Shallow Frozen Water

Would the REAL NHL season please stand up!

While in actuality the NHL season started last weekend, to me it didn’t feel real. It was sort of like opening up your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. Sure, you get the presents, but is it actually Christmas yet? So with some anticipation I sat down and watched almost 6 hours of NHL action while actually being somewhat productive at the same time. My wife says I can’t multi-task. I beg to differ!

I was treated to 2 pretty interesting games of hockey, a one goal game won by the Leafs and a 6-0 blowout by the Canucks. What really stood out was that speed won the day, with young guys with wheels stealing the show.

Mason Raymond is a guy that I have been slow to come around on. I’m still not 100% sold that he is going to be able to translate his speed into a fruitful NHL career, but he had some great chances alongside Demitra. One play in particular stood out when Demitra basically tossed a quick saucer pass out into what appeared to be no man’s land, only to have Raymond shoot out of nowhere to pick it up and almost score. Demitra figures Raymond plays like Gaborik and can score 30 goals. I say 20 would be a stretch, but down the road if his hands can catch his feet he could be a dangerous player.

I want no part of Miikka Kiprusoff this year. There were some questions surrounding his ability to play at a high level last year and the combination of the juicy rebounds he was giving up and the absolutely porous defense in front of him (granted Regehr was out of the lineup last night) equals what could be a pretty bad year for the Finnish tender. I really do think his best days could be behind him already unless they bring in a coach that loves to play the trap and stick a few defensive stalwarts in front of him.

Todd Bertuzzi didn’t impress me, and I believe it will be the same old story. Lots of potential but he’s done. He’ll get injured at some point and be a scapegoat in Calgary if they struggle this year.

The Sedins and Steve Bernier are looking to have some early season chemistry. It takes a certain type of thinker to play alongside the Sedins and if Bernier can figure it out then he’ll have a career year. I’ll be looking to acquire him in a league or two if I can.

Finally what can be said about Roberto Luongo? I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that this year could be his best one yet and I would NOT be surprised to see some records fall. I picked him up in 3 leagues this year with my first round picks and was happy to be rewarded with a shutout in Game 1. A healthy defence, some goal support and no distractions are going to equal a scary good season from the captain.

Phil Kessel has not been talked about too much heading into the season and his late season/playoff play was forgotten for the most part. This could be a huge year for the kid. Patrice Bergeron is also healthy and he is only 23 years old with 2 70+ point seasons under his belt. He’s got ever chance to hit 85 points this year on that team.

Milan Hejduk started the season strong with 1G,1A and 7 Shots. But don’t be fooled. He’s not the most consistent player and unless he absolutely shoots the lights out like he did when he scored 50, he’ll come back down to earth. Joe Sakic on the other hand is always for real and unless he has some sort of injury he’s going to push 90 points this year again.

Will Cheechoo bounce back this year? I say yes. He’s the type of player you can almost always get for less then his value in leagues. With a new coaching situation in San Jose I would not be shocked to see the Sharks move into the top 10 or better in Goals scored per game. They were a top 3 defensive team last year and so Nabokov could suffer a bit because of that but Thornton, Marleau, Michalek and guys like Setoguchi just needed the reigns taken off a bit. Look to pick up San Jose players if you can for the upcoming year.

The Anaheim Ducks showed that their plan is the same as last year. Don’t score a lot of goals and try to win 2-1. It could work and Giguere will benefit from this plan, but from a fantasy standpoint it’s not what I want to see.

Finally in Detroit, the Wings looked rusty and out of synch. They were uncharacteristically turning pucks over in their own zone and missing a lot of passes. Osgood needs the team to be the top defensive team in the league like last year, as he is not generally going to steal them games. What was scary though, is that despite playing a bad game - and the Leafs kids playing the game of their lives, the Wings hit the post 2-3 times in the first period, had multiple chances and only lost by one goal. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this team is going to suffer a Stanley Cup hangover. Not one that is coached by Babcock. Lidstrom will start hitting the tape to tape passes, Kronwall will start hitting folks and the top two lines will really start dominating again. Now is a perfect time to go grab Jiri Hudler in a league as the early season is when people write off players like him and figure he’ll not produce.

As for the Leafs, if the kids played like that every night it would be a really exciting team to watch. I loved watching Tlusty, Kulemin, Grabovski, and Schenn play at such a high level. This isn’t the year for these kids though and they will struggle once the other teams in the league start respecting their speed and start getting into full regular season mode. In a keeper league though I would be looking to grab them once they struggle and people start writing them off. IF the Leafs get a decent draft pick and can put some talent around these kids then they just might have a future.

Looking forward to the first full Saturday night slate of games and I hope that all of you Canadians out there have a great Thanksgiving weekend.