| With the Olympics coming to an end, the NHL, and | | | | - Brian Campbell, Drew Doughty, Sergei Gonchar, |
| subsequently, fantasy hockey, gets back on its feet in | | | | Stephane Robidas, Marek Zidlicky |
| March. We'll get you jumpstarted on fantasy hockey | | | | The third group is where the points are in this particular |
| with the next installment of our 2-Week forecast. | | | | fantasy hockey contest, as each player here is in the |
| Forward 1 (7 Games) | | | | top-16 among defenseman in points. Doughty, Gonchar |
| - Sidney Crosby, Marion Gaborik, Evgeni Malkin, | | | | and Zidlicky are in the top-10 with 45, 37 and 36 points, |
| Alexander Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos | | | | respectively. Doughty's 11 goals leads this cluster of |
| Even sports fans who aren't into hockey have likely at | | | | high-scoring defensemen, and are tied for second in |
| least heard of the name Alexander Ovechkin. With all | | | | hockey among all d-men, with Robidas right behind him |
| due apologies to Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin is the | | | | with 10 tallies. That's fitting, because Robidas leads the |
| popular choice as the best player in the world, and his | | | | group in shots, though Gonchar is third despite having |
| numbers bear that out. He leads the NHL with 89 | | | | played 15 fewer games. |
| points and is tied with Crosby for the league lead in | | | | Goalie 1 (6 Games) |
| goals with 42 while also claiming the top spot in shots | | | | - Martin Brodeur, Ilya Bryzgalov, Miikka Kiprusoff, |
| on goal. Stamkos and Gaborik aren't far behind in | | | | Evgeni Nabokov, Tomas Vokoun |
| goals, with each putting 35 in net, while Malkin's 44 | | | | Brodeur leads the NHL in shutouts, but hasn't been his |
| assists trail only Ovechkin in this group, and are the | | | | typical self of late. That was true even before he got |
| eighth-most in hockey. | | | | pulled after allowing several soft goals to Team USA |
| Forward 2 (6 Games) | | | | in Canada's loss during the Olympics.. Before the break, |
| - Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrick | | | | Brodeur had won just two of his last seven games, |
| Marleau, Zach Parise | | | | and had allowed at least three goals in seven of his |
| Marleau leads this group, and is third in the NHL, with 38 | | | | last eight contests, with a save percentage below.900 |
| goals, while Heatley and Kovalchuk also each have | | | | in six of them. For the season, he's ninth in hockey in |
| more than 30 tallies. Heatley's 34 assists lead this bevy | | | | GAA, and 15th in save percentage. He's been a |
| of players, followed closely by Parise, though Parise | | | | fantasy hockey giant in net throughout his career, but |
| shoots the puck like an alcoholic shoots whiskey, and | | | | that just hasn't been the case lately. Meanwhile, |
| holds a rather lengthy lead in putting the puck on net. | | | | Kiprusoff is second in the league in GAA among |
| No player in this particular collection of fantasy hockey | | | | goalies who have played at least 30 games, while |
| stalwarts has fewer than 27 goals, and only Marleau | | | | Vokoun and Nabokov are in the top-three in save |
| has less than 30 helpers. | | | | percentage. Vokoun has the most overall saves in |
| Forward 3 (7 Games) | | | | hockey with nearly 1,600. |
| - Patrick Kane, Anze Kopitar, Brad Richards, Martin St. | | | | Goalie 2 (7 Games) |
| Louis, Henrik Zetterberg | | | | - Craig Anderson, Marc-Andre Fleury, Henrik Lundqvist, |
| Zetterberg's injury earlier in the season means his | | | | Ryan Miller, Jonathan Quick |
| overall point total isn't quite at the level of the others in | | | | Miller may be hockey's breakout star for the Olympics, |
| this group, but he makes up for that by leading in shots | | | | as his performance against Canada fit perfectly with |
| on goal. St. Louis is sixth in the NHL in points, due in no | | | | the hockey cliché of a goalie "standing on his head." |
| small part to the fact that his 49 assists are tied for | | | | He's No. 1 in the NHL in GAA among goalies who have |
| fourth in all of hockey. Coincidentally, the person he is | | | | played at least 30 contests, and No. 2 in save |
| tied with is also among this assortment of skaters, with | | | | percentage. However, Quick leads all NHL goalies in |
