SportsJudge Fantasy Hockey Challenge 1st Half Update: Experts

The 2009-10 SportsJudge Fantasy Hockey Challenge has reached the midway point of the regular season. To no surprise, most of our experts are still bunched together tightly in the standings, while one has jumped out to a very impressive (albeit unconventional) early lead. This week we'll take a look at the guests of SportsJudge, how their teams have fared so far, and what the future may hold.

*To view each team, click on the small roster image to the right

Prince of Wales Conference:

#1. PuckCentral.net (Declan G) Declan is the founder of PuckCentral.net, a top-notch New York Rangers blog. His team leads the Prince of Wales Conference at 111 points. Declan had a great draft and got off to a hot start, winning his first five weeks handily, but injuries have caused him to slip up as of late. Fortunately, he jumped on Moulson and Erat just in time to fill the voids. Losing Emery for 6 weeks will hurt, but the strength of his centers will carry him to wins in most weeks.

Key Additions: Alex Goligoski, Matt Moulson, Martin Erat

#4. InsideHockey.com (Kevin Greenstein, Alex Linsky) Kevin and Alex are co-managing a team on behalf of InsideHockey.com. Draft problems left their team a little weak at goaltender, but Alex decided to pull the trigger early and bring in Ryan Miller. It couldn't have worked out better as Miller is arguably the league's best at this point in the season. On top of that, James Neal was a great snag a few weeks into the season as he is still currently on pace to top 40 goals. If Malkin can get back to his Conn Smythe form, InsideHockey could be a very tough team to beat.

Key Additions: Lubo Visnovsky, James Neal, Dustin Penner

#5 PuckProspectus.com (Timo Seppa) Timo writes a fantasy and sabermetric column for Puck Prospectus. He started the season with three big losses in the first four weeks, which likely prompted the short leash he's held on many of his roster spots. He made a flurry of 8 moves in a 5-day period in an attempt to stop the freefall, and was very successful in doing so. His team has stayed fairly healthy thus far, yet has been a victim of a tough division. His 89 points would put him almost in second place in the Campbell Conference. His most impressive move in my mind has been adding Tuuka Rask. Prior to the season, I quietly felt Rask would end up as the Boston starter by year's end, a development which could eventually lead Timo to a championship.

Key Additions: Rich Peverley, Tyler Myers, Tuuka Rask

Campbell Conference:

#1. SaucerPass.com (Brian Schrembs) Brian is a co-founder of the website SaucerPass.com. I must say, he has put together one of the most impressive 10 weeks of fantasy hockey I have ever seen. Not only is he 18 points ahead of anyone in the entire league with 129 points, he's accomplished this by making ONE move. You're probably wondering who this single move could have been for a man so selective, right? How about a two-week add and then drop of Jamie Benn from Dallas. With a solid roster top to bottom, there's no way I can argue Schrembs isn't the favorite at the midpoint.

#3 TheHockeyWriters.com (Bruce Hollingdrake) The Hockey Writers is a collaborative effort, bringing together over 30 skilled hockey writers from across the US and Canada. Bruce represents his website in our league and unfortunately has been crushed by injuries which never seem to end. Currently he has five players on Injured Reserve and even more with minor bumps and bruises. Yet surprisingly, after losing his first six weeks, Bruce has strung together 3 wins in his past 4 weeks and has gotten himself right back into contention. It's scary to think what he could do with talented players like Gionta, Markov, and Clarkson in the lineup right now.

Key Additions: Matt Carle, JS Giguere, Alex Burrows

#5 IllegalCurve.com (Richard Pollack) Richard is the creator and editor of the website Illegal Curve. Asking him to feel sorry for Bruce and his injuries is hardly reasonable. Not only has he had countless injured players, they've been all elite offensive talents such as Kovalchuk, Savard, and Kronwall. I truly felt after the draft that Richard had one of the most talented teams in the league, and I'm sticking to my guns. When Backstrom, Backes, and Spezza awake from their early season slumbers, I think IllegalCurve makes a run to the finals.

