Sunday, December 25, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 12

Team.......................................Total...This Week
The Shaving Moes.............................299..........28
Don's Dinos..................................291..........15
Team Lowes Racing............................278..........30
Langdon River Dogs...........................265..........21
Team EA......................................265..........18
Sherpa's Yaks................................248..........14
The Slim Pickens.............................247..........17
The Late Impact..............................240..........20
Pull the Goalie..............................232..........17
THE Team.....................................229..........21
Taffy's Tyrants..............................225..........11
Doug's Deadbeats.............................204..........16
Team Chevy...................................199..........13
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................198..........17

We have ourselves a new leader heading into Christmas... The Shaving Moes finally reached the top of the pile after weeks of hard work. Their 28 points eclipsed Don's Dinos this past week.

The biggest week, however, came from Team Lowes Racing. Their 30 points put a little space between them and the Langdon River Dogs and Team EA, who are tied for fourth (the River Dogs are ahead on goals).

Waiver draft pick-up, Shawn Horcoff (The Shaving Moes) was the best player of the week, picking up 7 points during the week. He was better than four other players picking up 6 points each during the week.

Key Injuries:
Bryan Berard (Langdon River Dogs) placed on IR with a back injury.
Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks) out day-to-day with a chest injury.
Saku Koivu (Don's Dinos) out day-to-day with a groin injury.

Key Returns:
Robert Lang (Langdon River Dogs) missed 8 games with a groin injury.
Alexei Kovalev (Team EA) missed 13 games with a knee injury.
Simon Gagne (Team Chevy) missed 5 games with a groin injury.
John LeClair (The Late Impact) missed 5 games with a groin injury.
Adam Foote (Team EA) missed 4 games with a groin injury.

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Monday, December 19, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 11

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................276..........20
The Shaving Moes.............................271..........20
Team Lowes Racing............................248..........11
Team EA......................................247..........22
Langdon River Dogs...........................243..........25
Sherpa's Yaks................................234..........21
The Slim Pickens.............................230..........19
The Late Impact..............................220..........20
Pull the Goalie..............................215..........15
Taffy's Tyrants..............................214..........25
THE Team.....................................208..........28
Doug's Deadbeats.............................188..........19
Team Chevy...................................186..........12
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................181..........19

The end of the first week with new players has come and gone... and THE Team has come out firing. A week-high of 28 points closed the gap towards Taffy's Tyrants... a good battle indeed.

Brendan Shanahan (Taffy's Tyrants) was the week's best player... definitely the best pick up of the waiver draft, thus far. He had a huge 9 points this past week... which helped Detroit pick up a few wins.

Monday's News:
Robert Esche (The Slim Pickens) will be lost to the Flyers for the last few games of the month of December. His groin injury is a little more serious than once thought. Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) has suffered a broken hand and will be out of the Blues line-up for 4-to-6 weeks. Not good news for the battling team. Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) will be sidelined indefinitely with his heart problem. Jose Theodore (The Late Impact) has suffered a knee injury, it is unknown at the moment how long he'll be out. Mathieu Schneider (The Shaving Moes) left Saturday's game with a charley horse... it is unlikely, though possible, he'll miss any games this week. Daniel Briere (The Late Impact) has been lost on a day-to-day abdominal injury.

An oops at the draft... the Sherpa's Yaks should have dropped goalie, Dan Cloutier, but instead thought he'd be back... only to find out on Monday that he's done for the year. D'oh! Robert Esche (The Slim Pickens) is having groin troubles... he's listed as out day-to-day. Adam Foote (Team EA)... same problem.

News for Saturday's games... Jason Spezza and Wade Redden (Sherpa's Yaks) both returned to the Senators line-up today. Spezza missed one game, Redden missed 10. Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) returned to the Blue Jackets line-up today to play only his fourth game of the season. He's still looking for his first point of the year. Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) did not play Saturday against Buffalo... his heart problems have flared up again. Finally, Tomas Vokoun (Team Lowes Racing) returned to the line-up after missing a few games with a knee problem.


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Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 10

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................256..........26
The Shaving Moes.............................251..........26
Team Lowes Racing............................237..........16
Team EA......................................225..........25
Langdon River Dogs...........................219..........23
Sherpa's Yaks................................213..........12
The Slim Pickens.............................211..........17
Pull the Goalie..............................200..........14
The Late Impact..............................200..........10
Team Chevy...................................190..........15
Taffy's Tyrants..............................188..........12
THE Team.....................................180..........17
Doug's Deadbeats.............................169..........8
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................162..........9

Another lacklustre week for points throughout the pool... but the top teams are still getting enough to pull away from the bottom. Only a total of 230 points from all 14 teams last week, which is about 100 less than our best weeks. With the implementation of the newly picked-up players, there should be a drastic increase in points... not to mention 10 more games being played through the league this week will also help.

Don's Dinos & the Shaving Moes both ran away last week potting 26 points each... while the 4th place Team EA look to move up even further after a 25 point week.

Last week, two players came up with huge numbers... one's a Czech and one's a chunk. Both Jaromir Jagr (Langdon River Dogs) and Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) each picked up 9 points a piece.

Tuesday's News:
Monday night saw day-to-day injuries to both Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks) with a hip pointer and Ed Belfour (The Shaving Moes) with a groin injury. Sunday saw Paul Mara (The Late Impact) and Glen Murray (Team Lowes Racing) down with the flu for a couple days


Saturday's news:
Long-term losses: Both Joni Pitkanen & Martin Havlat were lost to the Sherpa's Yaks for extended periods of time. Pitkanen 4 to 6 weeks, Havlat, possibly the season. Guess who's getting dropped today... Tomas Vokoun (Team Lowes Racing) has been sidelined indefinitely with a groin injury. Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) will be sidelined for a week or two after checking himself into the hospital for an irregular heartbeat. Roman Hamrlik (The Slim Pickens) was lost indefinitely with a strained knee... he'll probably miss up to a month with his injury... the Pickens made no comment as to whether or not he'd be dropped. Simon Gagne (Team Chevy) was also shelved for a couple weeks after straining his groin. A pretty big hit to Team Chevy's point total, for sure.

WARNING: Try to avoid taking Peter Bondra... he's out for a month. His points look good, but he won't be playing for a little while.

Returns to the line-up: Oleg Tverdovsky (Team Chevy) returned to the 'Canes line-up on Tuesday after missing 5 games with a concussion. Adam Foote (Team EA) came back after missing 4 games with a strained groin. Both John LeClair (The Late Impact) and Ziggy Palffy (Pull the Goalie) returned to the Pens line-up after missing a game a piece this week. Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) played again this week for the Sharks after being on and off the injury list this week. Hopefully, he'll be back to normal playing time. Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) returned to the Flyers line-up today... and scored a goal in the first period against the Wild as I was writing this.

And that's the news.




