Severed Heads Move Into 2nd With Huge Night

The Severed Heads had the sort of night they were hoping for, finally, last night and it was enough to vault them into second place in the Predator Cup race and put them back atop the Omnivore standings. Their 14.5pts came from everywhere up and down the line-up but most appreciatively from goaltender E.Nabakov, a position where the Heads had felt some help was needed before thier trade with the Lost Boys. The Lost Boys and the Highlanders also had solid nights, 9pts and 13pts, becoming the only teams on the week with 20+pts and, not coincidentally, the top three teams in the Predator Cup standings.

Tuesday Night Stats Have Highlanders Atop All Three Awards

Back-to-back Triple Crown for the Highlanders? Well if the pool ended last night it might be as the Highlanders slip into first place on the Omnivore list but with a tissue separating teams in all three races booking any parades seems a tad premature.

Week 10 Begins With New Omnivore Head

The WD1 draft order is now set so the Shadowmen waste no time moving back up the standings - up three spots to 4th. The Highlanders gain a few points on the pack but the lead group is still all tightly bunched but the gap from first to last is approaching 75pts.

The Omnivore stats are not reviewed daily, so sometimes changes are not noted right away. Having just re-reviewed the baseline rosters we now have a new logo on the statsboard, that of the Severed Heads who may not have improved their team but at least have harmed it the least.

Until tomorrow, trade lines are open...

Why Brodeur got better

Noticed that Brodeur seems to be over the funk he was suffering from?

There may be a solid reason why.

First, here's why he might have had his thoughts other than on the game itself....

"New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur split with wife Melanie last December. Happens all the time, although not with the same overtones this estrangement touched off.

For one thing, Brodeur was involved with his sister-in-law. For another, Melanie was in the habit of calling the goalie a couple of hours before games to taunt him about a date she had that evening."

A. You are banging your brother's wife on the side, and,

B. your own wife calls you before games to let you know how much she is going to enjoy getting plowed by someone else.

Ouch.

I'm thinking that just might break your concentration.

Bonus points go to the article for including this tidbit from the past;

"There is a fine line to the entire issue. In St. Louis one time, veteran defenceman Tim Horton swung naked from his hotel balcony to scare a couple of rookies in the next room and burst through the balcony door. Oops, wrong room and a couple of sleeping flight attendants nearly went into shock."

Heh.

Turns out that Brodeur's divorce is now a thing of the past, and the phone calls detailing the soon to be filled to the brim events of Melanie's evenings have apparently stopped.

But I'd lay money his brother doesn't get him a gift this year.

Waiver Draft 1 Waives

Because, really, isn' t this kind of documenting useful? Especially for those of us who won't be able to check on Friday?

Richard.

Week 10 Lineup

It's a tight race... post your line-up, and make all the difference!

Richard.
GM Lost Boys

Week Nine Stats (Setting WD1 Draft Order)

Vendetta Jump To 2nd

Friday Night Stats

Ramapithicine & Wolves Make Moves

Well the Ramapithicines had an 11+pt night and the Wolves a 10+pt night helping both move up the rankings. The Ramapithicines are the latest team to occupy 2nd place this week. The Highlanders have yet to be the team of the night this week but have been credible enough to retain their first place ranking though seem unable to make any ground.

The Scourge continue their good week and this time the effects are seen on the Omnivore rankings where they have now moved past the Great Whites.

Going into Friday night, the Challenge Cup games feature a couple of potential ties: the Lost Boys and Ramapithicines along with the Shadowmen and Edge. Have a great weekend everyone, and trade lines are open.

Here Come The Vendetta

The biggest move last night, in terms of position, was made by the Personal Vendetta who parlayed a 9.33pt night into a jump from 6th to 2nd in the standings. It was not the best night in the league, however. That honour went to the surging Scourge who had an 11pt night, welcome back Mr. Havlat, placing them little more than 5pts back of the Great Whites. The Shadowmen finally got some points this week and did so in style, with 10.5pts, but they remain in 7th. Even the Knights Templar's 9pt night helped them make ground on most of the pool.

Group Of 7 Continues To Lead

Believe me, I'm glad that the Highlanders are on the top of this heap but with less than 10pts separating first from seventh it really is silly to think of this as any different than the peloton in the Tour de France (like the NHL, carried by Versus in the US). There are 7 teams that have a 15+pt lead on another trio (Edge, Wolves & Great Whites) who have a 13+pt lead on the Scourge who have a 13+pt lead on the Knights Templar. Less than two weeks ago the Edge were in second place. The Great Whites were right up there not that long ago and the Scourge had the best total in the league last week. This is parity people - get used to it as there is little reason to expect that things are going to change any time soon.

