LHL 06 Keeper List

M. Sundin (Tor - C)			Red Shirts			D. Heatley (Ott - LW,RW)			Frozen Tundra
S. Niedermayer (Anh - D)			Red Shirts			M. Savard (Atl - C)			Frozen Tundra
M. Ryder (Mon - RW)			Red Shirts			D. Sedin (Van - LW)			Frozen Tundra
S. Gomez (NJ - C)			Red Shirts			M. Naslund (Van- C)			Frozen Tundra
C. Huet (Mon - G)			Red Shirts			M. Fernandez (Min- G)			Frozen Tundra
A. Tanguay (Col - LW)			Taichung MightyFucks			J. Thornton (SJ - C)			Tiajuana Tokers
S. Horcoff (Edm - C)			Taichung MightyFucks			O. Jokinen (Fla - C)			Tiajuana Toker
A. Hemsky (Edm - RW)			Taichung MightyFucks			M. Kiprusoff (Cgy - G)			Tiajuana Toker
T. Bertuzzi (Van - RW)			Taichung MightyFucks			H. Lundqvist (NYR - G)			Tiajuana Toker
D. Roloson (Edm - G)			Taichung MightyFucks			P. Elias (NJ - C,LW)			Tiajuana Toker
J. Iginla (Cgy - RW)			Pekka Rautakalios			I. Kovalchuk (Atl - LW)			EZMONEY CHIEFS
M. Schneider (Det - D)			Pekka Rautakalios			H. Zetterberg (Det - LW)			EZMONEY CHIEFS
P. Bergeron (Bos - C)			Pekka Rautakalios			N. Lidstrom (Det - D)			EZMONEY CHIEFS
M. Hejduk (Col - RW)			Pekka Rautakalios			P. Forsberg (Phi - C)			EZMONEY CHIEFS
M. Legace (Det - G)			Pekka Rautakalios			M. Havlat (Ott - LW,RW)			EZMONEY CHIEFS
S. Crosby (Pit - C)			Pikes Place Flying Fish			K. LehtonenDTD (Atl - G)			Tikis
E. Staal (Car - C)			Pikes Place Flying Fish			M. Hossa (Atl - RW)			Tikis
S. Gonchar (Pit - D)			Pikes Place Flying Fish			J. Sakic (Col - C)			Tikis
M. Denis (Cls - G)			Pikes Place Flying Fish			B. McCabe (Tor - D)			Tikis
M. Fleury (Pit - G)			Pikes Place Flying Fish			P. Demitra (LA - C,RW)			Tikis
J. Jagr (NYR - RW)			Bo Ho Blackouts			J.Spezza	(Ott- C)		Fulong Flames
S. Gagne (Phi - LW)			Bo Ho Blackouts			B. Gionta	(NJ- RW)		Fulong Flames
J. Pitkanen (Phi - D)			Bo Ho Blackouts			R. Nash	(Col-RW)		Fulong Flames
T. Vokoun (Nsh - G)			Bo Ho Blackouts			P. Marleau	(SJ-C)		Fulong Flames
R. Luongo (Fla - G)			Bo Ho Blackouts			K. Giguere	(Ana-G)		Fulong Flames
D. Alfredsson (Ott - RW)			The DaMing Dynamos			A. Ovechkin (Was - LW)			Montreal Smoked Meat
R. Dipietro (NYI- G)			The DaMing Dynamos			V. Lecavalier (TB - C)			Montreal Smoked Meat
P. Kariya (Nsh - LW)			The DaMing Dynamos			M. Gaborik (Min - LW,RW)			Montreal Smoked Meat
W. Redden (Ott - D)			The DaMing Dynamos			C. Ward(Col- G)			Montreal Smoked Meat
C. Pronger (Edm - D)			The DaMing Dynamos			R. Miller (Buf- G)			Montreal Smoked Meat
J. Cheechoo (SJ - RW)			Burning Drips			T. Selanne (Anh - RW)			Swift Current Spazz
D. Phaneuf (Cgy - D)			Burning Drips			P. Datsyuk (Det - C)			Swift Current Spazz
M. Afinogenov (Buf - RW)			Burning Drips			B. Richards (TB - C)			Swift Current Spazz
L. Nagy (Pho - LW)			Burning Drips			M. Brodeur (NJ - G)			Swift Current Spazz
M. Turco (Dal - G)			Burning Drips			M. Gerber (Ott- G)			Swift Current Spazz

Big LHL Season preview 3

The quest for the Lanny McDonald Cup.