Key Additions: Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Ondrej Pavelec

SportsJudge.com Fantasy Hockey Challenge Update

One week of fantasy hockey is in the books for the SportsJudge.com Fantasy Hockey Challenge and Declan G of PuckCentral.net is off to an undefeated start. In case you missed it, be sure to check out our list of SportsJudge writers and the experts from the US and Canada who are competing this season as well as the draft recap. Also, be sure to check out our experts websites. If you're a hockey fan, these six sources are all you need to stay up-to-date on all 30 teams in the NHL. Let's get into Week 1...

To see detailed matchups and rosters of each team, click the images on the right.

SportsJudge Colligan (Mike Colligan) vs. Between the Pipes (Manson Seto)

- It's hard to argue that the MVP of the week wasn't Dany Heatley for Colligan as he lit up the scoreboard with 5 goals, 5 assists, and 10 PIM in his first week with the new squad in San Jose.
- Goaltending was the big letdown for Seto. With Nabakov, Brodeur, Leclaire and the "Monster" on his roster, there won't be many weeks where he'll lose all four goalie categories like he did this week. On the flip side, Brooks Laich (3G, 4A) and his newfound role on the Caps powerplay was a pleasant surprise.


TheHockeyWriters.com (Bruce Hollingdrake) vs. InsideHockey.com (Alex Linsky)

- Bruce has the best defensemen in the league, but Mike Green failing to score and losing Markov for a few months makes it tough. Adding Carle and Hedman to the mix should allow him to move forward with minimal damage.
- Even with troubles logging into the draft, Alex somehow managed to get Malkin, Parise, and Richards on his team which makes his 20 goals and 40 assists for the week hardly a surprise. If he can avoid injuries throughout the season, his team is going to be hard to outscore.


IglooClub (Darren Coslov) vs. Phil Bourque (Joe Romano)

- This was a great matchup between SportsJudge foes and fittingly it ended in a tie. Coslov capitalized on the huge offensive weeks by Ovechkin and Backstrom and with Kessel and Hossa sitting on IR, he looks to be the favorite at this point in the season.
- Romano is about as balanced as it gets. He got production from top to bottom and his underrated players like Wojtek Wolski (4G, 1A) came through big.


Turkey Hold Dimaio (Schrembs at SaucerPass.com) vs. Illegal Curve (Richard Pollack)

- Schrembs didn't mess around with soft players on draft day, making sure to get Chara (16 PIM) and Pronger (18 PIM). In goal, Jon Quick and the LA Kings have looked great so far and Mikka Kiprusoff has been racking up wins. I have a hunch Thomas may lose quite a few starts to Tuuka Rask as the year progresses, but Boston is still one of the East's better teams and will rebound from a sluggish start.
- Richard had a rough week, but he's got big-time scorers and great young defensemen just waiting to break out. Spezza, Iginla, Backes, and Weber are off to curiously slow starts and he finished just short in a number of categories.


Puck Prospectus (Timo Seppa) vs. PuckCentral.net (Declan G)

- Timo was shutout, but Roberto Luongo fantasy owners are used to his slow starts by now. Jose Theodore is making quite a bid for the starting job in Washington and he made an interesting pickup of Antero Niittymaki. Mike Smith hasn't looked himself and a few more good starts from Nitty could mean big changes.
- Declan sits on top of the league after one week with his undefeated victory behind goal-scoring machines Crosby, Carter, Marleau, and Selanne. What's also interesting to me is aside from Jovanovski, he's got a ton of young defense with a ton of talent. There's obviously risk associated with unproven young defensemen, but it'll be fun to see how this plays out over the course of an entire season.

SportsJudge.com Fantasy Hockey Challenge Draft Recap

Our SportsJudge NHL team and friends recently completed their experts fantasy draft, and now that the regular season is underway, let's take a look at the results. Check out our league preview article for a list of the SportsJudge friends involved, as well as the rules and basic structure of the league. Please keep in mind our standard head-to-head 10 category format may not be completely appropriate for the league you may be participating in. If you have specific questions, feel free to email us at info(at)sportsjudge.com or comment below.

I'll only be reviewing the first ten rounds in this recap due to space constraints, but will be covering the league on weekly basis throughout the season.

