SMC 2/10/2019 WE NOW RESUME OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING My apologies for not writing for a while but hope to be back on a weekly basis until the end of the regular season.  Don’t worry, I have my coffee. It’s a race to the playoffs now that the ASG game is over and done with.  The games should be hotly contested for those battling for the last few spots. For the defensive minded teams, it’s a good time to try and grab their goalies for your fantasy squad as they tighten up their defense approaching the playoffs. Nashville and Las Vegas have the least games remaining with 24 and 25 respectively. Some teams in difficult position on deciding to make a playoff run or ‘lose for Hughes’. St. Louis is making a run by going 7-2-1 in last ten and are one of the 3 teams with the most games remaining with 28.  They have games in hand to catch the teams ahead of them. Hottest Blues in February---Tarasenko with 6 and Schenn also with 6 points in 4 games.  O’Reilly has been consistent all year and has 3 points in 4 February games. The best line in NHL was the Colorado line of Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen.  But that was the first half.  The best line going forward is probably Pastrnak-Bergeron-Marchand. Surprise team of this season is the NY Islanders.  Coach Trotz and the coaching staff have solidified the goaltending and the offense is coming around nicely after a slow start. Ryan Pulock might be the best D-man the rest of the season.  6 points in 5 February games. Devils missed Cory Schneider, but they really miss Taylor Hall.  Ducks have been roasted since the beginning of 2019.  Not even that old Ducker Corey Perry will save them. Anders Nilsson is making a name for himself to be the Ottawa Senators starting goaltender for next season.  He only has won 6 of his last 8 starts while Craig Anderson, probably heading out by the trade deadline, has lost all four of his starts since returning from injury. Can the Florida Panthers get hot enough like they did the second half of last year and just fall short of the playoffs again?  History repeats.  Growing pains. When you have Carey Price in net I guess you shouldn’t count the Canadiens out. Not sure if Zibanejad can keep up this pace, especially since his line mate Zuccarello will get traded in a few weeks.  Can’t stay that hot anyway.  SELL HIGH! Zuccarello on the other hand will continue to produce since he should be traded to a contender battling for the playoffs.  Incentive remains. There are quite a few ...

SMC 2/12/2017 CATS REVIVAL! Recovering from the storm the other day, it’s nice to sit with a hot mug of coffee and peruse the hockey sites! Patrice Bergeron has turned around his season very nicely and has 9 points in last 5 games.  You just knew he would. Craig Anderson with a huge shutout victory over the Islanders in his return to the lineup.  Our prayers go out to him and his wife and their families for a speedy return to health.  Heard she is doing well. I expect the Islanders to come out guns blazing against the Colorado Avalanche today. Even ferocious Sharks can’t survive in Philly. The Panthers are alive and well and competing fiercely in the NHL.  Barkov and Huberdeau are huge components of that offense and with both back in the lineup, lookout NHL! Vincent Trocheck is no slouch either.  Expect the rest of the lineup to benefit from their returns as well. What is wrong with Ryan Johansen?  He has so much freaking talent but it doesn’t show. Now, Victor Arvidsson is having a good season.  Johansen, could be doing better. Nice to see Roman Josi starting to pick up the scoring pace. Dallas may not make the playoffs unless they go off on a hot streak. After that unbeaten month of December, the Columbus Blue Jackets are playing .500 hockey at best. Our condolences to the family of Mike Ilitch on his passing this week. Is Gustav Nyquist finally waking up?  Nah!  What a huge disappointment he has been since ’14-’15. Now Evander Kane seems to be picking up his game of late. Get those Islanders in your fantasy lineup as they are on a roll, disregard Saturday’s shutout by the returning Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators. Montreal is 3-5-2 in last 10.  IS that even possible? The one thing about the New York Rangers is that they get scoring from everyone in their lineup, for the most part. Jonathan Drouin had no shots on goal against Winnipeg on Saturday.  How can he not have any shots on goal with his talent?  I mean the Jets’ Jacob Trouba had 5 and he’s a d-man. I’d wear extra pads when playing the Washington Capitals and trying to block their shots.  They are explosive. I would love to see a high-scoring game and every goal scorer have the first name of Ryan. Patric Hornqvist is starting to come around. It looks like Ottawa is trying to secure a playoff spot early instead of trying to perform miracles to get in. Nicklas Backstrom has plunged himself right into the scoring title race. Have a great week and may all your fantasies come true!

