Shallow Frozen Water

Wednesday’s deskchair

so i put my Dobber audit out this past Sunday meaning that i wouldn’t have a chance for the armchair on that day … so instead we get the deskchair, today.  it’s just some random thoughts about fantasy hockey or other stuff.

i LOVE Heroes on Monday nights.

Miikka Kiprusoff is already getting crapped on like he’s lost it somehow.   the guy got 39 wins last year which is already elite numbers, his GAA was upper echelon and he starts as many or more than any goalie in the game.  the defense corps in front of him is still excellent, it just needs to rely more on PIMy D and Robyn.  if you can find a panicking Kip owner then go ahead and strike but i don’t think you’ll find many.

it was amazing to me how much Ryan Smyth fell in drafts this season.  he’s a solid 30 goal, 60 pt guy that fell a long way for many guys.  i presume many guys were scared off by his 14 goal, 37 pt season last year but know this, he’ll be returning to his 30 goal status this year again.

a guy you should be worried about is Petr Budaj.  he’s never really been the MAN, has no pedigree showing why he should be the man, and is looking like someone could come along and take the job.  how about Khabibulin and cash to the Avs for something?  anything?

Todd Bertuzzi is looking REALLY good alongside Langkow/Iggy.  really good.  he’s minus on the season so far but he’s got 3 goals and he won’t finish as a minus if he wants to play for Keenan.  the Flames are not doormats and their poor defensive play so far will improve.  i still expect them to challenge for the Division lead by season’s end.  by the way, if Bert stays on the line he’s on presently then he could actually get up toward 30 on the season.  there’s no way i’d be saying that … anytime before last week.

Iggy supplemented his goal-scoring frustration with a fight in each of his last 2 games.  ya gotta love a Richard Trophy candidate with a whack of fighting majors under his belt too.

a sleeper candidate for some ok stats and some decent PIMs in Ian Laperriere.  he got 21 goals and 116 PIMs in ‘05-06 and since then the offense has dropped off but the PIMs have gone up.  if he breaks 10 goals on the season then the 140 PIMs he’ll give will more than make up his value so that he’s rosterable in standard leagues.

i don’t vote Conservative and i’m bummed that they’re back in power.

the sleeper stats you want to find in Minnesota will belong to Andrew Brunette and NOT to Antti Mietinen eventually.  there’s all sorts of buzz for Mietinen right now after a 3 pt game (4 pts in two games) but the secondary scoring will come from Brunette and whichever of Koivu or Bouchard doesn’t get to play with Gaborik consistently.

do Mietinen’s sister’s kids really have to call him Uncle Antti?

i drafted Brent Burns in the 5th round of the Dobber Expert’s draft, AFTER the big run on defensemen had happened.  i could see him as top 3 in goals for D-men and he’ll easily break the 40 pt barrier, even playing in that stifling system.

Derek “the Boogie man” Boogaard got 29 seconds of ice time yesterday.  dude’s a scary monster but it won’t matter if you can’t play.  you don’t want to roster a guy who’ll ONLY contribute in PIMs.  if you pick a goon he has to be able to get up toward 30 pts on the season or else you’re just wasting a roster spot.

i don’t see MA Bergeron as having ANY substantive value playing in Minny.  the man has no real concept of how to play D.  yes, he can hammer to puck from the point but what value is there in keeping a purely PP specialist around?  particularly if he’s not very good at that either.

i think that Niklas Backstrom (the lack of a C in his first name is the indicator that i’m talking about the goalie) is in for a big year in that system.  if he’s healthy i see him taking the next step toward elite levels for goalies.  he’s definitely in line for 30 wins and dare i say it, he might even get 40.

Kari Lehtonen is a very nice talent but he’s brittle and he’s the only line of defense in ATL.  stay away from him.

Tobias Enstrom got more ice time than Ron Hainsay last night but ended up with a worse stat line across the board.  i think the worse stat line will continue all season and Enstrom may very well disappear into the background for a few years.  Hainsay and Schneider will carry the offense from the back end for a couple seasons anyway.  if you have Enstrom then you should probably look at getting something for him while you still can.  don’t try trading him to me though, i’m not interested.