Round 1
1 Alexander Ovechkin (SJ Coslov)
2 Sidney Crosby (PuckCentral.net)
3 Evgeni Malkin (InsideHockey.com)
4 Dany Heatley (SJ Colligan)
5 Ryan Getzlaf (SJ Romano)
6 Joe Thornton (TheHockeyWriters.com)
7 Roberto Luongo (PuckProspectus.com)
8 Evgeni Nabokov (SJ Seto)
9 Miikka Kiprusoff (SaucerPass.com)
10 Jarome Iginla (IllegalCurve.com)

Notes and Reaction: The talented Sharks duo going at #4 and #6 is risky, but if they click each could easily top 100 points next season. Keep in mind Dany Heatley is only two seasons removed from back-to-back 50 goals seasons without the NHL's best playmaker on his line.

Round 2
1 Ilya Kovalchuk (IllegalCurve.com)
2 Tim Thomas (SaucerPass.com)
3 Martin Brodeur (SJ Seto)
4 Pavel Datsyuk (PuckProspectus.com)
5 Mike Green (TheHockeyWriters.com)
6 Alexander Semin (SJ Romano)
7 Rick Nash (SJ Colligan)
8 Zach Parise (InsideHockey.com)
9 Henrik Zetterberg (PuckCentral.net)
10 Daniel Sedin (SJ Coslov)

Notes and Reaction: To some, Romano's Semin choice might be the surprise pick in this round. However, had he been healthy last season the Russian was on pace for 104 points. Starting the season on Ovechkin's wing could mean an enormous year for Semin.

Round 3
1 Nicklas Backstrom (SJ Coslov)
2 Jeff Carter (PuckCentral.net)
3 Corey Perry (InsideHockey.com)
4 Vincent Lecavalier (SJ Colligan)
5 Patrick Kane (SJ Romano)
6 Tomas Vokoun (TheHockeyWriters.com)
7 Dion Phaneuf (PuckProspectus.com)
8 Martin St. Louis (SJ Seto)
9 Zdeno Chara (SaucerPass.com)
10 Niklas Backstrom (IllegalCurve.com)

Notes and Reaction: Bruce took Vokoun far earlier than expected, but I think he may be on to something. Few realize that Vokoun and former understudy Craig Anderson were #2 and #3 respectively in NHL save percentage last season. With the departure of All-Star Jay Boewmeester on defense, Vokoun could be facing even more shots this season.

Round 4
1 Marc Savard (IllegalCurve.com)
2 Devin Setoguchi (SaucerPass.com)
3 Dan Boyle (SJ Seto)
4 Bobby Ryan (PuckProspectus.com)
5 Jonas Hiller (TheHockeyWriters.com)
6 Henrik Lundqvist (SJ Romano)
7 Cam Ward (SJ Colligan)
8 Marian Gaborik (InsideHockey.com)
9 Eric Staal (PuckCentral.net)
10 Marc-Andre Fleury (SJ Coslov)

Notes and Reaction: If Fleury can find his Playoff form of last year, Coslov may have the steal of the draft with the 11th goaltender off the board. Timo Seppa also snagged a gem in Bobby Ryan, who is part of what may be the strongest line in the NHL. He had 31 goals in just 64 games last season.

Round 5
1 Henrik Sedin (SJ Coslov)
2 Patrick Marleau (PuckCentral.net)
3 Mike Richards (InsideHockey.com)
4 Ryan Miller (SJ Colligan)
5 Simon Gagne (SJ Romano)
6 Andrei Markov (TheHockeyWriters.com)
7 Jonathan Toews (PuckProspectus.com)
8 Daniel Alfredsson (SJ Seto)
9 Michael Cammalleri (SaucerPass.com)
10 Jason Spezza (IllegalCurve.com)

Notes and Reaction: With only 73 points, last year was a down year for Jason Spezza. Losing Dany Heatley hurts, but Spezza has looked extremely fast in camp alongside newcomer Milan Michalek. On a roster that already includes Iginla, Kovalchuk, and Savard, Richard could have an offense to reckon with.

