Week 24 Results

1) Another week completed. On the day/night we went a pedestrian 6-5 to bring the season total to 159-124, or a .562 winning %. The continued bright spot on the season are our "Locks" We got another correct to bring that season long stat to 20-4, or a .833 winning clip!

2) We will continue to relay any interesting stories as they occur. We may have one on the Preds recent (re)acquisition of Alex Radulov. As always, keep it here for all the latest!

Week 24 Picks

1) With a mere 3 weeks remaining in the NHL regular season we go into week 24 and try to get as many games correct today/night where 11 games are up for grabs. We bring our season long record of 153-119 or a .562 winning % into the day.


Calgary at Dallas: Stars

Minnesota at Buffalo: Wild

NY Rangers at Toronto: Rangers

Pittsburgh at Ottawa: Penguins

Montreal at Philadelphia: Flyers

NY Islanders at Tampa Bay: Islanders

Carolina at Detroit: Red Wings

Winnipeg at Nashville: Predators (Lock of The Week)

Boston at Los Angeles: Kings

Vancouver at Colorado: Avalanche

Phoenix at San Jose: Sharks

Futlity On The Island!?!

1) What else can describe what has beset the NY Islander franchise the past 10 years or so? The problems go back further, but we will concentrate more on the most recent decade. Especially the past 7 or so seasons have been ones to forget. There is an interminable "rebuild" that has been on going since before even Garth Snow took over (Bizarrely) on July 18, 2006. Since the lock out almost a full 7 seasons have passed. The Isles made the playoffs (as an 8th seed) in 06-07 and were quickly dispatched by the Sabres. Since then they haven't had a sniff at a playoff spot.
http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2008/02/islanders-bush-league.html

2) They have gone though 5 coaches during this time. Steve Stirling fired during the 2006 season. Followed by Brad Shaw, fired after 2006. Then Ted Nolan fired in 2008 (he guided them to their only post lock out playoff berth). Followed by Scott Gordan, fired in 2010. Now Jack Capuano is guiding the team towards oblivion apparently. It appears they are headed for yet another 'Lottery' season. What do they have to show for this futility? John Tavares. Yes, they have a few other decent young players, but no other potential game breakers.

3) By contrast after a slightly shorter a period of rebuild the Penguins, Black Hawks and even capitals had reformed their roster so as to be Cup contenders/winners. meanwhile the Isles are no closer to a Cup (or even the post season) than they were 5 years ago. They are wasting the prime years of Taveres as well as admittedly great FA pick ups in Moulson and PA Parenteau. Snow has effectively improved their forwards but their defense remains old and slow. Also why retain Evgeny Nabokov who at 36 is NOT going to be a long term answer in goal, when they at the very least could have received a 2nd round pick for him?

4) We constantly hear the refrain that they can't attract free agents because of the aging arena, etc. Sorry, that's a load of bull spit! If they had a top flight team/management free agents would flock to the island. Its still a decent place to live (if you have money). The main reason players are reluctant to come is the chaos that seems to permeate the Wang-run franchise. Not all his moves are bad/wrong, but by and large the perception around the league is that he runs the team (with Snow as his figure head) and is clueless. If the money is the same why play in an empty arena with no chance to win for a crazy owner? Also before Isles fans start to write complaining of unfair treatment we point to several positive Isles posts through the years such as:http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2008/01/wang-visionary-or-nut.html

and

http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2008/11/something-nice-to-say.html

5) What needs to change? Sadly a change in ownership is a must. Yes Wang has bled $$ from day 1(in hopes of hitting the lotto with a real estate deal) Now that this looks much less hopeful it appears that Wang will play out the string and give Nassau County the finger and move elsewhere in the NY metro area in 3 years. Once he moves we believe he will attempt to unload part or all his stake in the franchise. Until then it will be more of the same. Snow drafting top 10 players. Bringing them in too early and having them underachieve. Sprinkle in a few over achieving picks/free agent pick ups and we'll continue to have some believe the "rebuild" is going well. Sorry Isles fans we don't see the team contending for a Cup any time soon. Even the playoffs appear to be a distant dream at the moment and eve then mainly as a bottom seed to be swiftly disposed of in the first round(again) Followed by a new "rebuild". Yes, its Ground Hog day on Long Island!

A Thousand and Counting.......

1) Yes, it crept on us and we were so busy writing that we overlooked that we breached a major milestone here at Fauxrumors. We have now written MORE than 1000 individual posts here on the blog that spans back to the summer of 2006. (WE did have a hiatus in early-mid 2010) Other than that and our well publicized blog theft in early 2007, we have been writing regularly commentary about the game we all love, NHL hockey!

2) We fully intend to continue to write another 1000 entries! As long as it stays fun we will be right here and you there reading and commenting on our posts. We thank each of you for your support through out these many yeas!! You are why we write!!!

Next Hart Trophy Winner Not Best Player On His Own team?

1) As crazy as it sounds that's exactly what we could be looking at with respect to Evgeny Malkin and Sidney Crosby. It could easily be argued that Geno is the odds on favourite to win this years league MVP(Hart). Given his season totals and his teams' success we could hardly argue with that choice. Among the other candidates Stamkos' team appears to not be headed for the playoffs. Giroux missed a bunch of games and trails Malkin in point totals. Henrik Lundqvist, our favourite a month ago, has fallen a tad (as has his team recently). Leaving Malkin as our current choice to carry home the hardware this June.

2) Amazingly, Evgeny, while being the best player in the NHL this season is NOT the Penguins best player! With the return of Sid The Kid the Penguins now can boast the best 1-2 punch down the middle among any of the other 29 teams. If he played 82 games we would have little doubt that Crosby's talent would propel him to be league MVP/leading scorer. Obviously he can not do that this season, but his immense talent remains and the Penguins, already a Cup candidate without him, are now the Fauxrumors odds on favourite to win it all this year!

Week 23 Results

1) Week 23 is over. We went a respectable 7-4 on the day/night to bring our season-long totals to 153-119 or a .562 winning %. We picked another 'Lock" correctly top elevate that stat to 19-4(our bright spot this season) Overall we have a decent record, but nothing where we would like to be at this point in the season. We get another crack at it again next week when another 11 games will be decided as the season winds down.

2) Also look this week for a couple of posts. One concerning the Hart Trophy, and another one possibly dealing with a team that has been near or on the bottom for so long we can't recall when they were last a threat.
As always, keep it here for all the latest!

Week 23 Picks

1) We're getting down to the wire, or is it the early summer weather making us feel that the playoffs are just around the corner? Either way, we have a full schedule today/night of 11 games on St. Patty's Day! We take our 22 week totals of 146-115 or .559 winning % and try to improve our record.

Philadelphia at Boston: Flyers

Pittsburgh at New Jersey: Penguins

Carolina at Minnesota: Wild

NY Islanders at Montreal: Islanders

Toronto at Ottawa: Maple Leafs

Colorado at NY Rangers: Avalanche

St. Louis at Tampa Bay: Blues

Buffalo at Florida: Sabres

Columbus at Vancouver: Canucks (Lock of The Week)

Nashville at Los Angeles: Predators

Detroit at San Jose: Sharks