Monday, February 25, 2008

Fantasy Hockey: Hot and Not

The NHL's Trade Deadline is tomorrow and the deadline in your own league is likely coming up pretty fast. Fantasy Hockey, much like life itself, is mostly based on timing. Getting the right players at the right time can win you that elusive championship you seek.

Here are some players you should try to obtain and ones you should jettison.

Who's Hot:

Mike Ribiero-C-Dallas Stars: Ribs had his worst month this season (besides November) in January, when posted only 13 points in 14 games. "Still a point a game", you say, but 5 of those games were of the "0-fer" variety. He's rebounded somewhat in February. He's still suffering too many games where he records nothing, but at least lately he's been making up for it with multi-point performances (5 this month so far)

Teemu Selanne-RW-Anaheim Ducks: The Finnish Flash returned and picked up where he last left off. Shaking off a considerable amount of rust in impressive fashion, he has failed to record a point in only 3 of the ten games he's played this year. Last night's five point bonanza (3g, 2a) lends some serious credibility to the notion that Selanne will continue to be a force to be reckoned with the rest of the Fantasy season.


Who's Not:

Daniel Briere-C-Philadelphia Flyers: Honestly, I could've titled this entry "Any Flyer you care to name" as the entire team has gone sub-zero during this horrid ten game losing streak. However, most of the team does not carry Danny's contract or the weight of his expectations (both of which appear to be crushing him right now.) He was signed to be a "more than a point-a-game" player, but he's currently delivering roughly half of that. What's worse, he starting to hear the boos from the Flyer faithful (perhaps they're a tad peeved with his repulsive -23 plus minus rating?) See if you can sell another owner on his Power Play prowess and potential, but divest yourself quickly.

Georges Laraque-RW-Pittsburgh Penguins: Let's face it...you're not looking for pretty, end-to-end rushes from Big Georges. His point scoring is merely a bonus. No, you have Laraque on your team for one reason only: To get you some badly needed penalty minutes. His recent drought is likely causing you to look elsewhere (as well it should) to fill this need. Maybe it's not all his fault as there aren't many players left willing to take on this intimidating Warrior. But that's really not your problem....unless you own him.

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