Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 4

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................102..........27
Team Lowes Racing............................101..........25
Team EA.......................................95..........24
The Slim Pickens..............................95..........36
The Shaving Moes..............................93..........35
Team Chevy....................................91..........24
Langdon River Dogs............................89..........23
Sherpa's Yaks.................................88..........24
The Late Impact...............................87..........28
Maximus Orllius...............................81..........34
Taffy's Tyrants...............................80..........17
Doug's Deadbeats..............................71..........20
THE Team......................................71..........22
Thanx For Comin' Out..........................62..........16

Would ya believe it?? The miracle that I barred actually happened... The Slim Pickens came up with a HUGE Sunday (with only two games on the sched that night) to take the best team of the week with 36 points this week. The jump into the Top 4 was a pretty big one... now it's time to keep up with the big teams.

Eric Staal (The Slim Pickens) is the big dog during the week. A hat-trick on Friday... four assists on Saturday. He's on a huge point streak and now leads the league in points. Look out for him for the rest of the season.

Monday's News...
Returnees this week:
Martin Havlat (Sherpa's Yaks) will return from suspension this week...
Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) will be activated for Tuesday's game...

Soon-to-return:
Mats Sundin (Doug's Deadbeats) is returning to practice this week... unsure about his actual return date, but this is good news for the Deadbeats.

New injuries:
Doug Weight (The Shaving Moes) was lost to the Blues this weekend with concussion-like symptoms... should be out at least this week.
Kim Johnsson (Team Lowes Racing) left yesterday's game with an apparent groin strain. No word on how long he'll be out.

Sunday's News...
New Injuries:
Corey Perry (THE Team) has been listed on the IR with a concussion. Out indefinitely.
Bill Guerin (Doug's Deadbeats) left last night's game with back spasms... should be a day-to-day decision.
Dan Cloutier (Sherpa's Yaks) left last night's game with what looks to be a major concussion. Probably out indefinitely.


Saturday's News...
New Injury Listings:
Dick Tarnstrom (Maximus Orillius) will be lost indefinitely with a knee injury.
Andrew Raycroft (Langdon River Dogs) is out day-to-day with a hamstring injury.
Martin Brodeur (THE Team) is out day-to-day after tweaking his knee this week.
Sandis Ozolinsh (Doug's Deadbeats) will be lost indefinitely with fractured ribs.
Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) has been updated to be out 3 to 5 weeks with his fractured rib injury.

Wednesday's News...
New Injury Listings:
Ryan Getzlaf (Taffy's Tyrants) - out day-to-day with a shoulder injury
Marian Gaborik (Sherpa's Yaks) - out day-to-day with a hip flexor



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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 3

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Team Lowes Racing.............................76..........19
Don's Dinos...................................75..........28
Team EA.......................................71..........22
Team Chevy....................................67..........17
Langdon River Dogs............................66..........20
Sherpa's Yaks.................................64..........24
Taffy's Tyrants...............................63..........28
The Slim Pickens..............................59..........26
The Late Impact...............................56..........15
The Shaving Moes..............................56..........18
Doug's Deadbeats..............................51..........12
THE Team......................................49..........14
Maximus Orllius...............................47..........14
Thanx For Comin' Out..........................46..........18

Points are updated for the end of Week 3...

Jaromir Jagr's (Langdon River Dogs) hat-trick brought him to the top of the pile with six points. Jagr also added an assist on Saturday night to bring his week-best total to seven points this week. If there is one guy who is benefitting greatly from the new rules, it is certainly Jagr.

The mover & shaker this week would have to be Taffy's Tyrants with 28 points... they'll get the nod since they jumped several positions in the standings to get themselves out of the bottom. After a big night from Chris Simon last night, they moved into the top half of the standings.

Doin' the basement shuffle this week was Doug's Deadbeats. Although all but 3 Deadbeats had points, none of them collected more than two points each. The eventual return of Mats Sundin will be most welcomed as will the schedule for the Senators and Dominik Hasek should return to normal after only playing one game this past week.
Monday's News...
A shake-up on the injury front... Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) will miss the Sharks' three games this week due to an upper-body injury that he suffered over the weekend. He'll be greatly missed as the teams in behind Team Chevy are now picking up the pace!

Sergei Fedorov (Maximus Orillius) missed his fifth straight game on Sunday night with a groin injury. It is unclear when he is expected to return to the Ducks line-up.

Adrian Aucoin (Langdon River Dogs) re-aggrevated his groin injury over the weekend and will continue to miss time with the Hawks. The River Dogs aren't really struggling for defenseman points, but one more guy always gives ya a better chance to make it to the top faster.