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Monday, December 12, 2005

Waiver Draft Results

Starting tonight, the players that were picked begin amassing points for their respective pool teams... which is good for a few teams as players they had dropped picked points up for them last night. Points begin tonight for the new guys... but you won't be able to see updated standings from last week until tomorrow morning... I left my USB key with the hockey pool at work.

D'oh!

Nevertheless... we'll review the drops and pick-ups from Saturday, just so you know who everyone has.

Round 1

Team - Drop - Pick-Up
Thanx For Comin' Out Darren McCarty Ilya Kovalchuk, ATL
Doug's Deadbeats
Mike Peca Alex Frolov, LOS
THE Team
Corey Perry Jason Williams, DET
Taffy's Tyrants
Ryan Getzlaf Brian Gionta, NJD
Team Chevy
Evgeni Nabokov Manny Legace, DET
Pull the Goalie
Jocelyn Thibault Curtis Joseph, PHO
The Late Impact
Alexei Zhamnov Craig Conroy, LOS
The Slim Pickens
Jay Bouwmeester Lubomir Visnovsky, LOS
Sherpa's Yaks
Martin Havlat Henrik Sedin, VAN
Langdon River Dogs
Adrain Aucoin Tomas Kaberle, TOR
Team EA
Janne Niinimaa Brent Sopel, NYI
The Shaving Moes Scott Niedermayer Sami Salo, VAN
Don's Dinos
Eric Brewer Alexei Zhitnik, BUF

Round 2

Thanx For Comin' Out Manny Fernandez Henrik Lundqvist, NYR
Doug's Deadbeats
Kenny Jonsson John-Michel Liles, COL
THE Team
Brian Leetch Teppo Numminen, BUF
Taffy's Tyrants
Chris Simon Brendan Shanahan, DET
Team Chevy
Darryl Sydor Greg de Vries, ATL
Pull the Goalie
Sergei Fedorov Marek Svatos, COL
The Slim Pickens Chris Drury Jason Allison, TOR
Sherpa's Yaks
Joni Pitkanen Steve Eminger, WAS
Langdon River Dogs
Andrew Raycroft John Grahame, TAM
Team EA
Roberto Luongo Martin Gerber, CAR
The Shaving Moes Doug Weight Shawn Horcoff, EDM

Round 3

Thanx For Comin' Out Denis Gauthier Jiri Slegr, BOS
Doug's Deadbeats Sandis Ozolinsh Frantisek Kaberle, CAR
THE Team
Tuomo Ruutu Jarret Stoll, EDM
Taffy's Tyrants
Jordan Leopold Brent Seabrook, CHI
Team Chevy
Oleg Tverdovsky Richard Jackman, PIT
Pull the Goalie
Dick Tarnstrom Brian Campbell, BUF
The Slim Pickens Tyler Arnason Slava Kozlov, ATL
Langdon River Dogs
Robert Lang Tomas Holmstrom, DET

Teams who had taken three players in the draft, obviously needed them. There were quite a few players that hadn't even hit double-digits in points yet this season, so pretty much every team improved themselves... hence the reason for this draft. Hopefully the injuries don't hit too hard again too soon.

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Monday, December 05, 2005

Top 10 Available Players by Position

Forwards
1. Ilya Kovalchuk - ATL - 35 points
2. Alex Frolov - LOS - 32 points
3. Jason Williams - DET - 30 points
4. Brian Gionta - NJD - 28 points
Peter Bondra - ATL
Jason Allison - TOR
7. Craig Conroy - LOS - 27 points
Shawn Horcoff - EDM
9. Jason Arnott - DAL - 26 points
10. Marek Svatos - COL - 25 points

Defensemen
1. Lubomir Visnovsky - LOS - 26 points
2. Sami Salo - VAN - 21 points
Tomas Kaberle - TOR
4. Alexei Zhitnik - BUF - 20 points
5. John-Michel Liles - COL - 19 points
6. Richard Jackman - STL - 18 points
Teppo Numminen - BUF - 18 points
8. Greg de Vries - ATL - 17 points
9. Phillipe Boucher - DAL - 16 points
Frantisek Kaberle - ATL
Steve Eminger - WAS

Goalies
1. Manny Legace - DET - 30 points
2. Curtis Joseph - PHO - 28 points
3. John Grahame - TAM - 26 points
4. David Aebischer - COL - 24 points
Martin Gerber - CAR
6. Henrik Lundqvist - NYR - 22 points
7. Jussi Markkanen - EDM - 20 points
Martin Biron - BUF
9. Rick DiPietro - NYI - 18 points
Alex Auld - VAN

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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 9

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................230..........20
The Shaving Moes.............................225..........22
Team Lowes Racing............................221..........18
Sherpa's Yaks................................201..........13
Team EA......................................200..........21
Langdon River Dogs...........................196..........12
The Slim Pickens.............................194..........19
The Late Impact..............................190..........7
Pull the Goalie..............................186..........15
Taffy's Tyrants..............................176..........13
Team Chevy...................................175..........18
THE Team.....................................163..........21
Doug's Deadbeats.............................161..........13
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................153..........13

The Shaving Moes are on a mission to be on top... taking top spot in the week making it impossible to be passed and it makes it much easier to catch the leader when they're not getting as many points as your team. It was a pretty weak week for scoring... only 225 points were tallied in Week 9, 50 points less than the first week of the season.

Tomas Vokoun (Team Lowes Racing) was the clear winner for Player of the Week... he chalked up 8 points, two clear of his nearest rivals.

Sunday's News:
Wade Redden (Sherpa's Yaks) should be ready to go when the Senators face the Canucks next week. Adrian Aucoin (Langdon River Dogs) is back on the shelf with groin problems. Kimmo Timonen (Team Lowes Racing) has caught himself a bout of the flu of late... he missed yesterday's game with it. John LeClair (The Late Impact) and Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) are both also listed as out day-to-day with groin injuries.

Derek Morris (Doug's Deadbeats) returned to the Coyotes line-up yesterday after missing 3 games with a rib injury. Petr Sykora (Team Chevy) also returned to the Ducks line-up after missing 5 games with his own groin injury.

Saturday's News:
The Satellite Hotstove has said that Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) should be back next week. The Blue Jackets don't play again until Thursday... so, it's not like he's missing any games in the next week or so. Ziggy Palffy (Pull the Goalie) missed tonight's game against the Flames... he's day-to-day with a groin injury. Robert Esche (The Slim Pickens) will miss the next week's worth of games with a groin injury of his own. Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) left Friday night's game against the Sabres with a groin injury as well... it's unclear how long he'll be out of the Sharks line-up. Robert Lang (Langdon River Dogs) is now listed as day-to-day with a groin injury... that's a whole load of sore groins in the news this weekend, eh?? Saku Koivu (Don's Dinos) is out indefinitely with... you guessed it... groin problems. Sheldon Souray (Team EA) has come back from his groin injury now... a big lift to the Habs and EA's point chances. Zdeno Chara (Pull the Goalie) will miss the Senators next game after being handed a one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the last 5 minutes of a game.

