When I saw some of Elliott's WHL highlight goals, a few times he literally skated coast to coast, through the entire opposing team, and ripped one passed the goalie for a goal. My first thought was "Wow nice goal, but I'll wait and see if he can do that in the NHL before I give him too much credit. Here Elliot goes and does it against San Jose against the sharks and Niemi" . Gotta love that goal by a rookie trying to prove himself!

Stefan Elliot takes mostly wrist shots and snap shots. When you look up scoring highlights from the WHL, his goals were almost always wristers or snappers. Has anyone seen him take slap shots in practice or games this year? Is he just not good at them? Don't get me wrong, his wristers and snappers are wicked! But this begs the question that I've stated below.

Every great NHL offensive defenseman has a strong slap shot. Will Elliot's lack of a slapshot (for whatever reason) hinder him in the big leagues for the rest of his career?

What separates the Caude Girouxs and Zach Parises from the Rico Fatas, Angelo Espositos, and Derrick Brassards (all three guys who did very well in Juniors and were 1st round picks) was their ability to go from succeeding at junior hockey to succeeding at professional (NHL) hockey in a very short period of time. Is the "lack of slapshot factor" the missing piece that will prevent Elliott from reaching his potential (potential that comes with a 1st round selection)? Or can a top scoring defenseman get by with just wrist shots and snap shots? What's your take on it?

Related sources: http://www.fantasysp.com/player/nhl/Stefan_Elliott/1843398/stefan-elliotts-offensive-prowess-is-giving-him-a-good-shot

Videos on www.nhl.com: All 3 of his NHL goals were snap/wrist.

WHL highlight videos on www.youtube.com: Most all of his goals are snap/wrist

What are Al Montoya's chances of taking control of the starting job?  He looked very solid in those 21 games that he played.  He hasn't been given much of a chance to play in the NHL, but every time he has he's put up excellent numbers.  He's not even that old, 26 years (give or take).


Anyways, I see several possibilities here.  Which seems most likely?

1. Montoya Backups until Rick gets hurt, then Montoya starts, does well, takes over the starting job for the remainder of the season.
2. Montoya is the starter come game 1. He is the starter this year, period. 
3. Montoya plays a few games this year, nothing comes of it, his NHL career is nothing but a flash in the pan.
4. Rick is somewhat healthy for most of the year, Montoya never gets more than 1 consecutive start to prove himself.  

PS:  This topic is fantasy hockey related!(Wins, SV%, GAA)  So feel free to chime in on that regard.

PSS:  I hate to compare stats between Islander's goalies last year, but Montoya's stats were 9 Wins, 92.1%, and 2.39 GAA. while Rick's had 8 wins, 88.6%, and 3.44 GAA.  Very large difference.  Isn't it time Rick gets the bench and Montoya get's the start?  Obviously coaches don't look at stats when making starter decisions, but sheesh!

I'm posting to discuss predictions on Mike Richards' fantasy hockey production, specifically in the Goals, Assists, and Special Teams Goals categories. 

Obviously there are several factors that go into predicting a player's production on a new team.  Just to name a few:

• Past statistics
• Difference in past and present team's playing styles
• Chemistry with new linemates
• Depth of past team vs depth of present team, player ice time, player situations (ie: powerplay, penalty kill, even strength)

So let's break these down.  During 2008 season and 2009 seasons, Richards had 2 years in a row of point per game.  STGs ranged from 13-15.  During the 2010 and 2011 seasons Richards averaged about 64 points per season and had a slight decline in STGs (as well as Power play assists).  Another important note to make here is that during 2010 and 2011 Philly's began spreading out their offensive forwards among many lines to add depth.  This included several points in time when Richards would be centering a checking line even strength, while still maintaining a role on the powerplay and penalty kill units.

Philly's playing style differs greatly from LA.  I believe that Richards as a player will fit in great, but Philly was very offensive, and LA is slightly more defensive.  One big question to ask, what is Richards' role going to be on LA?  I'm thinking number 2 Center with key role on power play unit as well as special teams unit.  That role sounds like it fits him well, but it doesn't sound like he'll be scoring point per game with that role.  Opinions??

