The Fantasy Hockey Weekly Planner is the essential guide to setting your lineup for the upcoming week. Every Friday, we provide you with top matchups, the latest news and give you the scoop on injured players.
Projections are for Feb. 26-March 4 games.
Teams with four games (11): Anaheim, Boston, Carolina, Chicago,
Dallas, Montreal, Ottawa, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Toronto
Teams with three games (18): Atlanta, Buffalo, Calgary, Colorado,
Columbus, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, New Jersey,
N.Y. Islanders, N.Y. Rangers, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Tampa Bay,
Vancouver, Washington
On tap: Week 22 brings us 13 nationally televised games in either the United States or Canada: Atlanta at Boston and Anaheim at San Jose in the United States and Toronto at Montreal in Canada on Monday; Dallas at Tampa Bay in the United States and Buffalo at Toronto in Canada on Tuesday; Carolina at Ottawa and Minnesota at Calgary in Canada on Wednesday; Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers in Canada on Thursday; Buffalo at Toronto and Calgary at Edmonton on Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada; Colorado at Detroit, Philadelphia at Pittsburgh and Carolina at Atlanta in the United States on Sunday. Other prime matchups to watch: The Predators and Sharks renew acquaintances in the Bay Area on Wednesday; Dany Heatley and the Senators head down to Atlanta to battle Marian Hossa and the Thrashers and Sid the Kid leads his Penguins into Raleigh for an important game against the Hurricanes on Friday; the Sharks and Stars jockey for playoff positioning on Sunday.
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If you enjoy old-time hockey, you likely were a big fan of the actions of Thursday’s game between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres. That is, unless you are a Fantasy owner of Ray Emery. The goaltender for the Senators was just back from a three-game suspension after slashing Montreal's Maxim Lapierre in a game on Feb. 10. After Chris Neil touched off a melee after blindsiding Chris Drury, Emery found himself duking it out with Sabres goaltender Martin Biron. He had a big smile on his face and he was not quite done yet. He did battle with Buffalo tough guy Andrew Peters as well. He was also smirking in this duel, too, as his enormous gear made him virtually indestructible with the exception of his face. He was ejected from the game, tallied 22 penalty minutes and will likely be back on the sidelines considering his recent history and punishment. Keep him reserved in all Fantasy leagues. Biron was also given the gate after leaving the crease, but we doubt he will get anything more than a stiff fine. … If you are looking for a quick jolt of offense, look no further than Marcel Hossa of the Rangers. He has racked up six goals and two assists over the past 10 games. … Nashville might be having second thoughts about acquiring Peter Forsberg. So far in three games, he has been blanked. If he doesn't start cooking soon, it is likely he'll be separated from Martin Erat and Paul Kariya, with David Legwand scooting back up to the top line. Either way, all players involved remain must-starts. … It appears to be clear sailing again for Fredrik Norrena, as he is once again the man in the crease for Columbus. Pascal Leclaire had some swelling in his surgically-repaired knee and is out of commission at least a week. … Speaking of goaltender problems, the Lightning are rumored to be interested in a possible Ruslan Fedotenko for Martin Biron trade. That would instantly kill the Fantasy appeal of Johan Holmqvist, who has not been as pinpoint lately for the Bolts. |
| F I V E T E A M S W I T H F A V O R A B L E M A T C H U P S | |||||||
| The following five teams have the best matchups for the upcoming week. That doesn't necessarily mean they will post the best Fantasy stats, but if you're looking for a one-week start or are trying to make a difficult decision between two players to use, lean toward players from these teams: | |||||||
| Team | 2/26 | 2/27 | 2/28 | 3/1 | 3/2 | 3/3 | 3/4 |
| Colorado Avalanche (COL) | -- | CLB | -- | @CHI | -- | -- | @DET |
| The Avalanche should be on cruise control for the first two games before things get a little more difficult in Hockeytown. | |||||||
| Detroit Red Wings (DET) | -- | @CHI | -- | -- | CHI | -- | COL |
| A home-and-home with the Blackhawks always makes for a big week for any offensive unit. | |||||||
| Edmonton Oilers (EDM) | -- | PHO | -- | MIN | -- | CGY | -- |
| The Oilers have not been lighting the lamp with great regularity, but they face three favorable matchups to turn things around and get on track. | |||||||
| New York Islanders (NYI) | -- | PHI | -- | STL | -- | @WAS | -- |
| The Islanders are battling hard for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and they should find the sledding rather easy against the Flyers and Blues to start the week. | |||||||
| New York Rangers (NYR) | -- | MON | -- | PIT | -- | @ATL | -- |
| The Rangers get a chance to face a few teams which have had shaky goaltending of late. It might be a big week for Jaromir Jagr and the offense. | |||||||
| F I V E T E A M S W I T H P O O R M A T C H U P S | |||||||
| The following five teams have the worst matchups for the upcoming week. That doesn't necessarily mean you should reserve every player from these teams, but try to avoid less-heralded performers from these squads if you have an alternative on your roster: | |||||||
| Team | 2/26 | 2/27 | 2/28 | 3/1 | 3/2 | 3/3 | 3/4 |
| Carolina Hurricanes (CAR) | -- | OTT | @OTT | -- | PIT | -- | @ATL |
| The Hurricanes might get off to a rough start with a home-and-home against the Senators, who have been playing well of late. The Pens and Thrashers are no slouches either. | |||||||
| Chicago Blackhawks (CHI) | -- | DET | -- | COL | @DET | -- | OTT |
| The Blackhawks face four teams that all have postseason aspirations. It might be an extremely long week for Nikolai Khabibulin, Patrick Lalime and the rest of the 'Hawks. | |||||||
| Los Angeles Kings (LA) | -- | -- | -- | ANA | -- | NSH | -- |
| Teams with two games in a scoring period are not attractive in cumulative leagues, but the NHL's worst team is not even worth using in average formats with these two difficult games. | |||||||
| San Jose Sharks (SJ) | ANA | -- | NSH | -- | @ANA | -- | @DAL |
| The Sharks have a pair of games against the high-flying Ducks, as well as the Western Conference's top team in the Predators and the rival Stars. | |||||||
| Toronto Maple Leafs (TOR) | @MON | BUF | -- | -- | @NJ | BUF | -- |
| The Sabres usually own the Maple Leafs, so it might not be a great week to start Andrew Raycroft, especially with a head-to-head battle against Martin Brodeur looming on the road. | |||||||
Mailbag
Pat Legresley, Kingston, ON, Canada: I am in a keeper league through CBS. We only protect four players at the end of the year (any combo of F/D/G you want). I am deep at forward with Jason Spezza, Eric Staal, Marc Savard, Patrick Marleau, Pavel Datsyuk, Joe Sakic and Olli Jokinen to choose from.
I've pretty much decided on Spezza, Savard and Marleau…leaning towards Sakic for the fourth. Do you think Sakic will have a point-per-game season again next year? I really want to protect Staal, but he has been so disappointing this year. Joe is so consistent and has looked awesome this year. I can't see passing him over.
D.E.D.: Pat, if I were choosing from this list of forwards, I would definitely lock in Marleau and Spezza. Staal would be too hard for me to pass on, despite his inconsistencies this season. Then it comes down to Pavel Datsyuk, Joe Sakic and Marc Savard. While I like Joe's consistency, too, age would certainly play a factor in my decision and I believe that this might be his last great season. Of course, people have been wanting to start writing him off for a while. In any event, I would probably settle on Datsyuk, as I have a penchant for keeping players on winning clubs until that success ceases.
You can e-mail your Fantasy Hockey questions to DMFantasyPucks@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Fantasy Hockey in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.