Friday's News:
Sandis Ozolinsh (Doug's Deadbeats) has been offically placed on the Injured Reserve... he'll probably be missing a few more games at least with his sprained knee. Pierre Turgeon (The Late Impact) is expected to play this weekend for the Avalanche after recovering from his minor groin pull. Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) is still a game or two away from returning... he won't be playing against Nashville this week.

Another HUGE Trade...
Image hosted by Photobucket.comImage hosted by Photobucket.comThe Boston Bruins have sent Joe Thornton (Don's Dinos) to San Jose for three players; Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart... none of the former Sharks were pool picks. Thornton should be with the Sharks for the Friday & Saturday matchups, but this all comes as a big shock to the hockey system. The Bruins have been quoted as saying that they needed a big shake-up and the Sharks weren't gonna pass up an opportunity to get one of the game's best players. Thornton has 33 points already this season, which puts him tied for 10th in pool scoring. Oh my.

Thursdays OTHER News:
Sandis Ozolinsh (Doug's Deadbeats) has found himself injured again. He's listed as day-to-day with a knee injury. On Tuesday, Jocelyn Thibault (Pull the Goalie) was waived by the Penguins, which probably spells the end of his tenure in Pittsburgh. He also cleared waivers, meaning that he probably won't see a lot of playing time any time soon. A pretty obvious drop come the 10th. Chris Pronger (Pull the Goalie) returned from his one game away from the line-up with a knee injury this week. He should be good to go this weekend. Martin Havlat (Sherpa's Yaks) has been lost again... this time upwards of two months. He suffered a dislocated shoulder this week and will more than likely be dropped on the 10th. Doug Weight (The Shaving Moes) is back on the shelf day-to-day with a hip injury... that's what you get for getting old, eh Doug??


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Saturday, November 26, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 8

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................210..........16
Team Lowes Racing............................203..........20
The Shaving Moes.............................203..........30
Sherpa's Yaks................................188..........23
Langdon River Dogs...........................184..........29
The Late Impact..............................183..........22
Team EA......................................179..........25
The Slim Pickens.............................175..........21
Pull the Goalie..............................171..........19
Taffy's Tyrants..............................163..........13
Team Chevy...................................157..........11
Doug's Deadbeats.............................148..........16
THE Team.....................................142..........20
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................140..........15

Well, this is the story after 8 weeks of play this season... there's now a little bit more separation from 3rd to 4th after a huge week for the Shaving Moes. A wicked little 30 point week was tops in the pool and moved them into a tie (broken by goals scored) with Team Lowes Racing.

Thanx For Comin' Out found themselves back in the basement after the weekend had ended, but should find some more points with an extra game or two to their side this week.

Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks) was the top point getter in the week... he had 8 points in 3 games this week.

Monday's News:
Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) continues to miss time with a stomach virus. It is unknown how long he'll be out of the line-up for, but he will definitely miss the next game against Buffalo tomorrow. Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) will also miss Tuesday's game with his groin injury. The aim is for Forsberg to be back on Saturday. Cory Stillman (The Shaving Moes) ended up returning to the line-up over the weekend, so he's back to being healthy again. Brian Leetch (THE Team) returned to the Bruins line-up over the weekend. Chris Pronger (Pull the Goalie) is listed as day-to-day with a bruised knee... he missed the game against Calgary on Friday night. Andrei Markov (The Late Impact) will miss this week's games due to a 3 game suspension for shoving a linesman on Saturday night.

Saturday's News:
Image hosted by Photobucket.comPenguins news in the pool... Sidney Crosby (Doug's Deadbeats) took a puck off the foot last night and left the ice limping. X-rays say that nothing was broken, but with how hard these guys shoot, his foot might be a tad tender for a few days. It's unclear if he'll be in the line-up this weekend. Dick Tarnstrom (Pull the Goalie) finally returned to the Pens line-up last night... he missed 12 games.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comHurricane news in the pool... two of the three 'Canes taken this season are both on the shelf with injury. Oleg Tverdovsky (Team Chevy) is suffering from concussion syndromes and Cory Stillman (The Shaving Moes) may have an infected foot. The Hurricanes are unsure how long each of them will be out.

Pierre Turgeon (The Late Impact) suffered a groin injury last night and may miss some time. Turgeon has been one of the Impact's best players in the last couple weeks with 13 points in the last 3 weeks. Todd White (Team Chevy) has been shelved in Minnesota after a couple injuries and inconsistent play... it's unclear how much time he'll miss now. Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) left yesterday afternoon's contest after getting 3 points with a groin injury. He has been quoted as saying it isn't too bad and may suit up against the Isles today.

This week (so far) in the news...
The Sherpa's Yaks gained a player back from injury and lost three... Marian Gaborik has returned to the Wild line-up, while Dan Cloutier, Martin Havlat and Wade Redden will all be sitting through the weekend's games.
THE Team has gotten some good news this week; Brian Leetch is now listed as day-to-day and could return anytime this weekend... and Keith Tkachuk came back from his ribcage injury to score a goal in Friday afternoon's contest.

Adam Foote (Team EA) was lost this week... only day-to-day with a groin injury. Dick Tarnstrom (Pull the Goalie) was upgraded to day-to-day this week with his knee injury. Glen Murray (Team Lowes Racing) will be out day-to-day with a groin injury.


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December 10th

Hey all... the plan is going to be that we meet at the Wildfire on Saturday, December 10th, around 2pm to get together, use our discount cards, hand out some prizes and swap our most disliked players.

So, Doug's Deadbeats could get rid of Kenny Jonsson (0 points in 0 games) or Rick Nash can leave the Langdon River Dogs (0 points in 3 games)... to make way for Sami Salo and Ilya Kovalchuk, respectively.

The waiver draft will work as this... it will be a draft process, from last to first we'll pick in each round, so as it stands today, THE Team will pick first, Thanx For Comin' Out will go second and so on, in each round. The draft will stop when no players will need to be picked up or dropped. So you can drop as many as you need to pick up that many.

You must swap a forward for a forward, a defenseman for a defenseman and a goalie for a goalie... and the only the points count from after you take them on your team. Their points so far this season will not count towards your total. Good?? Good.

There will be a list of available players with me at the Wildfire... and if you need to know who you have on your team, click on this link (e-mail me!!) and I will send you a list.


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Top 10 Forwards in the Wildfire Pool

Jaromir Jagr (Langdon River Dogs)........39
Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie).........39
Daniel Alfredsson (THE Team).............36
Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks).............35
Simon Gagne (Team Chevy).................34
Dany Heatley (Thanx For Comin' Out)......34
Eric Staal (The Slim Pickens)............34
Pavol Demitra (The Shaving Moes).........33
Vaclav Prospal (The Late Impact).........31
Joe Thornton (Don's Dinos)...............31

Both Jagr and Gagne lead the league (and the pool) in goals scored so far this season with 21 a piece... they've been absolutely lighting the lamp this year. Heatley has a point in every game so far this season with the Senators... 34 points in a 20-game streak.

