Editor's note: Our Ross Devonport and Michael Hurcomb read, write and
analyze everything Fantasy Hockey on a daily basis for CBSSports.com.
They agree and disagree on a variety of subjects on a weekly basis and
will share their opinions on Fantasy-relevant topics each Tuesday.
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Who will finish the season with the most goals?
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Ross Devonport
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Michael Hurcomb
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While Jarome Iginla has only
reached 50 goals twice, and it will likely take about 10-15 more
goals than that to take home the Rocket Richard trophy this
season, I just think the veteran has all the tools and the right
situation to finally top the charts in 2008-09. He plays for a
relatively decent offensive team, doesn't have any other studs to
take goals away from him and just has that knack of being able to
elevate his game to another level when the time calls for it. OK,
so Iginla might need some other guys to have sub-par years for
this prediction to come true, but stranger things have happened.
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It has been an interesting start to the NHL season with some
unusual suspects among the league's top scorers (i.e. Alexander Semin, Zach Parise, Jeff Carter, Slava Kozlov).
However, in the end the cream of the crop should rise to the top.
That's why Marian Hossa is my
choice to be the NHL's top scorer. At the beginning of the season
it was Jarome Iginla, and I still
believe he is going to rank in the top five, but Hossa has settled
into a groove playing alongside Pavel Datsyuk, who is one of the best passers in the NHL.
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Will the Lightning's Fantasy studs come to life under Rick
Tocchet?
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Ross Devonport
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Michael Hurcomb
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Things can't get any worse, can they? Vincent Lecavalier, an assist machine, has only five helpers this
season, while Martin St. Louis is
also off to a tepid start with only 13 points in 17 games. Tocchet
did a smart thing on Monday by putting those two studs and No. 1
pick Steven Stamkos on the same
line, so now if they fail to produce the fans and media can't
blame the coach. I think it will take a while, but things will
improve.
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It's not like it can get any worse. Barry Melrose and Tocchet have
two different coaching styles. Melrose has a more of a
grind-it-out, defensive-minded approach, while Tocchet is ready to
let it fly offensively in his first coaching stint. Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier
will be just fine, but I'm interested to see how guys like Vaclav Prospal, Jussi Jokinen, Andrej Meszaros, Paul Ranger, Ryan Malone, Radim Vrbata and Steven Stamkos respond.
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Who has been the single most disappointing player in Fantasy so
far in 2008?
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Ross Devonport
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Michael Hurcomb
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It's a bit early to single out one guy, so I'll take a look at
some usually stellar goalies that have really struggled so far. Marty Turco (3.58 GAA, .870 save percentage), Miikka Kiprusoff (3.49, .885), Chris Osgood
(3.31, .877) and Vesa Toskala
(3.24, .878) are not stopping as many shots as their Fantasy
owners are used to. Turco has clearly been the most disappointing
so far.
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I'm going to go with Ducks center Brendan Morrison. Despite being on a line with Teemu Selanne, Morrison has just four points and a minus-7
rating in 18 games. The ironman was limited to just 39 games last
season with Vancouver after tearing his ACL, but looked strong in
the preseason. Morrison has been on the decline the last few
seasons, but a move to Anaheim was thought to perhaps bring his
70-point potential back. It has not. He is on pace for just 13
points and a minus-31 rating in 81games.
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Who should owners consider selling now before he comes crashing
back to earth?
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Ross Devonport
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Michael Hurcomb
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There aren't too many guys near the top of the NHL scoring list
who qualify as answers to this question, but one name really
sticks out: Zach Parise of the
Devils. The winger has 20 points already this season after scoring
only 159 in the first 244 games of his career. While he was a
decent scorer at the University of North Dakota, Parise didn't
light things up in one AHL season and I just think we've seen a
fluke month out of him.
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Out of the top 15 Fantasy scorers among forwards through the first
six weeks, Sharks winger Ryane Clowe
sticks out like a sore thumb. Clowe went on a scoring tear from
Oct. 22-Nov. 9 as he scored nine times in 10 games. Five of those
goals came on the power play -- a specialty of coach Todd
McLellan. The first year skipper is getting the most out of Clowe,
but he has never been an elite scorer during his junior days or in
the minors. And with all the other talented scorers in San Jose,
Clowe could eventually get lost in the shuffle.
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Do you agree with Ross or Michael? Send your thoughts to DMFantasyPucks@cbs.com
and we'll post the best responses. Be sure to put Attn: Fantasy
Faceoff in the subject field. Include your full name, hometown and
state.
