Fantasy hockey alert: how the Olympics may affect your team
On Thursday, Olympic.ca’s Asif Hossain was joined by senior writer with CBC Olympics Mike Brophy (CBC.ca), Steve Glynn from the Steve Dangle Podcast (stevedangle.com) and Anatoliy Metter, NY Islanders correspondent for thehockeywriters.com on a Google + Hangout (follow Canadian Olympic Team on G+) to discuss Team Canada.
The puck drops October 1 on the first night of games in the 2013-14 National Hockey League season. And with that, fantasy hockey players will begin the nightly ritual of meticulously calculating goals, assists, penalty minutes, shots and saves, checking the waiver wire for steals and fillers, and worst of all, agonizing over painful lineup decisions that occasionally lead to very regretful evenings when a player scores a hat-trick only to be discovered on one’s fantasy team bench.
It feels like a full-time job this fantasy sports thing, though it’s a labour of passion.
In late August, Hockey Canada invited 47 players who are being considered for the team that will compete for gold in February at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Needless to say the fantasy value of these players are quite high as they look to crack the strongest roster in the ice hockey playing world (sorry Canadian readers, we have to stress ice hockey, it’s an Olympic thing).
Photo: The Canadian Press
Whether you support the Habs, Sens, Leafs, Jets, Oilers, Flames, Canucks or any of those other teams down south, Canadians can agree on one thing, when the NHL calendar is halted in February and all eyes are on Sochi, they’re going to get behind 25 of the finest en route to hopefully a repeat Olympic gold medal performance. So, what is the fantasy value of these 47 and what other potential Canadian Olympians are missing from this list that could double as valuable sleepers to any fantasy hockey team?
Goaltenders
Corey Crawford – Chicago Blackhawks
Braden Holtby – Washington Capitals
Roberto Luongo – Vancouver Canucks
Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens
Mike Smith – Phoenix Coyotes
Defenders
Karl Alzner – Washington Capitals
Jay Bouwmeester – St. Louis Blues
Dan Boyle – San Jose Sharks
Drew Doughty – Los Angeles Kings
Mike Green – Washington Capitals
Dan Hamhuis – Vancouver Canucks
Travis Hamonic – NY Islanders
Duncan Keith – Chicago Blackhawks
Kristopher Letang – Pittsburgh Penguins
Marc Methot – Ottawa Senators
Dion Phaneuf – Toronto Maple Leafs
Alex Pietrangelo – St. Louis Blues
Brent Seabrook – Chicago Blackhawks
Marc Staal – NY Rangers
PK Subban – Montreal Canadiens
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – San Jose Sharks
Shea Weber – Nashville Predators
Forwards
Patrice Bergeron – Boston Bruins
Jeff Carter – Los Angeles Kings
Logan Couture – San Jose Sharks
Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
Matt Duchesne – Colorado Avalanche
Jordan Eberle – Edmonton Oilers
Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim Ducks
Claude Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers
Taylor Hall – Edmonton Oilers
Chris Kunitz – Pittsburgh Penguins
Andrew Ladd – Winnipeg Jets
Milan Lucic – Boston Bruins
Brad Marchand – Boston Bruins
Rick Nash – NY Rangers
James Neal – Pittsburgh Penguins
Corey Perry – Anaheim Ducks
Mike Richards – Los Angeles Kings
Patrick Sharp – Chicago Blackhawks
Eric Staal – Carolina Hurricanes
Jordan Staal – Carolina Hurricanes
Martin St. Louis – Tampa Bay Lightning
Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning
John Tavares – NY Islanders
Joe Thornton – San Jose Sharks
Jonathan Toews – Chicago Blackhawks
