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Posts Tagged jaroslav halak

Halak Heads to St Louis

Jun 17

Posted by Eddie in News | No Comments

Goaltender Jaroslav Halak, a key component of the Montreal Canadiens run to the Eastern Conference Finals this past season, has been dealt to the St. Louis Blues according to a report by RDS.

ESPN is reporting that the Habs will receive forward Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. Eller was a first-round pick of St. Louis in 2007 and Schultz was a 2008 third-round pick. Eller appeared in seven games with the big club as he spent the rest of the season with Peoria of the AHL. Schultz played his third junior season in 2009-10 with Calgary of the Western Hockey League.

For the past two seasons, Halak split time between the pipes with Carey Price, but Halak’s game seemed to improve after his run with Slovakia in the Vancouver Olympics. He finished with a 26-13-5 regular-season record, a 2.40 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. In the playoffs, Halak had a 2.55 GAA and .923 save percentage in 18 games.

This is a risky move for St. Louis, as Halak becomes a restricted free-agent on July 1 and is eligible for salary arbitration. In two seasons, he becomes a unrestricted free-agent. This is the second goalie they acquired in consecutive summers.  They acquired Ty Conklin from Detroit last off season, and Chris Mason, who started 61 games last season. Mason does enter this summer as a unrestricted free-agent, and with his $3 Million salary and Halak’s $800,000 salary from last season, they will let Mason walk and go into next season with a Halak-Conklin duo in net.

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Should Obama Hire Halak?

May 13

Posted by Eddie in Media | No Comments

Halak

Maybe President Obama should hire Halak to stop the leak because you know, nothing get’s past Jaroslav Halak! Gooo Habs!

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Hot Fantasy Free Agents You Can Pick Up

Nov 4

Posted by Eddie in Fantasy | 5 Comments

Don’t you hate it when you’re searching through the free agent wire in your fantasy league, only to have slim pickings? I went through this earlier this week when I was trying to get my team to rise out of the cellar. I usually give the players I draft the first month of the season to prove their worth before I drop them unless they were injured. The fortunate thing is, I did not have any injuries. The bad news, is that I’m in last place. Some of it was due to my own negligence such as owning four fantasy football teams and worrying about those more. But now I have a little time on my hands and I can handle what’s on my fantasy plate. Here’s a list of the best players available in the free agent world, along with the percentage of Yahoo! Fantasy teams own that player.

Note: Players owned on 60% or fewer teams were considered.

Center:

Ryan Kesler, Vancouver (5-8-13, 53% Owned)

Kesler is one of the hottest players on his team. With 5 goals the first month of the season, he’s shown that he can find the net as he is tied for third in goals and is second in points on the Canucks. He’s also valuable on special teams as he as six power play points.

Honorable Mention:

Mike Fisher, Ottawa (5-6-11, +3, 3PPG, 2GWG, 22% Owned)

Brendan Morrison, Washington (4-6-10, +6, 6 PIM, 2 PPG, 15% Owned)

Wayne Simmonds

Wayne Simmonds

Right Wing:

David Clarkson, New Jersey (3-6-9, 40% Owned)

Clarkson started off hot, but midway through October he went through a five game goal-less drought. Clarkson ended that drought last week. Don’t be afraid to pick him up. I strongly believe he will warm up or get hot before he becomes ice cold. His 20 penalty minutes are worth using if you need someone to raise your team penalty minutes.

Honorable Mention:

Nathan Horton, Florida (3-7-10, 20 PIM, 55% Owned)

Wayne Simmonds, Los Angeles (4-4-8, +9, 9 PIM, 5% Owned)

Left Wing:

James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia (2-11-13, +6, 3 PPA, 27% Owned)

While he may only have two goals this young season, #2 overall pick in the 2007 draft James van Riemsdyk has made an impact through the assist for the Flyers. You have to take notice of someone that has more points than games played, as the Flyers have played only 10 games. He leads the team in assists and is third in plus-minus. If you’re in need of assists because your defensemen aren’t coming through, I recommend his as only 1 in 4 teams own him. Unfortunately in my fantasy league, Chris picked him up Monday afternoon.

