W. W. O. R. D. (What would our Ray do?)
HOCKEY MADNESS
The NCAA basketball tournament doesn’t have dibs on March madness you know. The NHL has plenty of their madness going around as teams fight and claw for every point just to make it to the big dance, The Spring Fever! Okay, that was futile attempt to be creative with a catchy title I admit, but you do have to recognize that as a fantasy hockey poolie who is battling for some sort of championship or playoff victory, the last few weeks of the regular season can be a nail-biting and hair-pulling experience.
In one of the pools that I am involved in, my team has been floundering near the bottom of the pack for most of the season, mostly due to sub-par performances from the likes of Ryan Johansen, Pekka Rinne and Taylor Hall, along with Frederik Andersen losing the starter’s job to John Gibson who wasn’t even in the opening day lineup. Oh, And Jaden Schwartz, who I expected big things from this season, going down for half the season, things weren’t looking too good. But with some shrewd pickups and the return to form of some of those draft picks, my team has sprung from last place to 6th, just over 50 points back of 3rd place with 3 weeks to go. With a little luck, a break here and a break there, and some players getting extremely hot, there is a possibility that I can make up even more ground in these dying days of the regular NHL season.
So what can I do to improve my team? This morning I quickly jumped on picking up goaltender Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues who is back earlier from his injury than expected. I had dropped a few weeks back thinking he was done for the season. Elliott has shown he can get extremely hot and post a few shutouts in a short period of time. Along with Pekka Rinne rounding into top form, my team, the Pekka Heads, can make up some seriously ground.
On the defensive end, Arizona’s Michael Stone has produced in the absence of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and perhaps will still benefit once OEL returns to the lineup, which should be any day now. But stranger things have happened and you never know if the Coyotes decide to just shut down OEL for the rest of the season for fear of risking a more serious injury. I was surprised to see him sitting there since OEL had been sidelined for a few games already. I was glad I looked on the waiver wire. Another defenseman who was sitting out on the wire, and may still be, was Anaheim’s Hampus Lindholm. Now Lindholm was disappointing the whole season just about, but so were many of the Ducks until the last 30 games where they have turned around that horrific start and are challenging the Los Angeles Kings for top spot in the Pacific, and if Dallas slips, possibly the Western Conference title.
As for forwards, it’s tough to find someone who can be explosive in order to make up ground quickly, but there are a few names to come into mind. With the trading away of Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes Jeff Skinner and the other Lindholm, Elias, should stand to contribute offensively and Skinner has a history of being notoriously streaky, but also is labeled as injury-prone, so there is that risk, but boy can he score in bunches.
Dallas Stars Patrick Sharp was sidelined for about 2 weeks but returned to the lineup the other night and is a veteran who knows was is needed of him. With Dallas faltering a bit lately and losing Tyler Seguin for the rest of the regular season, Sharp should pick up the slack for the balance of the season.
A forward who still may be lingering in the free agent pool is Florida’s Jussi Jokinen. In the last eight games played, he did miss one due to injury, all Jokinen has done is score 4 goals and 5 assists, consistently scoring a point in 7 of the 8 games. SO pick up the other JJ from Florida and ride the streak.
One more forward to look at is Anaheim’s Jakob Silfverberg. The Swedish winger has posted 4 goals and 3 assists in the last 7 games and with Anaheim playing so well, I would try to get either Silverberg or Rickard Rakell (2-3-5 in 7 gms) in the lineup if one is available and you need help.
So there is some help out there on the free agent/waiver wire, with a little luck, they just may be able to help you bridge the gap the rest of the way. Good luck!