Tuomo Ruutu (THE Team) has been sitting out with a back injury that has been leaving him on the IR for what they call day-to-day. Ruutu had a pretty quick start to the season and will be sorely missed from THE Teams point totals.

Friday's News...
Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) was placed on the Injured Reserve after taking a stick in the stomach this week. He shouldn't miss too much time, but his presence will be missed on THE Team.

Ryan Smyth (Don's Dinos) returned tonight to the Oiler line-up. Good news for the Dinos.

Wednesday's News...
Well, it's official... Kenny Jonsson (Doug's Deadbeats) will be staying in Sweden this year and not returning to the Islanders this season. The word on TSN during the Islanders/Rangers game on Wednesday night was that Jonsson has been "exiled" by the club out in Sweden. Bad news for the Deadbeats early on this year.


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The Slim Pickens

A wide variety of players don the Slim Pickens' label this year, including the re-united pairing in New Jersey, Alex Mogilny and Scott Gomez. So far the two have accomplished 9 points as a pairing and they still probably haven't hit their stride yet.

There's talent both young and old on the team. In the "Oldie but still a goodie" department; Teemu Selanne & Roman Hamrlik lead the charge... two offensive talents up front and on the blueline respectively.

Coming up the ranks are quite a few superstars... Eric Staal (8 points) & Tyler Arnason (7 points) are quickly proving to be really good picks, while Jay Bouwmeester is still trying to find point number one.

Others yet to find their pace, but won't be too far along... Chris Drury & Robert Esche (2 points) and Pavel Kubina (1 point).

The Slim Pickens had a big jump to the season, but have tailed off a bit... I would look for a big weekend from some of the youngin's... it has been a pretty slow week for a lot of teams so far this week.

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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 2

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Team Lowes Racing.............................57..........35
Team Chevy....................................50..........31
Team EA.......................................49..........22
Don's Dinos...................................47..........18
Langdon River Dogs............................46..........25
The Late Impact...............................41..........15
Sherpa's Yaks.................................40..........19
Doug's Deadbeats..............................39..........20
The Shaving Moes..............................38..........18
THE Team......................................35..........14
Taffy's Tyrants...............................35..........24
The Slim Pickens..............................33..........11
Maximus Orllius...............................33..........20
Thanx For Comin' Out..........................28..........21

Team Lowes Racing still leads the pack after Week 2 (games ending on Sunday). They had the biggest week in the pool scoring a huge 35 points, while the Slim Pickens barely hit the board with a feeble 11 points, dropping a few places.

Defenseman Bryan McCabe (Team Lowes Racing) is our Player of the Week for the second week. He had a massive (for a defenseman) 8 points for his pool team and the Leafs.

Denis Gauthier (Thanx For Comin' Out) has now been listed as being out for a month.

Martin Havlat (Sherpa's Yaks) was suspended for 5 games this past weekend.

Marian Gaborik (Sherpa's Yaks) should return to the Wild line-up this week after missing the first two with a groin injury.

There will be more updates to come!!

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Brett Hull Retires

Can't really say I saw this coming... nor did the people who chose him in some pools... but Brett Hull retired on Saturday! He never made a Wildfire team this season, so this isn't big news for the pool website in general... but its certainly worth a mention, since the site hasn't been updated since Friday.

Standings for the Wildfire Hockey Pool will more than likely be posted sometime tonight.


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Maximus Orillius

Solid names throughout the line-up on paper... to the Maximus, but unfortunately, few have found high gear. On the plus side, Peter Forsberg has kicked it into gear, registering a few more assists Friday night to bring him up to 9 points so far this season. Not doin' too bad for being the first pick for the team.

Staying in Pennsylvania, Maximus Orillius has taken most of his team from the big potential in Pittsburgh. Ziggy Palffy, Dick Tarnstrom and Jocelyn Thibault are all igloo dwellers on the team, but with Thibault already running into injury problems, only Palffy and Tarnstrom are frolicking on the ice.

Sergei Fedorov and Alexei Yashin represent the Russian contingent on the team... both players are somewhat lost in the shuffle of the new NHL, since there is so much new talent, they are equally flying under the radar, until they register some big points.

Ladislav Nagy and Mike Comrie are big desert gambles for Maximus Orillius this year... can the Great One make these guys dangerous weapons this season?? Someone seems to think so.

Rounding out the defense are two mammoths... Chris Pronger and Zdeno Chara. Both are big rocks for the respective NHL clubs and should be good productive d-men for the pool this year.

