Hockey Squad

I promised that I'd reveal the hockey squad I drafted last Sunday for my hockey pool.  Without further ado...

In round order

Dany Heatley, W, San Jose--Monster season forthcoming
Alexander Semin, W, Washington--Could be a beast with Ovie and Backstrom on his line, health concerns
Niklas Lidstrom, D, Detroit--Always solid
Cam Ward, G, Carolina--Don't love him, best backstop on the board
David Backes, W, St. Louis--30 goals, Blues on the come, PIMs
Semyon Varlamov, G, Washington--I think the Caps are the best in the league, so I wanted the tenders
Mikko Koivu, C, Minnesota--Should thrive in the new Lemaireless up tempo game
Milan Lucic, W, Boston--PIMs, could have been a reach
Derick Brassard, C, Columbus--First breakout candidate, could be a PPG guy centering Nash
Nikolai Khabibulin, G, Edmonton--Still a quality backstop, insurance
Brian Gionta, W, Montreal--Best scorer on the board, three years removed from 48 G
Jose Theodore, G, Washington--Couldn't wait for the handcuff
Andy McDonald, C, St. Louis--44 points in 46 games last year.  Good value here.
Cam Barker, D, Chicago--Up and coming D on cup caliber squad
Mathieu Schneider, D, Vancouver--Could be done, but an upside play late
Paul Kariya, W, St. Louis--Injury concern, but 15 points in 11 games last season
Kyle Okposo, W, New York Isles--Plus/minus concern, but showed flashes as a rookie
Daniel Carcillo, W, Philadelphia--Led the league in PIMs, no offense here
Jack Johnson, D, Los Angeles--Best of the sleepers left
Jimmy Howard, G, Detroit--Coach pledges to get him 20+ starts.  Osgood on the decline.

Notes

I like my draft.  I had the 11th pick in a 12 team league, so to get Heatley where I did was a bonus.  He was fourth on my board.  Seriously, playing with Thornton on a cup contending squad?  He's only 28 years old and he's just two years removed from back-to-back seasons where 50 goals, 53 assists, plus-29 and 74 penalty minutes were the floor of his statlines.  He'll get back there with the Sharks. Semin could be a beast if healthy, and I really like St. Louis to make a move this year.  If the Blues win their share of games, the plus/minus rating of the Blues skaters improves dramatically.  The rest of the stats are already there.  Can't believe the guy who took Osgood didn't handcuff Howard.  My favorie sleeper may be Okposo, who could be a balanced contributor to the squad.

I also liked some picks that other teams made.

Joe Thornton went in the third...great value there.  I loved Olli Jokinen in the fifth.  He could be magical with a full year of Jarome. Mark Streit plays with the Isles and all, but 56 points out of a defenseman at the end of round eight is a steal.  Jonas Hiller could be a top 5-10 goalie, he went in the ninth.  Zach Bogosian is a great defensive sleeper in round 13.  He could breakout in a large way, PIMs and all.

Your thoughts?

Cheers,
TFAM