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.