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Winnipeg Jets off to Slow Start

Oct 18

Posted by EB in News, Soap Box | No Comments

Netminder Ondrej Pavelec needs to start stopping more shots to give the Winnipeg Jets a fighting chance.

The Winnipeg Jets are off to a rough start, going 1-3-0 in their first 4 games. The emotional homecoming to Winnipeg, the hype, has outweighed the product on the ice. Could this be a mere funk or could it be much more?

The Jets, once Atlanta Thrashers, has a lot of players under-producing. The list is as follows:

Bryan Little, a fifth year NHLer has 0 points in the first 4 games. Last year Little put up 48 points, a 14 point increase from the year before that. Although it is not expected of Little to make another 14 point jump this season, it is however expected that Little at least meet is last years point total.

Evander Kane is young with the speed and the talent to put up numbers. Currently 0 points thus far, Kane needs to start meshing with his line-mates. In his second NHL season last year, Kane contributed 19 goals and 24 assists. The 40 point mark should be obtainable, especially if he continues to skate second line minutes. Perhaps his day-to-day injury is the cause of his lack of production. Time will tell.

The fan favorite Dustin Byfuglien is perhaps the most surprising of all the players with his lack of production. Able to play both forward or wing, also getting a lot of time on the powerplay, Byfuglien has 0 points and a -4 rating in his 4 games. Averaging 3.75 shots a game, fans can only hope the dam breaks soon.

Two-time Stanley Cup Winner Andrew Ladd knows what it takes to be a winner, or at least be on a winning team. In both his Cup wins Ladd was a contributor but no the go to guy. After being traded to the Jets in the off-season after the 2009-2010 season, Ladd became that guy you could depend on. He put up a career high of 29 goals and 30 assists for a total of 59 points. Could that of been an abnormal season, sure, but with only 1 goal so far, the Jets still need more out of him.

It is said that transitioning and growing into a top-level NHL player is harder for defense. Tobias Enstrom is in his fifth season and is coming off of back-to-back 50 point seasons. Mainly a set-up man on the powerplay, Enstrom does not have a powerplay point as of yet.

A combined .880 save percentage between both Ondrej Pavelec and Chris Mason could be the real problem for the Jets. Letting in a combined 14 goals in 4 games, the two net-minders do not seem like either one of them wants the starting position.

It still could be just a rough start and they could make playoffs. It could also be the team is still not quite playoff caliber. Last year the Jets/Thrashers missed the playoffs and finished in 12th place. Either way, all the hype surrounding the homecoming is coming down to earth as fans see that no matter how much you want your home team to win, it just may not happen. Hopefully the players can start putting some more “W’s” on the board and give their faithful fans a ticket worth purchasing.

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2011-12 NHL Season Preview: Winnipeg Jets

Sep 12

Posted by Eddie in Season Previews | 1 Comment

Offseason Losses: Anthony Stewart, Rick Rypien, Radek Devorak

Offseason Additions: Derek Meech, Eric Fehr, Tanner Glass, Randy Jones

Last Season Ranking: 12 in the East

Offense: The team formerly known as the Atlanta Thrashers moved north for greener pastures and is now the Winnipeg Jets. The team will play in the Eastern conference and the Southeast division this season before transferring to the West for 2012-13. In the mean time, the franshise underwent a complete overhaul. The only remaining pieces seem to be are the players on the ice. Just about everything off the ice is new, from ownership to general manager to the coach.

On offense, they don’t have the personnel of an expansion team. However, they do have one of players that haven’t seen playoff action in a very long time. They have decent numbers on offense, their problem is that the second and third leading scorers in regards to points are defensemen. They have to get more production from the offense. Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler, and Bryan Little are expected once again to be the top forwards. They lost young prospect Anthony Stewart to Carolina, but Evander Kane and Alexander Burmistrov have star potential in them. Look for them to spend time with the top live should anyone above them on the depth chart struggle.

Defense: For what the Jets lack on offense, they make up for it on defense. They have the league leader in goals among defensemen in Dustin Byfuglien. Since he made the change from forward to defense when he came over from Chicago last season, his offense has blossomed into one of the more deadlier players in the league. Along with Tobias Enstrom, the two All-Stars will anchor a unit that has the potential to light the lamp on  nights when the forwards aren’t doing so.

The Jets also have experienced defensemen in Johnny Oduya, Ron Hainsey and Mark Stuart who is expected to bring toughness and physicality to the team. The X-Factor is Zach Bogosian. He currently doesn’t have a contract for this season but is a restricted free agent. He has Norris Trophy potential, but he hasn’t shown that type of consistency shown by some of the best in the league.

Goaltending: Their defense and goaltending was among the worse in the league. Only Colorado averaged more goals allowed per contest, as the team allowed an average of 3.2 goals per game. One stat you probably can’t fins anywhere else is they allowed a league-leading 15 empty net goals. They return Ondrej Pavelec and Chris Mason in goal and should see an improvement over last season. Pavelec is 24 years old and has given the new franchise a goalie that can be with the team for many years should they be able to re-sign him. Both Pavelec ad Mason are free agents at the end of this season (Pavelec restricted and Mason unrestricted), and it will be interesting to see how they play considering they don’t have a contract for 2012.

HWB Playoff Prediction: Not playoff bound. They will be exciting to watch in the first season in Winnipeg, but there are simply too many good teams ahead of them in the conference. When they move to the West next year, they could be a playoff contender should they continue to get better.

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Thrashers Goalie Pavelec Collapses During Game

Oct 9

Posted by Eddie in News | 1 Comment

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated since original posting. Update is below.

Atlanta Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec collapsed on the ice early in Friday night’s game against the Washington Capitals. 2:25 into the first period, Pavelec tapped his stick to get the attention of the Thrashers bench during a stoppage of play at the opposite end of the ice. With no one around, he fell backwards and his teammates rushed to his aid and the training staff called for a stretcher to be brought to the ice.

thrashers

The second of two reports released during the game started that he was “awake, alert, and asking about the score of the game.” He underwent preliminary testing- it was unstated what for- that came back negative. He was also kept overnight at a local hospital in Atlanta for observation.

Goalie Chris Mason, who had to enter the game to replace Pavelec, said he had trouble concentrating at first and that his thoughts went out to the 23-year-old’s family in the Czech Republic.

“It was awful,” he said. “I just imagined like everyone else – his family’s across the sea. You just think they’re probably following the game and something like that happens and we don’t know what’s going on, it’s probably a helpless feeling. You can’t help it.”

The Thrashers play later tonight in Tampa. The video from the Comcast Sportsnet feed can be seen here. Stay tuned for updates on Pavelec’s condition as it develops.

UPDATE at 7:30 p.m. Pavelec was diagnosed with a concussion and remains in a local hospital in Atlanta. The Thrashers recalled goaltender Drew MacIntyre from AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves. The Thrashers released a statement saying that Pavelec “has a concussion and a subsequent headache but is fully alert and doing well. He remains in the hospital and will undergo further testing.”

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Hot Fantasy Free Agents You Can Pick Up

Nov 4

Posted by Eddie in Fantasy | 6 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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