All in all, this isn't a bad team on paper... they're just a little lacking at the moment. Still probably getting there hockey legs underneath them. Hopefully the rust shakes off sooner rather than later.


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Taffy's Tyrants

Eric Lindros & Bryan McCabe will headline Taffy's Tyrants (mostly because I've spotlighted the Flames already yesterday). Lindros isn't quite the sure thing with his health and all, but picking him 8th makes up for that gamble. If he is to stay healthy, he will be a big force in the league this year... once he has his legs underneath him. McCabe is sort of waiting for the rest of the team to work around him before he starts cashing in the points. That isn't to say that the Leafs aren't scoring, 15 goals in 4 games isn't too bad.

From the Flames, there's a player from each position... in goal, Mikka Kiprusoff was the first pick for the Tyrants, but he's yet to show why. Jordan Leopold was the seventh pick... he should pick up his pace sooner rather than later, one would hope. Chris Simon, the third pick, would be perfect for a pool with penalty minutes... not sure how he'll fare in a points pool.

In Anaheim, Ryan Getzlaf and Petr Sykora should benefit from good linemates to produce some points for Taffy's men... Getzlaf, one of the prized rookies in the league and Sykora back to playing with some guy named Selanne... sparks should fly for the Ducks.

In New York, the Rangers sport Michael Nylander and the Islanders house Miroslav Satan for the Tyrants. One's a playmaker on the top line and the other is a scorer for a top line... both are equally good picks, especially in this wide open league we're seeing this year.

Finally, Sergei Gonchar is the favourite defeneman in Pittsburgh. I would imagine he was looking forward to playing with such great offensive talents when he joined the club... but he also probably wanted to play for a winning team. Nevertheless, as long as he touches the puck in most games, he'll reap in a good chunk of points.


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Wildfire Team Spotlight: Thanx For Comin' Out

I thought to myself, well... let's look at a few of these teams in the Wildfire pool, since you guys are showin' up to take a look at the Standings in all. So we'll start in last place and work our way up...

I don't think there was a team that took more Flames than Greg. Thanx For Comin' Out is lined up with four Flames as they were taken in succession inclusive rounds 3 through 6. Chuck Kobasew, Darren McCarty, Dion Phaneuf and Steven Reinprecht. It was almost alarming when these guys were taken... 'cuz all with the exception of Phaneuf, who was bound to go early, the rest of them could have been held out to be taken later on in the draft. Alas, they weren't and all have yet to really spark up with the Flames this year.

The first couple picks in the draft were obvious no-brainers... Dany Heatley in Ottawa and Todd Bertuzzi in Vancouver. Heatley is already lighting it up severely with the Senators, yet Bertuzzi is still to find his regular season legs on the big line of the Canucks. Shouldn't be too much of a worry though, it has to be said.

Rounding out the forwards is another Canuck, Daniel Sedin. Another player still to find his stride, although the twins line looked fairly good in Detroit on Monday. A big game against the Wild tonight could make a big difference for TFCO and the Canucks.

Stacking up the rest of the blueline was left to the Coyotes in Phoenix... both Denis Gauthier and Sean O'Donnell will anchor the defense corp for TFCO for the season, where it's still hard to say how the Coyotes will fare in general offensively, let alone for the poolies.

Lastly, in goal, Manny Fernandez was the preferred choice from the Minnesota Wild pairing this season... another ex-Flame to get some work for TFCO. Fernandez looked sharp in his overtime loss last week... so he may not be a bad choice, especially if those darned injuries strike the Wild.

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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 1

Don's Dinos..................................29
Team EA......................................27
The Late Impact..............................26
The Slim Pickens.............................22
Team Lowes Racing............................22
Sherpa's Yaks................................21
THE Team.....................................21
The Shaving Moes.............................21
Langdon River Dogs...........................21
Team Chevy...................................19
Doug's Deadbeats.............................19
Maximus Orllius..............................13
Taffy's Tyrants..............................10
Thanx For Comin' Out..........................7

Sunday's results from Detroit, Chicago & Los Angeles have all been entered into the standings as of now... generally, I'll have my weeks end on every Sunday and pick the best player in the pool as the Player of the Week...

There were a couple of guys with 8 points a piece in the abbreviated first week of the season, but the most fantastic of the two was Roberto Luongo (Team EA). To have two wins, both being shutouts, in this wide-open new NHL, you've got to be doing something amazing.

