KL Week in Review: Week 26

Here's how things sit on the home stretch, with about a dozen games remaining:

There are some interesting races shaping up:

The Money Shot Race

• Obviously, the top 3 remain interesting (to the top 3 anyways). The Flyers have had a big week and clawed back into 1st place, but this is a weird league and shit happens. A late season surge by any one of these teams could mean a new champion

The Charity Case Race

• The Mackhawks have had the best week in the entire KL and have consolidated their hold on 4th place. Nothing is safe, however, and the Teeyotes/Classsics are still within striking distance. I would still love to hear from any of MattMack, Teehan or Claassen with respect to their chosen charities so I can figure out who to root for. 
• Side note: No team in the KL has as many points as the Mackhawks in March. Probably a long shot but they cannot be discounted to actually end up in the top 3. 

The Playoff Bubble Race

• The Krupuls and Rangers (against all odds, having lost Stamkos for the season) are probably good bets to make the playoffs, but 23 points is far from a safe lead in this league, even this late in the season. The Los Amjawors Kings' 27 points last week is probably a disappointing result as a Moiler-esque 38 points would have put them within 12 points. 
• The Moilers aforementioned 38 point week is an excellent result and could position them to make things interesting down the stretch.

The Toronto Maple Leafs of the 2000s Race

• The Lidstroms and Patrik Stefans probably had higher hopes for this year. Instead they are probably going to end up competing for the worst possible finish - just out of reach of the playoffs but not a comparatively poor draft position.

With the 1st Overall Pick in the 2014 Draft, the _______ Are Pleased to Select.... Race

•  Let's be reality here, this is probably the Rordique's to lose - and a perfect position for a new GM taking over a struggling franchise to find themselves in. This will be a chance for our newest GM to show us what he's really made of. 
• That leaves the WBS Parkers, the Schizzarks and the Vanrooser Canicks all competing for the silver medal - the 2nd overall pick. With a mere 8 points separating 3 teams (14 if you want to include the Stefans in this group) the race for second worst team in the KL might actually end up being the most interesting one to watch.

KL Week in Review: Week 19

There isn't much to say this week, because I am also posting the Month in Review. This is here for completeness.

KL Week in Review: Week 18 (also some transactions)

BREAKING NEWS: The Patrik Stefans are no longer in 12th place.

They are in 13th, which is the first time in weeks they have been in any other spot but 12.

There are plenty of other observations that could be made, but really, let's get right to the two recent-ish transactions. There are a couple new sheriffs in town, and they're at the helm of the Teeyotes and the Winter Claassics. 

Jan 16 2014
The Winter Claassics send Loui Eriksson, Brian Gionta and a 2015 1st round draft pick
to the
WBS Parkers for Patrick Marleau, Saku Koivu and a 2015 5th round draft pick.

The 5th place Winter Claassics can taste the money spot and are willing to pay to get there. Marleau is on the back side of his career but is playing PPG hockey. The WBS Parkers did well to get value for him now as there is no telling when his game could nosedive. 

Great trade all around and I know at least one top 4 GM is pissed at himself for not kicking the tires on Marleau earlier. With a few new faces entering the race this could be a very interesting trade deadline.

Jan 18 2014
Not to be outdone, the surging Teeyotes (seriously, 44 points this week to lead the league in points both on the week and the month) drop Kris Russell and add Jason Demers.

Demers has 24 points as a defenceman and would be on most teams scoring rosters. Russell, on the other hand, has been hurt. Even if both players were equal, going for the guy playing on the Sharks over the guy playing for the Flames is always a good bet. 

KL Week in Review: Week 17

Anyone else shocked that we're already 17 weeks into the season? 

Notes:

• We're on the verge of a new 1st place GM for the first time in weeks. The Micahleks pace is probably unsustainable but if they can get enough of a head start it may not matter. 
• I'm really excited to see the Winter Claassics and the Teeyotes in 4th and 5th place (and both GMs have been pretty active of late - the lure of a top 4 finish is still an incentive in this league which is awesome)
• The Powder Rangers have had the worst week in the league, followed by the Quebec Rordiques and the G-Phil's Flyers. The top 8 is getting very interesting as the Stamkos injury and the Flyer's reliance on Russians is finally starting to be reflected in the standings
• No team has had more points this week than the Mackhawks - they are getting healthy and could make a quick return to the top 4
• On the other side of the ledger, not a heck of a lot has changed - in fact the standings are identical to last week. 
• The Patrik Stefans have been stuck in 12th place since week 12. They may actually be the most consistent team in the league, not having moved higher than 8th or lower than 13th. Their average position over 17 weeks is 10.26th.

