We at puckblogging.com would like to send out our sincere wishes to the fire victims of Southern California. Owners of this site were directly effected by these fires and over the last few days have taken time off from the blogging process to get their lives in order. Please be patient with us regarding NHL hockey news and fantasy hockey commentary. Look for the puck blogging to begin tomorrow.
Thanks for your patience,
Puck Blogging Team
The title was too easy. Fantasy hockey owners who took a gamble on Alexander Semin this year after an enormous sophomore slump last season are paying huge dividends thus far this year. His stellar play has over-shadowed fellow Russian super-talent Alexander Ovechkin by a huge discrepancy this year. Tonight Semin has had a hand in every point on the board for Washington. He’s scored 2G and 3A, while maintaining a +3 with 4 penalty minutes. On the season Semin has 26 points in 15 games and is a +16—a far cry from his -18 from last year.
Will Semin keep up the pace and out-duel Ovechkin. Probably not on both fronts, but he has not stepped off the gas since day one this year and fantasy hockey owners might have a good SELL HIGH player in Semin. Try to pull off a deal while he’s hot. Don’t get us wrong here, he is a great young NHL talent. The former 13th overall pick scored 38 in his rookie campaign and scored over 70 points, while racking up 90+PIM’s. He is a solid 2-3 forward from here on out in forward leagues and a solid 1 forward in leagues with a left wing position. The Washington Capitals have a promising future with Semin and Ovechkin and are looking like a worthy adversary to the Penguins Crosby and Malkin.
The heat is on in Atlanta. Don’t look now but Atlanta Thrasher Ilya Kovalchuk is on a pretty good run of late. Yesterday he scored a goal and tallied an assist for his third multi-point game in his last 4 games. A span that has given him 3 goals and five assists. Ilya is one of only a select few in the NHL that can be called a perennial 50 goal scorer. Never-mind that he plays on a bad team, with little offensive prowess. It amazes me that he can get 50 in Atlanta with the lack of support he is given. Put him on Detroit, like his ex-counterpart Hossa and he’s a 60 goal scorer. Better yet, what would it be like to have Joe Thornton or Crosby center him? We can play “what ifs” all day long and the fact remains is that Ilya is a stud with or without the help. It’s sad to see this talent wasting away on a team with no promise…that’s all for now from this hockey blog. We have a great free agent article in the works stay tuned!
Anaheim Ducks goalie Jean Sebastien Giguere was pulled tonight, marking the second time in the last four games the Anaheim net-minder was yanked. He gave up 4 goals on 13 shots and was replaced by Jonas Hiller. Fantasy hockey owners of Giguere take a note on Hiller. He has become a worthwhile handicap for Giguere and should anything happen to Giggy, look for Hiller to step in and produce admirably. It is worth noting that the Ducks did not help out Giguere tonight. On a play you will more than likely never see again, Scott Niedermayer stepped on the puck, resulting in him tripping over backwards and Mark Parrish stealing the puck and scoring a hat trick on a breakaway. Not a good night for the Ducks. Sean Avery is up to his wiener self again, yapping at just about everything but Elisha Cuthbert’s rear. Avery might be the highest paid 15 goal scorer in the history of the NHL. We’ll have to verify that one…
Dallas Stars defenseman Sergei Zubov will make his season debut tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. This marks the first time Zubov has seen ice since he underwent hip surgery more than a month ago. Zubov is a top ten defenseman and does it all. His draft value slipped a bit this year because his injury was known prior to most drafts and if you were one of the lucky ones who drafted him and stashed him on your bench, you can now start him and be confident he’ll produce top ten numbers barring in unforeseen setbacks with his hip. Look for Zubov to hover around the 40 point mark with 8-10 goals and 20 powerplay points. He will also pay immediate dividends in the +/- category and has only had 4 minus seasons (two in first three years) in his 16 year career. The Return of Zubov is upon us, start him, he’s mucho talented.
