Fantasy Hockey Coach - Hockey Pool and Keeper Hockey Advice - Week 11: Sidney Sits, Defensemen traded and Coaching Changes

  • Week 11: Sidney Sits, Defensemen traded and Coaching Changes

                      
    		   
    		   
    		   
    by
    Aaron Brouwer
    Published on 12-09-2011 12:02  Number of Views: 263  
    0 Comments Comments
    As we approach the second week of hockey in December there have been several big stories in the NHL. First is that Sidney Crosby sat out two games as precautionary measures after being hit in the game against the Boston Bruins. This will always be a concern as all it takes is one big hit and how his head responds to it. Chris Pronger is now out indefinitely with concussion-like symptoms.

    Tomas Kaberle is with his fourth team in less then a year after being traded by the Carolina Hurricanes to the Montreal Canadiens for Jaroslav Spacek. The Canadiens are in desperate need of a powerplay quarterback so expect Kaberle to get a ton of powerplay time to start.

    Finally there were three coaching changes. Dale Hunter is the new head coach for the Washington Capitals, the Anaheim Ducks quickly hired Bruce Boudreau and Kirk Muller stepped behind the bench in Carolina. These changes should pay fantasy dividends for Alexander Ovechkin, Eric Staal and Bobby Ryan.

    Games to be played in week 11:

    		 GP
    		 MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
    ANAHEIM 3

    		PHO
    		@CHI @WPG
    BOSTON 3
    		LA @OTT

    		@PHI
    BUFFALO 3
    		OTT

    		TOR @PIT
    CALGARY 4
    		@NAS
    		@TB @FLA
    		@CHI
    CAROLINA 3
    		@TOR
    		VAN

    		@FLA
    CHICAGO 3

    		@MIN
    		ANA
    		CGY
    COLORADO 3
    		SJ
    		@SJ
    		WAS
    COLUMBUS 4
    		VAN
    		LA
    		TB @STL
    DALLAS 3
    		@NYR
    		@NYI @NJ

    DETROIT 3
    		@PIT
    		@NAS
    		LA
    EDMONTON 2


    		@PHO
    		@SJ
    FLORIDA 3
    		NJ

    		CGY
    		CAR
    LOS ANGELES 3
    		@BOS
    		@CBJ
    		@DET
    MINNESOTA 3
    		@WPG CHI

    		NYI
    MONTREAL 3
    		NYI
    		PHI
    		NJ
    NASHVILLE 3
    		CGY
    		DET
    		STL
    NEW JERSEY 4 @TB @FLA

    		DAL @MON
    NY ISLANDERS 3
    		@MON
    		DAL
    		@MIN
    NY RANGERS 3
    		DAL
    		@STL
    		@PHO
    OTTAWA 3
    		@BUF BOS
    		PIT

    PHILADELPHIA 3
    		@WAS
    		@MON
    		BOS
    PHOENIX 3

    		@ANA EDM
    		NYR
    PITTSBURGH 3
    		DET

    		@OTT BUF
    SAN JOSE 3
    		@COL
    		COL
    		EDM
    ST. LOUIS 3


    		NYR
    		@NAS CBJ
    TAMPA BAY 3 NJ

    		CGY
    		@CBJ
    TORONTO 3
    		CAR

    		@BUF VAN
    VANCOUVER 3
    		@CBJ
    		@CAR
    		@TOR
    WASHINGTON 3
    		PHI
    		@WPG
    		@COL
    WINNIPEG 3
    		MIN
    		WAS
    		ANA

    When it comes to dressing your players for the upcoming week – especially your goalies – it is important to know which team is on a long road trip and which team is enjoying an extended period at home.

    Listed below are the teams that play at least three home/away games this week or play all their games at home or on the road (home/road records up to December 9, 2011):

    HOME: Columbus (5-7-2), Florida (6-2-4), Montreal (4-5-6), Nashville (4-5-3) and Winnipeg (8-4-0)

    AWAY: Calgary (6-8-0), Dallas (6-7-0), Edmonton (5-7-1), Los Angeles (5-3-3), New Jersey (8-8-0) and Vancouver (9-6-0)

    If you participate in any type of head-to-head hockey pool, you are likely dressing a lineup for each scoring period, which usually ends on Sunday.

    As the week comes to an end, and you find yourself in a close battle for those wins, you want as many players as possible playing for you.

    Here are the teams that play on Sunday (December 18, 2011):

    SUNDAY: Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Florida and St. Louis

    When you are deciding which goalie to dress you need to look at the NHL schedule to see if your goalie's team will play in a back-to-back game that week.

    Most coaches will not dress the same goalie in back-to-back games, so that is something to consider when you are thinking about which goalie to dress.

    Here are the teams that play in back-to-back games this week:

    BACK-TO-BACK: Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Columbus, Dallas, Minnesota, New Jersey (two sets of back-to-back), Ottawa, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Toronto

    Knowing which team is on a hot streak or cold streak will help in making your lineup decisions.

    For example you definitely want to dress a goalie from teams that are on a hot streak. Here are the top five and bottom five teams over their last 10 games up to December 9, 2011:

    TOP FIVE: Minnesota (8-2-0), Vancouver (8-2-0), Detroit (8-2-0), Florida (7-2-1) and Boston (7-2-1)

    BOTTOM FIVE: Anaheim (2-7-1), Tampa Bay (3-7-1), Nashville (3-6-1), Carolina (3-6-1) and Buffalo (3-5-2)

    Fantasy hockey is all about offense and what better place to generate offense then the power play. Here are the top five power plays up to December 9, 2011:

    Vancouver Canucks: 25.8%
    Toronto Maple Leafs: 22.1%
    Colorado Avalanche: 20.6%
    Nashville Predators: 20.2%
    Florida Panthers: 20.2%


    Aaron Brouwer is the co-creator of fantasyhockeycoach.com. FHC is a free fantasy hockey service that developed a ranking system combining post-lockout statistics, current factors and our own hockey knowledge. Brouwer writes a weekly fantasy hockey column for The Star Phoenix, Fantrax, Inside Hockey and Bleacher Report. Email Coach Brouwer at [email protected] or check us out on twitter at twitter.com/fanhockeycoach.

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