| that person being Dallas center Richards. Kane and | | | | wins, and Anderson is tied for third with six shutouts, |
| Kopitar don't have the assist totals of those two, but | | | | and has the second-most overall saves in the league. |
| they do have the most goals in the group, with 25 and | | | | Goalie 3 (7 Games) |
| 28, respectively. | | | | - Niklas Backstrom, Jimmy Howard, Cristobal Huet, |
| Forward 4 (6 Games) | | | | Chris Mason, Marty Turco |
| - Shane Doan, Jamie Langenbrunner, Rick Nash, Corey | | | | Howard's 2.28 GAA is the leading mark in this group, |
| Perry, Bobby Ryan | | | | but Huet is just a fraction behind him at 2.29. Huet also |
| Nash and Ryan lead this group, and are tied for ninth in | | | | is the co-leader here in shutouts with four, a mark that |
| hockey, with their 28 goals. Nash got to that mark with | | | | Turco can also lay claim to. Howard, Turco, Mason |
| four goals in four consecutive contests before the | | | | and Backstrom are Nos. 13-16, respectively, in overall |
| Olympic break. However, neither of them can claim the | | | | saves, with Huet well behind at 29th in the league. |
| assist totals of the other three players, each of whom | | | | Team Wins 1 (6 Games) |
| has over 30, led by Langenbrunner and Perry's 37. | | | | - Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa |
| Forward 5 (7 Games) | | | | Senators, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks |
| - Mike Cammalleri, Loui Eriksson, Mikko Koivu, Patrick | | | | San Jose is second in the entire NHL with 89 points, |
| Sharp, Eric Staal | | | | though New Jersey and Ottawa have point totals that |
| Cammalleri's 26 goals are tops among this aggregation, | | | | are nothing to scoff at, with 77 and 76, respectively. |
| though Eriksson and Stall each have at least 20. Koivu | | | | However, they've gone different directions of late, with |
| has the fewest goals among the fantasy hockey | | | | the Devils sporting a 3-5-2 record over their last 10 |
| options in this group with just 16, and he went into the | | | | games while the Senators have been blistering hot |
| break with a nine-game goalless streak; still, he's the | | | | with an 8-2-0 record over their last 10. |
| only player here with 40 assists. | | | | Team Wins 2 (7 Games) |
| Defenseman 1 (7 Games) | | | | - Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado |
| - Zdeno Chara, Niklas Lidstrom, Joni Pitkanen, Mark | | | | Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Streit, Shea Weber | | | | Chicago's 87 points are the most in this group, and the |
| This cluster of defenseman doesn't have point totals | | | | third-highest mark in the league. The other four teams |
| that will blow anybody away - in fact they all have | | | | in this group are clumped together with between 75 |
| between 31 and 35 points - but their shot totals may, | | | | and 78 points. The Kings were the hottest among |
| as only Pitkanen isn't among the top-10 defenseman in | | | | teams here before the Olympic break, with an 8-1-1 |
| hockey in shots on goal. Weber leads the group with 11 | | | | record in their last 10 games, while the Sabres |
| goals, while Pitkanen is first in assists with 31. | | | | struggled to a 3-5-2 record in their last 10. |
| Defenseman 2 (6 Games) | | | | Team Wins 3 (7 Games) |
| - Jay Bouwmeester, Eric Johnson, Filip Kuba, Bryan | | | | - Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, |
| McCabe, Ryan Whitney | | | | Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Kuba leads this company of blue-liners with 25 assists, | | | | Dallas and Detroit each have 68 points, Boston has 65, |
| and only McCabe has fewer than 20 helpers, but he | | | | Montreal has 64 and Tampa has 63, though they all |
| has 19. McCabe does lead the group with seven tallies, | | | | have one thing in common in that they are each are |
| followed by former No. 1 overall pick Johnson, who has | | | | fighting for a playoff spot in their respective |
| six. Johnson, who has been playing the best hockey of | | | | conferences. None of these teams were terribly hot |
| his career lately, leads this posse in shots and is 15th | | | | or equally as tepid before the break, with each winning |
| among all defenseman with over 130. | | | | between three and six games over their last 10. |
| Defenseman 3 (7 Games) | | | | |