Well after the epic of Titanic..the epic that was The Ten Commandments…the epic that was the miniseries North and South…the LSHL draft was completed early this morning. 23 teams….23 rounds. Sometimes the world is not enough and not everyone can be pleased with their resulting draft. However, given the unique format of this league….there were some GM’s who went full out and given the amount of picks…outright nailed it!!!
So far…just by perusing rosters….it is truly hard to see who stands out above the rest. Honestly, no team is going to be overly dominant in a 23 team league on paper. It will take the season to determine that. However, there were some very interesting patterns that developed. From what I was told…despite the mistakes…the draft was long but went fairly well. Despite the numerous joking references to “I survived the LSHL draft T-shirts”….the draft overall had a better end than start. Special thanks should go to Bob, Erin, LS, Zita, and all the gang for helping me compile the information that went with this. It was an exhaustive process that they went through….I’m just doing the cleanup so to speak.
I really thought Erin made some picks that were out there…seemingly calculated risks that should pan out nicely. She did have to make a panicked last pick…but her team is fairly solid. Zita took Brodeur and well in a league like this where shutouts are worth a big 5 points….this along with probably Luongo are extremely smart picks. Also I noticed Money who made 2 solid picks with Hasek and Huet….Huet will be nice insurance in the case that Hasek doesn’t last the season. As it is….Hasek will play no more than 60 or 65 games tops…so Huet is needed and he should perform on a good, solid team like Montreal. If Huet can avoid the hamstring issues that have nagged him in the past, Money has a formidable goaltending duo that could help him finish high in the league.
Continuing onward….Damned also has solid potential in Biron and Ward. Ward will bounce back after an off season last year where he was oft injured. He has dropped 20-25 pounds and gone thru an extensive conditioning program to get in better “goaltending” shape for the upcoming season. Biron is on a high risk Philly team that could benefit if they start the season on a hot streak. They are risky picks..but high risk, high reward sometimes works. It seems to me goaltending is going to be the true tiebreaker of sorts in a league like this…offense is nice to have but goaltending is what puts you over the top.
That being said…..time to touch on the offensive top dogs so to speak. Damned, Dunshee, and Therover have nice potential….all seem to have that offensive balance and just enough firepower to keep up in the standings. However, you never know….injuries can happen…look at what has happened to players like Towes and Langenbrunner already. LS, Zita, and Money all have the potential to have the best offenses based on variable categories like the Player of the Week and Month bonuses. Twist categories like that can make a different between a top 3 spot and a spot out of the money. Hat Trick bonuses…goalie assists is what makes a league like this different from others. GM’s had to think heavily before making decisions and it was a pleasure to handicap this league for The NHL Arena.
So if I had to take out a big set of crystal balls and try to determine who the Top 3 are on paper….this is what I would have to go with. As a matter of fact….in both the free league and the LSHL league…we will have a Power 3 each week….here goes….
1. Money
2. Damned
Have a good week GM’s and get ready for the regular season…..good luck!
