FUNHL News and Notes

I'm just not a fan of Terry Frei

Here are some of his predictions:

Hart: the usual suspects; Crosby, Thornton, Jagr, etc., and Eric Staal(?), but the real humdinger of a pick was Daniel Sedin. Which is just silly.

Art Ross: Crosby. (And really, if you've paid attention, heck if you've only been exposed to television in the last two years as ambient background radiation, and you aren't picking Crosby to win the Art Ross, I have to ask, why not?)

Vezina: Luongo. Which is actually wrong. It will be Kiprusoff. But I'll give him credit because Luongo isn't the safest choice (that would be Brodeur), but I'm picking Kipper for a reason; Mike Keenan. His teams typically feature a ferocious do-anything-to-win attitude (Keenan protege/acolytes include; Tocchet, Chelios, Pronger, and post-Edmonton Messier), old-school in your face defense, and heavy minutes for the teams top players at the expense of the 4th line and depth defenders. In Kiprusoff he'll find a goaltender who will comfortably play in the mid to high 70's for gp, behind a defense corps that is rejuvenated, and a forward crew dedicated to back checking, forechecking and otherwise beating up the opposition. His numbers will be the best in Flames history.

Norris: Chris Phillips. Yeah, he means the guy sitting #4 on the Senators depth chart. Yeah, him. Seriously. He picks Chris Phillips. Yes. To win it. Really. I know. Complete tool.

Did I mention I finished my lists? So here are some observations and things I learned in that grueling process that thought I'd share ;

- If your first line centre gets less than 98 pts he is below average (for a first liner).

- There are a total of five first line pivots on the open market. 2 of the five (Spezza, Lecavalier) are above average 1st liners.

- By my count no fewer than four FP pivots will be below average for 1st line centres.

- Only one (Sundin) is likely to be replaced.

- Pivots are no longer the highest scoring position.

- Goaltenders are.

- Half the top ten players in FUNHL scoring will be goaltenders.

- There is virtually no difference between a 1st line LW or RW, and a small but noticeable difference between a 3rd line for either position (with LWs ahead) - but there is a pronounced difference (+6 pts) for the average of 2nd line LW over 2nd line RW players.

- Of the 11 goaltender prospects, I have 4 of them being good enough to be a FUNHL backup, and one of them (Biron) being good enough to start.

- My guess has the run on defenseman starting in earnest mid-way through the 2nd.

- My worry is that the run on goaltenders takes place about the same time.

In the world outside that of my pool stats;

- Trevor Linden signed a one year deal with the Canucks today. Linden was a rookie the first year of the FUNHL - his eventual retirement will herald the end of an era - the Linden years.

- Angelo Esposito, the Great White's super-prospect has bowed out of the Canada-Russia Super Series Jr age players on account of injury. And thus starts an ongoing association between the Great Whites, failure, and Esposito. Long may it last.

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