SMC 11-15-2015 Sorry for the delay today but life got in the way, but have no fear, I just finished my afternoon coffee and am ready to let fly. Patrick Kane doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything as he leads the NHL in scoring. Red Wing Justin Abdelkader signed a reasonable 7-year extension proving that some NHL players are in it for more than just the money.  Don’t get me wrong, the money is still good but he wants to be on a perennial contender with a chance at the Cup every year.  Smart. Craig Anderson always plays the Rangers tough.  Even though he lost 2-1 in a shootout Saturday afternoon, this might jump start him to a stretch of very good goaltending. No matter who gets traded away, who gets signed to the team, Patrice Bergeron is the heart and soul of the Boston Bruins, and very under-rated. Ovechkin had 15 shots on goal the other night versus the Red Wings and was held off the board.  He was probably exhausted at the end. Good to see Pavel Datsyuk suit up finally after off-season surgery on his ankle.   Always a pleasure a watching Dats play. Buffalo lost 2-1 to San Jose in a shootout just showing once again that they will be a tough team to play against this year.  They may lose a lot of games, but the will be hard-earned if that makes any sense. Rumors of Patrick Marleau being traded this early in the season is probably just a lot of hot air produced by the media and bloggers to create traffic.  Marleau, with his contract, probably won’t be traded until closer to the trading deadline so teams can fit him under their salary cap. The Toronto Maple Leafs have won three in a row.  I don’t know how many times you will get to say that this season. The Avalanche buried Mike Condon and the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 Saturday.  And they were playing in the Bell Centre. Condon was shelled for his first loss of the season.  Does this mean Carey price will be back in net sooner than later? Just keep in mind how streaky Max Pacioretty is so you don’t pull all your hair out when he goes stretches without scoring a goal.  He has one in the past 9 games. Matt Duchene has turned it on of late and if you haven’t noticed, he has brought along Mikhail Grigorenko along for the ride.  Grigs has 4 points in past two games. Nathan McKinnon is having a career year.  Already he has 19 points in 17 games and he has been a consistent scorer since the first day of the season. The Battle of Florida was a doozy with the Panthers winning 5-4 in a shootout.  The Panthers will ...

Steves Picks- Draft Kings(write ups will be up after 4. Sorry, at work folks!)   C Travis Zajac, New Jersey C Mika Zibanejad, Mon W Mark Stone, Ott W Max Pacioretty, Mon W Brendan Gallagher, Mon D Erik Karlsson, Ott D Andrei Markov, Mon G Craig Anderson, Ott U Jason Pominville, Min

A lot of good matchups tonight with some struggling teams in Pittsburgh and Edmonton looking for their first wins while Montreal & Nashville look to remain unbeaten with games against the NY teams. We all know that the Penguins are ready to burst out in a big way with the amount of offensive talent they have but can they break thorugh against red-hot Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson?  Ottawa did play last night in Columbus and scored 7 goals.  That usally results in a lack of production the next game, so we shall see.  Dallas-Tampa Bay can be very explosive as well with both teams sporting some high octane talent up front.  RAY'S PICKS G: Roberto Luongo-FLA ($8,400) D: Alex Pietrangelo-STL ($5,500) D: Colton Parayko-STL ($3,000) LW: Jonathan Huberdeau-FLA ($5,000) LW: Jonathan Drouin-TB ($4,600) RW: Vladimir Tarasenko-STL ($8,200) RW: Phil Kessel-PIT ($7,900) C; Steven Stamkos-TB ($8,500) C: Teuvo Teravainen-CHI ($3,800)  

Today we take a quick look at Winnipeg's Michael Hutchinson and Ottawa'a Andrew Hammond. Both goalies enjoyed their fair share of the fantasy spotlight last season; the former being a sensation early on while the latter surging later to lead them into the playoffs. Regardless of circumstances, they will generate much buzz come draft day Before the All-Star break, Hutchinson was superb in the crease sporting a 14-4-2 mark with a 1.90 GAA and .935 SP. However, the wheels came off a bit during the second half as he lost the starting job to Ondrej Pavelec while going 7-6-3 with 2.97 GAA/.885 SP. There is reason to believe that "Hutch" can challenge Pavelec for the starting goalie nod in training camp but his second half fade has lessened such expectations. Fantasy owners would be wise to draft both Winnipeg goalies and hope one stands out sooner then later. I will bank more on experience and the strong second half, so the edge belongs to Pavelec.    In the case of Andrew Hammond, the AHL journeyman with pedestrian numbers gave the Sens a tremendous boost when called up after injuries to Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner. He subsequently went on a ridiculous 20-1-2 streak to start his NHL career, right in time to get the Senators in the playoffs. His post-season run was a different story as he lost both starts and then the starting nod to veteran Craig Anderson. This unspectacular finish to an incredible debut season for Hammond has his fantasy stock dropping a bit for the upcoming season, but he too will have a chance to wrest away the top job for Opening Night. Again, we give the slight edge to Anderson as the more valuable fantasy asset as Hammond's past pedigree is not one that inspires much confidence for continued elite success.