Chemistry is very important.  I can see him having solid chemistry while scoring some points, but I can also see him having solid chemistry while not scoring very often.  LA has not been a high scoring team over the past few years, but this could certain change over the next year or two.  My basis for LA being low scoring is that, they often win low scoring games, and the simple fact that they scored 219 goals last year (that's tied for the second lowest  goals scored amount playoff teams last year).  I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just saying that's a factor in predicting Mike Richards' fantasy production this coming year. 

Richards is a skilled, power forward, two way center, ect.  He'll fill a big role in LA.  When comparing depth between Philly and LA... I'd say Philly had more depth on forward (last year) and LA had more depth on defense (last year).  Richards coming to LA helps balance the depth for LA.  That may work in Richards' statistical favor in a  sense that LA will have a strong balance of offensive depth and defensive depth this year.

Though I would love to see his numbers higher, I'm putting Mike Richards in the ball park of 50-58 points with 8-12 STGs.

Any opinions or predictions out there?

Playoffs are approaching.  The Flyers need a goaltender who can help win games and limit mistakes.  Who will do it for the remainder of the season this year?  More importantly, who will do it in the playoffs this year?  If I understand correctly the max roster size should be lifted and the max cap size should be lifted as well.  So carrying Bouch Bob and Leighton should not be a problem for the remainder of the year and the post season (assuming Leighton isn't claimed on re entry)

Bob has been looking like Mr Softie.  But he's still done fairly well.  He certainly has not proven that he can handle a starters job (yet anyways, he's still young).  Boucher is a career backup and always will be.  He's not going to steal you a game more than once a full moon. I doubt even the coach wants to start Boucher more than he has too.

How long until the Flyer's management brings Leighton up as plan C?  Will they do it before the season ends incase they need him for the playoffs?  Has anyone heard anything about this?  He's done fairly well in the AHL.  I see two arguments here. 1.) Leighton didnt' perform THAT well in the playoffs last year, and we don't need an encore.  Stick with Bouch/Bob.  2.)  Bouch/Bob cerainly haven't proven that they are better than Leighton.  Leighton played in the playoffs last year, so bring him up to do so again.  Which statement do you agree with more?  Or do you feel differently about the situation? Anyone feel that Bouch should be getting most of the starts?  I don't agree with that, but he's is an option.

I think the Flyers are good enough to make a run this year no matter who is in net.  If they can keep their mistakes down, they'll be able to sprint passed most of their Eastern Conference foes the majority of the time.

Pensburgh Fantasy Hockey League

Category Review:

G, A, +/-, STG, PPA, Hit, BlkSht, W, SV%, GAA

Goals and Assists make up the core essentials.  +/- shows the player's individual dominance in even strength situations as well as their chemistry with linemates.  Special Team Goals gives more value to players who score goals in odd man situations.  Powerplay Assists give more value to Powerplay Quarterbacks (who tend to be centers and defenseman).  Players spend countless hours during practice working on quarterbacking the powerplay, so this category accounts for that skill.

The physical categories add a different dynamic to drafting your fantasy team.  PIMs add value to players who receive penalties and fighting majors.  Hits add more physical value to hitters.  Blocked shots add value to Penalty killers and defenseman. 

Categories kept out of this league:  Saves, SOG, SO, ATOI.  Shots on goal (SOG), its value is hard to quantify.  Even Jonathan Cheechoo can get 5 SOG per game and still manage to do absolutely nothing.  SOG seems like a fluff category to me.  Saves were left out of this league as well.  Having Saves and save percentage is redundant and adds too much fluff to fantasy hockey.  Average time on ice (ATOI) is pretty unnecessary.  There are lots of excellent goal scorers out there who get only about 16 minutes of ice time.  ATOI is kind of like a "thanks for showing up" category, and it's not needed.  Shutouts (SO) would be an "okay" 4th goalie category, but it can be a little redundant.  So it got chopped.

Categories that we might like, but aren't in this year:  FOW and DEF.  Many people like DEF as a category.  I left it out due to redundancy.  Counting a point score by a defenseman twice didn't seem like a priority :\  I feel that between Hits, BlkShts, PPAs, Gs, and As defenseman get enough value to withhold adding the DEF category.  But this could be a future addition.  And Faceoff wins are a HUGE part of hockey.  Centers practice them for countless hours.  This category could be added, but it might overpower centers a bit too much(in some cases). 