KL Week in Review: Week 16 (plus some transactions)

16 weeks in and things are starting to get a little interesting again:

Notes for the week:

• The G-Phil's Flyers hold on 1st place is increasingly tenuous as both the Fylanders and Micahleks continue to close the gap. 
• The Micahleks have had a huge week with a league-leading 44 points, 11 of which came last night
• The Powder Rangers continue to cling to 4th place - remarkably, though, the Winter Claassics were in 4th place for portions of the last week
• The Los Amjawors Kings have slowed down somewhat but remain a viable playoff team, much to the surprise of early season prognosticators
• The Patrik Stefans are really, really good at holding 12th place. 
• The Schizzarks teased the bottom of the league last week but have managed to pull themselves up to a comparatively respectable 15th place. 

Injury notes :

The Winter Claassics are, remarkably, the only 100% healthy team in the league right now. There are some key injuries to a lot of teams that may result in some shuffling in the standings over the next week or two:

• G-Phil's Flyers - Mike Babcock says not to expect Pavel Datsyuk back "any time soon". With both the Fylanders and Micahleks coming fast, 1st place is very much up for grabs
• Milan Micahleks - Ryan Getzlaf isn't broken but his return date is unknown. The Micahleks expect to win, but these injuries are letting the Fylanders catch up.
• Teeyotes - Standout goaltender Ben Bishop has a sprained wrist. He is experimenting with different taping strategies but his return date is unknown. The Teeyotes are 9 points from a money spot but only 8 points from 9th place - these are critical lost points.
• Mackhawks - Johan Franzen (22 points in 30 games) has been a steady producer for the Mackhawks, but is at least a week or more away from returning from his concussion. The Mackhawks need their depth to hold 8th.
• Moilers - Luongo, Eric Staal, and Patrik Elias are all day-to-day with no real timelines for their return. Lengthy absences from these players could spell doom for the Moiler's playoff chances
• Dicklas Lidstroms - injuries to Koivu and Alex Steen are hurting the Lidstroms playoff chances. Gaborik's injuries woes this season have already started the Lidstroms off on the wrong foot. Word is these guys may even be ready in time for the Olympics.
• Patrik Stefans - Both Couture and Galchenyuk - key young contributors - are out with hand injuries. Both are weeks away from returning.
• Schizzarks - An MCL injury to Parenteau and a foot injury to Parise have been a significant factor in the Schizzark's precipitous fall to the bottom of the league. Neither player is skating and both face lengthy recoveries. 
• WBS Parkers - Evander Kane is expected back shortly, but stunning rookie Thomas Hertl (a possible cornerstone forward for the expansion Parkers) is likely done for the season. The team has not said as much, but estimate as long as 9 months for recovery. There is no guarantee he will come back in the same form either - rough break for this team. 

Transactions:

There have been a few transactions over the last while. 

Jan-2-14
Moilers drop Lee Stempniak and add Andrew Cogliano.

Quickie analysis: Cogliano sucks less than Stempniak. Great mid-season pickup.

Jan-2-14
Patrik Stefans drop Ondrej Pavelec and add Anton Khudobin

Quickie analysis: System's spreadsheets have finally pumped out a winner (why there is a heavy unheralded Soviet bias in System's system is beyond me). Khudobin has filled in admirably for the injured Cam Ward, posting a 6-1-0 with a .936 save percentage this season.

Jan-5-14 - Trade

Joshfrey Krupuls send Joffrey Lupul and a 2014 7th round draft pick to the


Fylanders for Dustin Penner and a 2014 3rd round draft pick

Quickie analysis: The Fylanders dump slumping Penner for (surprise surprise) a Maple Leaf. Lupul is the better player and the Fylanders got him cheap. Headscratcher for the Krupuls but maybe they think Penner's time in the press box will jumpstart his production.