PRIMEPUCKS™ 2015 FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF REVIEW The 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs are beginning shortly and PrimePucks™ is taking a look at what they predict will happen in the first round and beyond. NEW YORK RANGERS vs. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS:  After last season’s improbable run at the Stanley Cup only to fall short by losing to a more determined Los Angeles Kings team, the New York Rangers are back in the dance but this time with a more focused outlook.  It appears the Rangers got a very good taste and were thisclose to hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup that they locked down the home ice advantage throughout by winning the President’s Cup with a very solid second half. The Rangers take on the Pittsburgh Penguins who seem to be a team in disarray especially after losing their best defenseman in Kris Letang for the remainder of this season with a concussion. The team with all this talent up front seemed to have trouble finding their offensive game with the loss of Letang.  The Rangers on the other hand seemed to be getting better with every passing game.  Expect the Rangers to win this in no more than 6 games as they forge ahead to another Finals appearance.  Those of you in playoff pools should definitely start all the major Blueshirts like Rick Nash, Henrik Lundqvist, Keith Yandle, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan McDonagh, Martin St. Louis and company as this team has their eyes set on the silver trophy. MONTREAL CANADIENS vs. OTTAWA SENATORS:  The Rangers likely opponent in the Conference Finals, the Canadiens, should dispose of the surprising Ottawa Senators fairly easy behind MVP Candidate Carey Price.  The Senators had an amazing climb in the standings to reach the playoffs but will run into a team that has some motivation of their own to exact revenge on the Rangers, who they may have beaten in last year’s Conference Finals if it weren’t for Chris Kreider knocking Price out of the series with a collision in the first game of their match. For the Canadiens, it all starts with Price. And in front of Price there is a defensive core that packs a punch both in the scoring department and defensively as well.  P.K. Subban leads the charge on both those ends with veteran Andrei Markov supplying steady support. The rest of the defense will give other teams fits to round out the Montreal defense.  On the forward front, Max Pacioretty leads the charge with Tomas Plekanec, Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais and Brendan Gallagher rounding out the scorers but don’t expect ...

Blue Jackets showcasing for next season, Bruins put down Cats, OV gets 50 Two teams trying to finish out the season on high notes, the New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets battled to a 3-2 Columbus win.  Players like Mike Cammalleri and Nick Foligno improved on their goal scoring with both reaching 27 on the season so far.  Cammalleri showed what he is capable of when healthy and Foligno displayed that he has arrived in the NHL.  Ryan Johansen had 2 assists on the night and with the Jackets starting to gain some experience, they should be better off next year as long as they don’t get hit with so many injuries like this year…. Alex Ovechkin reached 50 goals for the 6th time in his career and is in contention for the scoring title as well as the goal-scoring trophy with 77 points, just 2 points behind leader Sidney Crosby.  Oh, and the Capitals beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2, not only solidifying their hold on one of the wild card slots, but also chasing the NY Islanders for third place in the division…. The Florida Panthers gave it their best shot but the Boston Bruins came away with a 3-2 regulation win, putting the Cats 6 points behind the Bruins for that last wild card slot.  As impressive as the young Panthers have been this year, it was the young talent of the Bruins that provided the spark in the 3rd period as David Pastrnak (G, A) and Ryan Spooner (2A) showed what is to come in their NHL careers in this pressure-packed game…. The King is Back! Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 32 of 34 shots to gain his first victory since returning from injury, helping down the Winnipeg Jets 3-2. Cam Talbot had quite the fantasy run but his starts will be limited over the last two weeks as Lundqvist gets back to elite level... The struggling Toronto Maple Leafs win their second straight contest, prevailing 3-1 over a Tampa Bay squad coming off a huge win of their own over Montreal. Nazem Kadri led the way with a goal and an assist while goalie James Reimer saved 40 shots for the Leafs. Of fantasy consequence, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman and forward Tyler Johnson missed the game due to injuries.. Albeit a light night in terms of shot faced, Ottawa's Andrew Hammond was back in fine form after saving 16 of 17 shots to preserve the 2-1 SO win over Detroit. The rookie looks good to go for his fantasy owners as Craig Anderson has not delivered in the clutch thus far. For Detroit, Petr Mrazek was solid again and will be getting the next start against Boston...