November Mid-Season Review:
Current League Standings:

**(26-15-3)  South Buffalo Bloody Razors
*(25-17-2)  Hooks Orpik's Killing Machine
*(23-16-5)  Big Dog Tangradi
(25-14-5)  Slippery Dinosaurs
(21-19-4)  Staal Brother's Surf Company
(18-22-4)  Amsterdam Pens
(18-22-4)  The BylsMANIACS
(19-24-1)  Washington Eventual Winner
(17-22-5)  Rented Mule
(18-24-2)  WBS Baby Pens
(18-25-1)  Jaromir Jagrbomb
(17-25-2)  The Mearas

Scoring:  Head to Head each category.
**:  League Leader
*:  Division Leader
Note: Standings go by seed.  1, 2, 3 are division leaders.  8 teams make the playoffs.  Rounds last 2 weeks each. 

Category Leaders:
G:  Staal Brother's Surf Company
A:  The Mearas
+/-:  The Mearas
PIM:  Staal Brother's Surf Company
PPA:  Amsterdam Pens
HIT:  Slippery Dinosaurs
BLK:  Slippery Dinosaurs
STG:  Slippery Dinosaurs
W:  Big Dog Tangradi
SV%:  Slippery Dinosaurs
GAA:  Slippery Dinosaurs

Division Review:

Many teams in the Pensburgh Hockey League have a strong balance of skill, physic, and goaltending.  It will be interesting to see which teams emerge as Power Houses as the year goes on.  Staal Brother's Surf Company came out flying completely dominating the first two weeks.  The early surges from Hossa and Stamkos (as well as his countless other strong forwards) led him to earning the first two Power House Awards of the season. 

Mt. Washington:  The Hooks Orpik's Killing Machine took a bad beat in week 2 facing that week's Power House.  But they've taken the Mt. Washington division lead with their big wins during weeks 3 and 4.

SouthSide Works:  The South Buffalo Bloody Razors stand as one of the most injured teams so far this season, yet they're leading their division with a league leading record!  The Slippery Dinosaurs took the Power House Award for week 3 and are close behind battling for the SouthSide Works division lead.

Carnegie:  Big Dog Tangradi has proven to be a force, taking the Power House Award for week 4 as well as the Carnegie division lead.



Just to name a few, the skater edition:

Lidstrom:  Detroit's powerplay is kicking, and Nick Lidstrom is quarterbacking it.  With 8 PPAs and 1 STG (15 points in 13 games) Lidstrom is powering the back end of the Amsterdam Pens.  It's because of draft picks like this (7th rounder) that the Amsterdam Pens are 2nd in Assists and 1st in PPAs in the Pensburgh Hockey League. 

Byfuglien:  Excelling in Points, PIMs, Hits, and even PPPs, Rented Mule grabbed a solid multi-cat producer in Dustin Byfuglien from the waiver wire.

Malkin:  Having a slow fantasy year so far, for a 1st round pick.  Only 2 PIMs and 12 points in 15 games so far.  But if this is Malkin on a slow start, Amsterdam Pens will take Malkin playing well any day of the week.  Now it's just a matter of time, right?

Green:  After to a slow start, Green has taken his position as a top scoring defenseman once again.  Big Dog Tangradi knew what he was getting when he spent his 1st round pick on a guy who'll get all of the skater categories. 

Giroux:  A pleasant surprise to some (mostly non-Flyer fans), Giroux is leading the Flyers in points and nearly ice time.  And with his contract extension, you can expect him to be a Flyer for a very long time.  Big Dog Tangrardi new who he was drafting with this 11th rounder. 

Crosby:  Can't go wrong with this 1st round pick.  Strong in many categories, shows up to play every night.  WBS Baby Pens were given the 2nd overall pick and all they had to do was click ;) 

Stamkos:  Nothing short of blow up.  This guy can score.  Staal Brother's Surf Company watching his 5th overall selection make the top 4 go "Wow!" as if they never saw it coming.

