They are back! Did you miss the turkeys? I bet NHL players are cowering and cringing right now. Somewhere Alexei Kovalev is running for his life after that post-Olympic gasser he had. Even Roberto Luongo is not safe from the wrath of a mediocre end to the regular season last year. With the pre-season well underway now, there will be new turkeys, or at least we all hope. The same fantasy turkeys often make things very stale after awhile.
However there is a new Russian on the horizon that could make the turkeys rejoice. Move over Alexei Kovalev and say hello to Nikolai Zherdev. Yes we know that it is pre-season but in a 4-3 SO win over New Jersey, the man known as Zherdev was amazingly a -3. That is correct. Zherdev cannot play defense very well and never really has anyway.
The question becomes what sick fantasy hockey nickname would you give such an uninspiring talent? Well the turkeys decided to give him a more healthy nickname. This would be one more akin to his true calling. As Rob Higgins would say Zherdev is a “cherry bomb”. I will do one better here. The turkeys have dubbed Nik Zherdev a “Turkey For All Seasons”. He really does have the potential to be this year’s Fantasy Turkey Of The Year.
Speaking of turkeys…….
Then there is Carey Price who let up four goals on ten shots last night at home against Boston. This probably was not the way to endear yourself to the crowd that does not exactly like you. Yes Canadiens players were quick to defend their starting goalie but the will of the fans up in Montreal is too strong not to be a distraction. If Price does not improve this season, from last, then he may be a turkey in another locale before not too long.
The fans cannot help themselves and in some cases neither can the media. Somewhere “Angry Sal” may have a tirade for Carey Price just to keep things fresh. The turkeys are at the ready for Price once again, he was named as one of the three turkeys five times last year and just barely missed the top 3 of the year.
So who would be our third potential turkey early on? That might just be Antero Niittymaki. Look it is not fair to judge after one game but the turkeys are starving to pounce on someone. He looked a bit shaky in the 5-2 loss to Anaheim last night and although it is early, Antero is not so good against the Western Conference. It will be interesting what he does when the games start to count.
Next Thursday will be our Fantasy Turkey Season Preview complete with who to watch out for. Until then, the turkeys are flying away once again.
