| Fantasy News |
[ Poll Archives ] |
Fantasy Spins
March 22, 2004 What a wild week in the NHL. First it was WWII between the Flyers and Senators racking up over 400 penalty minutes in one game. Then the trade deadline came and went with some significant deals being made. Finally, there was the horrific Todd Bertuzzi/Steve Moore incident which has fans and non-fans alike up in arms. We certainly have a lot to touch on. But first, as promised, we continue with the 2004 Brady Awards. This week we look at the year’s biggest fantasy surprises. Alex Tanguay (Brady Award Winner: Best Fantasy Bargain of the Year) In a year of sleepers, surprises, bargains and flukes, Tanguay is the king. Sure, playing with Forsberg and Sakic helps, but nobody expected numbers of this magnitude. Tanguay currently sits third in scoring behind Joe Sakic and leader Martin St. Louis. Even better, he’s balanced his scoring with a plus 30 rating, 25 power play points and 5 game winning goals. Not bad for a guy who was taken around 50th in most drafts. He is easily the biggest bargain in the league this season. Robert Lang (Brady Award Winner: Overachiever of the Year) Seriously, where did this guy come from? And how in the world did he manage to steal Mike Modano’s soul? Lang has always been a decent player. He was a solid mid-draft pick and it wasn’t unreasonable to expect him to come into this year expecting 70 points. He has 78 in only 67 games. Were it not for his recent injury, he would probably have been on his way to his first scoring championship. Even if owners get nothing else out of him for the rest of the season, he has been a steal. Don’t point to Jaromir Jagr as the source of Lang’s success either. Lang has been far more consistent than his former teammate and has shown that he can score points just fine without him. He is the year’s biggest overachiever. David Aebischer (Brady Award Winner: Bargain Goalie of the Year 2004) At the beginning of the season, every sportscaster on television suggested that the Av’s needed a new goalie for the playoffs. ‘Aebischer is too green’, they argued. Well Pierre Lacroix has spoken, and Aebischer is the main man in Colorado going into the post-season. It’s easy to see why. He has been spectacular since replacing retired Patrick Roy. For those who invested their faith in him, Aebischer has paid large dividends. In comparing him with goalies that have 40 or more starts, Aebischer is fourth in wins, second in save percentage and third in Goals Against Average. Congratulations if you took a chance on him. He is among the top goaltenders of the year and has easily been the most consistent player in the Colorado lineup. Sheldon Souray (Brady Award Winner: Surprise Defenseman of the Year 2004) Okay, Souray’s been out for a few weeks with an injury, but injuries aside he has to be the biggest surprise of the year. Unless you were in a pool with Souray’s mom, it’s unlikely the Habs defenseman was even drafted in your league. In fact, unless you were in a deep league, Souray wasn’t even on the radar until December. Managers simply couldn’t believe he was for real. Last season, he was forced to sit out the entire year due to a wrist injury that was so severe he contemplated retirement. He persevered however and endured extensive surgery. One year later the Robocop procedure seems to have done the trick. His wrist is better than ever and out of nowhere, Souray has developed one of the hardest shots in the league. Not bad for somebody who was snagged off waivers. Expect him to be drafted next year. Pavel Datsyuk (Brady Award Winner: The Alarm Clock Award: The Sleeper has Awoken.) Pavel Datsyuk was one of the biggest fantasy sleepers of the year coming into this season. He has paid off big time, putting up great numbers alongside Brett Hull and making people forget all about Sergei Fedorov. In fact, early in the season Datsyuk looked like the best player in hockey. He was the scoring leader going into January and was absolutely on fire. He has slowed down somewhat since then and his recent injury will keep him sidelined for a couple of weeks. Injuries aside however, Datsyuk has been a great bargain this year and really lived up to his potential. It was only a matter of time. He’ll be even better next season. Trade Talk Here’s a quick look at the recent trades. Winners: Anson Carter, Ron Francis, Valeri Bure, Brian Leetch, Sergei Gonchar, Martin Rucinsky, Geoff Sanderson and maybe Alexei Kovalev. The ones to keep an eye on are Rucinsky and Sanderson as they can be had cheap and have the biggest potential to go up in value if put on a line with Markus Naslund. As for Kovalev, let’s hope the trade sparks him to play up to his potential. Losers: Karl Rachunek, Tommy Salo and maybe Derek Morris. While Morris may be able to offset losing his all-star teammates by gaining additional ice time in Phoenix, I think I prefer him in Colorado. ‘The Incident’ Forgetting about the fantasy side of things for a minute, it was hard to watch Steve Moore’s injury this week. We certainly wish him a speedy recovery. As for Todd Bertuzzi, he has been punished by the league and deservedly so. His remorse is genuine and hopefully he can learn a lesson from what has happened. Here’s hoping that he can move on and the fans can forgive him the way they forgave Danny Heatley. Ironically, the incident follows the most fight filled game of the year between the Sens and Flyers. There was talk of a boxing rematch when the clubs play again in early April. However, with the Moore injury still fresh in people’s minds, maybe the teams will come to their senses and just play hockey. Looking Ahead to Next Week: Next week we will look at the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the kings of the castle the… well, you get the idea. The best players of the year will be featured next week. Don’t miss it.
Matt Brady is the Fantasy Hockey content manager for FantasyRef.com, a FREE Fantasy Sports site designed by the guys at FantasyAsylum.com. Questions or comments?: slapshotscores@yahoo.com Archives: The Brady Awards 2004: Fantasy Busts
Email: updates@hockeyinformer.com
|
