(Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins is our Fantasy Player Of The Month for November)
Guess who’s back???? That is right. The turkeys are back after a long hiatus. They are at least heaping out some praise along with the usual cold, calculated dryness they have been known for. Here are their stories….
Now that the season is just about two months old, we do a quick version of our traditional “Turkeys” with our stuffing for the guys that kept the glue together on that thing you call a fantasy hockey team. First will come the stuffing and then our illustrious “Turkeys” will briefly take over with their “Turkey Breasts”. Let’s get down to business.
OH THE STUFFING………..
========================================
Tim Thomas, G, Boston Bruins — If you had Thomas on your team, you rode the wave of consistency to one of the most brilliant months a fantasy owner could ever ask for. Thomas went 9-0 with three shutouts, a .941 save percentage and a GAA of 1.76. In 9 games, he allowed a measley 9 goals while stopping 257 of 273 shots. By the way his record save percentage last year was .938. Basically a guy that gets you 2.25 wins and lets in less than two goals a game every time out in a month will definitely buoy your team. Thomas can stuff your team with goodness even in only 55-60 starts.
Jonathan Toews, C, Chicago Blackhawks — Owners were again riding the wave as Toews shook off some early season cobwebs and delivered a huge nine goal, nine assist, 18 point November. Three of his nine goals were also game winners in a month where the team definitely faced some hardships. The fact that he was able to help so many fantasy teams made the month more satisfying especially when two of his GWG’s came at the tail end of the month in Anaheim and in Los Angeles. Expect an even bigger December as Toews put it, “I am just working hard out there, I have not even heated up yet”.
Honorable Mentions: Joffrey Lupul (Toronto Maple Leafs), Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning). Lupul had 19 points on 7 goals and 12 assists while Stamkos had 16 points on 10 goals and 6 assists. Talk about tough choices this month.
Oh those turkeys…..here are those turkeys breasts for November.
TURKEY BREASTS
=======================================
Flyers and Penguins’ Medical Staffs — There is a certain comic relief to the air and that all gets dashed when you see some of the things going on in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Whether it is true or not, the uncertainty that has resulted from the handling of several high profile injuries is cause for concern. No one is certain how much more time players like Kris Letang or Chris Pronger could miss with their respected “multiple maladies”. On the other hand, it does not seem many really know what is going on. Should they? Probably. That is kind of the problem here. There should be more answers than there are and now fantasy owners are left scrambling. Sometimes it is on the player like Jaromir Jagr (groin), who came back too soon but in these cases the staffs deserve some blame. Hopefully these injured players come back soon.
Zach Parise, LW, New Jersey Devils — Yes this seems unfair and cold but after almost eight weeks, you would have expected Parise to have a few more points this month given the Devils relative strength of schedule which was amongst the easier schedules in the league. Eight points in 14 games in November was just not acceptable and yes there were worse efforts but two goals this month was just an absolute buzzkill for fantasy owners out there. Can Parise turn this around in December? He almost has to as it may be a must produce month for him. He had nine or more PPG’s in his last four healthy seasons. This year he has one and none in November. The time is now.
John Tavares, C, New York Islanders — This is another one that did not go over well with the masses but if you throw out two of his games, Tavares has eight points in 20 games which is 0.4 points per game (not exactly impressive). In November, he had a measley five points in 13 games and nearly was suspended twice for separate high sticking incidents. Fantasy owners for a week in October really thought that Tavares had turned the corner but in November, it was not to be. The Islanders do seem to be righting the ship with Al Montoya in net again and more stable defense so maybe that will get Tavares moving in the right fantasy direction for the Christmas season.
===============================================
As always, the “Stuffing And Turkey Breasts” will be around every month until the end of the regular season so expect more of it. It is a dish always served cold and ready for fantasy owners to digest. Thanks for reading.
