to that pesky injury bug. Over the weekend, leading goal scorer Mike Cammalleri suffered a right MCL injury, which leaves him out for upwards of six weeks. His return is expected in mid-March and with the recent speedy recovery of Andrei Markov from his tendon injury, one can only hope that Cammalleri returns sooner rather than later.
However, subtracting the 26 goals from the lineup, the Habs will be hard-pressed to find a replacement within the ranks that can pick up the scoring absence left behind by Cammalleri. The next leading scorers on the club are Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta, and Benoit Pouliot. There are signs that the Habs are going to be able to balance out the scoring woes amongst the three forwards, however, the team already had trouble scoring before the injury to Cammalleri. The loss of Cammalleri may motivate the team to band together… similar to what happened with Andrei Markov's early injury. Things could improve just from the fact that the team may become more desperate in the coming weeks."
Impact: Losing a big scorer like Cammalleri won't be easy to replace, but the Canadiens do have multiple skaters in their lineup that have the potential to step up their game. Tomas Plekanec has been a great source of production so far this season and fantasy owners (as well as the Canadiens) hope he can step up his production while Cammalleri recovers. It also wouldn't hurt if Scott Gomez started earning his salary.
SpeakingoftheDevils.com: KOVALCHUK!
Carlos Figueiredo breaks down the blockbuster deal that sends Ilya Kovalchuk packing to New Jersey.
" Now, how is this a bad deal? Because, there are LOTS of people, lots of Devils fans, who are annoyed, no…PISSED OFF…that the Devils made this trade. These people, I'm assuming, have never seen Kovalchuk play (kinda like anyone who lives in Atlanta). Kovalchuk immediately becomes the top scorer on the Devils with 58 points. Parise has 57. Another fun fact about the newest Devil… since the Thrashers drafted him #1 overall in '01, he leads the NHL with 328 goals. Pretty nice, huh? Yes, he may be (likely) just a rental. But if someone told you that you had to give up a few nice things…nothing of too much value…to get something you've really been working hard for, wouldn't you do it? I would, and Lou Lamoriello just did.
Sit back and enjoy Kovalchuk, even if it's just for a few months. We may send him off to free agency with a nice little parade."
Impact: Ilya Kovalcuk may be a Devil just until the end of the season if the two sides can not agree to a long-term deal at the conclusion of this campaign. This may make the sniper an expensive rental, but many around the NHL believe the Devils did not pay as steep of a price as Atlanta could have asked for, so perhaps the blow would be somewhat softened if he wasn't resigned. In terms of his fantasy value, you can expect Kovalchuk to keep on producing but perhaps with a new sense of motivation now that he has been dealt to a new team. Stay tuned to see where he exactly fits into the New Jersey lineup as he should have a positive effect on the values of players around him. For more on Kovalchuk click on Frozen Pucks - Blockbuster Deal
FrozenNotes.com: Pick Your Fighter: Janssen or King
Our St. Louis Blues correspondent, yours truly, wonders which fighter in St. Louis is a better fit for the Blues moving forward.
" Fighting Janssen, the smaller of the two, can certainly hold his own in fights but isn't in the same weight class as King whom most would deem as a heavyweight. However, Cam has still gotten into many scraps where he is at a size disadvantage and not only held his own but came out the winner in the bout. King can be dominant in fights, but Janssen's ability to strengthen the longer the scrap lasts is an intangible that the numbers really can never reflect.
Energy Who is better at pumping up the crowd with a big hit or making all the fans stand during a rousing fight? King's dominance in fights is certainly a crowd booster, but Cam's energy and hits on the ice in addition to his thrilling style of fighting give him the edge for my money. Strictly in terms of creating energy in the crowd when not discussing fighting, the edge here must go to Cam."
Impact: In the fantasy world, penalty minutes can make or break a season, so you never want to find yourself lacking in that category. Cam Janssen has been a monster in that department, finding his name amongst the league leaders in penalty minutes all season long (he is seventh with 121 PIMs). However, the return of fellow fighter D.J. King and limited space on the roster means there simply isn't room to deploy both. If you rely on Janssen as your main source of PIMs, monitor this situation as he may see a sharp decline if his ice-time is limited.
CapitalsGains.com: By the Numbers
Matt Leighton, the voice behind our Washington Capitals blog, looks behind some of the numbers behind the Caps winning streak.
" Alex Semin is riding a 10-game point streak and has 22 (10+12) points in his past 15 games. He has only been held pointless in two of those games.
Brendan Morrison is +16 on the road, but just +2 on home ice. On the contrary, Nicklas Backstrom is just +7 on the road, and +21 at home.
Jose Theodore is currently riding an eight-game win streak. The last time Theodore beat the New York Rangers (December 2008), the win started a six-game streak (Jose would go on to win nine of his next 11 starts)."
Impact: The Capitals are widely regarded as having one of the most potent offenses in the league and lately they have been clicking on all cylinders on the road to an impressive winning streak. As the Caps are showing no signs of slowing, fantasy owners should be starting all their Washington players each time they take the ice.
David Rogers is an Associate Editor for Fanball.com Owner's Edge and Rototimes.com. You can follow also follow the happenings of the game of hockey on our Twitter Page: FanballNHL.