Jan-8-14 - Trade
Quebec Rordiques send Andrew Ladd and Antoine Vermette to the
Los Amjawors Kings for Mikael Grigorenko and Curtis Glencross

Quickie analysis: The Kings can taste a playoff spot and maybe even a money spot. They need depth scoring and got it in Ladd and Vermette. The price was promising youngster Grigorenko. Interestingly, Grigorenko has refused to report to the Q and his NHL future is in question, but his potential is huge. We'll have to wait to see what happens to declare a winner. 

KL Week in Review: Week 15

Holy shit, this week went by fast. A reminder to please review (and comment on, either by way of email or the comment features, Micah's post from Jan 2.) This is really a critical question and based on the number of emails I have gotten from all of you on this issue, I can't believe that you don't have opinions on it.

A few changes this week (finally!)

Of note:

• The Fylanders are now in second place, and are closer to the G-Phil's Flyers than anyone in the past few weeks! They have kept up their better than average pace and are gaining ground while the Flyers battle injury
• The Micahleks also continue to gain on 1st, but at a slower pace. 
• The Powder Rangers have reaffirmed their position in 4th with a league-leading 41 points (and a stellar 13 point Saturday). 
• The Los Amjawors Kings are in 7th place and could easily be in 5th by tonight. With a 8 point buffer in 9th, they are looking more and more like a playoff team
• Speaking of the playoffs, remember when the Mackhawks were in the top 4? They are currently clutching the final playoff spot. 
• As predicted, the Schizzarks are in dead last right now. A shocking fall, coupled with hot weeks from the WBS Parkers and the Vanrooser Canicks.

December Awards/KL Week 14: Week in Review

Happy New Year GMs!

This is the third in a series of monthly awards recognizing some of the high points in the month gone by. If you missed October's and November's, check out the link to "All Monthly Awards" on the left side of this post.

Conveniently, the week ends today as well. Here we sit after three months and 14 weeks of competition:

Week in Review Notes:

• The Schizzarks continue to plummet. They sit 10 points out of last, and a resurgent Vanrooser Canicks team threatens to leapfrog them in short order.
• The best week (23 point) belongs to the Joshfrey Krupuls, who find themselves in serious playoff contention
• I'm super excited to see the Winter Claassics a mere 5 points out of a money spot. 
• 4 teams are within 4 points of each other, straddling the playoff line. A clever move could put one of them over the top - or leave them in the dust. 
• The Fylanders and Micahleks continue to inch their way closer to the top position. Assuming all else remains equal and the top 3 continue at the exact same pace, the Fylanders will eclipse the Micahleks by the end of January and catch the Flyers by the end of February.

Offensive Player of the Month  

This simply has to go to Claude Giroux of the Joshfrey Krupuls. He has scored 19 points in the month of December (after scoring 18 points in all of October and November). Only Crosby and Kane have more points that that this month. Coupled with continued production from Kyle "All you guys at the KL draft have egg on your face" Okposo, Giroux's return to form has made the Krupuls a serious playoff team.


HMs: Patrick Sharp of the Vanrooser Canicks. Desperately in need of a top forward, Sharp has emerged this month as a premiere scoring forward, with 18 points in the month of December. I'd also be remiss if I did not mention Patrick Kane, who has kept pace with Sidney Crosby with a remarkable 23 points - we all knew he was good, but did anyone really think "the only guy in the NHL with a realistic chance of catching Crosby" good? Lastly, the Moilers continue to quietly put together a very impressive season as Taylor Hall rounds into form, with 19 points.

Defensive Player of the Month

The Winter Claassics owe part of their success this month to none other than Cam Fowler. After two consecutive disappointing seasons (especially given his stellar rookie season), Fowler has 11 points in December and is presently on pace to catch PK Subban on the Winter Claassics roster. 
 
HMs: Duncan Keith. Last month's winner has led all defencemen in December with 15 points and sit atop the WBS Parkers' scoring roster - he looks set to smash his previous records. Also of note, late round flyer Andrej Sekera of the G-Phil's Flyers has 10 points in December and is now 13th in NHL D scoring.

Goaltender of the Month

Martin Jones of no KL team whatsoever. Remarkably, this unheralded youngster has played exactly 10 NHL games, all in December, earning a stunning 26 Keeper League points. Does Quick's expected return spell A-H-L for this rookie netminder, or do the Kings opt to keep him up with the team in the event Quick falters again? Will a KL GM take a flyer on this guy?