Dubinksy:  Nice waiver wire pickup for Big Dog Tangradi.  Dubinsky has been known to cool off after his hot starts, but he does have a history of PIMs and Hits to go along with his hockey sense. 

Ovechkin:  Off to his usual start (well over point-per-game with loads of hits and PPPs).  Hooks Orpiks Killing Machine did the right thing drafting the guy who makes the most out of the stat categories.

Selanne:  The old is alive and kicking.  He was on pace for over 40 goals last year had he not broken his jaw with a puck to the face.  Let's see how his season pans out this year.  Great late pick by the Slippery Dinosaurs in round 13. 

Letang:  Kris Letang has more fantasy production than Evgeni Malkin so far this year.  Surely that may change, but Letang is proving to be an excellen 15th round pick for Staal Brother's Surf Company. 

Brad Richards:  Centering all those dangerous wingers in Dallas, Richards is putting up heavy offensive production.  Even strength dominance, Powerplay dominance, this man can center it all.  Excellent 4th round pick by Washington Eventual Winner. 

Sharp:  Off to a hot start with 10 quick goals, but can he keep it up all year?  A great 6th round pick by The Mearas

Ryan:  Bobby Ryan, taken in the 3rd round by The BylsMANIACS, showing his multi-category production early on excelling in points, PIMs, and Hits. 


Just to name a few, the goalie edition:

Brodeur:  Fantasy goalie workhorse is getting put out to pasture?  Jersey having a rough start.  What looked like a possible steal of a 3rd round pick for the Amsterdam Pens, could end up being a dud pick if Jersey doesn't turn their ship around. 

Halak:  As long as St Louis keeps these games tight and low scoring, Halak is a solid fantasy goaltender.  What an 8th round pick by Staal Brother's Surf Company. 

Quick:  8th round selection by Slippery Dinosaurs looking strong in goal with LA.  But believe me, though he's talented, it's the defense and teamwork of LA that's giving this guy relatively easy saves. 

Fleury:  Sadly, fantasy hockey waiver wires everywhere are Fleurying... Staal Brother's Surf Company is holding on for dear life with this guy bringing down goaltending averages like the stock market numbers.  As pens fans, well all pray this stops now!!!

Bobrovksy:  Bob-who?  South Buffalo Bloody Razors are having at this russian like commies do vodka in a soviet submarine.  Though please be assured that Bob's stats are highly reflective of the strong team infront of him.  It's not the bob, it's the flyer.  With that aside, I do believe the bob is greater than that of the Bouch or the Leight.  Bob's the man right now in South Buffalo. 

Rask/Thomas:  Ouch, what a 3rd round pick.  The Dinosaurs Slipped up on this one.  Last I checked, his plan was to have both Boston goalies but missed the boat on Thomas.  And that bit him in the butt.  Thomas was a good draft pick by Jagrbomb in the 18th round... but we'll see who's starting in goal for the B's in February/March/April when it really counts (fantasy hockey playoff time).

Just to name a few, key injury edition:

Gaborik:  With his team leading its division, Hooks Orpiks Killing Machine will only get better when he comes back

Parise:  Out for how long?  You don't say!  As of today South Buffalo Bloody Razors have 7 guys in the red.  Parise tops that list.

Staal:  Jordan Staal has yet to play a game this season.  Surely he'll help the Staal Brother's Surf Company when he returns.

The Pensburgh Fantasy Hockey League hosts the Power House Award.  The Power House Award is given to the team that dominated during a given week.  Not only did this team totally annihilate their match up, but they would have obliteration any other team had they played them.

For a team to win a Power House Award during a given week, they must meet the following criteria:

-Win their matchup
-Win a matchup against every other team in the league, were you to play them that same week.

This team will be dubbed a Power House due to the fact that they would have beaten any team.  One Power House Award is available during each week.

Power House Award Winners:

Week 1:  Staal Brother's Surf Company
Week 2:  Staal Brother's Surf Company
Week 3:  Slippery Dinosaurs
Week 4:  Big Dog Tangradi

League Home Page:  http://games.espn.go.com/fhl/leagueoffice?leagueId=6818

Anyone remember the breakaway goal that Malkin scored (I believe 2 years ago against Ward Biron**, but I could be wrong) where he picked up a very long pass, turned to the goalie, wound up, took a breakaway slapshot and just burnt the goalie.  Not many players do that.  My first reaction to that goal was "Maybe he's not comfortable with breakaways?"

