How the #27 Jersey Retirement Affects Fantasy?:
Rarely do we look at the hockey world from a tribute point of view but tonight is different in the NHL as Scott Niedermayer’s number will be retired by the New Jersey Devils. Why are we even talking about this on the column today? Honestly, retirements do have fantasy impacts oddly enough. Think of the obvious ladies and gentlemen. The ceremonies are usually drawn out and for teams that are used to playing around 7:08pm ET on a Friday Night, an hour difference may make a subtle difference that is not picked up on right away. Anyone who has played the game knows that gameday hinges on many events happening in a good, sequential order.
Even if one has a ton of notice, an hour is an hour. Also, there is the return of Travis Zajac to digest also. The Devils also get Anton Volchenkov back as well (hand). Think about this. With players so used to certain routines, nothing will be routine about tonight’s festivities. Typically the first 20 or 30 minutes of the game favors the home team but this is New Jersey, nothing is quite what it seems.
Adam Henrique will still benefit as he has earned playing on the first line but for how long? When Zajac is at the “hockey equivalent of 100%”, what happens then? It is a pivotal fantasy question, considering the line of Parise-Henrique-Kovalchuk has been one of the NHL’s hottest lines for almost a calendar month now. For the guy who has battled everything, Henrique is going to fight tooth and nail to at least be paired with Ilya Kovalchuk. Those two definitely have some considerable chemistry and both have powerful skating strides that allow them to achieve some pretty quick accelerations.
What do you expect for tonight? The Devils first line probably combines for five or six points and Travis Zajac gets at least a point. As for the result of the game, it will probably be a 3-2 or 4-3 Devils win with Loui Eriksson and Jamie Benn performing very well once again.
FANTASY POTN:
Brian Elliott, G, St. Louis Blues — Yes I understand there may have been better choices out there (Cam Ward) for example. However, what Elliott has done as a body of work in keeping the Blues to the “Hitchcock Ways” has been extraordinary. He does not give up bad goals like he used to in bunches and honestly his 25 save effort (10 in the third) was all about keeping his cool and allowing his team to play its system. Jaroslav Halak still does not do that as much and it shows with this team. It is why Elliott is such a worthwhile pickup for so many.
SCHEDULE TIME:
Friday, December 16, 2011 |
|||||
| Teams | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | at | Buffalo | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| Pittsburgh | at | Ottawa | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| Calgary | at | Florida | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| Dallas | at | New Jersey | 8:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| Anaheim | at | Chicago | 8:30 PM | Gameday | ||
TONIGHT’S DOCKET:
It will be quite the interesting night, even though there are only five games. Please note there are some very intriguing matchups. If you like some scoring, you may find tonight’s schedule to your fancy on paper at least. James Reimer versus Ryan Miller potentially in Buffalo trying to stop two offenses that have to score. Pittsburgh and Ottawa almost have a propensity to score no matter who is in or out of their lineups. This could be a night for Ottawa to torch the Penguins. They did pepper Tim Thomas to the tune of 49 shots earlier in the week and Marc-Andre Fleury may not get as lucky as Thomas did to be honest.
Florida gets a Calgary team that just gave up five goals last night and looked more leaky than a tugboat with a crater in the bottom. That could mean another “VFW line” outburst for fantasy owners. By the way that is Kris Versteeg, Tomas Fleischmann, and Stephen Weiss for those who do not know. I would keep an eye on Tomas Kopecky though along with Jason Garrison. They seem to be two players that often get lost in the shuffle but have solid fantasy potential on this Friday Night.
Lastly, Ray Emery faces his former team tonight in Chicago. Chicago often plays around the over as they score a lot of goals but give them up too (103 GF, 95 GA) in 31 games. If you do quick math, Chicago games see 198 goals in 31 games which is right around 6.4 goals per game which equals take the over. Tonight is no exception as the Anaheim Ducks come to town after a huge 4-1 win at home over Phoenix Wednesday Night. Perry-Ryan-Getzlaf against Toews-Kane-Hossa. Expect the goals to fly here no matter who is in net.
Well that does it for now. Follow us tonight for all the scoring and fantasy updates. Do not forget that The No Goal Sports Show starts at 11pm ET tonight. See you then.
