ASK SLAM!
By CHRIS NICHOLS -- SLAM! Sports
Hi Chris: Thanks for your advice during the season. I ended up taking home the presidents trophy, for the second year in a row. I'm playing in the semifinals right now and am struggling a bit but I think I will pick up during the end of the week. My question concerns keepers. I will keep four players until next year, one C, W, D, G. From these players, which four would you pick?
C Lecavalier, Vincent
C Richards, Brad
C Morrison, Brendan
C Modano, Mike
W Gagne, Simon
W Hossa, Marian
W Havlat, Martin
W Samsonov, Sergei
W Recchi, Mark
D Lidstrom, Nicklas
D Blake, Rob
D Zubov, Sergei
D Gonchar, Sergei
G Roloson, Dwayne
G Legace, Manny
G Luongo, Roberto
My plan up to today was to keep Lecavalier, Hossa, Gonchar and Luongo, but today I got a hold of Modano and now I'm not sure on which center to keep. What do you think?
All the best, Rickard
Congrats on the regular season win.
I would keep Lecavalier at center, actually. Modano will be much stronger next year than he was this year; I have no doubt of that. However, Lecavalier is up and coming and he's on a really strong offensive team.
I agree with you choice of Hossa on the wing; that one is pretty much a no-brainer.
Gonchar is solid on D and would also be my choice, but you couldn't go wrong with Lidstrom or Blake either.
In net, Roloson will still have a better GAA next year by quite a bit. I expect him to get more significantly more starts than Manny Fernandez or whoever happens to be backing up at that time. Luongo is definitely the one you want to keep if you plan on being in this keeper league for several years though -- he's unreal and Florida will get a bit better each season with all of that great young talent.
Hey Chris, I was looking at the free agents list in my h2h league and saw Robert Lang was off the IR list. Have you heard if he is he coming back quicker than the three weeks as they were saying? I did pick him up anyways just in case. I dropped Datsyuk for him. In your opinion, good or not really!
Thanks yet again, Doug-
Datsyuk should be back sooner than Lang. I'm not sure why Lang doesn't have the IR status -- he still does in ESPN leagues. In H2H you're probably better off just grabbing healthy guys to stream for the playoffs anyway.
Hi Chris: Could you give me an update on the potential return of Eric Daze?
Thanks, Greg
Unless there's another injury I haven't heard about, he's still active. He returned from his long layoff on March 5th and has played six games; including last night's game against Carolina.
Hey Chris, just a couple quick questions, I don't even bother checking anywhere else because you seem to always be right. I am in a yahoo league where Robert Lang was taken off the IR slot. I went to add a FA today and I wasn't allowed because I had Lang in my IR slot when he was removed from the "real-life" IR slot, thus making my team over capacity. What is the deal with that? Every hockey related website I've seen say he is still on the IR? Should I just drop him to make room on my team? Also, would you drop Kovalev for Gaborik? Which D-man would you rather have: Boyle, Zubov, Liles or Philips? Thanks
Ah, flattery will get you everywhere. I'm certainly not always right, but I appreciate the compliment. Lang is still hurt, so email your fantasy hockey commissioner and get that IR status back.
Gaborik and Kovy are pretty even for the rest of the way, but Gabby is coming off that huge game.
You have to go with Liles the rest of the way because he's just been so hot. Both Zubov and Boyle are better, but Liles is in a great situation.
Hi there! Re: the CBA
The work stoppage in 1995 -- On what date was the deal ratified/agreement reached, what date did training camps start, and what date did the season start? (Trying to plan Fantasy Hockey for next year if the CBA remains unresolved!)
Thanks! Dan
I don't remember the exact dates, but it was a 103-day work stoppage and it was a 48-game season. Honestly, all of those dates can be thrown out the window. Anything can happen this time around. I know you're probably trying to get a feel for how long it will take for the season to start after a deal is reached, assuming the season does not start on time.
The problem with that is the length of any training camp will absolutely be affected by how long any strike or lockout lasts from the day the CBA expires. If it's only a week or so, there will not be much of a delay at all. If the lockout lasts three months, there would need to be a much longer training camp.
Hey, let's just hope the NHL and NHLPA both realize that a work stoppage would be detrimental to the game. I know they say they realize that, but you have to sometimes wonder about that and how much they really realize that the fans -- the ones who pay for all of them to have this career -- are sick of this griping over money in all sports.
Have a fantasy hockey question? Drop me a line at
chris_nichols@canoemail.com. I do my best to answer all questions within 24 hours, depending on the volume of emails. Please keep the questions short. Your fantasy questions may be answered in our Ask Slam! section.
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