There certainly were a whole lot of points put up this season and a lot of players were vying for good position on the list. Marc Savard (Team EA) also had 8 points; Henrik Zetterberg (Don's Dinos), Jose Theodore (The Late Impact) and Dominik Hasek (Doug's Deadbeats) all registered 6 points.

This week, Doug's Deadbeats will have 34 player games to be played and should have a good run for points. On the other hand, the Slim Pickens will only play about 28 games and will lie back and watch the world go by.

Coming soon... I should be able to nail down some more flexible webspace... maybe even register opiatedsherpa.com, because that'd be pretty sweet.

Kovalchuk Signs!!

Anyone gamble on ol' Kovalchuk in their pools? I know there was a few people who wanted to take on the Russian, as most of us probably knew Atlanta were not ready to live without him this season... or at all.

If the Thrashers are gonna score seven goals without him (granted, it was against Washington)... what are they gonna do with him in the line-up?

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Injuries...

Well, my poolie friends... just like any other year, injuries happen. Some of them, as shocking as it sounds, happen right away in the season. Hopefully, you and your team have not been affected by these unfortunate incidents...

Mats Sundin has a fractured orbital bone after taking a puck to the face... 4 to 6 weeks. Ouch! More than likely, if he puts on a visor when he comes back right away, he may be back in that month timeframe. Sundin is usually a pretty high pick when it comes to the pool and not a guy you wanna lose for too long. Jeff O'Neill has also been sidelined with a shoulder injury. I still haven't seen how long he'd be out for, but a shoulder has a real bad potential to it... especially if it is serious.

Anyone take a gamble on Martin Gerber in Carolina as their starting goalie... or as a goalie in general? Gerber pulled a muscle in his hip and has now left the door open for Cam Ward to make a good showing as the starter for the Hurricanes. Anyone gamble on Ward?

Kari Lehtonen left last night's game against Florida with a new groin injury... not like the one that plagued him through the pre-season, apparently. In my second big pool, he's in my team... he was the first goalie I picked. I'm hoping this doesn't count him out for too long.


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Here Come The Kids...

If opening night wasn't a good indicator for what the season will be like, I don't know what will be. Goals, a couple shootouts & a shutout. Welcome back, guys... we've missed you.

It didn't take long before the Calder Trophy race became the hottest one... in my opinion.

Myself, personally, I wouldn't be afraid to draft Alexander Ovechkin (pictured) in my pool... and I have in another pool other than my Wildfire pool. His two goals against Columbus last night only gives more proof that he'll be the man in Washington, as if to think no one thought so already.

Not to be overshadowed (not like he will) is Sidney Crosby. The media sensation in Pittsburgh also registered an assist against the Devils and he will be a quality pick this season as well. How high is really up to you though... I have seen him go as high as 3rd overall.

As of today and days before... Ovechkin is my prediction for the Calder Trophy. He will be the man in Washington and the rookie to watch in this awesome class.

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Game On!!

Well, if you've been living under a sporting rock... IT'S HOCKEY SEASON!!!

If you're still to draft for your hockey pool, NHL.com has released all the starting rosters for opening night tonight. A good reference for poolies who don't know who's injured or sent down to the minors. Reference this sheet for active players to take right away in the pool.

Get drafting!

Another Hockey Pool For The Sherpa

I was invited to another hockey pool last night and it had quite a different set of rules for their hockey pool. There were 10 guys (although 4 of them were on the phone, long distance) picking 20 players: 11 forwards, 6 defensemen and 3 goalies.

The way the points are divvied out is quite interesting. There are 10 statistical categories that points are awarded for, but they aren't awarded for every point or minute, rather every category is only worth a maximum of 10 points.

So, the team with the most goals would therefore collect 10 points, second would collect 9 points, third would collect 8 and so forth...

This happens for every category. Most assists, highest +/-, most PIM, most PPG, most SHG and most GWG for all the skaters... and then most Wins, most Shutouts and highest Save Percentage for the goalies.

There are 10 categories in all, so the maximum amount of points that any one team can achieve through the season is 100 points and the lowest is 10.

This will prove to be an interesting pool... it's something just a little bit different. Myself and my friend, Rob, put in a team together and were pretty proud of ourselves with what we came up with for a team. Hell, we managed to pick up the entire first line for the Canucks! Woo hoo.

The Injury List

Well, you know, I'd keep updating my own list... but it's really only typing what's already been typed on other sites.

I recommend if you want to find injury news for the Eastern Conference, go here... and for the Western Conference, go here. I will have these pages listed on the sidebar to the right of the page.

If you're still to draft for your pools this week, I recommend you keep these pages in the back of your mind. You don't want to be drafting the injured and impared.

