January 2, 1999

This isn't the midseason review, but since it has been a few weeks since the last newsletter, I thought I would take the time to update what has happened lately. We are now past the halfway point in the EFHL regular season.

I 1had the total points lead since day one, but last Wednesday Charlie took over the lead. Through the end of last week he is 9 points ahead of me. Yashin, Nedved, and Numminen have been especially hot for Charlie. In the meantime, I have had a number of guys miss a bunch of games with injuries. Why do players always seem to get injured on Wednesday or Thurday?

Tony is in third 14 points behind me. He now has some injury problems of his own, with Tkachuk and Roy out for a little while.

Both divisions could have battles for division titles that go down to the wire. In the Medicine Hat, Chris and I haven't been separated by more than a game for a while now. Currently, I have a half game lead. In the Moose Jaw Tony leads the pack at 8-2-1. However, his lead has shrunk to a game over Charlie (6-0-1 in his last 7) and Mike (3-0-1 in his last 4).

In the Hat, it appears that Rick and Brett will battle it out for the last playoff spot assuming Chris or I don't slip too far. After an impressive win against Tony, Jay is still 2-9 and would need to win a few more in a row to be a factor. In the Jaw, Rich and Bill have a lot of ground to make up before they can even start to think about making the playoffs.

Attached to my e-mail was the player scoring. Lindros (Brett) leads the league with 63 points. Looking down the top 10 or so scorers, there are a few surprises. Fleury (Mike,4^th), Khristich (Tony,6^th), Robitaille (Grant,8^th) and Roenick (Jay,8^th) would have to rank among the top bargains. Only Fleury went for double figures.

Among defensemen, Sydor (Grant) is the leader with 36 points. After that surprise, the rest of the top 10 is mostly guys you would expect to see. Certainly the top three goalies (Hasek, Belfour, and Brodeur) have proved to be worth what was paid for them. Some of us who are struggling with slumping or injured goalies are probably wishing we paid a few more bucks to get one of the top guys.

This week's highlight is the battle between Charlie and I. So far it is living up to expectations, as we are both in the low 30s so far. My 14 points from Selanne and Rucchin in one game might be some kind of record.

Should have the midseason review by the end of the period. Gotta go watch NHL 2night now.