Ramapithicines, Lost Boys and Edge All Gain As Week 9 Opens

You want tight, how about this: less than a point separates 2nd from 4th!

There were only four games on the menu last night but the Ramapithicines capitalize to pull into 2nd place. The Lost Boys and Edge also gain ground on the mostly idle pack while the Knights Templar continue to struggle, actually losing a fraction of a point on the night.

Week 9 Lineups....

Spare the Lost Boys GM his weekly herniation and leave a lineup in the comments.

Save Ferris!

Sound familiar?

"After subtracting the NHL's top two teams (the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators) and its bottom one (the Washington Capitals), there were 27 teams separated by 10 points as of Thursday morning, when the first quarter had officially concluded. In the West, only eight points separated the bottom-dwelling Los Angeles Kings from the No. 2 team in the conference, the San Jose Sharks. In the East, 10 points separated the 14th-place Buffalo Sabres from the second-ranked New York Rangers — and the Sabres held three games in hand."

- Erik Duhatschek

So, while only 15 points separates the top 8 teams in the FUNHL, a similar pattern is exhibited in the NHL where the logham behind Ottawa and Detroit is pretty serious.

I suspect the two trends may be related. With parity in scoring in the NHL, comes parity in performance in the FUNHL. Interestingly, the top players from the teams in the NHL are not dispersed widely among FUNHL teams. The Severed Heads had (until last week) the top LW and D-man (and now holds the top LW and TG), to go with converted to backup Ray Emery. The Personal Vendetta are stacked with Red Wings - yet neither of these FUNHL teams have separated themselves from the FUNHL pack the way the Red Wings and Senators have.

Why? Depth. The Severed Heads have had ineffective goaltending (after drafting both of the starters for these clubs they have instead played themselves into being backups. Ironic, eh?). Meanwhile the PV despite the heavy contingent of Big Red, lack pop from anyone else. If Zetterberg, Lidstrom and Co. don't put up numbers, they don't get any points.

Week 8 Ends

Got to run to court. Highlanders still hold a slim lead with 6 more teams within 15pts. Severed Heads have week's best total at 45pts - move into 3rd, Great Whites had the week's lowest total at 18pts - slip into 10th. Shadowmen and Ramapithicines have week's only Challenge Cup tie. Until tomorrow.

A Scourge Upon You

With Saturday's games complete the story of the week is the 11th placed Scourge. The Severed Heads have moved back into second with and equally impressive week but it is the Scourge who are doing the unexpected. They are now closer to 10th than 12th, out of the Omnivore basement and are set to deliver a crushing defeat to the Challenge Cup leaders - allowing the Lost Boys to move into a tie for first. Good week, with only today's games to go.

Scott Parker's Sweet Hair Cut

What's not to love? A wide, thick mohawk complimented by the neck-beard/goatee.

So. Awesome.

Quote of the Day

"The basic, unfortunate fact is the majority of players today -- and the majority of fans -- have little sense or understanding of history. That's why you constantly hear stupidity like, "Players don't respect each other like they used to." Balderdash. Players respect each other today far more than they did in the days when stick-swinging fights were common and brawls -- real brawls -- were a nightly occurrence. Maurice "Rocket" Richard once said that to understand the era in which he played is to understand how violent it was. But these players have no understanding of history and, even worse, are just lemmings when it comes to most issues. The lockout proved that. End of rant." - Damien Cox at ESPN

Cox's main point is on the money, players actually show way more respect towards each other than they ever used to. Not only are fights way down (and we can debate whether that is necessarily a good or bad thing), but so is hitting from behind, baseball bat swings, head hunting, tripping, kneeing, and my personal favourite, the obliterating body-check thrown at a player with his head down as he circles behind his net. Once upon a time, Wendel Clark threw one of those bone-crushing hits and became a hero to Leaf Nation for his efforts. Now, Steve Downie throws a virtually identical atomic bomb onto Dean McCammond and he is suspended. Can anyone argue that the current state of affairs isn't vastly superior?

Knights Get Murray, Waive Selanne

Brian reminded me that I have not officially posted the Waiver Wire result for G.Murray yet. The Knights Templar were lower in the standings than the Lost Boys at the close of week 7 (and who at the time of posting this are now in second) so Mr. Murray will now be on the Knight's Right Wing as of Week 9's line-up.

That means that Mr. T.Selanne rw Ana rfa is available to bid on with your Week 9 line-ups.