This is the last Big LHL season preview. I have included the last two groupings; Mike Bullard's Mustache and Lanny McDonald’s Mustache. These groups are close in ability and contain most of the traditional LHL powerhouses like the Tokers and the Tundra. All of these teams should all be in the playoff hunt all year long.

Group 3: Mike Bullard's Mustache

This group includes teams 5-7 in no particular order.Any of these teams could take the cup and any of these teams may not make the playoffs.

Fulong Flames

• Staches: The Fulong Flames are not as close to Lanny as the Sutter's team in Calgary. Fulong has plenty of exciting players but may not have enough horses to win the cup. The Flames have brought together a young group of potential super stars with Nash, Spezza, Marleau and Briere. The real strength of the Flames may be Nabokov and Giguere in goal. The Flames will compete if the Sharks and Ducks win.
  
• Mullets: Modry, Daze and Gionta hardly scare anybody. The Flames also have an average blue liner with Zdlicky Johnsson and Jovanovski. The Flames may not have enough depth to make a run.
  
• Question: How will the senior Quattro turn out? Roberts, Robitaille, Kovalev and Hull were Fantasy superstars in the 90s but it isn't the 90s. Fulong will be heading to the playoffs if any two of these players have decent years.

Bo Ho Blackouts

• Staches: The Blackouts may have the best goaltending in the LHL. Luongo and Vokoun are studs who play for average teams. Bo Ho is in the playoffs if the Panthers and Predators improve. The Blackouts also have some strength up front with Weight, Gagne, Nedved and Jagr . Bo Ho will contend if Jagr plays to his enormous ability and stops chugging cock.
• Mullets: Primeau, Friesen and Mogilny have been killing fantasy teams for years. The Blackouts defense is young and without any proven point getter. Hamrlik is the key on defense.
• Question: How good are Bocheski and Daniels? They both appear to be the real deals but they are both rookies. The Blackouts could be set for years but having two rookies as your key players is a recipe for disaster this year. The more I analyze the Blackouts the more I realize I may have made mistake in my rankings. They are much closer to Theo’s bottle than Lanny’s stache.

Pekka Rautakalios

• Staches: Team Czech must be confused as Pekka has bolstered his squad with 9, count em 9 Czechs. Any team with Iginla and Hejduk has to be a contender. Lang and Bergeron should also be able to contribute. This team should be able to score if yashin has a good year.
  
• Mullets: The Rautakalios took some gambles in the draft with Yashin, Straka and Tvederdosky. Too his credit, owner Brent Morrison didn’t overpay for them, but damn they are risky. The Pekka also have what looks like a terrible defense with Kaberle and Markov leading the way.
• Question: How well will the goalies play this year? It may be feast or famine in the Pekka net. Esche, Biron and Legace are all quality net minders. Pekka will be set if they all remain starters. I am not sure if they all will (Osgoode will be back) with Esche and Biron having younger highly regarded backups. Peeka is done if any 2 of these goalies are backing up in March.
  

Group 4: Lanny McDonald’s Mustache

This group includes teams 1-4 in no particular order. These teams should all make the playoffs and be solid LHL teams for years to come.

CCCP

• Staches: The defending regular season champ CCCP had a surprisingly strong draft. They look strong up front with fantasy star Sundin and St. Louis leading the way. CCCP needs Gomez and Ryder to step it up and have nig years. CCCP also have one of the best defenses in The LHL led by Niedermeyer, Blake Sopel and Van Ryn.
• Mullets: Goaltending could kill CCCP in 2005. Belfour will celebrate his 40th birthday this season and Roloson is turning 36. Can these two seniors pull together a decent year? CCCp also drafted questionable players like Bad back LeClair and that cock sucker Czerkawski.
  
• Question: Will Stillman play as well in Carolina as he did in Tampa Bay? He was huge two years ago but I doubt he can repeat on the terrible Hurricanes. He needs to repeat for CCCP to have a chance.
  

Frozen Tundra

• Staches: The defending champ Frozen Tundra look capable of defending their cup. Frozen has possibly the strongest set of forwards in the LHL. The Tundra will be tough with centers Federov and Morrison joining Naslund, Heatley, and Guerin on the wings. he should be able to pile up the points on offense.
  
• Mullets: While the Tundra does have good offense talent there is a large drop off in skill. Hect, Vyborny and Sedin don’t scare anybody but their owner. There defense is also only average with a big drop off after Tarnstrom and Chara.
• Question: How will the Tundra be able to win with shaky goaltending? Like so many LHL teams the Tundra have questions in net. Aebischer, Lalime and Fernandez usually put up good nembers but how will Lalime and Fernandez do on weak teams.

