Bucket of Pucks

Waiver Wire Report: NHL Fantasy Free Agents, Week of 12/7

This week's Waiver Wire Report has nice potential options for your fantasy teams.  Their numbers will make you wonder why they're not more widely owned.  See who we're talking about after the break.

Waiver Wire Report: NHL Fantasy Free Agents, Week of 11/2

As most hockey fans know, it was 50 years ago this past weekend that Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante brought us the hockey mask for the first time.  In honor of this historic hockey moment, BucketofPucks Waiver Wire Report will kick off this week with a "Hat Tip" to this game changing event.

To begin with TSN has a fun Gallery of the Best Goalie Masks of the Year, check it out and see who you think has the most awesome mask of this season.  Ranger's goalie Henrik Lundqvist just had a new mask made to honor this great hockey moment.  It has the original hockey mask on it, along with a ticket to the actual Montreal-New York stub in which Plante had his nose broken by Ranger forward Andy Bathgate's shot.

Hockey commentator Stan Fischler, also known as "The Hockey Maven" recently recounted this great hockey story.  Upon breaking his nose on the Andy Bathgate shot, Jacques Plante skated right off the ice and went to the lockeroom to get patched up.  Causing a 21 minute delay in the game.  After receiving some medical attention, Plante broke out the mask, as he'd been toying with it and using it in practices.  Canadiens coach Toe Blake would have none of it and was furious at Plante for even suggesting it.  Given the fact that Blake had no backup goaltender he eventually relented.  Emerging from the locker room the revelation was shocking to those who first saw it.  The Canadiens rallied around their goalie and won the game 3-1.

What I find to be a particularly fun fact, that not everyone remembers, as Fischler tells the story:  Toe Blake was so against the mask, he insisted the Plante play the next game without it.  A game in which Montreal got trounced.  So Blake said to Plante he could wear the mask until he was healed.  It was then that the Canadiens went on a 10 game winning streak and the game of hockey was changed forever.

Now let's get to this week Waiver Wire pick, right after the break:

TRADE: Bruins Deal Kobasew to Wild for Pick & Prospects, Lucic Placed on LTIR. *UPDATE* Lucic has successful surgery

Looking to spark his stumbling Bruins squad (3-4-0), Boston GM Peter Chiarelli also cleared some cap room in dealing struggling RW Chuck Kobasew to Minnesota for Minny's 2nd round selection in the 2011 Entry draft as well as RW Craig Weller and the rights forward prospect Alexander Fallstrom.

This coming just after Milan Lucic being placed on LTIR for his broken index finger.

Follow us below the crease for the fantasy spin...

Waiver Wire Report: NHL Fantasy Free Agents

BucketofPucks.com's Waiver Wire Report is a weekly list of NHL players owned in 50% or less in public fantasy hockey leagues.  These are players that may provide some good alternatives for players on you fantasy team you might be looking to replace.  Whether it be from injury, underproduction or you're looking to find someone to help with a category or two you find your fantasy team lacking in.

Given that fact that the season has just begun this first Waiver Wire Report will likely have one of two purposes.  Identifying those "I can't believe that guy was missed in my draft" players.  As well as, some players to stock up on your "Watch List" for injury protection and if some of those "draft sleepers" you picked up don't seem to be working out as you had planned.

Every Monday, BucketofPucks.com will have the latest group of likely fantasy free agents to help shape your fantasy team.  See who's there after the jump:

DRAFT: Top Ranked NHL Fantasy Goalies

Many fantasy hockey owners consider their goaltenders as the backbone of their team.  And why shouldn't they?  In a standard league set ups, it's usually 5 offensive and 5 goalie categories.  Even in deeper leagues with expanded stats, goaltending usually accounts for 25%-50% of the categories.

Many fantasy owners look to get an elite stud early in their drafts, so they know they have a reliable goalie to depend on and not fall victim to an unexpected early draft run at the position.  Others look to take advantage of that strategy to pluck top offensive talent that won't be there by the mid rounds of your draft.  Instead, looking to pick a mid-range backstop or sleeper  as their top goalie.  For head to head leagues in particular, you might target a goalie who will consistently give you top production in just a few categories.  Thereby hoping to split you goalie categories on a weekly basis, then dominate the offensive one.  Regardless, whether you're looking to draft the best goalie available in the first 2 rounds or looking to wait and pick up a netminder later on in the draft, it's of premium importance to go into your draft with a strategy of what you want to do at the goalie position.

See who the top rated goalie are after the jump.

NHL Fantasy Hockey 2009: High Risk / High Reward NHL Players - Part 1

Every season there are players who are surefire bets and they get drafted accordingly. Then there are those guys that, due to their injury history or shaky previous performances, make it tough to judge if or when they should be drafted.