It's no surprise that Don's Dinos have the best set of forwards in the pool, 139 points in total. But it is a surprise to see second place, Pull the Goalie, in eighth in the pool... musta not done his homework!!


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Top 10 Defensemen in the Wildfire Pool

Bryan McCabe (Taffy's Tyrants)..........31
Joni Pitkanen (Sherpa's Yaks)...........21
Wade Redden (Sherpa's Yaks).............21
Paul Mara (The Late Impact).............18
Dan Boyle (Langdon River Dogs)..........17
Rob Blake (Don's Dinos).................17
Ed Jovanovski (Don's Dinos).............17
Mathieu Schneider (The shaving Moes)....17
Kimmo Timonen (Team Lowes Racing).......16
Scott Niedermayer (The Shaving Moes)....16

Yup, it's hard to believe that Bryan McCabe is a defenseman with the way he's put points on the board for the Leafs. He has produced two thirds of the Taffy's Tyrants defenseman points for the entire season, by himself.

The Sherpa's Yaks lead the pool in defenseman points with 52, having 42 of them coming from two of the top 10 defensemen. The Shaving Moes are second in d-man points with 46 points. Both Don's Dinos and Team Lowes Racing are tied for 4th with 40 d-man points each.

The least amount of d-man production is coming from Doug's Deadbeats, where Derek Morris & Sandis Ozolinsh are underachieving and Kenny Jonsson will not play because of his banishment to Europe. Don't worry Doug, we'll be swapping guys soon!!


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Goaltenders in the Wildfire Pool

Miikka Kiprusoff (Taffy's Tyrants)...........30
Dominik Hasek (Doug's Deadbeats).............30
Tomas Vokoun (Team Lowes Racing).............24
Marty Turco (Don's Dinos)....................24
Jose Theodore (The Late Impact)..............22
Ed Belfour (The Shaving Moes)................20
Roberto Luongo (Team EA).....................18
Martin Brodeur (THE Team)....................16
Robert Esche (The Slim Pickens)..............16
Dan Cloutier (Sherpa's Yaks).................16
Manny Fernandez (Thanx For Comin' Out).......14
Andrew Raycroft (Langdon River Dogs).........8
Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy)..................6
Jocelyn Thibault (Pull the Goalie)...........2

A wide selection of goalie results in the pool so far this season. Both the leaders and the losers are up at the top... so the goalies aren't factoring as much as other seasons had them do. Both Kiprusoff and Hasek lead the pool with 12 wins and 3 shutouts a piece for their 30 points, which puts them in a tie for 12th spot in pool scoring overall.


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Monday, November 21, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 7

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................194..........29
Team Lowes Racing............................183..........20
The Shaving Moes.............................173..........27
Sherpa's Yaks................................165..........27
The Late Impact..............................161..........33
Langdon River Dogs...........................155..........22
The Slim Pickens.............................154..........22
Team EA......................................154..........21
Pull the Goalie..............................152..........28
Taffy's Tyrants..............................150..........26
Team Chevy...................................146..........26
Doug's Deadbeats.............................132..........18
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................125..........19
THE Team.....................................122..........10

A great effort by The Late Impact this week gave them the week's best 31 points. They had three players with a week-high 7 points each to give them an edge against the top teams in the pool. They certainly played a good game of catch-up this week.

It's pretty hard to decide just one Player of the Week since 7 players had 7 points each this week, so we'll share the top spot with the three from The Late Impact; Vaclav Prospal, Pierre Turgeon and Ales Hemsky.

THE Team has become the new cellar-dwellar at the moment as Thanx For Comin' Out has climbed their way out of last place to put a charge on for 12th.

Monday's News:
Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) has been upgraded to being out day-to-day, which could mean that his return to the ice is imminent. Talk about good news for THE Team... they need all the man-games they can get now. Brian Leetch (THE Team) should also return to the ice withing the next 10 days, according to the Hockey News. Eric Brewer (Don's Dinos) will be out until January after separating his shoulder. He won't be missed too much as he hasn't really contributed a great deal to the Dinos' success . Steve Sullvan (Langdon River Dogs) has missed the last couple games with a groin injury. Not very good news for the River Dogs... but he's only day-to-day, so he should be back soon. Sergei Gonchar (Taffy's Tyrants) should return to the Penguins line-up this week after missing games with a groin injury.

Tuesday's News:
Image hosted by Photobucket.comImage hosted by Photobucket.comA trade! A trade! And it involves a pool guy!! Sergei Fedorov (Pull the Goalie) got dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets from the the Mighty Ducks... no other big players were involved in the deal, but this will strengthen a weak Jacket team down the middle... and when Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) returns... they could be a big scoring team. Maybe.

Returnees:
Dan Cloutier (Sherpa's Yaks) returned to beat the Red Wings on Sunday... hooray!

Injuries:
Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) isn't feeling very well... so he'll take Wednesday off. Pierre Turgeon (The Late Impact) will find the press box with a hip injury... out day to day. Alexei Kovalev (Team EA) will be out at least two weeks (up to eight weeks) after undergoing knee surgery... that's a best case scenario too. Sergei Gonchar (Taffy's Tyrants) will be out a few games with a strained groin. Martin St. Louis (The Shaving Moes) will also miss a couple weeks with a broken finger.


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Monday, November 14, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 6

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................165..........30
Team Lowes Racing............................163..........40
The Shaving Moes.............................146..........25
Sherpa's Yaks................................138..........24
Team EA......................................133..........24
Langdon River Dogs...........................133..........19
The Slim Pickens.............................132..........17
The Late Impact..............................128..........11
Pull the Goalie..............................124..........21
Taffy's Tyrants..............................124..........18
Team Chevy...................................120..........9
Doug's Deadbeats.............................114..........16
THE Team.....................................112..........20
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................106..........28

Image hosted by Photobucket.comThe player of the week for Week 6 was Marc Savard (Team EA). A pretty tidy sum of 10 points that week brought a good lift to the pool team... hopefully looking for another big week like that this coming week.

Sunday's news:
Sergei Fedorov (Pull the Goalie) and Corey Perry (THE Team) returned to the Ducks line-up last night... good news for both pool teams.
Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) also started his first game last night in a little while... he missed 8 games with a shoulder injury.

Saturday morning news:
Returnees...
Alexei Zhamnov (The Late Impact) played in his first game this season this week and will continue to play this weekend against the Islanders.
Andrew Raycroft (Langdon River Dogs) also got his first start for the Bruins after missing 6 games.
John LeClair (The Late Impact) returned to the Penguins line-up after missing 3 games with a facial injury.
Mike Peca (Doug's Deadbeats) has now returned from his concussion.
Martin Brodeur (THE Team) started his first game (and won) after missing 6 games with a knee injury.
New injuries...
Alexander Mogilny (The Slim Pickens) has suffered a concussion and is listed as day-to-day. League policy says that he'll be out at least a week.

