Monthly Archives: December 2010

2010 was one of the better years in recent memory in terms of hockey. We had the Winter Olympics, where the stars came out to play over an unforgettable two weeks in February. John Carlson became an American hockey legend with a gold-medal winning overtime goal in the World Juniors. We had the Windsor Spitfires, stacked to the brim with future NHL talent, run through the CHL en route to a second-consecutive Memorial Cup title. We also had the deep, young, and exciting Chicago Blackhawks capture the greatest trophy in professional sports, the Stanley Cup.

In the fantasy hockey world, a lot happened as well. The “big three” (Crosby, Ovechkin, and Malkin) became the “big four” (Stamkos) for a while, but that was quickly replaced by the “big one,” as Crosby took the Penguins on his back for a wild 25 game ride. The Sedin twins showed that not all players are finished developing in their late 20's by taking the leap to superstardom at the age of 29. We saw a rise in the number of teams opting to go with the two-headed goalie attack. Ilya Kovalchuk was the story maker of the 2010 offseason, and the fallout has been an interesting saga to say the least. Let’s get to it…

Elliotte Friedman’s weekly 30 Thoughts column on the CBC website is currently the best read in hockey. Friedman is insightful, articulate, knowledgeable, fair, and most importantly, interesting. He has sources and contacts in the hockey world that most could only dream of. He has an ability which is rare in this day and age - providing a balanced and reasonable opinion on the league, the players, and all 30 of the clubs.

Each week I will post my own observations (I couldn’t completely steal Friedman’s idea so I’ll pick a number other than 30) – with a heavy emphasis on the fantasy side of hockey, of course. Prospects, goalies, sleepers, busts, it will all be covered each week.