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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
October 14, 2003
Story by: Eric Theis
Well hockey fantasy fans, the first week is
done and while it was shortened by a mid-week
opening night, there was more than enough time
for great performances as well as noteworthy debacles
in the NHL. Hopefully you drafted wisely and are
reaping the fruits of your wise drafting decisions.
On the other side of the spectrum, perhaps you
are reviewing with great scrutiny, the team you
have fielded hoping to make some early tweaks.
With both parties in mind, here is the inaugural
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - a look back
at some of the best and worst performers during
the past fantasy hockey week.
The Good
Paul Kariya 2 GP, 2
G, 2 A, 2 PPP (8 Shots), + 2
Everyone in the hockey world has deemed the Colorado
Avalanche this year's incumbent Stanley Cup champs;
they need only play out the season to make it
official. While pundits point to perennial goalie
understudy David Aebischer as the chink in the
Avs otherwise impenetrable armor, weekly numbers
like this from Kariya et. al. suggests that management
in Colorado could raffle off the starting goaltender
position to the general public every night, and
still the Avs would walk away with the Northwest
Division.
Keith Tkachuk 2 GP,
3 G (#399, 400, 401), 0 A, 2 PPP (8 Shots), 1
GWG, 2 PIM, +1
Whether you appreciate his style of play or despise
it, you cannot ignore Tkachuk's effectiveness,
especially now that he is healthy. Last year he
suffered through an injury-plagued campaign, dressing
for only 53 games over the course of the Blues
regular season, which severely restricted his
ability to play with physical presence (the hallmark
of any power forward's game). So far, Tkachuk's
three tallies represent all of the Blues' offense
this season, a plus for Tkachuk fantasy owners,
and a somewhat disconcerting trend for Blues fans.
Undoubtedly the rest of the Blues offense will
pick it up over the next few games, but it seems
that in the interim, Tkachuk is fine to bear the
offensive burden.
Rick DiPietro 2 GP,
1 W, 0L, 0T, 1 SO, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV%, (23 Total
Shots Faced)
Competition for the third spot this week was
a heated affair, but the nod has to go to the
Islanders 22 year old netminder. Drafted first
overall in 2000, DiPietro was rushed up to the
big club far to quickly, without any perceivable
support (on ice and off) from a very dysfunctional
Islanders team. Yet this kid has hung around at
the NHL level, and took full advantage of training
camp this fall to show the Islanders coaching
staff what he is capable of doing given the chance.
While not the declared (yet) #1 goalie for Coach
Steve Stirling, DiPietro's performance on opening
night (in relief of a shell-shocked Garth Snow),
and his shutout against Buffalo in his first start
of the season certainly indicate an inevitable
ascent on the depth chart for DiPietro. If the
Islanders blue line corps can play consistently
at the high level advertised, and the offense
starts to click, look for DiPietro to post some
much improved numbers this year.
The Bad
Mats Sundin 1GP, 0G,
0A (2 Shots), -1
Obviously it is way to early in the season to
draw any conclusions about what a line score like
the one Sundin posted in the Maple Leafs' Saturday
night season opener loss, means for the Leafs
this year. However the Blue and White played with
zero intensity against the rival Canadians, led
by their captain's dismal two shot effort. In
Sundin's defense, it is hard to generate any offense
when 4:20 of his 19:01 total ice time was spent
shorthanded, as the Leafs had to kill 14 minutes
of penalties accrued during the game. Sundin will
either have to enforce a disciplined but intense
brand of hockey from his team mates, or improve
on the 5 short handed points he tallied last year.
Either way, much more is needed from the big Swede,
if the Leafs wish to better their performance
from last season.
The Ugly
Garth Snow 1 GP, 0 W,
1 L, 13.64 GAA, .769 SV% (6 Goals on 20 Shots)
One of the only ways Garth Snow will ever have
the word consistent linked to his name, is with
the label of "consistently inconsistent."
After turning in a very promising preseason performance
between the pipes for the Islanders, Snow was
appalling on opening night against the Washington
Capitals. While not all the goals allowed were
directly his fault, Snow's reputation for allowing
regular softies was reinforced on a shot by Washington's
John Gruden in which Snow found himself trapped
helplessly behind the net after misreading the
puck. As a result, Snow helped Gruden become the
oldest rookie (at 33) to score his first NHL goal,
since Helmut Balderis potted one at age 37, back
in 1989. Not quite the milestone GM Mike Milbury
was investing in when he re-signed Snow in the
offseason. Repeat offerings such as this will
all but guarantee Snow the backup job to Rick
DiPietro, and possibly a quick trade off the island.
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