HMs:  The Powder Rangers have desperately needed points from anywhere they can get them after losing Stamkos for who-knows-how-long in November, and they've gotten exactly that from Craig Anderson, who is amongst the upper tier of point-getters in the KL with 16 on the month. Also of note, Carey Price's 17 points are the only parachute on the rapidly falling Schizzarks.

GM of the Month

It's been a quiet month, but congratulations to the Milan Micahleks. I hated the their trade with the Dicklas Lidstroms, but you can't argue with results - they are sitting pretty in 2nd place. The players traded away and the players obtained all have a total of 8 points in December, but that is without anything from still-injured Dougie Hamilton. It looks like this trade will pay dividends on an ongoing basis.

HMs: The Dicklas Lidstroms, who even in spite of the above got good value for good value in their trade with the Micahleks. Also the Mackhawks, who have maintained a playoff position despite a stunning run of injuries - nor have they panicked. Dropping an injured Dupuis to bring Simmonds back to the fold was the right move as well.

KL Week in Review - Week 13 (plus a couple transactions)

Not a heck of a lot of action in the NHL over the past week owing to the Xmas break:

Big weeks from the Micahleks and the Fylanders have started to close the gap on 1st place. 

As well, the race for that final money spot is as tight as its ever been, with only 11 points separating 8th and 4th place.

On the other end, both the Schizzarks and the Stefans remain in free-fall with the two worst weeks in the league (11 and 15 points respectively. The Schizzarks are actually on pace to end up in last place by the end of next week, with the Stefans following soon thereafter.

Let's just all take a moment and appreciate that we are not the Mackhawks. I'm not sure I've seen 6 injuries on a roster before - and these are key players:

Transactions

A couple minor Xmas transactions:

Dec-23-13
The Schizzarks drop Matt Donovan and add Andy Greene

Dec-29-13
The Mackhawks drop Pascal Dupuis and (re)add Wayne Simmonds

Interesting note: the Dicklas Lidstroms are the only team to have not used or traded a FA add/drop.

KL Week in Review - Week 12

Its Xmas time so this is late and boring: 

Of note: 

• The G-Phil's Flyers continue to be really good without Malkin.
• Relatedly, the Micahleks had a terrible week and failed to make up much-needed ground
• The Powder Rangers are still in 4th!
• The Krupuls have had a stunning week with 45 points, putting them in spitting distance of the playoffs
• The Patrik Stefans and Schizzarks continue to flounder.

KL Week in Review: Week 11

I was pretty hungover yesterday and didn't do this.

So here we go! Standings as of the end of play Saturday, December 14th:

Rank	Team Name	TTL	PLN
1	G-Phil's Flyers	350	8
2	Milan Micahleks	325	5
3	Fylanders	313	4
4	Powder Rangers	311	13
5	Mackhawks	306	5
6	Moilers	300	7
7	Winter Claassics	296	9
8	Los Samjawors Kings	290	8
9	Dicklas Lidstroms	284	4
10	Teeyotes	284	2
11	Patrik Stefans	276	7
12	Joshfrey Krupuls	273	10
13	Schizzarks	271	10
14	Quebec Rordiques	264	3
15	Vanrooser Canicks	251	10
16	W-Benham/Scranton Parkers	249	3

A few notes:

• The Vanrooser Canicks have been one of the hottest teams in the league lately. Last week they were 28 points back of 15th - now they are 3 points up on the WBS Parkers.
• A big week from the Los Amjawors Kings has put them in a playoff spot. They also completed a soon-to-be-announced trade that will provide additional depth down the stretch. 
• The Powder Rangers are not letting go of a money spot without a fight, with a huge Saturday night
• The G-Phil's Flyers are falling to earth a little bit, and with an injury to Malkin, the Micahleks are salivating
• The Fylanders are finally in the money
• Ben fuckin' Bishop is now second only to MAF for KL goalie points. A wonderful pickup for the Teeyotes, and a somewhat ironic result for the Quebec Rordiques, whose 42 points from Niemi is now good for 3rd in goalie points.

KL Week in Review: Week 9

Here we are, 9 weeks in:

The top 4 remains the same as last week. The G-Phil's Flyers continue to pull away from the pack, with 41 points this week (and 164 points in the month of December). 

