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NHL – Quarter-Point Update
NHL Fantasy

Right now, the main focus in the sportsbooks is the Florida Alabama lines and football betting in general, but don’t forget about the NHL. While most people don’t pay attention to hockey until the Winter Classic is played, you might want to take notice what is happening a little earlier this year. Here are a couple of big changes that have occurred in the Western Conference:

Detroit Red Wings Are No Longer Good

The Detroit Red Wings, who have been one of the best teams in the NHL over the last 15 years are no longer playing well. If the playoffs were to commence after the quarter-point of the season, the Red Wings would be on the outside looking in for the first time in a long time. Injuries and a depletion of talent has really plagued this team.

Chicago Blackhawks Are The Stanley Cup Favorites

While one Western Conference team has gone down the elevator shaft, one team is coming up to the penthouse: the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks are tearing it up in the NHL and because they are a young, talented squad with experience, a lot of people feel that this team has the foundation to compete for the Stanley Cup for years to come. For now, let’s start with this year. As it stands now, they are the favorite among Stanley Cup picks.
 
Watch out for the Rangers, and not in a good way
NHL Fantasy

The NHL fantasy guide has a hot discussion topic today: the Rangers. Oh, the Rangers! The Rangers! How they’re dazzling us so far! For any fantasy GMs owning New York Rangers, I have a warning for you: sell high. You don’t have to do it right this second but you should start thinking about it.

 

Anyone excited about the way the Rangers have stomped on the competition so far this season has a poor memory. Remember this time last season? The Rangers were the toast of the NHL and Brandon Dubinsky and Aaron Voros – yes, Aaron Voros – were the top-ranked players in fantasy. Then, as the season progressed, the same thing happened to the Rangers that happens to them every year: they came back to Earth and then some. They slumped badly, stopped scoring and almost missed the playoffs.

 

Don’t think this season will be any different. The Rangers’ offense looks good now but it’s comprised primarily of finesse players who will wilt when the going gets tough, like Vaclav Prospal. Some people think Marian Gaborik’s arrival will change the team makeup altogether and they’d be half right; When Gaborik plays, he’s marvelous. He has an amazing 10 goals and 18 points in 12 games this season. But there’s one problem with Gaborik; he too follows the same pattern every season. In his case, that pattern is to dominate for a short period then get injured.

 

Bad news: the window to sell high on Gaborik has already passed. He went down with a “lower body injury” last night.

 

Put your Rangers up on trade offers and you’ll thank me later. Only King Henrik Lundqvist is likely to remain valuable all season but even he hit the skids at time last year.

 

Happy trading!
 
Reviewing the year's Super Surprises and Brutal Busts
MLB Fantasy

For fantasy players, the long MLB season is over and done with. After a grueling season, it's time to evaluate some of the surprise performances owners were treated to… and horrific busts they suffered through.

SUPER SURPRISES

Adam Wainwright, SP, Cardinals. Wainwright hugely exceeded expectations in 2009. He shattered career highs across the board, going 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA and 212 strikeouts. Wainwright is a big reason why St. Louis could make some serious noise in the playoffs.

Chris Carpenter, SP, Cardinals. And here's another huge reason why St. Louis could be heading for a long postseason run. Carpenter is dominant when healthy, but the veteran hasn't been able to stay on the field for two years, making just five appearances in 2007 and 2008. He came back with a vengeance this year (17-4, 2.24 ERA).

Adam Lind, DH/OF, Blue Jays. Everyone expected Lind to be good, but not this good. The budding superstar hit .305 with 35 homers, 114 RBIs and 93 runs scored this season, all on a bad baseball team. It'll be exciting to see what he does as an encore performance in 2010, but Lind has perennial All-Star written all over him.

Aaron Hill, 2B, Blue Jays. Hill headed into this season after missing the majority of last year with a concussion. Most fans hoped for a ceiling similar to his nice 2007 campaign (.291, 17 homers), but Hill came through with a shockingly big season, hitting 36 bombs and driving in over 100 runs. Between him and Lind, the Jays have a foundation to build around.

Carl Crawford, OF, Rays. A lot of people wrote off Crawford after his numbers took a dip across the board in 2008.Those willing to take a chance on the speedy outfielder were heavily reward; Crawford hit .305 with 15 homers, 68 RBIs and 60 stolen bags, not to mention his one weakness—drawing walks—was significantly better this year (a career high 51).

BRUTAL BUSTS

Chad Billingsley, SP, Dodgers. Many predicted a big-time breakout after two straight impressive seasons from the young right-hander. Instead, Billingsley regressed, winning just 12 games and declining in strikeouts while allowing his ERA to balloon over four.

Josh Hamilton, OF, Rangers. Hamilton's magical return to baseball prominence was short lived. He played in just 89 games this season thanks to rib and ab injuries; the result was 22 fewer homers and 76 RBIs. Not a fun year if you drafted Hamilton.

Grady Sizemore, OF, Indians. Another member of the MASH unit, Sizemore missed over 50 games due to injury. Even then, he wasn't setting the world on fire. His .248 average is the lowest of his career and he was on pace to steal the fewest bases of his career since 2004.

Jose Reyes, SS, Mets. Reyes drafters were repaid with one of the worst fantasy seasons in recent memory. He played just 36 games this year, thus sinking many owners' seasons before they even got started. That's a tough pill to swallow.

David Wright, 3B, Mets. Wright missed a few games due to injury but, with 144 games under his belt, he has no excuses for a miserable drop off in power. After averaging 29 homers and 112 RBIs over the past four years, Wright inexplicably dropped to 10 and 72. Something tells us his 27 stolen bases, second best in his career, didn't ease the pain of Wright owners.
 
NFL Fantasy Fix – It’s never too early to think playoffs
NFL Fantasy

“Playoffs? Playoffs? You kiddin’ me? Playoffs? We’ll be lucky if we win a game. “

Those are the famous words of Jim Mora Sr., part of a rant that will live forever thanks to YouTube. If you’re a fantasy football player getting ready for Week 2 and someone brings up the playoffs, you’re likely to react the same way, right? After all, we can’t worry about the playoffs until we get there, right?

Wrong. To neglect the future is to sign your fantasy death warrant. Think of fantasy football as you would a Texas Hold ‘em tournament; you play to win the game, not to stay in the game. That means you take risks and make moves dedicated to placing first. You may place last as a result, but you can’t win without taking risks. The guy who just wants to hang in the game and not be embarrassed has a trophy case full of silver medals but never wins it all. The same goes for the fantasy football GM who only cares about his current record and doesn’t organize his roster for the playoffs.

 For example, the wimpy G.M. would be terrified to trade for Matt Cassel right now. Cassel’s hurt and he plays on a weak team, so why would the G.M. ever give up, say, Eli Manning in a Cassel deal? The true winner thinks ahead, however. He sees that Kansas City ends its regular season against Denver, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Denver. He sees that the Giants end their season against Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, Carolina and Minnesota. Those are the fantasy playoff weeks, my friends. The true champ takes an Eli-for-Cassel deal as a “win” for the other guy and upgrades at another position, all the while secretly acquiring the quarterback who will score more points in down the stretch. Eli Manning and Terrell Owens for Matt Cassel and Randy Moss? There’s a plausible deal that can win you a fantasy title.

 Never forget about future schedules in fantasy football! I’ll leave you with another immortal coach quote, this one from Herman Edwards:

 “You play to win the game.”
 

Polls

Which of these NFC North QB's would you prefer on your Fantasy Team