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A LOOK BACK:

There are times you look at a team and a fantasy team then go WTF! Sorry for using that in a post here but it is warranted.  It seems that the Fantasy POTN just gets harder every night especially when you have teams like the Los Angeles Kings that you just look at and go yes they are only scoring one or two goals at best.  What you saw last night in LA was not necessarily great goaltending between Phoenix Coyotes netminder Mike Smith and the Kings counterpart Jonathan Quick.  What you actually saw was almost a preoccupation with everything but scoring.  No one minds physical play but never have I seen a team in Los Angeles that has talent to score but just goes into streaks of futility like the New Jersey Devils did early last year.  If it was not for their team defense and goaltending, imagine where they would be.  When you average only two goals per game at home, there is no wonder why speculation runs wild about acquiring scoring and why the Kings are battling for their playoff lives.

So where on Earth did we go for our Fantasy POTN last night?  Well let us find out, shall we?

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Fantasy POTN:

Claude Giroux, C, Philadelphia Flyers — Giroux was the obvious choice because sometimes even a five assist night just trumps whatever else that can be thrown down.  Giroux did take the Flyers by the back of his sweater and tug them on to a 7-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.  Remember Philadelphia was down 2-0 after 20 and they had to have this game in the worst way.  The message was sent and Giroux helped Philadelphia deliver.  Yes Steven Stamkos was impressive last night but Giroux was just a hair better because sometimes in fantasy the catalyst takes home the top honor.

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Steven Stamkos, C, Tampa Bay Lightning — Stamkos will be the only player to score 50 goals barring an unforeseen injury this year.  His two goals and two assists put him up to 66 points on the season (39 G 27 A).  The last assist by Stamkos was off a nice play to keep it in the zone so that Marty St. Louis could eventually win it and gain an all important two points for Tampa.  He has 12 points in eight games this month and did have a couple very frustrating games before last night’s outburst.  This outburst fantasy wise may have been very important in the growth of Stamkos as a fantasy elite player.  If Stamkos can continue to minimize droughts, he could still win the Art Ross (leading scorer) this year.

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SCHEDULE TIME:

There are seven games on the schedule and yet tonight just almost seems like last night all over again.  It seems destined to see maybe a few very good fantasy performance and then just the normal.  Friday will set up Saturday which will set up Sunday this week.  The ten game Sunday WILL determine your fantasy fate.  By the way, for those thinking Tim Thomas would start tonight, well Claude Julien heel turned it and Tuukka Rask will get the start in Winnipeg tonight.  Thomas has given up three or more games in nine of his last 13 starts.  Rask needs to play considering the length of time he has not played in.  The numbers just do not lie.  Thomas is having an off year and Rask is getting the love like he did two years ago.  Never have I seen a more weird fantasy tandem in net in my life than this one.  Good luck fantasy fans!

The injuries are really something to keep an eye on for the weekend as well.  Jaroslav Halak is out for at least Saturday with the flu.  Brian Elliott will start for St. Louis ladies and gentlemen.  Jamie Benn‘s injury will keep him out likely for the weekend and possibly much longer.  Just stay tuned.  It just seems that there are a rash of injuries right around the trade deadline every year.  By the way, the Montreal Canadiens did ship Hal Gill to Nashville for a 2012 2nd rounder, a 2013 conditional 5th round pick, Blake Geoffrion, and a prospect.  While Geoffrion is probably an average player at best, he was a body and those can always be used.  Gill does provide hits and blocks but will be a third or fourth option in Nashville at best.  He will be nice come the penalty kill but does he play on the first or second unit?  That will tell you how his blocks and hits get affected for fantasy purposes.

It will be vital to see what the home teams do tonight in the face of many back to backs in the weekend fantasy scenario.  Simply keep an eye on all the games tonight and be open to fantasy moves this weekend ladies and gentlemen.

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Good luck tonight in your fantasy leagues ladies and gentlemen.  Do not forget to check out Daily Joust for the latest daily fantasy leagues and the best ones out there.  See you tomorrow with more as always.  Thanks for reading.

Welcome to a Thursday edition of the Fantasy Hockey ONE here on The Program. Well, it came time for a different way to get your hockey information served for breakfast. This is served differently than most columns out there.  We deliberately want this to be easy to digest so you can get the info and get out so to speak.  The beautiful Kylie Minogue as always shows us the way with her version of “The One”.

Now it is time to get started but first it may be time to look back a bit and see what was cooking yesterday.

A Look Back

1. Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals) — In one very wild night of action, Semin finally remembered what it was like to score some goals.  As a matter of fact, he tallied three times in a wild 7-6 win over the Anaheim Ducks.  The clutch part is that he scored the last two goals including the game winning goal.  In a game that Washington needed, Alexander Semin snapped out of a goal scoring funk at the right time and was a +4 with four shots on goal as well.  It was a quite a nice little late night showing from the talented Russian forward.

2. Dany Briere (Philadelphia Flyers) — Sometimes it is not the quality of the word that gets you noticed but the hard work.  Briere worked hard all night to make sure Philadelphia would take two points out of Sunrise.  In the end, he was awarded with the empty net goal in the waning seconds. The three point night was also a solid fantasy one in the sense that Briere had 5 shots on net and set up James Van Riemsdyk for the eventual game winner.  If it was not for Tomas Vokoun, Dany Briere may have scored a couple more.  He was having that good of a night.

