JftC Fantasy Hockey League Update #1

Hello Jewels from the Crown fantasy hockey league players! We are 5 weeks into the innaugural season of the JftC league and an update on the season's progess is long overdue. Let's take a look at the standings with a quick little ditty about each teams Most and Least Valuable Players thus far...

Team overall league standings will be noted before each team's name

The Long Beach Arena Division

via daveofcali.tripod.com

2. J Dub Step - Most Valuable Player:  Marian Hossa. The Hoss has posted a monster season so far and his 9 goals and 15 assists has helped propel Niesy's team into a commanding hold on the divisional standings. Least Valuable Player:  Cam Ward. It's been a perplexing start to the season for Carolina's netminder. Ward was originally projected to be the 46th most valuable fantasy hockey player by Yahoo Sports. His performance thus far has Cam Ward as the 579th best player.

7. Willy Gags Richie - Most Valuable Player: Claude Giroux. It's fitting that one of our league's guest Flyers fans would have Philadelphia's Puck Wizard as his team's MVP. Willy Gags Richie's team motto is "No like Auto Draft," however it is hard to argue that Yahoo's autobot got this pick wrong. LVP: Semyon Varlamov. Colorado's prized offseason aquisition has been the 1,617th best player in fantasy hockey over the past 30 days.

14. Dry Island Survivors - MVP: Brad Marchand. Boston's Little Ball of Hate has been on fire as of late and his 6 goals, 9 assists and 35 PIMs have been good enough to make him the 34th best player in Yahoo fantasy leagues. LVP Jaroslav Halak. Halak's poor start to the season really put your league commissioner's team into a huge hole to dig out of. It will be interesting to see if Jaro's season can improve with new coach Ken Hitchcock.

16. Robin Goodfellows - MVP: Jimmy Howard. Detroit's goalie has gotten off to a great 9-5-1 start to the season with a remarkable .930% save percentage to boot. LVP: Bobby Ryan. The Duck was expected to be the 11th best player in fantasy hockey, but instead Bobby Ryan's efforts are only good enough to have him ranked 290th.  Ha ha, suck it Anaheim! (Sorry, Voluminous Tuna.)

The Great Western Forum Division

via 2.bp.blogspot.com

1. Pickle Party - MVP:  Jamie Benn. Nut's team is insanely great. It's hard to pick just one MVP for his team at this point, and even though Thomas Vanek has a higher rank, I'll give the nod here to Benn for putting together a start to the season which most people did not expect to be so strong.  LVP: Victor Headman. 2 goals, 0 assists and +/- of -1 so far this year. Victor's breakout season seems to be postponed to after this year.

3. Team Quisp - MVP:  Kris Versteeg. Who would have thought that Florida's LW would already have 9 goals and 13 assists 5 weeks into the season? Cetainly not Paul Holmgren or Brian Burke. LVP: Jarret Stoll. It is difficult to call anyone on Quisp's well balanced team an LVP, but this dishonor should go to Stoll who has been playing 106 ranking spots below what Yahoo had originally predicted him to play at.

9. Pruuuuuuuuuuust - MVP: Patrick Sharp. Chicago's notorious King Killer has a great 19 points to begin the season, but what enhances Sharp's value is the ability to plug him in at C, LW and RW into your fantasy hockey league lineup. LVP: Anton Babchuk. It's bad enough that this guy actually has to go through life with the name "Anton Babchuk," but now he is injured and should be moved to this team's Injured Reserve. Hopefully then Pruuuuuuuuust can pick up a more respectable defenseman with a less ridiculous name.

12. Fontana reign - MVP: Tyler Seguin. This award could have also gone to Pittsburgh's James Neal, but Tyler's recent red hot play has propelled Seguin to be the 12th best player so far in Yahoo fantasy hockey. LVP: Cody Franson. Some people had high hopes for the Toronto blue liner this year, but the Maple Leafs depth on defense has often made Franson the odd man out as a healthy scratch not able to crack into the lineup.