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Monday, November 07, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 5

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................135..........33
Team Lowes Racing............................123..........22
The Shaving Moes.............................121..........28

The Late Impact..............................117..........30
The Slim Pickens.............................115..........20
Langdon River Dogs...........................114..........25
Sherpa's Yaks................................114..........26
Team Chevy...................................111..........20
Team EA......................................109..........14
Taffy's Tyrants..............................106..........26
Pull the Goalie..............................103..........22
Doug's Deadbeats..............................96..........25
THE Team......................................92..........21
Thanx For Comin' Out..........................78..........16

Don's Dinos decided their lead wasn't big enough last week, that they had to get themselves even further ahead. A grand total of 33 points was enough to stretch their lead to 12 points. It's a pretty thick pack behind them, so the injury bug is the biggest fear of our leader.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comDaniel Alfredsson (THE Team) is the top point-getter this week with a HUGE 11 point week. Alfredsson only played in 3 games, which is almost 4 points a game! That's pretty sweet... unfortunately, it was just over half THE Team's scoring output for the week.

NAME CHANGE!!!
For the sake of good luck, which wasn't really happening... Maximus Orillius has decided to change his name to reflect the team's contemporary times. They are now referred to as "Pull the Goalie," since Jocelyn Thibault has yet to register a point in Pittsburgh this season.

Monday's News:
Returnees:
Doug Weight (The Shaving Moes) returned after missing two games with a concussion over the weekend. His presence in the line-up should help...
Kim Johnsson (Team Lowes Racing) only missed one game with a groin injury before returning.
New Injuries:
Todd White (Team Chevy) has been diagnosed with a strained groin... he's listed as day-to-day.
Steve Sullivan (Langdon River Dogs) has aggrevated a groin injury... also listed as day-to-day.
John LeClair (The Late Impact) is listed as out indefinitely with a facial injury.

Saturday's News:
New Injuries:
Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) only played two games in his return from a high ankle sprain, only to injure his left knee. An MRI this weekend will determine the extent of the injury, but the Blue Jackets fear 4 to 6 weeks already.
Returnees:
Ryan Getzlaf (Taffy's Tyrants) returned after missing 5 games with a shoulder injury... the Ducks could still use a few more injuries to come back though.
Bill Guerin (Doug's Deadbeats) returned after missing a couple games with a sore back.
Mats Sundin (Doug's Deadbeats) will return to the Leaf's line-up tonight. We best be watching out for the Deadbeats now that the injuries are coming back.

Thursday's News:
Mike Peca (Doug's Deadbeats) got smoked by the newly returned Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) which will leave him out indefinitely with a concussion.
Tuomo Ruutu (THE Team) has returned to the Blackhawks line-up after missing a couple games with a sore back.

Wednesday's News:
Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) did return to the Columbus line-up against Edmonton on Tuesday.
Brian Leetch (THE Team) was lost for a month after picking up a strained MCL Tuesday night. That leaves three players on THE Team on the IR for an indefinte period of time at the least. Corey Perry and Keith Tkachuk are the other two.
Alexei Zhamnov (The Late Impact) still seems to be hampered by a shoulder injury. He is yet to dress for the Bruins this season.
Martin Havlat (Sherpa's Yaks) will return from his suspension tonight.
Ryan Getzlaf (Taffy's Tyrants) should return to the Ducks' line-up this weekend.
Bill Guerin (Doug's Deadbeats) will miss a couple games due to back problems.
Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) may return to serve as a backup this week for the Sharks.

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Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Hooligans Pool Update

Team-- Points Tens Ones
Hank---- 72.5--- 2--- 0
Ian----- 68.0--- 0--- 0

Curtis-- 66.0--- 2--- 0
Rob----- 60.0--- 2--- 2
Terry--- 59.5--- 1--- 1
Cal----- 54.5--- 1--- 1
Kevin--- 53.0--- 1--- 1
Pat----- 41.0--- 0--- 0
Mike---- 39.5--- 0--- 2
Wayne--- 36.0--- 0--- 2

I'm still finding the best way to post these standings... I wish it could as easy as a copy and paste sort of job!

The most impressive stat in the pool thus far is Wayne's -38 in the plus/minus category. That's some nice work, Wayner!!


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Sunday, October 30, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 4

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................102..........27
Team Lowes Racing............................101..........25
Team EA.......................................95..........24
The Slim Pickens..............................95..........36
The Shaving Moes..............................93..........35
Team Chevy....................................91..........24
Langdon River Dogs............................89..........23
Sherpa's Yaks.................................88..........24
The Late Impact...............................87..........28
Maximus Orllius...............................81..........34
Taffy's Tyrants...............................80..........17
Doug's Deadbeats..............................71..........20
THE Team......................................71..........22
Thanx For Comin' Out..........................62..........16

Would ya believe it?? The miracle that I barred actually happened... The Slim Pickens came up with a HUGE Sunday (with only two games on the sched that night) to take the best team of the week with 36 points this week. The jump into the Top 4 was a pretty big one... now it's time to keep up with the big teams.

Eric Staal (The Slim Pickens) is the big dog during the week. A hat-trick on Friday... four assists on Saturday. He's on a huge point streak and now leads the league in points. Look out for him for the rest of the season.

Monday's News...
Returnees this week:
Martin Havlat (Sherpa's Yaks) will return from suspension this week...
Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) will be activated for Tuesday's game...

Soon-to-return:
Mats Sundin (Doug's Deadbeats) is returning to practice this week... unsure about his actual return date, but this is good news for the Deadbeats.

New injuries:
Doug Weight (The Shaving Moes) was lost to the Blues this weekend with concussion-like symptoms... should be out at least this week.
Kim Johnsson (Team Lowes Racing) left yesterday's game with an apparent groin strain. No word on how long he'll be out.

Sunday's News...
New Injuries:
Corey Perry (THE Team) has been listed on the IR with a concussion. Out indefinitely.
Bill Guerin (Doug's Deadbeats) left last night's game with back spasms... should be a day-to-day decision.
Dan Cloutier (Sherpa's Yaks) left last night's game with what looks to be a major concussion. Probably out indefinitely.


Saturday's News...
New Injury Listings:
Dick Tarnstrom (Maximus Orillius) will be lost indefinitely with a knee injury.
Andrew Raycroft (Langdon River Dogs) is out day-to-day with a hamstring injury.
Martin Brodeur (THE Team) is out day-to-day after tweaking his knee this week.
Sandis Ozolinsh (Doug's Deadbeats) will be lost indefinitely with fractured ribs.
Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) has been updated to be out 3 to 5 weeks with his fractured rib injury.

