I think we can all say with some certainty, that in no other country is hockey as important as it is in Canada. Canadians eat, drink and breathe the sport, Canada produces more NHL players than any other part of the globe. So it is easy to imagine the debate raging in the great white north over who Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman will select to take part in the 2010 Olympics.

 

You can't get very far these days without turning on a TV, radio or opening a newspaper and being bombarded with which players a particular columnist/host thinks should make the team. Hell, watch a game for a couple of periods and by the end you likely will hear a coach or player making a plea for their teammate to be included on the roster.

 

So, being that this is a fantasy hockey blog, I thought this might be an ample opportunity to try a little experiment. If we went by fantasy rankings only, which players would make the team and which ones would miss the cut? For this exercise, we will use the...

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The single most important thing when playing fantasy sports is the ability to cobble together a team that can accumulate statistics. There are many websites and columns floating around the internet that will give advice on how to do that. There are all kinds of theories to help you build a better team, and in the world of 24/7 news coverage no player is ever really a secrete anymore. If you have someone targeted as a great sleeper before the season, likely, another three or four owners in your league do too.

 

So, since we literally can't steal a league with depth of knowledge any more, the second most important trait an winning fantasy owner must have is the ability to properly assign value to all of his assets as well as those of his opponents. We have all received a terrible trade offer in the past, one that makes you say things like “they have got to be kidding,” “what an idiot,” or “what in the hell are they smoking?” Likely the person who whipped off that trade offer can't value...

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All rise, the fantasy court is now in session...

With roughly one quarter of the NHL season in the books, it would be fair to say we have large enough sample size to look at some surprising starts to the year from a fantasy prospective. The fantasy court will now look at the cases of three at three players who have either far exceeded or have struggled compared to their rankings on draft day.

Dustin Penner, LW, Edmonton Oilers:

The Charges: Considering he was taken, on average, in the 10th or 11th round of most drafts, Penner has been a huge surprise with 25 points to start the year. The big forward is well on pace to shatter his previous career high in that category set in 2007-2008.

The Argument: While most fantasy puck-heads love hard evidence and numbers, sometimes answers can’t be so easily defined. Sure, we could tell you that Penner is averaging over three shots per game and will likely finish with about 275 come season's end. Sure his shooting percentage is up about .04 percent from his career norms and while that math would lead you to believe he could well hit the 45 goal plateau, the real reason for Penner’s success might be something we all can easily relate to…a change in bosses. He struggled under the thumb of former coach Craig MacTavish in the past (at times criticized in the media) but has flourished under new coaches Pat Quinn and Tom Renney. Quinn has a reputation for salvaging the careers of cast-off players and Renney is well known in hockey circles as a smart individual who is well respected by his charges.

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With the news this week that Brendan Shanahan has retired from the NHL after 21 seasons, comes the realization that fantasy fanatics have witnessed the end of the line for one of the best “stat stuffers” our sport has ever seen.

 

In baseball we hear all too often about those much desired “five-category players.” Their potential owners are only too happy to reach a little on draft day to secure a player who will contribute across the board in runs, home runs, RBI, average and steals. In much of the same way, fantasy hockey owners tend to be spoiled when they take a player who is able to contribute goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes and powerplay points on a nightly basis. In that regard we can safely say that Shanahan was one of the best ever.

 

Just look at these numbers, during his prime he could make a fantasy owner salivate like no other:

 

Year

Games

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Welcome to the Hockey Blog here at World Cup of Fantasy Sports. You'll soon learn, as you navigate our site, we are a little different from the rest of the fantasy sites out on the web. That's by design of course, as the new kids on the block, we have decided to offer the right stuff...er...the first truly global fantasy ranking system. If you have ever said “I know way more than those experts” here's your chance to prove it. No more time for talk, show us what 'ya got.

 

So that being said, I think it's a fair conclusion to make that if you are reading our site and have already or are considering registering, you're not new to the world of fantasy sports. If you have something to prove, you likely know what you are doing. We're going to treat you that way. Is there any point suggesting that John Tavares is one pretty good rookie? Or that the Washington Capitals will struggle to score with the loss of Alex Ovechkin? Of course not, we both know that if you are here to show the rest of the world how...

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