Round 6
1 Shea Weber (IllegalCurve.com)
2 Martin Havlat (SaucerPass.com)
3 Patrik Elias (SJ Seto)
4 Thomas Vanek (PuckProspectus.com)
5 Nicklas Lidstrom (TheHockeyWriters.com)
6 Sergei Gonchar (SJ Romano)
7 Carey Price (SJ Colligan)
8 Chris Osgood (InsideHockey.com)
9 Ray Emery (PuckCentral.net)
10 Steve Mason (SJ Coslov)

Notes and Reaction: It's not too often that a potential 45-50 goal scorer falls to the sixth round, but that's exactly what Timo found in Thomas Vanek. Vanek slowed down after a jaw injury in February and still ended up hitting the back of the net 40 times. Hitting his prime at the age of 25, look out.

Round 7
1 Marian Hossa (SJ Coslov)
2 Cristobal Huet (PuckCentral.net)
3 Johan Franzen (InsideHockey.com)
4 Olli Jokinen (SJ Colligan)
5 Pekka Rinne (SJ Romano)
6 Semyon Varlamov (TheHockeyWriters.com)
7 Nikolai Khabibulin (PuckProspectus.com)
8 David Booth (SJ Seto)
9 Chris Pronger (SaucerPass.com)
10 Anze Kopitar (IllegalCurve.com)

Notes and Reaction: Hossa and Huet are great value this late in the draft. Huet stumbled towards the end of last season but he has a nice cushion as the starter for one of the best team's in the Western Conference. Some may think this is early to take Hossa, but in a league like this, your team is only as good as your playoff roster. Hossa should be back by mid-November and in prime shape by the time fantasy playoffs roll around.

Round 8
1 Duncan Keith (IllegalCurve.com)
2 Scott Hartnell (SaucerPass.com)
3 Brian Rafalski (SJ Seto)
4 Sheldon Souray (PuckProspectus.com)
5 Derick Brassard (TheHockeyWriters.com)
6 Brenden Morrow (SJ Romano)
7 Scott Niedermayer (SJ Colligan)
8 Marty Turco (InsideHockey.com)
9 Teemu Selanne (PuckCentral.net)
10 Scott Gomez (SJ Coslov)

Notes and Reaction: Getting a 60-point defenseman this late in the draft like Manson Seto did, shows it sometimes makes sense not to overpay for the big names like Chara or Phaneuf in the initial rounds. With this possibly being Lidstrom's final season in Detroit, expect Rafalski to take the reigns as the go-to guy in Hockey Town.

Round 9
1 David Krejci (SJ Coslov)
2 Shane Doan (PuckCentral.net)
3 Jason Blake (InsideHockey.com)
4 Mike Knuble (SJ Colligan)
5 Steven Stamkos (SJ Romano)
6 Patrice Bergeron (TheHockeyWriters.com)
7 Milan Lucic (PuckProspectus.com)
8 Mikko Koivu (SJ Seto)
9 Jay Bouwmeester (SaucerPass.com)
10 Niklas Kronwall (IllegalCurve.com)

Notes and Reaction: Shane Doan was a nice pick here by Declan as a complement to his already potent offense. Doan is a perfect example of a steady scoring forward that goes completely unnoticed playing the Arizona desert.

Round 10
1 David Backes (IllegalCurve.com)
2 Mark Streit (SaucerPass.com)
3 Bill Guerin (SJ Seto)
4 Dennis Wideman (PuckProspectus.com)
5 Alex Tanguay (TheHockeyWriters.com)
6 Mike Ribeiro (SJ Romano)
7 Alex Kovalev (SJ Colligan)
8 Joe Pavelski (InsideHockey.com)
9 Ales Hemsky (PuckCentral.net)
10 Phil Kessel (SJ Coslov)

Notes and Reaction: While we're on the subject of under appreciated players, Schrembs snagged Mark Streit at a great spot in the 10th round. In a perfect world, Streit should have been up for the Norris Trophy last season, his first on Long Island. Not only did he put up 56 points in only 74 games, he also managed to finish the season at +6. On the surface, this wouldn't blow away the casual hockey fan, but as the leading defenseman on the worst team in the league and almost half his points coming on the powerplay, I think this was an outstanding accomplishment. Adding John Tavares and legitimate starting goalies to the Islanders will only help Streit's cause.