Anyways, Malkin 0 for 4 in NHL penalty shots.  Watching him last night against Gustavsson reminded me of his past penalty shots.  Why do they all look the same??  Skates in fairly slowly, completely STOPS moving his feet, shuffles the puck on his stick (not really a deke) while he decides what hole to pick on the goalie, then shoots and misses or shoots and hits the goalie.

Okay so he's not a breakaway artist.  Is it the spotlight and attention of a breakaway that gets him?  Or does he always take break aways like this in practice too?

**Thanks for the correction Hooks!**

Have at it.

Malkin vs Gustavsson: 

Penalty Shot 10/13/10 (via MapleLeafsHD)

Malkin vs Lundqvist: 

Henrik Lundqvist Denies Evgeni Malkin - Penalty Shot (via drab6969)

Malkin vs Dipietro:  

DiPietro vs Malkin - Penalty Shot 3-22-07 (via StanCartman77)

Malkin vs Ward: 

Evgeni Malkin penalty shot (via 153310)

The owner has failed to show up after the draft.  This team (without lines being set) is winning it's matchup 6-4-1 as of October 12th at noon.  So an owner would make this team even better (duh. This team has already had 6 or 7 points on the bench and needs an owner big time!)  First come first serve to scoop this team up.  From reading the fantasy threads, Knee high to a duck, Skyff, Katielynn, or any other Pensburgh member interested in taking the reigns?  Please step forward  :)

Please see the Phoenix Boarder Jumpers at:  http://games.espn.go.com/fhl/clubhouse?leagueId=6818&teamId=6&seasonId=2011

League Homepage:  http://games.espn.go.com/fhl/leagueoffice?leagueId=6818

I'm trying to determine who's more valuable in fantasy with the following stat categories- Goals, Assists, Powerplay goals, Hits, and BlockedShots. 

In 2008/2009 Babchuk had only 11 points in the 1st half of the season and but then 24 points in the last two months of the season.  He gets a fair amount of blocked shots but not significant hits or PIMs.  Babchuk is returning from the KHL to play with the Canes again.  Will he be a significant part of the Canes Blue line?  Top line minutes, or less?  Anyone know how he has looked in training camp(ie: is he ready to play in the NHL or did the KHL slow him down)?  I'm comparing him to Corvo to decide who I want as my last Dman on my Fantasy team.

The Headline say's it all. 

I read an article weeks ago that said ticket sales for some games were capped at around 15,000 (Source, bottom of web page) so that atleast a few would be onsale to the general public Sept 10th.  But I was online within sixty seconds of individual game tickets going on sale only to find that tickets for every game I had targeted were unavailable (aka sold out?).  The only games where I could find a pair of tickets on sale via Ticket Master were random Monday night game against Ottawa or random Wednesday night game against Toronto (I live out of state now, so Thr,Fri,Sat,Sun games only for me)

Season Ticket Exchange:  I've seen some PensBurgh poster's talk about their season tickets.  The tickets available on season ticket exchange are pretty steep in price.  As of Sept 17th, the cheapest tickets for the opener are up for well over $300 each, some probably over a $1000 each.  Some weekend games, you can get a pair of tickets in the 200 level for $97.  The first thing that hit my mind, are those season ticket sellers making lots of profit there?  Maybe I should be in the ticket resale business ;-)  The second thing that ran through my mind, will the price for tickets go up or down when the game draws closer?  I also noticed that even season ticket exchange games in March are going for around $100 at the cheapest...

Reason it's difficulty for your average Joe to obtain Pens tickets?  Most likely the high demand for season tickets, right?  It seems the Pens front office is prioritizing season ticket holders over everything else.  I know some people who have been on the season ticket waiting list for atleast a year(some team owners wish they had a season ticket waiting list...) 

Anyone else know of the best way to obtain Pens tickets to a weekend game that may already be sold out?  Any better ticket buying options aside from season ticket resale on ticket master?  Are their any hidden tickets stashed away unsold that will be availble to non-season ticket holders, or are most of the games literally all sold out?