My Wildfire Pool Team

Well, I thought I would post the entire draft list round by round... but I don't really feel like it. It seems kinda silly. What I might do though is post teams as we progress through the season. Post the best teams of the week and how they did it... but before the season starts, I feel like posting the Sherpa's Yaks... my team!

Up front is where I concentrated on getting my points, but I did manage to get my goalie in the first few picks. To no real surprise, I picked up some important Canucks. Markus Naslund was my first overall pick and Dan Cloutier was my third pick... I feel that there's a lot of points sitting there for me. Naslund should produce some serious points on the big line and that should be enough to win games for Cloutier. Hoorah!

The other team that I stacked my line-up from was in Ottawa... there is gonna be a lot of points coming from the Senators this year and I feel fortunate to get the guys I did. I managed to pick up Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat & Wade Redden... three guys who will all see power play time. Spezza will be on the Sens top line and after he had his big season in the AHL, he'll be a go-to guy in Ottawa. The chemistry between him and Heatley looks to be better than any high school science fair project.

Marian Gaborik, despite his injury, was still worthy of my 5th pick in the pool. He's generally a Sherpa-favourite from year-to-year and the year I didn't take him, the last one (I think), he was injured through a good portion of the season. Hopefully, he's got his groin problem sorted for the first game of the season against Calgary. I hope he has a big year!

My sixth pick, 5th forward, is Nikolai Zherdev. I expect some good numbers out of the youth in Columbus... despite their probable lack of a winning record. Zherdev, Nash, Brule... all prove to be great scorers in the league this year... and for years to come. That's why I wanted Zherdev now!

My last forward in the draft is another youngster who I have high hopes pinned on... Thomas Vanek. The Hockey News has him pegged at 20 goals this season and that's about where I think he should produce at. Anything more would be a bonus... anything less, wouldn't be terrible... he is a rookie after all.

The youth movement is completed back on the blueline with two future Norris Trophy candidates (in my opinion)... Joni Pitkanen in Philly and Dan Hamhuis in Nashville. Pitkanen is a part of a high-powered Flyer team that should feed from each other and earn points game after game. Hamhuis will be a quarterback of a hard-working Predator power play with the likes of Sullivan and Kariya. Both players are two I've had my eye on and cheer for regardless... so, they're better off on my team.

Markus Naslund, Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat, Marian Gaborik, Nikolai Zherdev & Thomas Vanek up front; Wade Redden, Joni Pitkanen & Dan Hamhuis on my blueline; and Dan Cloutier in net. If I don't win, I'll have a good time cheerin' for 'em.

Draft Day, Round 2

There weren't many surprises in Round 1, but there was one in Round 2.

John LeClair (The Late Impact)
Alexander Mogilny (The Slim Pickens)
Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs)
Zigmund Palffy (Maximus Orillius)
Brad Richards (Team Chevy)
Daniel Alfredsson (THE Team)
Alex Tanguay (Team EA Sports)
Ryan Getzlaf (Taffy's Tyrants)
Marty Turco (Don's Dinos)
Ed Belfour (The Shaving Moe's)
Todd Bertuzzi (Thanx For Comin' Out)
Mike Modano (Doug's Deadbeats)
Paul Kariya (Team Lowes Racing)
Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks)

Ryan Getzlaf, the former Calgary Hitman, was taken way up in the 2nd round of the draft. He stands to play on at least the second line in Anaheim and may not disappoint. Then again...

Draft Day, Round 1

12 numbers went into the hat at 4pm on Saturday, the order was determined, another beer was ordered and then we shot through a quick draft. Two teams joined the pool afterwards, but the teams should be fairly comparable in this draft format.

The Sherpa's Yaks had first pick overall... only after everyone took their number out of a hat... Thanx For Comin' Out had the number one pick in his hand... but instead left it for the number four pick.

So, the first round looked like so...

Markus Naslund (Sherpa's Yaks)
Jerome Iginla (Team Lowes Racing)
Sidney Crosby (Doug's Deadbeats)
Dany Heatley (Thanx For Comin' Out)
Martin St. Louis (The Shavin' Moes)
Joe Thornton (Don's Dinos)
Miikka Kiprusoff (Taffy's Tyrants)
Joe Sakic (Team EA Sports)
Martin Brodeur (THE Team)
Vincent Lecavalier (Team Chevy)
Peter Forsberg (Maximus Orillius)
Jaromir Jagr (Langdon River Dogs)
Robert Esche (The Slim Pickens)
Jose Theodore (The Late Impact)