The Staples Center Division

via images.wikia.com

4. Greenpoint Sewage - MVP: Nikolai Khabibulin. Patrick Kane, Steven Stamkos and Evander Kane have all had terrific starts for Rick Knickle's team, but The Bulin Wall has been the most pleasant surprise for his squad thus far. LVP:  Martin Broduer. Not to invite any ILWT trolls over here, but the Devil's saintly goalie has been a fantasy hockey liability this year.

8. LA Angels of Death - MVP: Joffrey Lupul. Yep, Joffrey Lupul. Go ahead and plan the parade, Toronto. Joffrey's 10 goals and 14 assists are good enough to make him the #1 ranked player in Yahoo fantasy hockey so far this year. LVP: Zack Parise. Picking an LVP for Paul Udani's team was a difficult choice as well, but when Zack was supposed to be the 13th highest ranked player in Yahoo fantasy hockey and he actually is only the 192nd best, the dishonor goes to the Devils captain.

13. Cookies for Lubo - MVP: Phil Kessel. The last pick of last year's all-star game has taken no prisoners so far this year, and Kessel's 27 points have been a blessing for Klink3113's team. LVP: Mike Green. I would prefer not to give the LVP to a player who's season has been marred by injuries, however Green's paltry 483rd ranking makes it hard to dismiss the lofty expectations most people have for the Capitals defenseman.

15. Northpark Nuthuggers - MVP: Pekka Renne. Nashville's goaltender has been playing great and justifying the massive contract he was awarded weeks ago. Interesting fact about Renne's season so far: 30% of his Wins this year have ones of the shutout variety. LVP: David Booth. The biggest name to be traded so far this season has been disappointing for both the Canucks and the Nuthuggers. However, as Booth gains more playing time in Vancouver, you can expect his +/- to improve and hopefully his fantasy value will increase as well.

The Toyota Sports Center Division

via oldadmin.svenskafans.com

5. Hoolie - MVP: Matt Read. The undrafted RW for Philadelphia has turned quite a few heads this season, as Matt has scored 8 goals to go along with his 6 helpers. LVP: Eric Staal. Hockey pundits and Fantasy league managers have been dumbfounded by the Hurricane center's slow start to the season.  Staal is on pace to finish the season with 34 points, his lowest total since his rookie year.

6. The Dude is not in - MVP: Tomas Plekanec. Montreal's pivotman is on pace to have his best season yet and looks to score upwards of 80 points this year. LVP: Kyle Okposo. The Islander's assistant captain has been a healthy scratch in the last 3 games. Maybe Charles Wang is considering hiring Okposo as the Islanders' next General Manager?

10. The Royal Line - MVP: Max Pacioretty. The American Montreal Canadian is living up to his first round draft pick status and his 9 goals and 17 points have been welcome contributions for The Ram's fantasy hockey team. LVP: Jarome Iginla. The Calgary Captain has only scored 9 points thus far and his -10 +/- could be a sign that Father Time has caught up with Jarome. Perhaps Jarome could see new life this season with a change in scenery?

11. Easy Bryzy - MVP: Jason Spezza. Ottawa's center has been exceeding the normal high expectations placed upon him: Spezza was projected to be the 101st best player by Yahoo fantasy hockey, but he has been playing well enough to earn a ranking as 40th best thus far. LVP:  Ryan Getzlaf. The follicly challenged Anaheim player has shown problems this season that Cy Sperling would be hard pressed to solve. Many people expected an 80-90 point season for the Duck. Getzlaf is on pace to finish the year with 50 points.

It's been an entertaining start to the Jewels from the Crown Fantasy Hockey League. I invite anyone to contact me if there are any questions about the league and it's format. If anyone else would care to write up a league update from time to time, please don't hesitate to do so. There is still a long way to go in the season. Let's see if anyone is up to the challenge of breaking up Nut's Pickle Party.

via www.buddytv.com