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Open-Ice Hits Best of the best: 2000-01 fantasy awards
By Craig Rondinone, SportsTicker The fantasy hockey fans of the world have spoken! And I do mean the whole world. After balloting for the 2001 SportsTicker Fantasy Hockey Awards began two weeks ago, I received e-mails from Sweden, Russia, Norway, Canada and the United States, not to mention one from that hockey hotbed of Brazil. The response was overwhelming. There were hundreds of votes to sift through, not to mention the comments some of you had regarding the nominees. Unfortunately, I did not have the good people from Price-Waterhouse around to help me count the ballots. That would have saved me some time. So without further ado, here are the players you selected to win the 2001 SportsTicker Fantasy Hockey Awards: Best Defenseman -- Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit: Lidstrom worried fantasy owners at the beginning of the season with some spotty play, but the most consistent defenseman in fantasy hockey returned to his old form as the season progressed. He finished second among backliners with 71 points, but voters chose him over scoring leader Brian Leetch because of Leetch's poor plus-minus. Back to his consistency. This was the tenth straight season Lidstrom finished as a plus, missed less than four games and had fewer than 31 penalty minutes. Staying healthy was most important considering other top defensemen like Rob Blake, Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis missed several games. Will this finally be the year Lidstrom wins the Norris Trophy? Who cares? He won this award. Comeback Player of the Year -- Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh: Lemieux sounded cocky when he said that he could dominate the league even though he had not played in an NHL game in 3 1/2 years. Now he sounds like the greatest prognosticator in the free world. Lemieux made it feel like it was 1996 all over again. He scored 35 goals and added 41 assists in just 43 contests. 43! He scored more points than fantasy stalwarts like Sergei Fedorov, Joe Thornton and Tony Amonte, even though they played in many more games. Lemieux was one of the most valuable commodities in fantasy hockey just because he was not drafted in most leagues since he was retired. He was picked up on the waiver wire by plenty of last-place fantasy teams when he came back, and his production helped turn around the seasons of the people fortunate to own him. Most Improved -- Alexei Kovalev, Pittsburgh: Kovalev had been in the league eight seasons coming into the 1999-2000 campaign. He had the tag of being an 'underachiever' because he had not fully lived up to his potential. He began making inroads toward stardom, however, setting new career-highs in goals, assists, points and power-play goals, as the Pens gave him extra ice time and responsibility. That was last season. This season, Kovalev finally became a superstar. All of those new career-highs he set the season before were obliterated. He finished tied for fourth place in the scoring race with 95 points. Neil Smith was right all along. Kovalev did have the talent to become one of the best players in hockey. Best Goalie -- Roman Cechmanek, Philadelphia: Cechmanek was not Philly's starting goalie coming into the season. In fact, he was listed No. 3 on the depth chart. But when Brian Boucher sputtered at the beginning of the season and Maxime Ouellet was sent down for more seasoning, Cechmanek vaulted in between the pipes. And he barely ever came out between them for the remainder of the season. Cechmanek finished with a sparkling 35-15-6 record and a GAA of 2.01, which led all starting netminders. His 10 shutouts and his .921 save percentage were up among the league leaders as well. Cechmanek went from being undrafted in most fantasy leagues to becoming the most valuable goalie. Top Rookie -- Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose: Nabokov's role entering the 2000-2001 season was to be the backup to incumbent Steve Shields. Then there was a twist of Nabokov's fate, thanks to a twist of Shields' ankle. Nabokov got a chance to start. After going 10-1-2 in his first 13 games, there was no way Nabokov was giving the starting job back. Nabokov was the best goalie in fantasy hockey, not to mention the best rookie, up until the All-Star break. His large frame and quick reflexes gave snipers nothing to shoot at when they came in on a scoring chance. He slumped down the stretch, as did the rest of the Sharks, but it did not matter. Nabokov had this award wrapped up by Thanksgiving. Most Valuable Player -- Joe Sakic, Colorado: Sakic knew he had to make this season a good one. He was in the last year of his contract. There was a lot of money to be made on the free-agent market if he turned in an MVP performance. His agent must be pretty happy after the season he had. So were his fantasy owners. Sakic was second in points (118), second in goals (54), fifth in assists (64), tied for first in plus-minus (+45), tied for second in power-play goals (19) and second in shots on goal (332). But he led all players in satisfied fantasy owners (probably in the millions) and that is why he won this award going away. And, finally, the "Big One." The award that was universally loved by the readers of this column -- except for one distraught Montreal Canadiens fan -- all season long. The award that goes to the man that did his best to dash any dreams fantasy owners had of winning their league championships. The Saku Koivu Award -- Pavol Demitra, St. Louis: There were questions about Demitra before the season even began. He was getting over the effects of post-concussion syndrome that had been caused by a concussion at the end of the 1999-2000 season. This was nothing but foreshadowing of things to come. Demitra was healthy for the first third of the season. Big whoop! He proceeded to miss 38 games because of every freakish way possibly. He missed a chunk of time after being sticked in the eye. Then he missed more time after having his leg lacerated by a skate. And then he missed a couple more games when he strained a hamstring because he came back to action too soon. He couldn't just miss the 38 games all at once? Demitra did score 45 points in the 44 games he played. That is what angered fantasy owners more. Demitra is one of the top players to have, but when one of your best guys is in and out of the lineup every week, it can be unnerving. I think I speak for all Demitra owners when I sarcastically sum up in one word what they would like to say to Demitra: "Thanks." And thank you all for your reading this column all season long. It has been a pleasure writing it. Enjoy the playoffs. I think we will be seeing Buffalo and Colorado in the finals, but I have to admit I have a soft spot for Donald Audette thanks to his great season for my fantasy team. Keep an eye on what happens in the offseason in terms of which free agents sign where. The work does not stop just because the season is over.
© 2003 SportsTicker Enterprises, LP
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