There is a bit of separation developing between the top 3 and the rest of the league - the 4th place Mackhawks, amazingly, are closer to 15th place then they are to 1st. The Mackhawks can't rest on their laurels though (that is for the Powder Rangers GM) - the Fylanders have moved into sole possession of 5th place and are 1 point back of a money spot.

Sticktaps to:

• The Moilers, who have moved from 13th to a 3-way tie for 8th on the strength of a league-leading 44 point week
• The Los Amjawors Kings, who have leapfrogged several teams to 9th place, from 14th

The Gary Bettman Boo to:

• The Quebec Rordiques 15 point week.  Wow.

KL Week in Review: Week 8

The standings right now:

The G-Phil's Flyers have stormed back from a disappointing week, putting up 44 points. They have had the best week and best month to date by a significant margin. The upstart Micahleks, who have been jockeying with the Flyers for 1st place for the last two weeks, have fallen flat but remain within striking distance.

A few observations:

• The 4th place Mackhawks are closer to 15th place than they are to 1st. They are also as close to being out of the playoffs as they are to 3rd place. This is going to be a wild ride to see who makes the playoffs. 
• Tense days in the Aikenhead/Schissel household as both teams are continuing to  struggle. I had the Moilers in 2nd and the Shizzarks in 4th at the outset of the season.
• As Commissioner I am supposed to remain unbiased, but I'm really rooting for the Patrik Stefans to make the playoffs after finishing in the worst possible positions the last 3 seasons (11th-13th-11th - too high for the best draft picks, but out of the playoffs). 
• In the same vein I am really happy to see the Winter Claassics cementing themselves a position in the top 8 over the last few weeks. 
• The best team this week (the Flyers) have more than three times as many points in that period as the worst team (The Vanrooser Canicks). The ratio approximates π and in fact the use of 44/14 (or 22/7) as a stand-in for pi dates back to both Greek (Archimedes) and Chinese (Zu Chongzhi) antiquity
• Speaking of the Vanrooser Canicks, they can no longer use the absence of Kovalchuk as an excuse for sitting at the bottom of the standings - if Kovy was leading the league with 30 points, the Canicks would still be no higher than 15th place.

KL Week in Review: Week 7

As noted, I've changed the date of this update to reflect the end of competition on Saturday. Saturdays are typically the busiest days in the NHL, so it makes sense. 

Here are the standings as the morning after Saturday, November 17: 

As the Patrik Stefan's GM pointed out, he was in 5th place after Friday's contests. Funnily, the day he posted his video he was actually back down to 8th, as above. 

What this illustrates is not so much the Stefan's acumen as a GM, but how tight this league remains, especially though the middle. A mere 14 points separate 10th and 4th place, or put another way, a non-playoff team with a money spot. As the Micahleks have shown, a good week (41 points) coupled with a poor week by a competitor (the G-Phil's Flyers 28 points) can result in big leaps up (or down) the board. 

Worst week: The Shizzarks and the Vanrooser Canicks, both with 17. 
Best week: The Milan Micahleks, with 41 points.
League average: 27.75. 

Does anyone else see the Teeyotes sitting in 5th right now?

KL Week in Review: Week 6

Stick-tap to both Micah and Stefan, who both made excellent blog posts this past weekend. Keep it up boys, the KL is more fun because of it. 

Also, this is sort of touching - Steven Stamkos grabbing the hand of Sami Salo after breaking his leg. If there is anyone alive who understands pain, its Salo:

If anyone wants to hold the Powder Rangers GM's hand through the next 3-4 months, I understand it would be appreciated.

Onto the week in review:

Two of the hottest teams in the league, the G-Phil's Flyers and the Milan Micahleks, are in the #1 and #2 spots, which just goes to show that this league is still pretty fluid. The Micahleks, remarkably, have gone from 15th place in week 2, to second place in week 6.

On the flipside, the perennially-competitive Fylanders have slowed considerably. This is the first week since the start of the season that the Fylanders have not been in the top 3. They currently sit 14 points out of a money spot. 

The Los Samjawors Kings have been the coldest team in the league. After sitting in 9th, 9th, 7th, 6th, and 8th in each of the last 5 weeks, they currently sit at 14th.

