Ice Report

First Week Thoughts

Man, what a week!  Only a few games into the 2009-2010 NHL season and there is no shortage of topics to discuss.  Here are a few…

• Alexander the Great is off and running.  He’s just fantastic.  3 games into the Capitals’ schedule, Ovechkin already has 5 goals and 10 points – posting a +6 with 3 power play points and 17 shots on goal.  He is literally a threat to score every night.  He’s distancing himself from every other superstar in the league.  Virtually the only un-tradable player in fantasy hockey; the return would have to be the moon.

• Elite goaltending not providing bang for your buck.  What did I tell ya?  Sure it’s only a few games into the season, and surely the law of averages will prevail.  However, you track the early performances of Martin Brodeur / Evgeni Nabokov / Roberto Luongo – 3 top tier goaltenders – and their stats are plain lousy.  I do expect their fortunes to change, although Brodeur and Luongo should be monitored closely as the pressure mounts to impress the brass from Hockey Canada since both are vying for the starting job at the Olympics.

• The injury bug bites.  Who drafted Andrei Markov?  I surely didn’t, but only because he was snagged right before me in my draft.  That’s called dodging a bullet right there, because Markov is out at least the next 4 months due to a lacerated tendon in his foot (ouch!).  Not only terrible news for the Habs, terrible news for fantasy owners who were counting on him to anchor their defensive corps.  It’s quite possible Markov was taken over other quality defenseman in your drafts, and that unfortunately is what we simply call bad luck.  Who will be the next big stud to fall?

• The Monster has landed in Toronto, and crashed!  For those of you who don’t know who the Monster is, I’m referring to Swedish import Jonas Gustavsson.  Gustavsson was considered quite possibly the best goalie not playing the NHL, and should be in the mix for some starts this season.  The problem, Gustavsson just sustained a groin injury and will be played on long term IR.  With the recent sluggish play of Vesa Toskala, it’ll be wise to monitor the situation in Toronto once Gustavsson returns.  With all the hype that surrounded his signing there will be pressure on the organization to give him a chance to win the job.

• Jumpstart players:  Brooks Laich (Was – C)?  Radim Vrbata (Pho – RW)?   James Neal (Dal – LW)?  Michael Del Zotto (NYR – D)?  Who???  Yeah you’ve probably never heard of these players, and quite frankly I don’t blame you.  These are ultimate sleepers off to quick starts.  Whether they continue at their torrid paces remains to be seen, but they deserve your early attention this season.