Wednesday's News...
New Injury Listings:
Ryan Getzlaf (Taffy's Tyrants) - out day-to-day with a shoulder injury
Marian Gaborik (Sherpa's Yaks) - out day-to-day with a hip flexor



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Monday, October 24, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 3

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Team Lowes Racing.............................76..........19
Don's Dinos...................................75..........28
Team EA.......................................71..........22
Team Chevy....................................67..........17
Langdon River Dogs............................66..........20
Sherpa's Yaks.................................64..........24

Taffy's Tyrants...............................63..........28
The Slim Pickens..............................59..........26
The Late Impact...............................56..........15
The Shaving Moes..............................56..........18
Doug's Deadbeats..............................51..........12
THE Team......................................49..........14
Maximus Orllius...............................47..........14
Thanx For Comin' Out..........................46..........18

Image hosted by Photobucket.comPoints are updated for the end of Week 3...

Jaromir Jagr's (Langdon River Dogs) hat-trick brought him to the top of the pile with six points. Jagr also added an assist on Saturday night to bring his week-best total to seven points this week. If there is one guy who is benefitting greatly from the new rules, it is certainly Jagr.

The mover & shaker this week would have to be Taffy's Tyrants with 28 points... they'll get the nod since they jumped several positions in the standings to get themselves out of the bottom. After a big night from Chris Simon last night, they moved into the top half of the standings.

Doin' the basement shuffle this week was Doug's Deadbeats. Although all but 3 Deadbeats had points, none of them collected more than two points each. The eventual return of Mats Sundin will be most welcomed as will the schedule for the Senators and Dominik Hasek should return to normal after only playing one game this past week.
Monday's News...
A shake-up on the injury front... Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) will miss the Sharks' three games this week due to an upper-body injury that he suffered over the weekend. He'll be greatly missed as the teams in behind Team Chevy are now picking up the pace!

Sergei Fedorov (Maximus Orillius) missed his fifth straight game on Sunday night with a groin injury. It is unclear when he is expected to return to the Ducks line-up.

Adrian Aucoin (Langdon River Dogs) re-aggrevated his groin injury over the weekend and will continue to miss time with the Hawks. The River Dogs aren't really struggling for defenseman points, but one more guy always gives ya a better chance to make it to the top faster.

Tuomo Ruutu (THE Team) has been sitting out with a back injury that has been leaving him on the IR for what they call day-to-day. Ruutu had a pretty quick start to the season and will be sorely missed from THE Teams point totals.

Friday's News...
Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) was placed on the Injured Reserve after taking a stick in the stomach this week. He shouldn't miss too much time, but his presence will be missed on THE Team.

Ryan Smyth (Don's Dinos) returned tonight to the Oiler line-up. Good news for the Dinos.

Wednesday's News...
Well, it's official... Kenny Jonsson (Doug's Deadbeats) will be staying in Sweden this year and not returning to the Islanders this season. The word on TSN during the Islanders/Rangers game on Wednesday night was that Jonsson has been "exiled" by the club out in Sweden. Bad news for the Deadbeats early on this year.


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Wednesday, October 19, 2005

The Slim Pickens

Image hosted by Photobucket.comA wide variety of players don the Slim Pickens' label this year, including the re-united pairing in New Jersey, Alex Mogilny and Scott Gomez. So far the two have accomplished 9 points as a pairing and they still probably haven't hit their stride yet.

There's talent both young and old on the team. In the "Oldie but still a goodie" department; Teemu Selanne & Roman Hamrlik lead the charge... two offensive talents up front and on the blueline respectively.

Coming up the ranks are quite a few superstars... Eric Staal (8 points) & Tyler Arnason (7 points) are quickly proving to be really good picks, while Jay Bouwmeester is still trying to find point number one.

Others yet to find their pace, but won't be too far along... Chris Drury & Robert Esche (2 points) and Pavel Kubina (1 point).

The Slim Pickens had a big jump to the season, but have tailed off a bit... I would look for a big weekend from some of the youngin's... it has been a pretty slow week for a lot of teams so far this week.

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Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 2

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Team Lowes Racing.............................57..........35
Team Chevy....................................50..........31
Team EA.......................................49..........22
Don's Dinos...................................47..........18
Langdon River Dogs............................46..........25
The Late Impact...............................41..........15
Sherpa's Yaks.................................40..........19
Doug's Deadbeats..............................39..........20
The Shaving Moes..............................38..........18
THE Team......................................35..........14
Taffy's Tyrants...............................35..........24
The Slim Pickens..............................33..........11
Maximus Orllius...............................33..........20
Thanx For Comin' Out..........................28..........21


Team Lowes Racing still leads the pack after Week 2 (games ending on Sunday). They had the biggest week in the pool scoring a huge 35 points, while the Slim Pickens barely hit the board with a feeble 11 points, dropping a few places.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comDefenseman Bryan McCabe (Team Lowes Racing) is our Player of the Week for the second week. He had a massive (for a defenseman) 8 points for his pool team and the Leafs.

Denis Gauthier (Thanx For Comin' Out) has now been listed as being out for a month.

Martin Havlat (Sherpa's Yaks) was suspended for 5 games this past weekend.

Marian Gaborik (Sherpa's Yaks) should return to the Wild line-up this week after missing the first two with a groin injury.

There will be more updates to come!!

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Monday, October 17, 2005

Brett Hull Retires

Image hosted by Photobucket.comCan't really say I saw this coming... nor did the people who chose him in some pools... but Brett Hull retired on Saturday! He never made a Wildfire team this season, so this isn't big news for the pool website in general... but its certainly worth a mention, since the site hasn't been updated since Friday.

Standings for the Wildfire Hockey Pool will more than likely be posted sometime tonight.


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Friday, October 14, 2005

Maximus Orillius

Image hosted by Photobucket.comSolid names throughout the line-up on paper... to the Maximus, but unfortunately, few have found high gear. On the plus side, Peter Forsberg has kicked it into gear, registering a few more assists Friday night to bring him up to 9 points so far this season. Not doin' too bad for being the first pick for the team.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comStaying in Pennsylvania, Maximus Orillius has taken most of his team from the big potential in Pittsburgh. Ziggy Palffy, Dick Tarnstrom and Jocelyn Thibault are all igloo dwellers on the team, but with Thibault already running into injury problems, only Palffy and Tarnstrom are frolicking on the ice.

Sergei Fedorov and Alexei Yashin represent the Russian contingent on the team... both players are somewhat lost in the shuffle of the new NHL, since there is so much new talent, they are equally flying under the radar, until they register some big points.

Ladislav Nagy and Mike Comrie are big desert gambles for Maximus Orillius this year... can the Great One make these guys dangerous weapons this season?? Someone seems to think so.

Rounding out the defense are two mammoths... Chris Pronger and Zdeno Chara. Both are big rocks for the respective NHL clubs and should be good productive d-men for the pool this year.

All in all, this isn't a bad team on paper... they're just a little lacking at the moment. Still probably getting there hockey legs underneath them. Hopefully the rust shakes off sooner rather than later.


