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Fantasy Spins
3.28.04 Put on your tuxes and grab some champagne. It’s time to salute the cream of the crop in fantasy hockey for 2004.
Brady Award: Best Fantasy Center 2004
Mats Sundin has been a top ten pick for as long as I can remember. Every year he puts up around 80 points with a decent plus minus totals and average penalty minutes. While he hasn’t offered up the spectacular points of other superstars, he has been extremely consistent over the years. Sundin’s real value though, has come in the form of game winning goals. Every year he manages to put up seven or eight, a considerable accomplishment when you consider that most quality players wind up scoring four or five over the course of an average season. This year, he has 10 and counting. In all fairness to Robert Lang, this was his award to lose. Unfortunately, his late season injury disrupted his quest for his first scoring title. Staying healthy is part of the game, and as such, Sundin and Sakic gain the edge here. As for Joe, well not much more can be said about the consistently brilliant center. Despite the weak seasons of his proposed early season linemates, Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, Sakic keeps rolling along. Joe may win the scoring title, but Sundin’s game winning goals give Mats the edge as this year’s top fantasy center.
Brady Award: Best Fantasy Right Winger 2004
The Right wing position is so stacked this year; I had to give four nominations. Choosing between Guerin and Hossa was just too difficult. Raise your hand if you thought Martin St. Louis was going to lead his team in scoring this year, let alone leading the league. Mrs. St. Louis, you can put your hand down, we don’t allow family members to vote. Anybody else? If you had checked the draft order of most leagues at the beginning of the season, Vincent Lecavalier’s name would have been the top player listed from Tampa Bay. While Vinny got off to a horrific start before turning things around, St. Louis has been solid all season long. No doubt, St. Louis was on the radar, it’s just that nobody expected anything like this from him in 2004. He has also been the hottest player in the league in the second half and has a very real shot at winning the scoring title. As for the other players nominated, Hossa, Iginla and Guerin have all been tremendous this season. If they had been playing a different position they may have won an award. As good as they have been however, Martin St. Louis was just a little bit better this year.
Brady Award: Best Fantasy Left Winger 2004
It’s been a great year for a lot of left wingers. Kovalchuk was dominant early and a late season surge by Patrick Elias has put him on the radar too. However, it’s the old guard that has it’s dibs on the award this year. Before we get to the veteran nominees however, let’s look at Alex Tanguay. I had great things to say about him last week and unfortunately, he went out and injured himself the very next day. As I’m afraid any further comments may only hinder his recovery process and do not wish for him to get hit with a falling safe, I instruct you to use my above comments on Robert Lang as a substitute for Tanguay’s season. They pretty much had the same season anyway. That brings us to Keith Tkachuk and Markus Naslund. This is an awfully close race with both players having tremendous years. I’m tempted to give the award to Naslund based on his higher assists and +/- rating, but there’s no doubt he’s going to miss playing with Todd Bertuzzi for the year’s few remaining games. Still, as of this writing, Naslund is the winner edging out Tkachuk. If you had either one of these players on your roster, you were a winner anyway.
Brady Award: Best Fantasy Defenseman 2004
What made Chara such a good draft pick at the beginning of the year was the fact that he was a defenseman with a high +/- rating and great penalty minutes. He adds a dimension to fantasy teams in categories that are often overlooked. The fact that he was actually able to score some points this season was probably viewed as a bonus by his managers. It also secured him the distinction of being the most valuable defenseman in fantasy hockey this season. Take a look at the person leading your league; do they have Chara on their team? Like Chris Pronger from a few years ago, Chara has had he kind of season that can tilt the balance of power in fantasy leagues. His value this year has been immeasurable.
Brady Award: Best Fantasy Goaltender 2004
Hockey fans are quick to point out that Roberto Luongo has the highest save percentage in the league. He faces a tremendous amount of shots and has been spectacular in the way he has been able to keep his team in games when they should have been blown out. Many of these people argue that Luongo deserves the Vezina this year. Others feel that Marty Turco and his 30 some odd wins are more deserving. Since his turnaround from an early season slump, the Stars have seen themselves re-shape back into contenders. He’s the one leading the team. Turco is the one who should win the Vezina right? I have news for you. None of this means anything in fantasy hockey. Brodeur has more wins than anyone, a fantastic GAA, a mind boggling ten shutouts and a very respectable save percentage. The fact that Brodeur faces fewer shots than Luongo or gets better protection than Turco is irrelevant. Brodeur is money in the bank. A bad season for him is 30 wins and five shutouts. Where other goalies (Giguere, Theodore and Nabokov) may follow a shining season with a clunker, Brodeur is Mr. Consistency. He’s never had a serious injury and he plays 65+ games a year on the defensively minded Devils. Honestly, when was the last time this guy had a poor year? The Vezina trophy could do worse than having the man from New Jersey win it again in 2004. I have said it before and I will say it again. If your league counts goaltending statistics, Martin Brodeur is fantasy hockey’s MVP. Vezina nominations aside, Brodeur is head and shoulders above anyone for this year’s top fantasy goalie award.
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
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