In this two-part article, we’ll take a look at some of these guys to make it easier for poolies to either snag a diamond in the rough or avoid drafting a horse apple on the big day.  As usual, all advice below is based on a 12-team, 16 round draft.

Gary Roberts calls it a career, Nabokov's "tweaks" lower body

Winger Gary Roberts is retiring from hockey.  Roberts was the 12th overall pick by the Calgary Flames in the 1984 draft.  In 1,224 games played, with Calgary, Carolina, Toronto, Florida, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, Roberts accumulated 438 goals, 471 assists and 2560 PIMs.  He also won a Stanley Cup as a member of the Calgary Flames in 1988-89.

Roberts had originally retired in 1996 at the age of 30, due to a severe neck injury, but made an inspiring comeback one season later after intense recovery and re-conditioning.

Tampa Bay is expected to make a formal announcement soon.

BucketofPucks:  Roberts had already announced that he'd be retiring at the end of this season.  It's believed that Tampa Bay was trying to find a trade for Roberts to go out with a playoff team and he also went unclaimed through waivers.  It appears his contract was the main sticking point for most teams, as his cap hit was 2 million dollars plus a bonus package that paid him $10,000 for each game he plays.

Streamers Report for the Week of 2/9-2/15

***Fantasy Trade deadlines are fast approaching.  Most Head to Head public leagues have trade deadlines starting as early as next week or as late as the first week of March.***

If you can't swing a trade or just looking to fill some roster holes, the Streamers Report has some solutions for you.  Including dusting off some forgotten veterans, who have started turning it up for the stretch drive:

Steve Ott, C (12% owned)/Jere Lehtinen, RW (11% owned):  No, not all the points in both their recent scoring streaks came in Dallas's 10-2 victory over the NY Rangers.  Dallas's new top line of Ott, Mike Ribeiro and Lehtinen have combined for 36 points the last 8 games.  Only Ribeiro is widely owned at 74%.  Dallas has 3 games this week;  Wednesday hosts Phoenix, Friday hosts Vancouver and Saturday visit Chicago.

Jere Lehtinen is a few years removed from being a top 15 fantasy RW.  Age and mostly nagging injuries have hampered him the last couple of seasons, but he's also shown in his healthy stretches that he can still produce.  Since the new year, Lehtinen has 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 16 games with 7 of those points coming on the power play.

Steve Ott's name is common to pop up on waive wire reports for the last couple of years, under PIMs.  This week's Alphainventions.com PIMs pick of the week averages about 150 PIMs a year.  As mentioned already, Ott (who's usually a 4th liner) has joined the top line and double his offensive output for the year in the last 8 games with 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists, 5 PPP).  Ott has not let the more offensive role disrupt his edge, as he's been called for 16 PIMs over the same 8 game stretch.

Streamers Report for the Week of 1/12-1/18

If you've been following along with the Streamers Report this year, this weeks picks show some long term results of players and teams we've told you to "Watch List" or situations to keep an eye on.

 

Nikita Filatov, LW (12% owned)  Filatov is returning from the Junior World Championship, scoring 8 goalsin the tournament and being one of the most dominate players there.  His timing couldn't be better, as the Blue Jackets leading scorer Rich Nash has been placed on the IR.  Filatov scored a hat trick in his second game since being recalled and will be depended on to fill in some of the scoring gap with Nash sidelined.  Columbus plays 3 times this week:  Tuesday hosting Colorado, Friday hosting New Jersey and visiting Vancouver on Sunday.

Kyle Okposo, RW (4% owned)  As one of the Islander players the team plans to build around, Kyle Opkoso is getting his shot on the top line.  Half-way thru the season Okposo is starting to show some consistent results with,3 goals, 5 assists, +2, 4 PIMs in his last 8 games.  The Islanders have been playing a pretty competitve game recently.  Opkoso makes a particular good play this week, with 2 of their 3 games division rivals they always get up for:  Tuesday home to New York Rangers, Thursday hosting Boston and Saturday hosting New Jersey.

Streamers Report for the Week of 1/5-1/11

So, the holidays have passed, New Years have come and gone, Hockey's newest tradition the "Winter Classic" and the All-Star break is around the corner.  The All-Star break, the official beginning of the stretch drive!  But before we start getting excited about trades, rumors and playoff pushes (fantasy or real), the All-Star starting lineup has created a bit of a stir.

One of Hockey's latest moves, to be more fan friendly and interactive, is the fan voted starting lineup for the All-Star game.  To look at the results, you'd think there were only 4 good teams in hockey this year:  Montreal, Pittsburgh, Anaheim and Chicago.  Needless to say, hockey fans and experts all over the world are upset.  How can Alex Ovechkin not be there?  Mike Komisarek an All-Star at all, let alone a starter??  Ok, ok, the ballot stuffing is obvious but there's a few things to consider before trashing the whole idea.