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Ultimate Fantasy Pool Guide 2016-17
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
THE CAP CRUSADER
GARY BETTMAN STANDS at a podium every year and gets booed before he opens his mouth. The scene, not the NHL commissioner, has become a parody of itself. The sight of him is like classical conditioning stimulus – hockey’s version of Pavel Datsyuk’s dog. It’s the one common trait among hockey fans. But before the catcalls come out next time, fans should consider giving thanks to the NHL boss. Or at least directing less vitriol his way. We’re all a little bit cagier when it comes to money and payroll thanks to Bettman. It is because of Bettman the NHL has a salary cap system in place. Say what you want about the pros and cons in this economic model, a hard cap has made each of us more astute as…
YESTERDAY’S APPLE VS. TODAY’S ORANGE
SO, I’LL TRADE you my 20-goal scorer for your 50-point scorer. Deal? I don’t know. Twenty-goal scorers don’t grow on fir trees in western Canada. Well yeah, but 50-point scorers don’t grow on palm trees in southern California. There was a time, before a lot of you were born, when a 20-goal scorer in the NHL was a huge deal. We’d at least want his hockey card, because we’d want to know what a 20-goal scorer looked like. And he’d be regarded with a degree of reverence that 18- or 19-goal scorers could only dream about. And then there came a time when 20-goal scorers were as common as video goal reviews. You scored 20 goals? Was that in the first half of the season or the second? In 1966-67, the last season before The…
THE NEXT GREAT PP QUARTERBACK
MIDWAY THROUGH 2014-15, I received a text from a member of my hockey pool. A Flyers fan. He wanted to pick up some guy named Shayne Gostisbehere, a recent Flyers call-up from the AHL. The only problem: he wasn’t available on ESPN’s player list yet. So the guy made a desperate plea to the commissioner (me) to make sure no one claimed him. I didn’t even know who Gostisbehere was. The guy dropped a player and left an empty roster spot for Gostisbehere while I took note if he did anything to add the points later. A ghost spot for a ghost player whose nickname is ‘The Ghost.’ Pretty fitting. So was his phantom stats line in his two-game stint in 2014-15: 0 goals, 0 points. Fast forward one year and I…
CAN HE REALLY DO IT AGAIN?
IT’S THE ULTIMATE ego stroke to win your pool on the back of a savvy sleeper pick or waiver-wire grab. But that doesn’t mean every out-of-nowhere star will carry on his brilliance the following season. Age, luck and pedigree can cause regressions. Which surprise heroes from the 2015-16 season should you trust this time around? SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE Gostisbehere’s 0.72 points per game was highest for a rookie defenseman in 23 years. It’s thus natural to worry about a regression. The Flyers’ offense funnels through ‘Ghost Bear.’ He’s such a major contributor that, even with a slump, his ceiling is high. VERDICT: BUYER BELIEVE EVGENY KUZNETSOV A 40-point jump in points qualifies as a breakout but raises red flags. Not to worry. Kuznetsov is just 24, carries a world of expectations. He’s merely meeting projections. He…
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