Also note: I think I am going to start posting these updates after Saturday, which corresponds with the Pickuphockey week. I have been posting on Tuesday merely because the season started on a Monday. I doubt anyone much cares.

KL Week in Review: Week 5

After 5 weeks of play, our standings look like this:

Separation Anxiety?

The In-the-Money Teams (highlighted in yellow)
9 points separate 1st-4th and that race is as close as ever. Somewhat remarkably, the same 4 teams have been holding the top 4 (though not once in the same position from week to week) since week 2.

The Playoff Teams (highlighted in green)
 However, 9 more points separate 4th from 5th, which is the biggest single gap between teams until we get down to 15th place. There are a lot of teams in that 5th to 11th bracket (again, coincidentally separated by 9 points).

The Toronto Maple Leafs Not Good Enough For the Playoffs, Not Bad Enough for 1st Overall Teams (highlighted in red)
The 12-14 spots are an island unto themselves with a mere 2 points separating them. They are, however, 6 points out of the playoff grouping but 11 points out of the final 2 spots. 

The Rebuilders (Highlighted in blue)
These teams are here for two different reasons - the Canicks were forced to rebuild after losing their franchise forward to the KHL. The Wilkes-Benham/Scranton Parkers (now the second best name in the KL after the Los Samjawors Kings) were never supposed to be competitive and are exactly where they want to be - in 1st overall territory.

Other Thoughts

The Injury Bug
Every team but the Joshfrey Krupuls have at least one injured player. Most have multiple injuries. I seem to recall this being an early-season theme but still, it is frustrating for all involved. So far most GMs are standing pat with their injured players as most of the injuries appear to be relatively mild in nature.

The Schizzarks have been awful lately - and for good reason: they have injuries to Tanguay, Lecavalier, Selanne, Nash, Visnovsky and Booth.  I don't have any way to verify but I am pretty confident that this is the most injuries at one time in this history of the KL. A dubious record to hold.

 A Return to Form
When you take a look at the "Man Games" tab, we are finally starting to see most of the high flyers come back down to Earth (and some underachievers start to pick up their pace).  As soon as Alex Steen stops scoring points (on pace for 123) all will be right with the world again.

Goaltending at the top
Interestingly, both of the current top 2 (the Powder Rangers and the G-Phil's Flyers) are holding those positions with two of the lowest goalie point totals in the league:

8 points - G-Phil's Flyers
10 points - WBS Parkers
11 points - (tie) Powder Rangers and the Joshfrey Krupuls

On the flipside, the 3rd place team, the Fylanders, have 23 points, second only to Antti Niemi's league-leading 26.

The average points from that position (scoring roster only) currently is 15.81. The 4th place Mackhawks are right there, with 16 points from Quick.

KL Week in Review: Week 4

The standings as of the end of gameplay, Monday October 28:

1	Powder Rangers	128
2	Fylanders	127
3	Mackhawks	126
4	G-Phil's Flyers	125
5	Moilers	122
6	Los Samjawors Kings	119
7	Winter Claassics	118
8	Schizzarks	117
9	Milan Micahleks	117
10	Dicklas Lidstroms	112
11	Patrik Stefans	109
12	Teeyotes	104
13	Joshfrey Krupuls	103
14	Vanrooser Canicks	97
15	Quebec Rordiques	96
16	W-Benham/Scranton Parkers	94

At risk of sounding trite, things are more or less as expected, with the broad exception of the Los Samjawors Kings, who continue to reap the benefits of Niemi and Crosby.

Also of note, the Powder Rangers, who sat 10 points back of the Fylanders and temporarily seized first place (I say temporary because I am writing this on a Wednesday and I happen to know that the Mackhawks had a huge night and are sitting in 1st presently). 

Looking Ahead
There have been a few moves both in the KL and in the NHL this past week and teams will be looking to see if they pay dividends. 

The Fylanders and the Teeyotes look to benefit in a huge way from the Moulson-Vanek trade, as Vanek will be playing top line minutes with John Tavares. If they click, Vanek could hit 50 goals and Tavares should be a shoo-in for 100. Are the Fylanders now the clear favourites to with the KL?

Stick-tap of the Week
Congratulations to the Winter Claassics, who finally got a goal from Chris Kreider!