Honorable Mention:

Matt Moulson, New York Islanders (6-5-11, 6 PIM, 3 PPA, 45% Owned)

Jarkko Ruutu, Ottawa (4-3-7, 27 PIM, 6% Owned)

Defense:

Jason Demers, San Jose (0-10-10, +7, 4 PPA, 32% Owned)

Rookie Demers has been producing on the blue line for a solid Sharks team. While he haven’t scored a goal this season, his team-leading plus-minus rating is worth taking note of. Look for him to see increased playing time from coach Todd Mclellan.

Ryan Suter, Nashville (2-5-7 8 PIM, 2 PPA, 59% Owned)

I had several defensemen to consider picking. But Suter was the best out of a good bunch along with Demers. Suter is an experienced player who is in the top-five on his team in points and penalty minutes. He also has three power play points in 13 games this season.

Honorable Mention:

Jaroslav Spacek, Montreal (1-4-5, +6, 14 PIM, 49% Owned)

Roman Hamerlik, Montreal (4-2-6, +6, 12 PIM. 22% Owned)

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec, Atlanta (5 W, 2.75 GAA, .921 SV%, 42% Owned)

Just like everyone else before the season, I didn’t have much faith in the Thrashers. But they got off to a good start in the first month of the season, and that’s what they need. In goal, Pavelec has solidified his #1 spot over Johan Hedberg. He’s owned in 2 out of every 5 leagues, so chances are he’s available for you.

Honorable Mention:

Jaroslav Halak, Montreal (5 W, 2.85 GAA, .893 SV%, 39% Owned)

Dwayne Roloson, New York Islanders (4 W, 2.70 GAA, .914 SV%, 34% Owned)

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Overhaul in Montreal

Sep 6

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | 2 Comments

It’s been 16 years since the Montreal Canadiens last won the Stanley Cup. It’s also  been 16 years since a franchise north of the border has raised a championship banner. Unfortunately for Hab’s fans, they will have to wait another year.

After backing into the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference last season when they lost 10 of its last 15 games, Montreal GM Bob Gainey had to make changes. And changes he made as 11 players departed including Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Robert Lang. Gainey did add an all-new first line with center Scott Gomez and wingers Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta. It will be interesting to see how can Cammalleri produce an a more pressure-packed environment and without Jerome Iginla.

The main strength the Gomez-Cammalleri-Giontaline line will offer is speed. They have a lot of skill and talent, but with that they are sacrificing toughness and physicality. The depth of the forwards more top-heavy than other teams. After the first line, players such as Andrei Kostitsyn, Tomas Plekanec, and Travis Moen need to increase their scoring from last season to help compensate the offense that departed.

Another strength the Canadiens posses is defenseman Andrei Markov. Markov was second on the team in points with 64 last season.  Markov will also be looked upon to lead the power play and penalty kill units, which ranked 13th and 11th respectively in the league last season. Other defensemen that can be expected to contribute this season include Hal Gill and rookies Yannick Weber and P.K. Subban.

Which Carey Price will show up this season?

Which Carey Price will show up this season?

One big question mark the Canadiens will have is in goal. They have two young, still developing goaltenders in Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak. Expectations will be high for Price and deservingly so. After a stellar rookie season in 2007-08, Price struggled down the stretch and recorded only 1 shutout all season long in 2008-09. They did make a goaltending coach change during the off-season, and we can only hope new goaltending coach Pierre Grolux can teach Price to cut down shooting angles and allow less soft goals this season.

Overall, I can expect Montreal to still be a few steps behind Boston in the division. The Canadiens will have a shot to make the playoffs, but that’s not good enough to the Montreal fanbase. If they play to their potential, they can finish anywhere between fourth-sixth in the conference. But if they stumble down the stretch like they did last season, expect them to miss the playoffs or suffer another sweep at the hands of the Eastern Conference powers: Washington, Boston, or Pittsburgh.

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