Mid-season evaluations game ENTER AND PARTICIPATE!

Ok Guys, here's the deal. Week 10, we're halfway through our season. Lets see what everyone thinks about how they are doing. Start off by commenting on your own team, and how you think you've done so far. What problems you've had with your team. And what you are looking forward to in the future. THEN comment about the person above you, and what you like about their team. Seeing as how I'm the first poster, I'll comment on Mike's team.

Well, my season hasn't gone anything like I thought it would. What a difference goaltending makes!! I really blame it all on my goaltending. Garon has played like 8 games, he's finally going to get some starts again. And Giguere should be his normal all star self the rest of the way. But I'm afraid its too late for a run to the top, unless the top guys start to slump. I doubt that'll happen though. I saw the writing on the wall pretty early when I started to lose all the matchups. I had made two horrendous draft day errors that also costed me two young players who are producing better now than the people I accidently picked too high. But I'm happy with the core of keepers I have, I have a really solid group of centers, and a few good young Dmen. I was able to turn some assets like Markov and Lidstrom into potentially good players. It hurt to give them both up, but I think the return was fair and both sides got what they wanted. I'm looking forward to this year's draft, I think after the draft a few trading lanes may open up for me and I'll be able to finish off the year strong, and carry it into next year.

Now, onto Vandelay industries. WOW, I'll be honest, after the draft, I wasn't too afraid of your team. It seemed solid, but nothing that would compete for top spot. You've made me a believer. Your team is strong all around, and barring any injury, it should be a great season for you. All this and you've remainded with your whole squad since draft day. YOu are the only person to do that. Congrats man, and good on you for having faith in your team!!

After draft day, I actually thought Mike was going to be one of the top teams. I'm only sort of glad that I was right . LOL.

:@ Follow the rules comish! lol

Hey Jay,

This is a great idea, but I probably won't have the chance to answer for a few days. Gonzo crazy schedule right now.

Looking forward to hearing everyone else's responses, though. I'll make my post later this week.

Cheers,
Matt

ya i have exams the next two nighst but ill get a response out later this week. i think i deserve the trade trophy award and the tough break award at the half way point!

I actually like my team at the draft, I pretty much followed my strategy and ended up with a lot of guys that I had targeted, missed out on some that I really wanted, and stayed away from the band-aid boys pretty much. Not knowing any of you and your draft tendencies made it a little difficult to know who I was going to get but I came out okay. In my other league, where we pretty much draft a whole new team except for 3 keepers, knowing everyone's draft tendencies, I pretty much know who I am going to get in each round. I love the idea of prospects, which will only help me in my other league, and love the guys that I have on my prospect team. In the future I am just looking to round out my team.

Motley Crue is a motley crew I tell you! Just kidding Rich. I see his team as a mirror image of mine, good balance throughout and some fine young talent. I say you need to draft well and now without able to make any add/drops, that really comes into play to be competitive, but you also need some luck to win.

Ray

okay here she goes. right now im super dissapointed where i am in the league. i feel i could be easily in 1st. ive lost so many close games. besides my first loss i think ive lost all of my other games by an average of less than 15 points. as you can see ive traded away my whole tema haha. the way the draft went down and we had a string of goalies get taken really screwed my layout of my team. therefore i had to make some changes and got price and nabakov. that made me have to make some more moves to sure up my team. anyways im very haapy with my team, especially my keepers (i.e. toews richards price nabakov zetterberg gagne franzen bodeker boyes zherdev e. Johnoson gionta clowe). i think i have a really young core and look to be competitive for years to come.

and i guess im suppose to comment on the team above me which i think who ever did the last post, so i will comment on razors team. i reallly like his team. he has a solid top line in thorton alfredsson and sedin. hes got a star goalie in kipper but for the other goalie spot looks likes a mess lol (vokun rinne legace pavalec ellis). however im sure rinne is going to be a solid goalie in the nhl. anyways hes in the middle of the pack at 4-5 and looking at the rest of the league it looks like it will be hard to become one of the top 2 or 3. look for think rink rats to make the playoffs and then make some noise in the playoffs lol.

cheers

Brandon

So my thoughts on things for my team.
After my draft I thought I had a pretty strong team with a decent balance positionally as well as a good mix of young talent and solid veterans. I have to say I felt pretty good about things for the first few weeks and then it seems like the wheels have fallen off. Really what it feels like is my team was humming along but then the transmission garble up (with the loss of one of my two starting goaltenders) and then I began to lose allot of races with an inability to shift into a higher gear.
My team as it stands is an interesting group. I am somewhat happy with my keeper core but at the same time there are players who should be keepers who are not showing it. I have a very full bench with in my opinion very little dead weight (Comrie, Gerber the biggest exceptions) and allot of solid veterans on my team who could help me in the second half. I will have to see where things are at in a few weeks and begin to act accordingly. If things don't turn around for me then I may have to look at trading away some quality veterans to teams looking for a post season push.

So on to my thoughts about Brandon's team. I have to say it is hard to gather allot of thoughts due to the fact that his team has gone through such dynamic changes over the course of the season. As it stands though I think his team is going to very interesting to watch in the second half. His depth down the middle is pretty awesome considering that Toews, Richards & Franzen still have their best years ahead of them. I also like his depth at the wings and he for sure has one of the best netminding duos. Id say his weakness is in his D. When he listed his keepers above me E. Johnson was the only D mentioned and I see that as ringing true (no offense Brandon). But that aside he has a solid team with potential to make some noise in the playoffs and for years to come.