Swift Current Spazz

• Staches: Goaltending has always been a strength in Swift Current. It has allowed the Spazz to squeak into the playoffs for years on end. For the first time ever, super stud Brodeur is not playing with a proven guy for the Spazz. Can the LA duo of garon and that other guy play well enough to win? The Spazz do have a ton of players to fill the net with Richards, Datsyuk, and Doan leading the way. Ruutu may also just be coming into his own. The Spazz also have very good 2nd tier guys like Morrow, Knuble, Smyth and Parrish.
  
• Mullets: The defense is weak but has potential with Bouwmeester joining solid players Hannan and Timonen. Outside fo Brodeur, the Spazz have very little experience in net.
  
• Question: Selanne, Bondra and Parise? The Spazz can win the title if any of these guys has a big year. I am sure the Spazz are hoping for Parise to lead the way but will take any thing Selanne or Bondra can give. They are both old men but maybe they have another year in them. The Spazz have all the talent to make a run to raise Lanny’s stache in 2006.

Tijuana Tokers

• Staches:Tokers owner Ryan Robinson missed the draft and may find it difficult to make it back to the title game. With out a doubt the best manager in LHL, mismanagement may come back to haunt him this year. He just doesn't seem like he's on his game like in past years. The Tokers are set with Thornton and Kipprusoff. Thornton is joined up front by Elias, Jokkinen, Sullivan, Walker, Dvorak and Recchi. Obviously the strength of this team is on offense.
• Mullets: Tijuana is looking weak on defense and doesn’t have a lot of depth up front. Schneider and Hill are solid but Niinima, Zyuzin and Boynton look dodgy at best. The Tokers are gambling that Weekes will play well for the Rangers, which is a big gamble.
• Question: How will hepatitis therapy impact Patrick Elias? Elias spent the off-season in all the best Czech whorehouses and contracted hepatitis a. The Tokers will need him to have a good season if they want to return to the title game.

Big LHL Season Preview 2

The next part of the Season Preview contains teams 8-10 in no particular order. This group features two of the best Big Ell Sports managers who have fallen on hard times and one owner who has never even been there. The third group is Theo Fleury’s bottle; these teams may make it to the playoffs or end up face down in a ditch with Bill Laforge.

Theo Fleury’s bottle

Burning Drips

• Staches: The Drips have some nice talent up front with Handzus, Murray and Cheechoo. Drip owner Whitey picked up some nice goalies and appears strong in net with Turco and Khabibulin. The Drips need both the Stars and Hawks to make the playoffs to have a hope at the title. The Drips usually start out fast but fade quickly. Whitey knows all about that.
• Mullets: Whitey’s second tier offense has gaping holes, just think major roles for Konowalchuk and Afinogenov. His defense is weaker than his knees. The Drips are banking on a big year from a rookie defenseman; when does that ever happen? But he does have Staios. By the way has Hartnell finally reached bust status?
• Question: Can Sedin and/or Bonk lead the Drips? The Drips need Sedin to finally realize his potential. I am not sure which Sedin this is but I imagine it applies to both. I have always thought that Bonk has had one of most disappointing careers. Obviously he’s got talent but he has never really made it. Much like Rob’s Varsity football career.

Montreal Maroons

• Staches: Maroons owner Craig Coughlin was busy before and during the draft. Lecavlier was picked up in a nice move from the Tundra to join Gaborik up front. Then Montreal went young during the draft picking up Ovechekin, Zherdev and Vanek. The Maroons also managed to pick a good defense with Boyd, Leopold, Morris and Poti.
• Mullets: Montreal has too many question marks to be considered championship material. Their biggest problem is shaky goaltending. Big LHL teams need two capable goalies to have a chance at the cup. Coughlin also took a lot of Flames but unfortunately for him none of them are named Iginla or Kipprusoff.
• Question: Can Langkow or Kobasew rip it up playing in Calgary? Craig Conroy proved that playing alongside Iginla definitely helps Fantasy production. Montreal can make the playoffs if either of these guys spends some time on the first line.