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Thursday, October 13, 2005

Taffy's Tyrants

Image hosted by Photobucket.comEric Lindros & Bryan McCabe will headline Taffy's Tyrants (mostly because I've spotlighted the Flames already yesterday). Lindros isn't quite the sure thing with his health and all, but picking him 8th makes up for that gamble. If he is to stay healthy, he will be a big force in the league this year... once he has his legs underneath him. McCabe is sort of waiting for the rest of the team to work around him before he starts cashing in the points. That isn't to say that the Leafs aren't scoring, 15 goals in 4 games isn't too bad.

From the Flames, there's a player from each position... in goal, Mikka Kiprusoff was the first pick for the Tyrants, but he's yet to show why. Jordan Leopold was the seventh pick... he should pick up his pace sooner rather than later, one would hope. Chris Simon, the third pick, would be perfect for a pool with penalty minutes... not sure how he'll fare in a points pool.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comIn Anaheim, Ryan Getzlaf and Petr Sykora should benefit from good linemates to produce some points for Taffy's men... Getzlaf, one of the prized rookies in the league and Sykora back to playing with some guy named Selanne... sparks should fly for the Ducks.

In New York, the Rangers sport Michael Nylander and the Islanders house Miroslav Satan for the Tyrants. One's a playmaker on the top line and the other is a scorer for a top line... both are equally good picks, especially in this wide open league we're seeing this year.

Finally, Sergei Gonchar is the favourite defeneman in Pittsburgh. I would imagine he was looking forward to playing with such great offensive talents when he joined the club... but he also probably wanted to play for a winning team. Nevertheless, as long as he touches the puck in most games, he'll reap in a good chunk of points.


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Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Wildfire Team Spotlight: Thanx For Comin' Out

I thought to myself, well... let's look at a few of these teams in the Wildfire pool, since you guys are showin' up to take a look at the Standings in all. So we'll start in last place and work our way up...

Image hosted by Photobucket.comI don't think there was a team that took more Flames than Greg. Thanx For Comin' Out is lined up with four Flames as they were taken in succession inclusive rounds 3 through 6. Chuck Kobasew, Darren McCarty, Dion Phaneuf and Steven Reinprecht. It was almost alarming when these guys were taken... 'cuz all with the exception of Phaneuf, who was bound to go early, the rest of them could have been held out to be taken later on in the draft. Alas, they weren't and all have yet to really spark up with the Flames this year.

The first couple picks in the draft were obvious no-brainers... Dany Heatley in Ottawa and Todd Bertuzzi in Vancouver. Heatley is already lighting it up severely with the Senators, yet Bertuzzi is still to find his regular season legs on the big line of the Canucks. Shouldn't be too much of a worry though, it has to be said.

Rounding out the forwards is another Canuck, Daniel Sedin. Another player still to find his stride, although the twins line looked fairly good in Detroit on Monday. A big game against the Wild tonight could make a big difference for TFCO and the Canucks.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comStacking up the rest of the blueline was left to the Coyotes in Phoenix... both Denis Gauthier and Sean O'Donnell will anchor the defense corp for TFCO for the season, where it's still hard to say how the Coyotes will fare in general offensively, let alone for the poolies.

Lastly, in goal, Manny Fernandez was the preferred choice from the Minnesota Wild pairing this season... another ex-Flame to get some work for TFCO. Fernandez looked sharp in his overtime loss last week... so he may not be a bad choice, especially if those darned injuries strike the Wild.

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Sunday, October 09, 2005

Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 1

Don's Dinos..................................29
Team EA......................................27
The Late Impact..............................26
The Slim Pickens.............................22
Team Lowes Racing............................22

Sherpa's Yaks................................21
THE Team.....................................21
The Shaving Moes.............................21

Langdon River Dogs...........................21
Team Chevy...................................19
Doug's Deadbeats.............................19

Maximus Orllius..............................13
Taffy's Tyrants..............................10
Thanx For Comin' Out..........................7


Sunday's results from Detroit, Chicago & Los Angeles have all been entered into the standings as of now... generally, I'll have my weeks end on every Sunday and pick the best player in the pool as the Player of the Week...

Image hosted by Photobucket.comThere were a couple of guys with 8 points a piece in the abbreviated first week of the season, but the most fantastic of the two was Roberto Luongo (Team EA). To have two wins, both being shutouts, in this wide-open new NHL, you've got to be doing something amazing.

There certainly were a whole lot of points put up this season and a lot of players were vying for good position on the list. Marc Savard (Team EA) also had 8 points; Henrik Zetterberg (Don's Dinos), Jose Theodore (The Late Impact) and Dominik Hasek (Doug's Deadbeats) all registered 6 points.

This week, Doug's Deadbeats will have 34 player games to be played and should have a good run for points. On the other hand, the Slim Pickens will only play about 28 games and will lie back and watch the world go by.

Coming soon... I should be able to nail down some more flexible webspace... maybe even register opiatedsherpa.com, because that'd be pretty sweet.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Kovalchuk Signs!!

Image hosted by Photobucket.comAnyone gamble on ol' Kovalchuk in their pools? I know there was a few people who wanted to take on the Russian, as most of us probably knew Atlanta were not ready to live without him this season... or at all.

If the Thrashers are gonna score seven goals without him (granted, it was against Washington)... what are they gonna do with him in the line-up?

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Thursday, October 06, 2005

Injuries...

Well, my poolie friends... just like any other year, injuries happen. Some of them, as shocking as it sounds, happen right away in the season. Hopefully, you and your team have not been affected by these unfortunate incidents...

Mats Sundin has a fractured orbital bone after taking a puck to the face... 4 to 6 weeks. Ouch! More than likely, if he puts on a visor when he comes back right away, he may be back in that month timeframe. Sundin is usually a pretty high pick when it comes to the pool and not a guy you wanna lose for too long. Jeff O'Neill has also been sidelined with a shoulder injury. I still haven't seen how long he'd be out for, but a shoulder has a real bad potential to it... especially if it is serious.

Anyone take a gamble on Martin Gerber in Carolina as their starting goalie... or as a goalie in general? Gerber pulled a muscle in his hip and has now left the door open for Cam Ward to make a good showing as the starter for the Hurricanes. Anyone gamble on Ward?

Kari Lehtonen left last night's game against Florida with a new groin injury... not like the one that plagued him through the pre-season, apparently. In my second big pool, he's in my team... he was the first goalie I picked. I'm hoping this doesn't count him out for too long.


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Here Come The Kids...

If opening night wasn't a good indicator for what the season will be like, I don't know what will be. Goals, a couple shootouts & a shutout. Welcome back, guys... we've missed you.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comIt didn't take long before the Calder Trophy race became the hottest one... in my opinion.

Myself, personally, I wouldn't be afraid to draft Alexander Ovechkin (pictured) in my pool... and I have in another pool other than my Wildfire pool. His two goals against Columbus last night only gives more proof that he'll be the man in Washington, as if to think no one thought so already.