3. Corey Crawford (Chicago Blackhawks) — The beauty is that Crawford just finds a way to make this list on a night where maybe Johan Hedberg was a bit more clutch on the surface.  However, CC did make 33 saves on 34 shots and some solid point blank stops on opportunities.  It seems that every time Chicago needs a clutch goaltending performance, Corey Crawford delivers where Marty Turco could not.  On an emotional night with Coach Q in the hospital, Crawford may have just saved Chicago’s entire season just with one performance….a true fantasy gem.

Schedule Time

The schedule features seven games including a nice tilt between Vancouver and Nashville.  Do not forget a potential shootout between Washington and San Jose, two teams that don’t exactly play defense from time to time.  The Kings and Rangers also offer a bit of intrigue as well.  This could be a nice little fun night in the National Hockey League.  However, even though Detroit and Tampa Bay could be a really solid game, it is Vancouver and Nashville that is our game of the night fantasy wise.

The Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators entertain the fantasy masses in our fantasy game of the night.  Vancouver is missing four defensemen now with the news that Andrew Alberts will now be out 6-8 weeks after wrist surgery.  Despite all of this, Vancouver leafs the NHL with 83 points in 58 games played.  Now the Sedin twins lead the Canucks in scoring but it really is Ryan Kesler that is stealing the show.  His 56 points and more importantly 33 goals are a great boon to fantasy owners. Also that +26 is an eye popping statistic considering how depleted the blueline really has become.

The odd thing is Roberto Luongo is not even the second or third best fantasy option for Vancouver. When is the last time you could say that about a goalie who could be one of the best fantasy goalies out there or just has that name, either way.  Luongo is 27-9-7 with a 2.24 GAA and .926 save percentage with three shutouts in 43 starts this year.  With Corey Schneider playing well and spelling Luongo (17 starts), the goalie has been able to produce the way people thought he would last season.  Sure, the shutouts may not be where one would expect but then again who is complaining with the rest of the numbers.  However, Luongo may be outclassed in this matchup.

Why?  Pekka Rinne plays with far less margin for error than Roberto Luongo.  To hell with those sissy matrix like stats, let’s deal in simplicity here.  Nashville gives up about the same amount of goals as Vancouver (135 and 137 respectively) but Vancouver has 196 goals compared to only 151 for Nashville.  The Canucks have an embarrassment of talent in their Top 6 while Nashville has a more blue collar lunch bucket approach that reflects their coach Barry Trotz.  Vancouver needless to say is more fantasy friendly in this case.

However team makeups do not necessarily equate to mismatch.  Nashville has what many believe to be the better fantasy goalie in Rinne and that can be enough to overcome a lethal offense.  Pekka Rinne nearly pulled it off stopping 48 shots against San Jose.  Expect Nashville to rally around Rinne and company as they need this game more than Vacouver ever could.  The Preds are in the fray of the Western Conference while Vancouver really is the only team that could consider themselves safe.

Expect a very interesting battle with a lot of solid fantasy numbers put up across the board.  Will Rinne win?  It could be a possibility and we are willing to go with a 3-2 Nashville win in a shootout.

OUR BEST BETS

1. Michael Grabner (NY Islanders) — Until he can be stopped, there really is no point in keeping him off this list.  When players are on the kind of role he is, it is best to just let it ride.  More than the goals, Grabner is gaining that confidence that he can do this fantasy wise every game and that is important for owners going forward.  Boston may not know what hit it especially with some of their slower defense in the mix.

2. Henrik Lundqvist (NY Rangers) — Lundqvist has had some tough outings in the last month and even with a win against Pittsburgh (some will say Wilkes Barre), he is still not looking like the goalie who was excellent up until the All Star Break.  However, Los Angeles is worn down coming off a 4-3 shootout win tonight over Columbus.  If there ever was a time to get well and start playing like the Lundqvist we are used to seeing, tonight might be the night for “King Henrik”.

3. Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay) — There is not much else to be said here other than its a home game and Stamkos may have the perfect one timer this side of Brett Hull.  The reality is few possess that skill and having guys that can feed him the puck so he can create and fire away, especially against a team with suspect goaltending in Detroit is just a recipe for a big fantasy night.  Have you seen Stamkos?  We sure will keep seeing him.

WHAT TO AVOID

1. Washington goalies — It really does not matter which ones it will be but it will be a long night in San Jose.  The Capitals will have to score and slug this one in a shootout like fashion similar to the Anaheim game.  Either that, or they will lose.

2. Carey Price (Montreal) — See a theme here on what to avoid.  The fast ice in Edmonton often confounds some but Price could be in for a long night as the Oilers go up against a team that is a little hobbled by injuries.  If there was a time to catch a team a little wounded, this would be Edmonton’s time which eats into Price’s stats for tonight and in not a good way.

3. Dustin Byfuglien (Atlanta) — Really there is not much to say here other than Buff will not do the damage for Atlanta on this night.  There are better fantasy options out there, go and seek them. Phoenix will do everything it can to shut him down even if they have to put Keith Yandle on him all night long.

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The ONE will keep it rocking every morning on The Program. We want people to keep asking the tough fantasy questions and yes Twitter will be used along with the blog to answer any and all of the craziest and profound nuts and bolts information out there.  The goal is the game and that is to make sure you have the information you actually need to gauge out your fantasy hockey night.  Good luck and the weekend is coming fast enough.