Key points to remember are once teams secure an NHL playoff spot or home ice advantage they will play their star or older players less. Teams will start to rest players in preparation for a long playoff run.
The players you want to key up on are the star players of teams fighting to get into the playoffs. Those players are going to be playing at 100%, giving it they’re all as they want to get their team into the playoffs.
Finally the other players you should look at dressing in these final two weeks are players fighting for a new contract or for a roster spot.
Here are the games to be played in week 26:
| GP | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | |
| ANAHEIM | 3 | SJ | @PHO | EDM | ||||
| BOSTON | 4 | TB | WAS | @NYI | @NYR | |||
| BUFFALO | 3 | @WAS | PIT | @TOR | ||||
| CALGARY | 4 | DAL | LA | COL | @VAN | |||
| CAROLINA | 3 | @TOR | WPG | NJ | ||||
| CHICAGO | 4 | @NJ | STL | @NAS | MIN | |||
| COLORADO | 3 | @SJ | @VAN | @CGY | ||||
| COLUMBUS | 4 | @DET | DET | FLA | @STL | |||
| DALLAS | 4 | @CGY | @EDM | @VAN | @SJ | |||
| DETROIT | 4 | CBJ | @CBJ | NAS | FLA | |||
| EDMONTON | 3 | DAL | LA | @ANA | ||||
| FLORIDA | 4 | @MON | @MIN | @CBJ | @DET | |||
| LOS ANGELES | 4 | @VAN | @CGY | @EDM | @MIN | |||
| MINNESOTA | 4 | NYR | FLA | LA | @CHI | |||
| MONTREAL | 3 | FLA | @NYR | @WAS | ||||
| NASHVILLE | 3 | @STL | @DET | CHI | ||||
| NEW JERSEY | 3 | CHI | TB | @CAR | ||||
| NY ISLANDERS | 4 | @PIT | PIT | BOS | OTT | |||
| NY RANGERS | 4 | @MIN | @WPG | MON | BOS | |||
| OTTAWA | 3 | @WPG | @PHI | @NYI | ||||
| PHILADELPHIA | 4 | TB | @TOR | OTT | @PIT | |||
| PHOENIX | 2 | SJ | ANA | |||||
| PITTSBURGH | 4 | NYI | @NYI | @BUF | PHI | |||
| SAN JOSE | 4 | COL | @ANA | @PHO | DAL | |||
| ST. LOUIS | 3 | NAS | @CHI | CBJ | ||||
| TAMPA BAY | 4 | @PHI | @BOS | @NJ | WPG | |||
| TORONTO | 3 | CAR | PHI | BUF | ||||
| VANCOUVER | 4 | LA | COL | DAL | CGY | |||
| WASHINGTON | 3 | BUF | @BOS | MON | ||||
| WINNIPEG | 4 | OTT | NYR | @CAR | @TB |
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 will enjoy 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 March 23, 2012):
HOME: Calgary (20-10-6), Detroit (28-5-2), Los Angeles (21-13-4), Minnesota (17-15-4), NY Islanders (15-16-6), Phoenix (19-12-6), Toronto (16-14-6) and Vancouver (21-10-4)
AWAY: Colorado (18-16-4), Dallas (19-15-2), Florida (16-15-5), Ottawa (18-12-6) and Tampa Bay (11-19-5)
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 (April 1, 2012):
SUNDAY: Anaheim, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Minnesota, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
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, Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Tampa Bay, Vancouver and Winnipeg
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 March 23, 2012:
TOP FIVE: Pittsburgh (9-0-1), Chicago (8-1-1), Los Angeles (8-2-0), Philadelphia (7-2-1) and Colorado (7-2-1)
BOTTOM FIVE: Detroit (2-6-2), Minnesota (3-6-1), Toronto (3-6-1), Boston (4-6-0) and Anaheim (4-5-1)
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 March 23, 2012:
Nashville Predators: 21.5 percent
Edmonton Oilers: 21.3 percent
Vancouver Canucks: 21.0 percent
San Jose Sharks: 20.9 percent
Pittsburgh Penguins: 19.5 percent
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 Bleacher Report, The Star Phoenix, Fantrax and Inside Hockey. Email Coach Brouwer at [email protected] or check us out on twitter at twitter.com/fanhockeycoach.
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