Vanilla Ice Hockey

The Great Wiki Karmel is usually quite a humble person. But I feel like, just this once, I need to make an exception and brag a little. I won my fantasy hockey league!

Vanilla Ice Hockey was a fantastic team, and I want to go through and give recognition to all the hard work the team members did throughout the year.

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The star of my team was, of course, Sidney Crosby. It is quite refreshing to have a superstar actually preform like he was supposed to. Sidney was rated #5 to start the season. I picked him in the 7th spot in the draft and he finished #1 overall. He is the youngest player to league the league in points- he's just 19! Congrats Sidney.

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Vanilla Ice Hockey was quite top heavy at the Center position. In addition to Sidney, there was Jason Spezza, Marc Savard, and Chris Drury (a Buffalo Sabre). Spezza was rated 10 in the preseason. He finished rated 17, which isn't bad. But he missed some games (I want to say 20 or so). When he was in there, he rated 6th overall (in average production per game). Savard was 49th in the preseason and ended 14th. Savard was near the top of the league in assists. And Drury was rated 116th and finished 89th. He scored 37 goals playing against the other teams top lines. Solid Chris, solid indeed. Crosby, Savard and Spezza were the #1, #7, and #8 centers overall.

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Left Wing was where Vanilla Ice Hockey won the league. Thomas Vanek (the Great Wiki Karmel's favorite Buffalo Sabre), was rated in the preseason 74th. He finished 9th. Vanek led the league in +/- and was the first Sabre in a few years to score 40 goals (he had 43). Evgeni Malkin (the greatest Jewish Athlete today) was rated 90th. He finished 15th overall and will win the Rookie of the Year award. And Daniel Sedin, playing on a line with his twin brother Henrik, finished 21st overall. He was rated 77th in the preseason. These three players were the #2, #3, and #4 left wingers overall.

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Right Wing was another power position for the Great Wiki Karmel. Jerome Iginla, a former 50 goal scorer, was rated 24th and finished 18th. Martin St. Louis, a former Hart Trophy winner, was 79th and finished 22nd. He scored 43 goals. I did not draft St. Louis- he was a free agent pick up. They were the #6 and #7 right wingers overall.

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The defense was decent for Vanilla Ice Hockey. Sheldon Souray, another free agent pickup, led the way. He was rated 30th. He was one of the top defensemen on the power play. Dion Phaneuf, while somewhat of a disappointment, finished 50th (he was rated 31st preseason). Phaneuf is a hard hitting up-and-coming star. They rated #3 and #7 among defensemen. Buffalo Sabre Brian Campbell (of RJ Umberger fame) and Sami Salo were the other two defensemen- both rated in the high 100's.

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The goaltending for Vanilla Ice Hockey was solid (though the skaters were my strength). Ray Emery finished 8th among goaltenders, Thomas Vokoun 12th, and Marc-Andre Fluery 14th. Fluery was maddeningly inconsistent all season. For a stretch he would be unbeatable and give me a lot of shutouts. Then he would be benched due to poor play. Oh Marc-Andre! (By the way, Fluery, in my humble opinion, has the best looking pads of any goalie in the league- bright yellow). Vokoun was injured for much of the season but was stellar when he was there, finishing in the top five in goals against average and save percentage.

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There were 8 teams in the league. I drafted/picked up 9 of the top 27 skaters. While the goaltending situation let me down often, my skaters dominated the league. Good job guys.

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The Great Wiki Karmel, my loyal readers, will now go back to being your humble servant.