November 12, 1998

After 3+ years, I finally win a period. I think I was the last one left from the first year we had periods still in the league now who hadn't won one. Mike's comeback fell short as he finished second, 17 points behind, although he was closer than that during the last week. I had pretty decent production from every roster spot, including the highest scoring defensemen. Mike's "bargain" defensemen rank near the bottom of the league and he got a measly one point out of his sixth forward spot (Stumpel/Zhamnov).

It was a pretty high scoring week in the NHL and the results can be seen in the higher than usual scores. It has been a while since an NHL team scored 10 goals, as the Rangers did Tuesday night. Unfortunately, this is more likely an aberration than a result of any rule changes. Rick's team awakened from the dead to post the high score of the week (43). And Palffy still hasn't signed yet.

Brett has a great one-two punch with Lindros and Forsberg, but the rest of his line up includes a bunch of scrubs. That combo has 38% of Brett's points. I don't think Beranek is the answer.

Chris also has a great one-two combo with Kariya and Leclair. Right now his problems are on defense, where his defensemen are last in the league in points. That will improve with Niedermayer back. And if Ozolinsh ever signs, with the emergence of Redden, Chris' defensemen could easily challenge mine for best in the league.

Things haven't started off too well for Jay. The points against leader, he is the second team to start off 0-4 in the three years of head-to-head play. No one has begun 0-5. On the bright side, Jagr and Turgeon look good and Osgood leads goalies in points. Jay needs better production from Modano and his last two forwards and last two defensemen. That's asking a lot.

I have been basically just cruising along since I took the big lead early in the season. Robitaille may be the surprise of the league so far with 24 points (tied for fifth). Each of my defensemen ranks in the top seven so far, resembling Tony's dominating defensemen from a couple of years ago. My big decision so far is should I activate Ohlund (who would be fourth in defensemen scoring) and reserve Housley (who is tied for fourth).

This week saw Rick make the jump to fourth place in points. Is he making his run earlier this year? Messier has been a surprise with 22 points. His defensemen rank second with 45 points, led by MacInnis with 21 points.

Tony moves to 4-0 but is only in a tie for first place with Mike in the Moose Jaw division. His forwards are looking strong with the only real question mark Demitra playing well. His leading scorer is Guerin (25 points) who is third in the EFHL in scoring. If you recall, Tony and I were in a minor bidding war for Guerin. I would be another 10-15 points up if I had him for Daze or Kapenan. His defensemen rank near the bottom of the league, but seem better than that, especially with the pick up of Aucoin. Roy has also been a problem.

Mike has five very strong forwards, with Fleury and Shanahan one-two in EFHL scoring. As mentioned before, his defenseman haven't met expectations, except for Jonsson.

Rich has held his own despite missing holdout Bure and having Weight and Blake suffer injuries in the last week. Only time will tell if he can withstand these obstacles. My guess is no.

Bill is following up last season's success with an awful start. Just about everybody on his roster is off to a disappointing start, with the exception of Mogilny, Murphy and McGillis.

Charlie had a good first couple weeks but has been pretty bad the last couple weeks. Hull has been a little disappointing. Primeau had been invisible for the last 2+ weeks (until last night). What I would like to know (and I am sure Charlie would too) is what the #@&% is Federov's problem? This guy has way too much talent to have 2 goals and 4 assists. I don't care if Detroit is great and rolls four lines and the scoring is spread around.

• Another 9 moves were made this week, after the 16 made last week. I am sure everybody came out ahead from their moves last week, right?
• The new period begins today and goes through Tuesday, December 8.
• Notice to Cam Neely: On the day when Neely announces he will practice with the Bruins to see if he can attempt a comeback, Ulf Samuelsson scores TWO goals.
• Unbelievable: Not only are the Penguins tied for first place in the Atlantic at 6-3-4, they are tied for first place overall (with 7 other teams). Also surprising is that the Capitals are in last place in the supposedly weak Southeast division. Every NHL team has between 8 and 16 points.

That's all for now. Later.

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