Well, let’s get at it.
Standing on their Head
Tomas Vokoun, FLA – No starter saw more pucks or had better GAA than Vokoun over the last month. His fantasy value is directly linked to the amount of saves he puts up in any given month and in fact nobody beats him in the Saves category over a given month. The Panthers have 6 games in February, 4 of them on the road, and I suspect that Vokoun will get 4 or 5 of those starts before anchoring the Czech Olympic hockey team.
Evgeni Nabokov, SJ – Much of the Sharks success has to be tied to the fact that they have one of the best tenders in the game between the pipes. The Sharks have 7 games in February, 6 of them on the road, and Nabokov should get at least 5 of those starts before he goes to anchor the Russian Olympic team for the remainder of the month. The Russians should go far, so Gene will get plenty of work.
Roberto Luongo, VAN – At the time of this writing nobody has more wins than Bobby-Lou in January and the Canucks have leaped to the top of the division. The Canucks begin a 7 game pre-Olympic road trip in February as they work their way through Eastern Canada, and Florida before starting to head west again. That means that the only Canucks that’ll be seen live in BC this month will be Olympic heroes. There are back to back games scheduled in that trip and I expect that the captain will sit one of those 2 games.
Jonas Hiller, ANA – Jonas is the man for the Ducks and the rumour has been for too long now that they’re trying to sell Jean-Sebastien Giguere to whoever would make a bid on him. Hiller ran off a string of wins to start the month and the Ducks look like they want to make a move in the West. The Ducks have what looks like a lighter schedule for February even though 4 of their 7 games are on the road. Hiller should start 5 of those games because there’s a couple back to backs there.
Jimmy Howard, DET – He was having a fine month before getting an L and an OTL in the last week. I mention him because I want to point out the obvious … Chris Osgood is not getting this job back this season and might only have a shot at some playoff starts if Jimmy implodes huge. The Wings have 6 games in February, 4 of them on the road and 3 of those in California. Jimmy should start 5 of those 6 games and I’m betting that he’ll sit out the Anaheim game on the 3rd. It’s going to be a tough schedule for them though.
Craig Anderson, COL – The Avs are getting NO respect and a huge reason for their success this season has been the play of their star goaltender. I still think that the Canucks and Flames are better teams than the Avs but they still aren’t going away and they’ll sneak up and beat up on somebody in the playoffs. Watch out if you get the wrong 1st round matchup and you have to face this kiddie corps. The Avalanche have 7 games in February with only 2 on the road. Not only that but all those games are quite winnable.
Laying on the Table
Kari Lehtonen, ATL – He was sent to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves for a conditioning stint and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start in the NHL before the Olympic break. The Thrashers have had some struggles in goal but they also have some depth to work with there. I personally took a flyer that maybe Kari would have some value to one of my teams recently and we’ll just see what happens.
Pascal Leclaire, OTT – He’s been outperformed by his own backup this season and he’s got an abysmal history of injury. Presently he’s shelved for seeing cartoon birdies and spinning stars from a concussion. I have SERIOUS concerns about what fantasy value Pascal will ever have. Ever.
Jose Theodore, WAS – Man has it ever been a merry go round of goalies for the Caps this season eh? Theo has had to fight off charges by Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth so far and he’s right on the verge of returning from a hip flexor problem. When he’s healthy I suspect that he’ll get his share of starts but in all honesty the kids have done just fine in his absence so it’s kind of a rock, paper, scissors (lizard, spock) competition to see who’ll hang on to the job.
Bargain Bin
Antero Niittymaki, TB – While Mike Smith was down Niitty held the fort admirably. He’s on a streak of three in a row to end the month including a shuttie of the Habs. He doesn’t get a fair enough shake and with the Olympics around the corner I’ll just point out that he was voted the MVP of the 2006 Olympic tourney. People forget that.
Brian Elliott, OTT – He’s actually had the same amount of starts as Leclaire but he’s put up better stats on the season. This is his chance to run with the opportunity since a slew of Sens have returned from injury and they’re making their move by putting together a significant win streak.
Jonathan Quick, LA – Dash (a nickname I just made up) went into a dry spell in November as the Kings struggled generally. Overall though he’s been among the best tenders around this season as he’s saw plenty of rubber and racked up wins. I mention him here because I actually saw him sitting on a waiver wire in one league this season so it could be that people just don’t realize the skill the kid has. He’ll easily push 40 wins this season.
Jaroslav Halak, MON – I actually found him on the waiver wire in one of my leagues recently too and that’s just plain WRONG. He’ll be the Olympic Slovak goalie and quite frankly I think he has more skill than Carey Price does. Recently it has been suggested quite strongly that Halak is the goalie that the Habs need to be hanging on to and they should be trading Carey Price, is that an interesting thought?