Writers in Competition

FOF: Will I win Hockeybird’s FHL?

I know everyone’s thoughts are on tonight’s season opener, but being an aspiring narcissist, I wanted to write what’s on my mind: the hockeybird fantasy hockey league.

In a ten team league on ESPN, three hockeybird writers are attempting to bring home the crown and bragging rights:

- Pete, writer of each game’s Report Card if he’s not too drunk to type
- Leedsy, writer of Between Periods (we’re in sponsor negotiations with Tampax)
- Gabe, writer of this sporadically posted column

Others were invited, but acknowledged inevitable defeat and passed on the opportunity.

ESPN Fantasy League

For the uninitiated, teams are ranked in ten categories:

Goaltending (3): wins, GAA, and save percentage
Skaters (6): goals, assists, +/-, PP/SH, PIM, and SOG
Defense (1): A new category for defense points; 2 for a goal, 1 for an assist

Where you rank in each category is your point total, and add all points together and maximum you can get is 100. If you still have more questions, check out the ESPN page because this is getting boring to write.

So we had a live draft and here are the results…

Pete’s Squad

G: Nabakov, Kolzig
F: Bure, Sundin, Modano, Demitra, Brind’Amour, Primeau, Nedved, Lang, Czerkawski, Young
D: MacInnis, D. Markov, Poti, Brisebois, Johansson
Bench: Dunham, Carter, Perreault, Foote

Leeds’ Squad

G: Theodore, Turek
F: Lindros, Tkachuk, Kariya, Elias, Samsonov, Kovalchuk, Briere, Havlat, Morrison, Shelley
D: Jovanovski, Ozolinsh, Desjardins, Malakhov, Brewer
Bench: Nylander, Knutsen, Mironov

Gabe’s Squad

G: Roy, Giguere
F: Forsberg, Naslund, Bondra, Bonk, Oates, Kapanen, Leclerc, Whitney, Conroy, Sullivan
D: Zubov, Rafalski, Hamrlik, Sydor, Zhitnik
Bench: Tanguay, Sanderson, Purinton

Biased Analysis - Goaltending

Gabe: 9.5
Few goaltending tandems would beat my duo of Patrick Roy and J.S. Giguere. Roy is a stud in all categories, and Giguere’s only weakness is wins, though Anaheim’s totals are due for an increase with Oates and Sykora on board. Fernandez is a wild card on the bench, where a repeat of his 2000 success would be valuable, while last season’s performance will land him on the waiver wire.

Leedsy: 9.0
Theodore and Turek is a solid set-up. But there are questions whether Theodore’s last season was a bar for years to come, or a one-time magical season. Turek is solid on a defensive Calgary team. If Aebischer is a significant contributor, I’m crying because that means something happened to Roy.

Rocha: 8.0
Nabakov is still a holdout (though after Kipprusoff got shelled last night, expect that to end shortly), and missing training camp may hurt Nabby this season. Kolzig is an FHL owner’s nightmare – he can be great or he can be downright awful. The potential is there for a Nabby/Kolzig duo to be great, but the risks bring this rating down. Dunham is a better than average bench goalie.

Biased Analysis - Forwards

Leedsy: 9.5
Four elite forwards in Lindros, Tkachuk, Kariya and Elias start this group strong, and the second set of forwards are all above average. Briere, Havlat and Morrison are sleeper picks that will provide big dividends.

Rocha: 8.5
Bure, Sundin and Modano are another elite trio. But the rest of the group is a step below Leeds because there are too many unknowns in Primeau, Nedved, Lang and Young. All could have great years, or could also fall (or remain) in mediocrity.

Gabe: 8.5
Forsberg, Naslund and Bondra are an elite trio, but the rest of the group is also a step below Leedsy’s crop. While Bonk, Oates and Kapanen provide stability, it’s up to Whitney and Conroy to repeat last season’s success for this group to really prosper. Tanguay and Leclerc represent possible breakout players.

Biased Analysis – Defense

Gabe: 9.5
Three top power play quarterbacks in Zubov, Rafalsi and Hamrlik represent a significant asset, and Sydor and Zhitnik are a notch below them. Purinton delivers the PIMs, which is why I won’t complain when he takes stupid penalties this season.

Leedsy: 8.5
Two top defensemen in Jovanovski and Ozolinsh, the latter being my pick to have the most points by a defensemen this season. But the final three bring the grade down.

Rocha: 8.0
MacInnis will contribute across the board, but the rest of the group is average. Poti is a wild card as he may benefit from shooting the puck on the Rangers power play.

FOF: Will I Win?

Yes! Using a scientific research method based purely on my opinions and perceptions, I come out the winner:

Gabe: 27.5
Leeds: 27.0
Rocha: 24.5

But that’s why they play the games. Feel free to post your thoughts on the message boards…

-Gabe

Posted by Gabe at October 11, 2002 02:09 PM
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