Good luck to all hunting tickets!  And Enjoy!!  to those who already scooped 'em up!

PensBurgh Head to Head fantasy league is active!  Please use the link below to jump on board.  To receive an invite, you must leave me your email address in the chatbox located on the league's home page (the link below has a chat box on the main page).  You can also email me to request an invite.  Please email me with the email address you would like the invite sent to, email me at LampShade9909 at gmail dot com

Homepage to league:  http://games.espn.go.com/fhl/leagueoffice?leagueId=6818

We will adjust the league size/draft type/stat categories to suit those who are interested in joining.  The current set up is 19 weeks of regular season and 6 weeks of playoffs.  8 teams will make the playoffs, so even if you don't do well in the draft, you still have a shot at making it big!  The playoffs consist of 3 rounds, each round lasting 2 weeks.  The decisions on keepers vs no keepers, auction draft vs snake draft, have yet to be made, and is all up to you!  Please join soon so we can start pinning things down over the next month.

Pittsburgh natives should be familiar with our Division names-  SouthSide Works, Carnegie, and Mt. Washington.


This FAQ link http://games.espn.go.com/fhl/content?page=fhlrulesindex2010 will answer some questions for those who are new to fantasy hockey.  Fantasy hockey should be simple and fun!  So if you're stuck on anything or need help feel free to email me.  If you do not have an account set up on ESPN.com's fantasy page, then you will need to make one.

Feel free to post your opinions about the league.  Everyone from PensBurgh is invited!

What's the goaltending situation looking like-

For how well Boston plays defensively, Thomas really hasn't impressed, his stats are more of a team reflection.  But he is still worth 20+ starts.  Assuming Thomas stays the entire season this year(and does not get traded/waived ect), How much ice time is expected of Rask this year(40-50-60 starts?)?  And is Thomas expected to backup, or is this a time share(40/40 or 50/30)?

Even with the addition of Mitchell on D, I can't picture Quick being a cup winning goalie in LA.  Bernier is still young, 23 years old.  I can see the coaching staff going with Quick for the majority of the season but giving Bernier 10-15 games.  

Will Quick be in a timeshare with Bernier this year?  Or will LA be starting Quick unless he plays poorly or gets hurt?  Or does anyone think Bernier is capable of taking the starting job at some point through the year?

Does anyone have any reliable information/links regarding Bernier's Pro/minor league status this year?

Who will be the new Alternate Captain?  Judging by the Pen's C's and A's of the past few years, the phrase "Lead by Example" comes to mind when I think of Crosby, Gonchar, and Malkin.

I think I can speak for the majority by stating that Brooks Orpik's and Jordan Staal's names comes up first, everyone else's name may just be a name in a hat at this point.

In the mix of the hat:  
Orpik, Staal, Letang, Martin, Talbot, Dupuis, ???, or floating A all year.

So where does the Pensburgh community stand on this- Who else will lead by example and why?

What ever happened with this guy?  Waiver claim from Washington, played 20~ games with the Pens, then Washington claimed him back.  Spent lots of time in the AHL.  Not much success or exposure to the NHL.  I only watched him on and off in a pens jersey, and I remember him getting very limited ice time.  Was he any good?  There have been lots of smaller playings succeeding in the AHL and flopping in the NHL, is he just another one of those?

Was this trade a steal or what??  I was pumped when I first saw this trade, and I still am!  Shero's best trade by far.  Kunitz was a kind-of-Ryan-Malone-replacement (which we needed!).  Ryan Whitney was always inconsistent anyways.  He didn't look pretty on the powerplay point or on defense.  And bumping his name off the roster made room for Letang to step up.  And hopefully we will find out this year or next that the addition of Tangradi will be a plus...

It's the first game in the Console Energy Center and it's a rivalry game.  When individual game tickets finally go on sale (I'm guessing September?), how quickly will game 1 vs Flyers sell out?  Anyone know how quickly game 1 of 82 sold out last year?  I'm sure this year's game 1 will sell out much faster, I'm just trying to get an idea (say hours or days ect...)

Thanks in advance!