EZ Money Chiefs

• Staches: The Chiefs have some skill up front with Forsberg, Havlat and Satan but the key is Forsberg. He is injured again and always seems to be injured. The Chiefs do have a very good defense with Lidstrom, Zubov, Ozolinsh and Zhitnik but like Forsberg none are spring chickens.
• Mullets: The Chiefs are banking on big years from Dumont, Torres and Arnason. Say those three names again. EZ Money owner Shane Forrer made a controversial move with his selection of goalies. Shane Forrer said “This year I decided to think outside the box and decided what could be better than drafting three goalies that are older than me.” It remains to be seen if this move with pay off.
• Question: Kovalchuk, Kovalchuk, Kovalchuk? Illya is the biggest question mark for the Chiefs. If he plays the Chiefs make the playoffs, if not he’s in the lottery. It is always nice to see these problems in the EZ Money clubhouse who has been traditionally mediocre in the LHL.

Big LHL Season preview 1

The Big LHL has completed its first on-line draft and the 4th season begins October 5th for the Lanny McDonald Cup. The draft had its mistakes but went about as smoothly as can be expected. Frozen Tundra is the defending champs and CCCP was the regular season champ in 2003-2004. Unlike the Big LFL there are no clear cut favorites this year. In this season preview I have broken the league into four categories.

The top category is in tribute to the great Lanny McDonald’s mustache which is even bigger in person. These teams should make the playoffs and contend for the title. The second grouping is Mike Bullard’s mustache; these teams are a step below the elite teams, much like Bullard’s stache in comparison to Lanny’s. The third group is Theo Fleury’s bottle; these teams may make it to the playoffs or end up in a ditch with Bill Laforge. The last grouping is dedicated to the gray matter of the man who led to the Flames into their 90’s downfall, Doug Risebrough’s brain. These teams are composed of Gary Leemans, Alexander Godynyuks, Jeff Reeses, Michel Petits and Craig Berubes. The first part of this blog will be teams 10-14 in no particular order

Doug Risebrough’s Brain:

Taichung Tikis

• Staches: The Tikis have a fair amount of firepower for an expansion team. Sakic, Hossa and Demitra are solid fantasy players. McCabe and Stuart lead a decent defense that has potential.
• Mullets: Taichung took some gambles with perpetually hurt players like Allison and Samsonov. Teaming them with underachievers like O’Neill, Hemsky and Frolov could be a recipe for disaster. Goaltending will also be big in the 14 team LHL and I don’t think Lehtonen and Cujo can get it done.
• Question: Does Burnaby Joe have another year in him? The Tikis should make the playoffs if Sakic repeats what he did two years ago. I doubt he will be able to on 36 year old skates and with an average team.
  

Pike Place Flying Fish

• Staches: The Fish are a year or two away from making the playoffs but took some big steps with the acquisitions of Crosby and Gonchar. The Fish may get lucky this year if the development of players like Legwand, Stall and Denis continues.
• Mullets: I do wonder why the worst team from a few years back has injury bugs like Koivu and Palffy playing along with old-timers like Tkachuk and Amonte. Additionally, it can't be a good idea to be banking so heavily on the Penguins.
• Question: Will any of the goalies have big years? All three goalies Conklin, Thibault and Columbus play for borderline play-off teams. Pike Place will need two of them to step up if he wants to make the playoffs
  

DaMing Dynamos

• Staches:DaMing has two of the youngest goalies who will be needed quickly if the Dyanmos want to end up out of the cellar. Raycroft and DiPietro could put up huge numbers but may still be a year away. DaMinghas also assembled a rock solid defense and this may fianlly be the year that an LHL team with a solid defense makes the playoffs. Barnaby and McCarty will keep the Dynamo in the running for PIMs every week.
• Mullets: Age and injuries. The Dynamo season rests on the oft injured shoulders of Kariya, Langenbrunner and Blake. If they can return to form the Dynamos may return to the playoffs.
• Question: Which senior center will be on the injured list the longest? Turgeon (36), Modano (35) and Roenick (35) are the key for the Dynamos. DaMing owner Dave Whitehead will be doing cartwheels if two of them manage to make it through the year unscathed.
  

Taichung Mighty Fucks

• Staches: The Fucks made improvements in the off season and now have something to build on. Years of inaction have decimated this franchise but they now have a few building blocks in Bertuzzi, Tanguay and Ribeiro. Taichung may also have found decent goaltending with Cloutier and the Lightning duo of Burke and Graham.
• Mullets: Unfortunately for Taichung there is little of anything else on this team. Leetch anchors a weak blue line and Slegr has killed many a fantasy team. Injuries could kill the Fucks and the bench doesn’t have much depth or quality.
• Question: How many games will Mario play? Mario is the difference between the basement and the playoffs. If he plays 60 games the Fucks may get lucky and make the playoffs. He is 40 with a history of a back problems. Which reminds me of another of Ryan Davidson's baseball players and lokk where that got you?