SEASON'S END IS NEAR With the season winding down and A majority of fantasy pools in playoff mode, it is time to take a look at next season and project possible bargain goaltenders that could possibly give you better bang for your buck.  Also, this will be the last BETWEEN THE PIPES feature article for this season.  So, let’s take a look at some net minders you may want to take a chance on for next season and which ones may be as good as they have been. It is probably safe to say that Minnesota got themselves a gem in Devan Dubnyk with the way he has settled in as their starter.  The only problem is that Dubnyk will be an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) come July 1st unless signed to a deal.  You know what usually happens to players who sign long-term contracts either via free agency or staying with their existing clubs?  Their performance seems to tail off once they land the big bucks.  Another thing that Dubnyk doesn’t have going for him is that he hasn’t proven on a consistent basis that he is a quality NHL starting goaltender or perhaps, now that he will 29 years of age come May, he has finally matured.  Minnesota still has Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper signed for another year, so something will need to be done during the off-season.  And for those wondering about Josh Harding, he will become an UFA at season’s end.  Enjoy the performance for the remainder of this year, and monitor where he ends up next season, but don’t expect the same numbers, they rarely repeat themselves. Dubnyk has a few years of experience behind him but others like Andrew Hammond have unexpectedly taken the NHL by storm.  Hammond was pressed into action by the Ottawa Senators when both of their starters, Craig Anderson & Robin Lehner, went down to injury, prompting the Senators to dig into their farm system and bring up Hammond who wasn’t particularly worthy of a call up with the way he was performing.  But stranger things have happened before and they will in the future.  All Hammond has done is put the club on his back and bring them to within earshot of a playoff berth with a 10-0-1 record.  Given his minor league stats, this is probably just an aberration and shouldn’t be taken seriously past this season.  Hammond will try to parlay his performance into a nice contract being that he is a Restricted Free Agent (RFA), but as the Senators have their two starters locked up in multi-year deals, there doesn’t seem to be a spot for Hammond on the big club.  What can there be ...

Zidlicky flourishing in Detroit; The Hamburglar does it again; Talbot on his head; and more: No need for Jimmy Howard to bail out the Wings against the pens as petr mrazek subbed in with a 42-save doozy culminating in the 5-1 drubbing. Marek Zidlicky was the fantasy star of the match, scoring a goal and collecting two assists. Hope you have scooped him off the waiver wire as that window of opportunity should be slammed shut after that effort... Injury alert- Patrick Hornqvist was hurt in the third period and might not be available for this week. Monitor the situation..Cam Talbot continues his stellar goaltending in place of 'King Henrik, stopping  shots in the 2-1 win. One thing to take away from this game is how dangerous the line of Jagr-Barkov-Huberdeau was all night for Florida. The future Hall of Famer has helped the youngsters begin to realize their immense potential so maybe consider playing them down the stretch. Definitely keep them in mind come next year.  A fourth shutout for Jake Allen as the  St. Louis Blues held on for a 3-0 win in Dallas. Alex Pietrangelo dished out two assists to improve his numbers to five points over the last five games. With 38 points in 69 games, another 40+ point season awaits AP. Not bad for a season that many have viewed as a fantasy disappointment. There is no doubt that he took a back sets to Kevin Shattenkirk this year, but expect a huge rebound in 2015-16.  Braden Holtby posted his eight shutout of the season as the Washington Capitals bounced back froma recent slide to defeat the Boston bruins 2-0. Holtby rocks but so does Nicklas Backstrom who finished with two assists in the winning cause.. Andrew Hammond wins again for Ottawa as their drive for a wildcard spot continues. Craig Anderson who? You know what to do.. Great comeback by Anaheim as the Ducks used a four-goal third period to defeat Nashville 4-2. James Wisniewski picked up his first point in his new uniform..