Cheers,

-Keegan

Hello gentlemen. Finally getting around to doing my homework. Good thread Jay.

My team: After a rather rough start (2-3), I have pulled up my socks and rattled off 5 wins in a row. Hard to believe really and I will be the first to say that I could have sand hould have lost 3 of them. I am sitting at 7-3, but easily could be 5-5 or 4-6. B Ryan won two match ups for me with magical miracle Sundays. I have some players on my team that will be solid keepers for me for next season: Lundquist, Phaneuf, Carter, Savard, Hemsky, Gonchar and the like. I have been really helped by surprise seasons from Carter and Marleau. They are both up and around the 200 FPs range. A big boost for me. Here is who I intend to carry over next season: Lundquist, Phaneuf, Kaberle, Gonchar, Carter, Savard, Jokinen, Hemsky, Pominville, Marleau. There you have it. Pretty C heavy but so it goes. I have been happy with Gilbert this year so if I can keep another he may join the list. Prediction: 3rd place finish regular season. Blown out in the first round of the playoffs by Keegan.

So, Keegans team. I remember talking with Matt early on saying that Keegan had a mean looking team. He took a major blow with Brodeur of course but dodged a bullet dealing Morrow before his season ending injury. Looking at his roster it is very hard to believe that he is 2nd last. With Fleury returning this week I expect that Keegan will explode in the 2nd half and will make a lot of noise in the playoffs. He has scored the 3rd most points this year.

That leads me back to my team: I am ranked 6th for total points. Not that good. I have just caught the breaks and that can end faster than an oil slick in a second hand pair of fleece linens.

G

So consider this a call out to Joel, ScoopNRed, Richard & Mike.
I know some of you are not online that much but I encourage you to take two mintures and write a response - if is all in fun and I am sure we will not hold your remarks against you.

Happy Holidays!

-Keegan

Taking a break from cleaning the house and packing as we get ready to head out for a week. I should still have internet access but no guarantees. So I'll give you 5 minutes while I type away with Steely Dan playing in the background.

I like my roster and think it has potential to do some damage with a bit more tweaking. I have my favorite fantasy player in Luongo and I was glad to be able to pick up Crosby in a deal. My defence is a pretty ragtag bunch, but I am hoping that through the next 2 drafts and 'maybe' one trade that I can fix that. I have tons of depth down the middle which can hurt in some leagues but seems to be ok for me right now because of the way the scoring is setup here (with extra forward positions). All in all I'll need to draft well in this January draft and get some health back on my roster and then hopefully I'll be able to keep pace with a couple of you big hitters out there.

It's hard to make too many comments since I can't take credit for the roster since I didn't draft most of it.

As far as Greg's roster I see a bunch of guys that can DESTROY you one week and then seem merely mortal the next. I think the playoffs will be VERY interesting for Greg's guys because it will all depend on which Hartnell/Thomas/Pominville/Richards/Marleau shows up during those weeks.

Finally, let me just say thanks to you guys for a league that has a great 'culture' It's become the #1 thing I look for in any league now and this place is the best of the few that I am in. Looking forward to seeing where we all head from here!

Thanks for the great response, Joel. Greg and I are so glad we ended up with so many quality GMs. You are a veteran poolie, so we're grateful to hear the positive comments.

Cheers,
Matt

Poolies,

Well, the Tigers roared out of the gate better than dreamt. Then the Tigers fell down harder than imagined... Top of the heap, bottom of the heap... Prospects worked out well, with three graduating prospect status and possibly all five before we're done.

Biggest disappointment... Theo & Jovo
Biggest surprise... very few. A couple have further established themselves (Nash, Kane)

Wicked +/- with Brindy -23, Afino -14, Jovo -12, Hainsey -12...

We have currently established about 6 or 7 long term core players. So that's cool!

Despite the horrendous losing streak, we're only two games back! The battle goes on!

SCOOP n RED

Midway through the season I am pleased (and somewhat surprised) at my ranking. I look at the rosters of many of you gentlemen and it is very apparent that this first season will become very close near years end. In terms of my team, my initial intentions coming into our inaugural draft was to grab a few proven veterans and add some promising younger players who will hopefully progress in the years to come. I have been happiest with Little, Parise, and Koivu who have all put up numbers that I had initially hoped for but never truly believed they could obtain. Datsyuk, Iginla, and St.Louis have also performed very well midway through this year, but I would have been disappointed if they hadn't. I think my D has luckily stayed healthy, and has kept me in many weekly matchups. A few problems I've ran into was my lack of depth at all positions (except center) and the feeling that one key injury could ruin a promising start to the year.

One team that has really impressed me is Matt's... I feel his team possesses the greatest amount of high-end skilled players and if he could manage to stay healthy for an extended period, I think he could really do some damage. He's deep at every position, and has a few blue-chip prospects waiting in the wings. The fact that he doesn't plan on dropping anyone for the January draft, speaks volumes..

All in all I feel any team in this league can beat anyone else from one week to the next, which shows how educated and dedicated we all are to the sport of hockey. I am proud to be part of such a distinguished group of fantasy experts.

Cheers,
Mike