If you're like most
and haven't given much thought to fantasy hockey over the past 8 months (either
out of self-defense, spite, or indifference), you may need a little help
getting grounded before piecing together your fantasy squad this week. So, here's a quick primer to get your mind
back on important matters:
2011-12 RECAP
- Last season was largely about
the dominance of the Penguins (at least in the regular season). Malkin and Neal were unstoppable. Crosby was dominant as ever in half a
season of action. Jordan Staal
played his way out of town with a career season. Kris Letang would have been in the
running for the Norris, had he stayed healthy.
- Steven Stamkos ran away with
the goal scoring title, pounding in another 60 tallies
- Claude Giroux continued to
show he deserves a spot among the elite, with a 93 point effort
- Jason Spezza returned to star
status, finishing 4th in scoring
- Erik Karlsson was in a class
by himself on defense, amassing 78 points and 19 goals
IN THE CREASE
- After several years of being
overlooked, Lundqvist finally earned a Vezina
- Jonathan Quick made his case
for top goalie, piling up 10 shutouts
- Mike Smith emerged as a top
tier goalie in Phoenix with a .930 save percentage and 8 shutouts of his
own
- Brian Elliot and Jaroslav
Halak formed the best 1-2 punch in the league, combining for 13 shutouts
- Tim Thomas likely played out
his final campaign, opening the door for Tuukka Rask to emerge this year
- Roberto Luongo slowly slid
back in favor of Cory Schneider, opening the door for a likely trade this
season
- Ilya Bryzgalov mostly crashed
and burned in his Philly debut
SURPRISES
- Patrik Elias and Ray Whitney
showed they still had something to give, piling up 78 and 77 points,
respectively
- Scott Hartnell became a
serious fantasy factor. Paired with
Giroux, he put up 37 goals on top of 136 PIMs
- Radim Vrbata was among the
league leaders in goals through the first 3/4 of the season, before
fading…
- Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel
brought fantasy relevance back to Toronto
- Alex Ovechkin and the Caps
disappeared.
- Marian Gaborik played 82
games
THE (LONG AND
PAINFUL) OFF SEASON
- Jordan Staal joined big
brother and looks to get a more prominent top line center role
- The Minnesota Wild claimed
the big double-whammy, signing Parise and Suter
- Rick Nash finally found his
way out of Columbus and into New York
- Tomas Vokoun was brought into
Pittsburgh to spur Fleury on to post-season success
- Anders Lindback became the
man in the Tampa net
- The decline in Detroit is
eminent. Lidstrom has finally hung
'em up. With Stuart gone, too, look
for the playoff streak to end.
- Lubomir Visnovsky was dealt
to the Isles, against his wishes, went to Russia, and may never come back
- Alex Semin will try to
reignite his scoring touch, moving to divisional rival Carolina
INJURY NEWS
- Ryan Kesler remains on the
shelf in Vancouver with no timeline for return from wrist and should woes
- Marian Hossa appears to be
recovered from the concussion that ended his playoffs
- Anze Kopitar injured his knee
last week and may need a month to recover
- Rick Nash injured his groin
in December, but should be ready to make his Rangers debut on time
Be sure to check out
our free player rankings by position.
You can drag and drop / customize your own fantasy rankings from there
as well. Welcome back, NHL.