Power Rankings
1. Stammer Time – Last Week 2
After being unceremoniously dumped from the top spot last week ST responded with a hard fought victory over last week’s number one, MM. The late season battle between the leagues two best teams did not disappoint with the score in doubt throughout the final Sunday games. In the end ST prevailed with a 5-3 victory, a victory that clinches a playoff spot and gives them some breathing room atop the standings. That placement atop the leaderboard is largely ceremonial however as with last weeks win ST will finish the season undefeated against fellow playoff teams and therefore hold the tiebreak in any matchup regardless of seeding. ST looks to enter the postseason on another winning streak by dispatching league doormats COF this upcoming week.
2. Mr. Momentum – Last Week 1
For the second time this season MM loses a heartbreaker to ST, one that puts doubts into the teams quest to raise the Hoover as well as resulting in a shrinking gap between them and third place OR. If any positives can be taken from the loss it’s that despite the loss they have still qualified for the playoffs, in addition MM seemingly plays ST harder than any other team. In week 16 they held a 5-4 lead late Sunday before a comeback win for ST and this week MM was five shutout minutes from Jonas Hiller and Braden Holtby away from a 5-3 win. Despite the tough loss MM will need to jump right back on the ship if they want to avoid losing their second place standing and the playoff tiebreak to OR in their matchup this upcoming week.
3. Optimus Reim – Last Week 5
With another win and a playoff spot clinched it might be time to start giving this team its due… Or write them off completely (see below)… Who knows? Despite the fact that it is impossible to wrap your mind around this enigma of a team, it is impossible to ignore the fact that it is only 7 points from first place. OR 6-2 win came against one of the hottest teams in the league in GIWI. Next up for this pesky team is the battle of the Mazloum’s, a matchup which is always tight and exciting but will hold extra weight this go around. These two teams look poised to meet in the playoffs and the winner of this weeks matchup will likely carry with them the higher seed and playoff tiebreak, in addition to a little momentum.
4. Girouxsome Twosome – Last Week 4
Another matchup against COF, another 6-3 win and a clinched playoff spot. GT handled business this past week against the leagues worst team and has quietly put together a run that has only seen one defeat in the past six weeks. GT has largely flown under the radar this season, an attribute which seemed unlikely at the beginning of the season but is a reality thanks to ST’s undefeated run, the titanic clashes between the leagues top two teams, the unpredictable seasons from OR and GIWI, and the monumental collapse of 2012 Hoover Bowl finalist COF. It’s easy to forget that a little more than a year ago a team loaded with offensive talent and streaky goaltending entered as the number three seed and breezed its way to a championship. The other three playoff teams should beware.
5. Getting Iggy With It – Last Week 3
In the words of the immortal Buster Bluth, “yes he was flying… but a little too close to the sun”. GIWI’s first foray into the upper half of the power rankings in probably two full calendar years was too much to handle for the rebuilding team as they suffered a decisive 6-2 defeat to OR and saw whatever remaining playoff hopes it had go up in smoke. GIWI’s main focus now is getting the 7 points necessary to avoid becoming the first two time and repeat “winner” of the Naveed trophy. A matchup against GT will not be easy however they will probably be buoyed by the fact that COF plays league leader ST in their final matchup.
6. Chance of Fleury’s – Last Week 6
A 6-3 loss to GT last week was small enough that they still technically have a chance to avoid the basement. Unfortunately to do so would require a solid beatdown of league leader ST as well as a big loss from GIWI. Not likely, but not impossible. In the likelihood that the scenario does not play out nicely for them COF will hope to put this nightmare of a season behind them and rebound next season. For their sake they hope this is a 06-07 Flyers situation rather than a 06-07 Oilers situation.
Ray Shero Fantasy Studs
1. Joffrey Lupul (OR) – 5G, 4A, 3PPP, 3GWG, 12Shots; Three game winners is a pretty incredible stat, instant chemistry with Kadri
2. Antii Niemi (GT) – 3W, 1.00GAA, .961SV%, 1SO; The anchor of GT’s goaltending crew has been consistently solid this entire season
3. Taylor Hall (MM) – 5G, 3A, 2PPP, 1GWG, 14Shots; At this point last year was generally considered the inferior of Edmonton’s big three but has been the ace this year
4. Corey Schneider (GIWI) – 2W, 1.42GAA, .942SV%, 1SO; Last week’s cover boy has another great week for the ‘nucks
5. Mikko Koivu (MM) – 2G, 5A, 2PPP, 1GWG, 11 Shots; has been fantastic in a month that saw the Wild cement their place in the playoffs
Jay Feaster Fantasy Duds
1. Victor Hedman (GT) – Bagels; Zeroes across the board are never good
2. Chris Stewart (GIWI) – 1 Shot; Has had a huge comeback year but you can never rely on a Blues forward to stay hot for long
3. Saku Koivu (OR) – 1 Shot; The old and bad koivu as he’s now known
4. Marian Gaborik (ST) – 5 Shots; It’s possible that there hasn’t been a bigger disappointment in the league this season
5. Sergei Gonchar (COF) – 5 Shots; like Stewart has had a great bounceback season, but every hot streak comes to an end
Interesting Factoid of the Week
This week I looked at what the standings would be if this was a Rotisserie league instead of head to head. In a rotisserie, points are given for ranking in each category. For example if GT has the most goals so far this season he would get 6 points for that category, least 1 point. If there are ties each tied team gets .5, for example if two teams were tied for most assists each would get 5.5 points. With that knowledge, here are the standings for this league.
Offence:
MM – 24.5
GT – 23
ST – 22
OR – 15.5
COF – 13
GIWI – 7
Goaltending:
GT – 20.5
ST – 17.5
GIWI – 17.5
MM – 13.5
OR – 9
COF – 6
Totals:
GT – 43.5
ST – 39.5
MM – 38
GIWI – 24.5
OR – 24.5
COF – 19
– One can really see the downfall of the non-playoff teams as both were terrible on one side of the puck. COF in net and GIWI was only not last in shots.
– Amongst the playoff teams however it’s OR that should be most worried as they are more than 13 points behind the next closest playoff team. A lot will have to go right for this team to win The Hoover
– OR’s low rotisserie stats but second place standings also show how many tight category battles they must have won in the season so far
– Lastly GT is a sleeping giant that has the potential to dominate if they can get both goalies and offence firing at the same time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYwA9s-hjMs
– The four teams are set. Who will raise the trophy?
– I’ll put tiebreaker info up next week as they’re not all set yet
– A reminder that there is no adding or dropping whatsoever on the Monday through Saturday of playoff weeks. This includes if players get injured.
Fantasy Hockey 365 