Prospects

Fangraphs has been rolling out their 2011 preview of their top 10 prospects for every major league team. Their analysis is superb. This is a must read for all those in dynasty or keeper leagues.

NHL Happenings

New York Islanders winger Joshua Bailey has been called up from the AHL. Hopefully he has regained his confidence after scoring 18 points with Bridgeport. He will have to clear waivers if he is sent down again, so look for him to remain with the big club for the remainder of the year.

Pekka Rinne has been activated from the IR. However, Anders Lindback will start tonight. He has earned more starts for his stellar play in Rinne's absence. Rinne will be between the pipes in Nashville's next game against Ottawa tomorrow night.

Phoenix has called up winger Mikkel Boedker to fill in for injured Taylor Pyatt. Dobber believes that Boedker being drafted eighth overall is the sole reason he was promoted instead of Brett MacLean. MacLean was selected 32nd overall.

Flyers/Islanders November 6, 2010

The Philadelphia Flyers were not the opponent the New York Islanders wanted to see visit the Nassau Coliseum Saturday night. Losers of six straight games, the Isles had been especially listless in their last three contests, having been outscored 17-3. One of those losses came at the hands of the Flyers last week in Philadelphia, a humiliating 6-1 hammering. Add to this Philadelphia’s current five game winning streak, and the glaring 19-2-0 advantage the Flyers hold over them in their past 21 meetings, and it is easy to conclude that things did not bode well for the Isles entering into tonight’s play.
And so the night went. Andreas Nodl scored the game-winning goal for the Flyers with 6:25 left in the third period to give the Flyers a 2-1 victory and their sixth consecutive win. Meanwhile, the Islanders dreadful losing streak increased to seven games. With the score tied 1-1, Eric Wellwood unleashed a shot on goal which hit the mask of the upright Isles goaltender Dwayne Roloson. Nodl was right in the crease to scoop up the rebound and put the game-winner in the net. It was his third goal of the year.
Rookie netminder Sergei Bobrovsky was stellar once again for Philadelphia saving 31 shots. The Flyers were outshot 14-5 in the second period, but dominated the third, spending most of the period in the Islander zone. Bobrovsky made his only noticeable error when he cleared the puck over the boards for a game delaying penalty with less than two minutes remaining in the game. With Roloson on the bench and their net empty, the Isles tried to mount a comeback with a 6-on-4 man advantage, but were unable to score.
Mike Richards opened the scoring for the Flyers in the first period when he redirected a Chris Pronger shot past Roloson for his third goal of the season. The Isles Matt Moulson then tied the game in the second period on a wrist shot from the left circle after taking a beautiful feed from James Wisniewski. The power-play goal proved to be the only score the Isles could muster. It was Moulson’s sixth goal of the year.
The Isles have not led at any point during their current losing streak. All the losses have been in regulation, and they have not gained a point since October 21st, a 3-2 win in Tampa Bay. Since then, the team has had the most difficult time generating any type of offense. At least tonight they were in the game until the final buzzer. If they continue to play with the same intensity, the wins will eventually come.
Notes: The Flyers blocked 26 shots in the game…John Tavares has one goal, one assist, and a net -11 plus/minus since his hat trick in Florida against the Panthers on October 27.

Fantasy Frustration October 19, 2010

Every fantasy hockey GM (or any rotisserie player for that matter, be it baseball, football, etc.) must decide daily or on a weekly basis who on his roster to activate and who to put on the bench. Many times the results defy logic, leaving the GM snake-bit and dejected. Tonight it happened to me.

Faced with the choice of playing two goalies, I had to select among Pekka Rinne, Michael Neuvirth, and Roberto Luongo. Neuvirth was coming into tonight's game with a four game winning streak, and a stellar 1.95 GAA. Roberto Luongo is regarded as one of the NHL's top five goalies, and was up against the offensively challenged Wild, albeit in Minnesota. Rinne, recovering from a knee injury, was making his first start in over ten days. I feel Rinne is tremendously under-rated, and arguably one of the best net-minders in the league. Yet, I could not start him because of how long it has been since he played. So I went into the night having activated Luongo and Neuvirth, and benching Rinne.