SportsJudge.com Fantasy Hockey Challenge Teams Announced

With the beginning of hockey season upon us, SportsJudge.com is pleased to announce the ten teams who will be participating in this year's Fantasy Hockey Challenge. As always, this year's Challenge will pit our SportsJudge hockey staff against media experts from throughout North America. The draft will take place tonight, September 28th leading up to the opening night of the NHL season on October 1st. We'll have a full draft recap later this week.

If you're preparing for your own fantasy hockey draft be sure to check out Manson Seto's early breakdowns for both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference teams:

Western Conference Fantasy Preview
Eastern Conference Fantasy Preview
Sleepers & Busts: Forwards
Sleepers & Busts: Defensemen
Sleepers & Busts: Goalies

Rules:

Offensive Categories: Goals, Assists, Plus/Minus, Penalty Minutes, Powerplay Points, Game Winning Goals
Goaltending Cateogries: Wins, Goals Against Average, Save Percentage, Shutouts
Positions: C, C, C, C, W, W, W, W, W, W, W, D, D, D, D, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, IR, IR

Head-to-Head Format, Rosters set daily

SportsJudge Teams:

Mike Colligan (Director of Business Development & Managing Editor)
Darren Coslov (SportsJudge Blog NHL Columnist)
Joseph Romano (COO & Editor in Chief)
Manson Seto (SportsJudge Blog NHL Columnist)

Friends of SportsJudge:

1. IllegalCurve.com (Richard Pollack) Richard is the creator and editor of the website Illegal Curve. Illegal Curve was established in 2007 and has aimed to keep hockey fans up-to-date on the goings on around the entire NHL. The site has no home team, but instead focuses on providing news from all 30 NHL cities. With a number of daily features, including the Morning Papers, Illegal Curve combines news with analysis in an attempt to keep the hockey fan satisfied on a daily basis.

2. PuckCentral.net (Declan G) Declan is the founder of PuckCentral.net, a top-notch New York Rangers blog that combines news, videos, and his own in-depth analysis of everything Rangers. He's been a Rangers fan since the age of seven and is currently a third-year law student at Seton Hall Law, just outside New York City.

3. SaucerPass.com (Brian Schrembs) Brian is a co-founder of the website SaucerPass.com. He was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and still carries a strong allegiance to the Sabres. He has over a decade of serious fantasy hockey experience under his belt and currently resides in Washington, DC. SaucerPass.com is a one-stop shop for articles on hockey strategy, team breakdowns, goaltending outlooks, and even fantasy hockey team names.

4. PuckProspectus.com (Timo Seppa) Timo writes a fantasy and sabermetric column for Puck Prospectus. In addition, several of Timo’s articles have appeared at ESPN.com, with ESPN Insider. He also writes a blog at Icehockeymetrics.com based on advanced statistics that he has developed. Timo received his BSEE from Clarkson University and his MA in English from Western Connecticut State. He completed his Ph.D coursework at Fordham.

5. InsideHockey.com (Kevin Greenstein & Alex Linsky) Kevin and Alex will be co-managing a team on behalf of InsideHockey.com. Launched in 2002, Inside Hockey is one of the foremost independent online hockey publications. The Inside Hockey Newsletter is delivered weekly to over 20,000 hockey fans, while the Inside Hockey Radio Show airs every Saturday afternoon on XM/Sirius and over the air on Montreal's "The Team 990." And this fall, InsideHockey.tv will launch, providing yet another opportunity for the company to reach hockey fans with unique, insightful content.

6. TheHockeyWriters.com (Bruce Hollingdrake) Bruce is an IT professional currently working in the field of Integrated Library Systems. He is also a traveler, writer, Father, Husband, and sportsman that happens to own a by-appointment used and rare book store as well as two thriving blogs. The Hockey Writers is a collaborative effort, bringing together over 30 skilled hockey writers from across the US and Canada. He began in January of 2009 and is securing his place amongst the leaders in hockey journalism.