Not to be overshadowed (not like he will) is Sidney Crosby. The media sensation in Pittsburgh also registered an assist against the Devils and he will be a quality pick this season as well. How high is really up to you though... I have seen him go as high as 3rd overall.

As of today and days before... Ovechkin is my prediction for the Calder Trophy. He will be the man in Washington and the rookie to watch in this awesome class.

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Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Game On!!

Well, if you've been living under a sporting rock... IT'S HOCKEY SEASON!!!

If you're still to draft for your hockey pool, NHL.com has released all the starting rosters for opening night tonight. A good reference for poolies who don't know who's injured or sent down to the minors. Reference this sheet for active players to take right away in the pool.

Get drafting!

Another Hockey Pool For The Sherpa

I was invited to another hockey pool last night and it had quite a different set of rules for their hockey pool. There were 10 guys (although 4 of them were on the phone, long distance) picking 20 players: 11 forwards, 6 defensemen and 3 goalies.

The way the points are divvied out is quite interesting. There are 10 statistical categories that points are awarded for, but they aren't awarded for every point or minute, rather every category is only worth a maximum of 10 points.

So, the team with the most goals would therefore collect 10 points, second would collect 9 points, third would collect 8 and so forth...

This happens for every category. Most assists, highest +/-, most PIM, most PPG, most SHG and most GWG for all the skaters... and then most Wins, most Shutouts and highest Save Percentage for the goalies.

There are 10 categories in all, so the maximum amount of points that any one team can achieve through the season is 100 points and the lowest is 10.

This will prove to be an interesting pool... it's something just a little bit different. Myself and my friend, Rob, put in a team together and were pretty proud of ourselves with what we came up with for a team. Hell, we managed to pick up the entire first line for the Canucks! Woo hoo.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

The Injury List

Well, you know, I'd keep updating my own list... but it's really only typing what's already been typed on other sites.

I recommend if you want to find injury news for the Eastern Conference, go here... and for the Western Conference, go here. I will have these pages listed on the sidebar to the right of the page.

If you're still to draft for your pools this week, I recommend you keep these pages in the back of your mind. You don't want to be drafting the injured and impared.

My Wildfire Pool Team

Well, I thought I would post the entire draft list round by round... but I don't really feel like it. It seems kinda silly. What I might do though is post teams as we progress through the season. Post the best teams of the week and how they did it... but before the season starts, I feel like posting the Sherpa's Yaks... my team!

Image hosted by Photobucket.comUp front is where I concentrated on getting my points, but I did manage to get my goalie in the first few picks. To no real surprise, I picked up some important Canucks. Markus Naslund was my first overall pick and Dan Cloutier was my third pick... I feel that there's a lot of points sitting there for me. Naslund should produce some serious points on the big line and that should be enough to win games for Cloutier. Hoorah!

Image hosted by Photobucket.comThe other team that I stacked my line-up from was in Ottawa... there is gonna be a lot of points coming from the Senators this year and I feel fortunate to get the guys I did. I managed to pick up Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat & Wade Redden... three guys who will all see power play time. Spezza will be on the Sens top line and after he had his big season in the AHL, he'll be a go-to guy in Ottawa. The chemistry between him and Heatley looks to be better than any high school science fair project.

Marian Gaborik, despite his injury, was still worthy of my 5th pick in the pool. He's generally a Sherpa-favourite from year-to-year and the year I didn't take him, the last one (I think), he was injured through a good portion of the season. Hopefully, he's got his groin problem sorted for the first game of the season against Calgary. I hope he has a big year!

My sixth pick, 5th forward, is Nikolai Zherdev. I expect some good numbers out of the youth in Columbus... despite their probable lack of a winning record. Zherdev, Nash, Brule... all prove to be great scorers in the league this year... and for years to come. That's why I wanted Zherdev now!

My last forward in the draft is another youngster who I have high hopes pinned on... Thomas Vanek. The Hockey News has him pegged at 20 goals this season and that's about where I think he should produce at. Anything more would be a bonus... anything less, wouldn't be terrible... he is a rookie after all.

The youth movement is completed back on the blueline with two future Norris Trophy candidates (in my opinion)... Joni Pitkanen in Philly and Dan Hamhuis in Nashville. Pitkanen is a part of a high-powered Flyer team that should feed from each other and earn points game after game. Hamhuis will be a quarterback of a hard-working Predator power play with the likes of Sullivan and Kariya. Both players are two I've had my eye on and cheer for regardless... so, they're better off on my team.

Markus Naslund, Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat, Marian Gaborik, Nikolai Zherdev & Thomas Vanek up front; Wade Redden, Joni Pitkanen & Dan Hamhuis on my blueline; and Dan Cloutier in net. If I don't win, I'll have a good time cheerin' for 'em.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Draft Day, Round 2

There weren't many surprises in Round 1, but there was one in Round 2.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comJohn LeClair (The Late Impact)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comAlexander Mogilny (The Slim Pickens)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comRick Nash (Langdon River Dogs)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comZigmund Palffy (Maximus Orillius)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comBrad Richards (Team Chevy)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comDaniel Alfredsson (THE Team)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comAlex Tanguay (Team EA Sports)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comRyan Getzlaf (Taffy's Tyrants)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comMarty Turco (Don's Dinos)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comEd Belfour (The Shaving Moe's)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comTodd Bertuzzi (Thanx For Comin' Out)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comMike Modano (Doug's Deadbeats)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comPaul Kariya (Team Lowes Racing)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comJason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks)

Ryan Getzlaf, the former Calgary Hitman, was taken way up in the 2nd round of the draft. He stands to play on at least the second line in Anaheim and may not disappoint. Then again...

Draft Day, Round 1

12 numbers went into the hat at 4pm on Saturday, the order was determined, another beer was ordered and then we shot through a quick draft. Two teams joined the pool afterwards, but the teams should be fairly comparable in this draft format.

The Sherpa's Yaks had first pick overall... only after everyone took their number out of a hat... Thanx For Comin' Out had the number one pick in his hand... but instead left it for the number four pick.

So, the first round looked like so...

Image hosted by Photobucket.comMarkus Naslund (Sherpa's Yaks)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comJerome Iginla (Team Lowes Racing)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comSidney Crosby (Doug's Deadbeats)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comDany Heatley (Thanx For Comin' Out)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comMartin St. Louis (The Shavin' Moes)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comJoe Thornton (Don's Dinos)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comMiikka Kiprusoff (Taffy's Tyrants)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comJoe Sakic (Team EA Sports)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comMartin Brodeur (THE Team)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comVincent Lecavalier (Team Chevy)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comPeter Forsberg (Maximus Orillius)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comJaromir Jagr (Langdon River Dogs)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comRobert Esche (The Slim Pickens)
Image hosted by Photobucket.comJose Theodore (The Late Impact)