Slava Kozlov’s stats this season will be a LOT closer to the 80 pts he put up two seasons ago than it’ll be to the 41 pts he put up last season.  i was reading some Dobber who indicated he was hurt for most of last year.  it kinda showed.

more political leaders should travel by train.  the Green party leader did a whistle stop tour this election.  very cool.  i didn’t vote for her either, but she impressed me anyway.

you see hi-lites about whatever Mike Richards and Sid Crosby were doing yesterday?  gotta hand it to Mikey, Sid didn’t beat them.  it did turn out that Cote and Godard threw down and Mikey took an unsportsmanlike but in the end Sid was kept off the board.  it must suck to hold off Sid only to have Pascal Dupuis beat you.

Antero Niittymaki (sushi-boy as a buddy of mine calls him) is a more than adequate backup for the Flyers and i think there’s maybe a 35% chance that he takes the job away outright.  bear that in mind if you’re relying on Martin Biron as your G1.

i started Ruslan Fedotenko in one league this week.  what was i thinking (shakes his head mournfully).  bench him.

Miro Satan still has some good value and it might be a good idea to try and trade for him before he really clicks with Sid and becomes what Ron Francis used to be for the Pens back in the day.

Kris Letang will continue to be more valuable than Alex Goligoski this season.

anyone else think that Jack Layton looks more and more like Paul Newman?  man i loved The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke … oh, and salad dressing.  who doesn’t love salad dressing?  RIP Mr. Newman.

something is going on in Anaheim.  they tend to win with smashmouth hockey but it also bites them in the butt.  last night they gave up 3 PPG’s when they had a lead.  it must be frustrating for Chris Pronger to lead everyone in the building for ice time, finish at +2 but still lose the game by 3 goals.  does the man have to play ALL game?  he’s already playing nearly half of it and we’re only thru 3 games for the Ducks (all losses).

Ryan Getzlaf took 3 minors last night.  that’s not what you want out of your best forward.  Pronger should kick his butt.

one way for the Kings to help their own +/- problem is to line up Stoll with Handzus.  they both may be pluggers but they’re both defensively responsible and they still manage to contribute.  i don’t want either for my fantasy team but NHL teams need forwards who’re willing to help prevent goals too.

i was hoping that Kunitz would get to line up with Getzlaf/Perry but that doesn’t seem to be happening.  if Koonie gets decent ice time and some help i think he can return to the 60 pt status he put up two seasons ago.

the Kings new captain isn’t a flash in the pan.  i can still see Brown with 30 goals and 70 pts.  man are the Kings going to be a team to watch or what?

i’m still trying to figure out what Stephane Dion is saying.

Fedor Tyutin is manning the point on the PP for C-bus.  if he’s available then i think he’ll be this year’s Tobias Enstrom.  funny that Enstrom isn’t even this year’s Enstrom.

Dobber blogged that ME Vlasic seems to be helped a lot by lining up with Rob Blake.  couldn’t agree more.

my Expert’s team has both Thornton and Henrik Sedin on it.  i should be fine for assists this year.

the Gootch (Devin Setoguchi) is going to have a big upswing in stats this season.  i think he could be what Jon Cheechoo or Milan Michalek should be in SJ.

i like RJ Umberger (i still hear Clouseau in the Pink Panther trying to say “hamburger” when i say his name) more than i like Kristian Huselius this season.  only Rick Nash outshot RJU last night.  the stats’ll come.

you can probably believe that Patty Marleau is back finally.  last year was such a brutal year for him and then he survived the summer without getting shipped to some other less pretty backwater.  there could be worse things than spending every winter in San Jose y’know.  if they give him the responsibility he deserves then he’ll produce.

i could see little Joe (that would be Pavelski) waking up someone like Jonathan Cheechoo, and both will be grateful for the chemistry.

pardon the political stuff today.  it’s a bit of a hobby.  i read the headline of an article talking about why pro-life folks would vote for Obama.  it seems obvious to me, abortion isn’t on the table so it’s a given that won’t change; so why not vote for a guy that will move in an area that IS on the table and in a direction you want him to.  like say, in a war that you don’t want to be in anymore.  then again, i’m Canadian so i won’t be voting for either of them.

enjoy your government, whichever one you pick.  if you don’t vote then you have no right to complain.