With 16-20 games into the NHL season its time to see what the top players are on pace for. Steven Stamkos is on pace for 82 goals, the rest of the top five goal scorers are Alexander Semin (60), Daniel Sedin (55), Sidney Crosby (53) and Chris Stewart (50). Henrik Sedin is on pace for 100 assists, the rest of the top five assist leaders are Martin St. Louis (78), Brad Richards (72), Steven Stamkos (69) and Sidney Crosby (66). Steven Stamkos is on pace for 151 points, the rest of the top five point leaders are Sidney Crosby (119), Martin St. Louis (112), Alexander Ovechkin (108) and Alexander Semin (108). Zenon Konopka is on pace for 428 PIMs. Nicklas Lidstrom is on pace for 87 points, the rest of the top 5 defensemen leaders are John-Michael Liles (82), Kris Letang (70), Dustin Byfuglien (69) and Lubomir Visnovsky (62). Michal Neuvirth is on pace for 52 wins, the rest of the goalie leaders are Jimmy Howard (51), Tim Thomas (48), Carey Price (47) and Sergei Bobrovsky (45).
Games to be played in week eight:
- Four Games: Boston, Calgary, Columbus, Dallas, Florida, Montreal, Nashville, New Jersey, Rangers, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Washington
- Three Games: Atlanta, Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Colorado, Detroit, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota, San Jose, St. Louis and Toronto
- Two Games: Anaheim, Islanders, Phoenix and Vancouver
When it comes to dressing your players for the upcoming week, especially your goalies, it is important to know which team is on a long road trip and which team is enjoying an extended period at home. Listed below are the teams that play all their games at home or on the road (minimum two games) and their home/road records up to November 19, 2010:
- HOME: Atlanta (3-5-1), Islanders (2-3-1), Phoenix (4-2-3) and Vancouver (6-0-1)
- AWAY: Calgary (3-5-0) and Chicago (5-2-2)
If you participate in any type of head-to-head hockey pool then you are likely dressing a lineup for each scoring period, which usually ends on Sunday. As the week comes to an end and you find yourself in a close battle for those wins you want as many players as possible playing for you. Here are the teams that play on Sunday (record for Sunday games):
- Atlanta (0-1), Boston (1-0), Carolina (0-1), Columbus (0-0), Detroit (0-0) and Washington (2-0)
When you are deciding which goalie to dress you need to look at the NHL schedule to see if your goalie's team will play in a back-to-back game that week. Most coaches will not dress the same goalie in back-to-back games so that is something to consider when you are thinking about which goalie to dress for the week. Here are the teams that play in back-to-back games this week (record of second game of back-to-back):
- Anaheim (2-2), Buffalo (2-4), Calgary (1-1), Chicago (3-2), Colorado (1-2), Dallas (1-2), Florida (0-3), Minnesota (1-3), Montreal (1-2), Nashville (2-1), New Jersey (0-4), Rangers (3-0), Ottawa (0-2), Philadelphia (2-1), Pittsburgh (4-0), San Jose (0-2), St. Louis (2-1), Tampa Bay (2-2) and Toronto (0-2)
Knowing which team is on a hot streak or cold streak will help in making your lineup decisions, for example you definitely want to dress a goalie from teams that are on a hot streak. Here are the top five and bottom five teams up to November 19, 2010:
- TOP FIVE: Washington (8-1-1), Detroit (8-2-0), Vancouver (7-2-1), Philadelphia (7-2-1) and Los Angeles (7-3-0)
- BOTTOM FIVE: Islanders (0-9-1), Edmonton (2-6-2), Toronto (2-6-2), Calgary (3-7-0) and New Jersey (3-6-1)
Most elite stars are consistent scorers, but there are several players who are very streaky so keep an eye on their stats so that you can dress them while they are on a hot streak. Here are the top five scorers up to November 19, 2010 for the past 7 and 14 days:
- SKATER PAST 7: Steven Stamkos-TAM (4GP 5G 4A), Martin St. Louis-TAM (4GP 2G 7A), Ryane Clowe-SAN (4GP 2G 6A), Eric Staal-CAR (2GP 3G 4A) and Mike Richards-PHI (4GP 4G 3A)
- SKATER PAST 14: Steven Stamkos-TAM (7GP 9G 6A), Sidney Crosby-PIT (7GP 7G 7A), Eric Staal-CAR (6GP 5G 8A), Martin St. Louis-TAM (7GP 3G 10A) and Alexander Semin-WAS (7GP 7G 5A)
- GOALTENDERS PAST 14: Carey Price-MON (7GS 5W 2SO), Jimmy Howard-DET (6GS 5W), Peter Budaj-COL (6GS 4W 1SO), Tim Thomas-BOS (5GS 3W 1SO) and Michal Neuvirth-WAS (5GS 4W)
Fantasy Hockey Schedule Week 8: On Pace for Record Seasons by:
Fantasy Hockey Coach Brouwer
"Because 2nd place is the 1st loser!"
http://fantasyhockeycoach.com/
