Live from London!

and there we have the NHL's opening weekend! did you watch? i actually was only able to catch the opening ceremonies and the first period but i always pick up highlights later. i wasn't able to see game 2 at all.

Mike Camalleri is on pace for 123 goals! how amazing is that? you always hear about guys in baseball taking a run at the HR total after day 1 and it makes me chuckle whenever i see suggestions to go out and sign some schmoe because he got a part time job in the bigs and had a career day on day 1. this however, is not the case. if Mike Camalleri is sitting on your waiver wire then you need to go add him now. go ahead and do that now. i'll wait. done? as a C2 or 3 Cam's a great option. now having said that there's no way that Camalleri should be on a waiver wire, even in an 8 team league.

now i understand that the Ducks are the champs but people have really underestimated this Kings squad this season. they are going to be a high quality, gunning team that will score a bunch of goals. Camalleri and Kopitar are stars, Frolov will head up a support staff that will shoot and give you no break at either end of the ice, Jonathan Bernier will hold the job and do more than an admirable job for them, and the defense corps is the gem on the team. Let's talk about them shall we?

Rob Blake is old but the man can still score. what sort of model could one want for a guy like Jack Johnson? Johnson is going to be a star. he might be the next Scott Stevens, except he'll score more. i couldn't believe that Carolina traded him last season just because they couldn't wait another year for him to develop. if i were a GM when Johnson goes on the market i would've asked what the price tag was and then been willing to pay it. just going on my memory but i believe the Canes got Gleason and a forward for Johnson. surely my Leafs could've submitted an offer better than that? apparently not. i could be wrong about what they got for him though. ok, enough man-love. i also like Preissing on that squad. if the Kings can stay afloat in their division, stay above .500, then it'll be because of significant two way play of defensive forwards and guys like Preissing on this team. and i haven't even gotten to the best D on this whole team, Lubomir Visnovsky. this guy is a star now that hardly gets noticed. he's a top 8 D that you can get a bit later in fantasy drafts than others just because he gets so little print.

enough love for the Kings, i still haven't forgiven them for the Gretz/Gilmour incident in game 3 of the '93 playoffs where a high stick drew blood but Gretz was allowed to stay in the game and scored the winning goal to erase my Leafs from the best playoff year i'd seen in a long time. what do i think about the Ducks? well, watch Bobby Ryan. kid's got skills. he was the 2nd pick in the Sidney Crosby draft. stop and think about the fact that the Ducks almost got Sidney Crosby. imagine what that team would be like now with Sid in tow. Ryan has 50 goal potential down the road, but i think that 20 could be realistic this season if he gets exposure and they're patient bringing him to the fore. i have some concerns for Anaheim's D but not once their captain decides he wants to play again and returns to them. i'm telling people it'll be after Christmas before we see the greater Niedermayer back on the ice, so be patient. will Teemu Selanne return? well, they'll need him but like Nied's, he can wait to decide. i don't see him signing anywhere else so if you can wait til spring to start playing hockey again then why not do so? i don't have either guy on any of my fantasy teams but i understand guys who do add them. i'm just not prepared to wait that long for them. i may wait until December and throw out some low-ball offers to trade for either of them. i doubt they'd be successful though; if you've waited that long then there's now way you deal either of them away in December for a low-ball offer.

the Ducks are going to be led by Chris Pronger for a while now. and make sure you keep an eye on Todd Bertuzzi who i'm expecting to break back out again after some hard, lean years.

highlights from game 2 are 2 assists for Andy McDonald who should break out pretty nicely, a fight in the 2nd period between Scott Thornton and the best porn moustache in hockey, George Parros, and 3 pts (2 goals) for Corey Perry who gelled very nicely with Ryan Getzlaf last season only to find himself with new linemates already this season. all of those guys have fantasy value, depending on what you're looking for.

some guys have already started asking about getting a review of their team and i've been thinking about perhaps being able to do a review/week if i can find the time. i'd have to post info right here in this blog and let you know that it's there. that sound like a good idea to you? if it does then email your info in. if you're reading this then you should already have access to my email.

that's it for today though. i don't know if this'll be a daily thing or not. life is busy as i'm sure it is for everyone.

all the best boys. keep your stick on the ice (as Red Green likes to say).

did you see this?

we get to the age old question, do you want a dirty player on YOUR team? i have so many mixed emotions on this one. Downie got 20 games for this "maneuveur" and it has really brought back the concept of the illegal headshot to NHL pundits. i have a problem with a guy who gets mad after he gets pasted so that he just wants to go and take someone else's head off.
i was never a Downie fan to begin with, i've heard stories, probably so have you. i was talking to a young minor leaguer who told me of a time that Downie was crying like a ... well, he was crying after taking a few noogies to the skull. alright, he was still young (15ish) but i just don't get a guy who invites stuff like that and then leaves the ice in tears over it.
Downie deserved the 20 games he got, but it's going to be served next year. he wasn't going to make the squad this season anyway and he'll get some good minor league ice time. let's hope he doesn't P off too many puck carrying D in the minors.
Downie still has value in keeper leagues by the way, just not this year.

the season begins this morning at 11 am CST with Hockey Day in the United Kingdom (not the official title i believe). the Kings and Ducks face off in London England for the first game of the season. it's apparently being carried on the CBC and i intend to watch if i can. rumour is that Jonathan Bernier will be the main starter in goal for the Kings this season and there has been a good amount of buzz about him. i tried to trade for Bernier in my work league this week and got rebuffed. i just wanted to see if the other person realized all the buzz around him. there has also been plenty of talk that Halak would be traded out of Montreal (perhaps to the main job in LA or as backup in SJ) but no word on that yet. getting closer to game time. i really should get ready.

this is me

Not sure who will ever come this way but the intent of this blog is to provide some free advice, musings, and hopefully the occasional chuckle as it relates to fantasy sports, real sports, living life, and probably the occasional spiritual reference that you may or may not get.
I've been writing about fantasy sports for several years now at a fantasy sports website. I don't know what direction that will be going in the future and I don't want to be left without an outlet of some kind so I'm moving this direction in the hope that I can still help some folks.
My forte is fantasy hockey. It starts with the fact that I'm a hockey fan, HUGE hockey fan, and I've been very intensely involved with fantasy sports for, I don't know, 10 years? Many don't wax philosophically about hockey like they do about baseball, since this blog is titled shallowfrozenwater then you should just realize that I'm not nearly deep enough to get too introspective about how hockey relates to life but still, I'll probably do that. I'll also probably give a bunch of lame-ass opinions on several topics and invite anyone who wants to chime to do so.
I've had a metaphor in my head for a long time now. It's one that God wades in shallow water. I am a spiritual man and I won't mince that God has a significant chair in the middle of my life. I once suggested this metaphor to a composer friend thinking that it may be a good basis for a song but I now think I'll use the metaphor myself. I am the shallow water and the frozen part is due to the hockey fan in me. NHL ice isn't very deep anyway so it seemed like a good fit.
Again, not sure what direction this will be going or even if it will be going anywhere but still, there it is.
More when I get some more time, and hopefully it won't be a continual convoluted mess.