Neuvirth was forced to leave the game against Boston after six minutes in the first period because of flu like symptoms, but not before allowing two goals on six shots.
Luongo was benched after the second period after giving up six goals on sixteen shots. And of course, Rinne played brilliantly pitching a shutout until Rene Bourque scored on him deep into overtime for the only goal of the game. Between Luongo's disaster and Neuvirth's illness my GAA and S% are shot for the week. Oh the joy of fantasy hockey!!!!!!

Isles-Maple Leafs October 18, 2010

The New York Islanders came into the Air Garden Centre and handed the Toronto Maple Leafs their first loss of the season on a power play goal by John Tavares at 3:26 of overtime. With Brett Lebda in the penalty box for goaltender interference, Tavares netted a one-timer from the right face-off circle that passed a screened Jean- Sebastien Giguere for the game winner. He also picked up an assist, making a beautiful pass to Matt Moulson who scored his third goal of the year.

Both teams which failed to make the playoffs a year ago entered the contest with surprising leads of their respective divisions. Toronto won its first four games of the young season with strong performances from Clarke MacArthur (5G, 1A), Phil Kessel (4G, 2A), and Giguere (1.94 GAA). And despite losing key players Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo to devastating shoulder injuries, the Isles have played well also.

Islander goalie Dwayne Roloson got the start between the pipes. He won last Saturday night’s game against Colorado making 30 saves on 32 shots. His last start in Toronto, a 58 save performance on November 29, 2009 which the Isles won 4-3 in overtime, certainly weighed into coach Scott Gordon’s decision to start him over Rick DiPietro.

Roloson did not disappoint. He made 29 saves on thirty shots. In the first period, he made a brilliant save on Kessel’s point-blank shot from the slot. In all, he made at least four acrobatic saves. Toronto, however, also had two apparent goals waived off. First, Dion Phaneuf blasted a shot from the slot that Roloson could not handle. Kris Versteeg then deflected the rebound past Roloson, but the refs ruled that he first knocked it down with a high stick. In the third period, Colby Armstrong’s shot hit Roloson’s back which Toronto thought deflected into the goal. Replays, however, showed that the puck never crossed the goal line. Radek Martinek also blocked a Fredrik Sjostrom shot at the goal mouth when Roloson was pulled out of position.

Toronto finally did score late in the third period to tie the score at 1-1 on a power play goal by Kessel to send the game into overtime. He scored on deflection off of a defenseman’s skate. The Islanders were short- handed at the time because of a cross-checking penalty by James Wisniewski. Kessel’s goal prevented Roloson from becoming the first Islander goalie to ever record a shutout in Toronto.

Notes: Lebda, finally recovering from shoulder surgery, made his first appearance of the year for the Maple Leafs… The Islanders Trent Hunter did not travel with the team. He was hit with a shot on the foot in Friday’s game against Pittsburgh. He is considered day-to-day… Blake Comeau, who was questionable after being hit in the foot with a slap shot last Saturday, played for the Isles. His TOI was 21:43… Josh Bailey left in the second period with a hip flexor injury and did not return…. Giguere made 18 saves on 20 shots… Tavaras won 12 of 14 face-offs… Mike Brown and Zenon Kenopka were involved in a short-lived scrum which was broken up abruptly by the linesmen…. A potential altercation between Trevor Gillies (TOI 3:32) and Colton Orr (TOI 5:10) never materialized.

Regal Royals

The Kansas City Royals have not sniffed the playoffs since the 1980's. Yet for the past few years, baseball prognosticators have touted them as a possible dark horse in the AL Central Division, only to see them repeatedly crash and burn. The main cause of optimism has been their excellent farm system. With the likes of Christian Colon, Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Derrick Robinson, Wil Myers, Mike Montgomery, and arguably baseball's best left handed prospect John Lamb, the future indeed is bright. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus gives a preview of what the Royals possible roster could look like in 2013. For fans of the Twins, Tigers, Indians, and White Sox......watch out.

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Arencibia's Auspicious Debut

J.P. Arencibia’s hit two home runs, doubled, and singled in his major league debut. The 24 year old catcher was just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Arencibia was called up this week by the Toronto Blue Jays because of a hand injury to John Buck. In his first ever big league at bat, Arencibia blasted Tampa Bay’s James Shields’ first pitch over the left field wall for a two-run homer. He later hit a solo shot off of Dale Thayer in the sixth inning. Quite an auspicious beginning to the highly regarded young backstop.