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Puck Amok Don't forget about plus/minus, penalty minutes
By Dave Wallace, Special to CNNSI.com I’m guilty of it, too. As fantasy hockey players, we devote most of our attention to the glory stats, goals and assists. That can cause problems, especially in leagues with rotisserie scoring. While it’s hard to overrate goals since they score points in several categories, you might better your position in the standings if you tighten up your team in a couple of neglected areas: plus/minus and penalty minutes.
Plus/MinusLeading the NHL at plus-13 as of this writing is Chris Chelios, and given Detroit’s 12-2-0-0 start, it’s little wonder that four Wings rank in the top four. Chelios has been around so long, you might think he’s playing with a Hull as his teammate for the second time. Though Cheli turns 40 in January, he’s still more than a viable fantasy defenseman. He has six assists in those 14 games, the plus/minus lead, 18 penalty minutes and though he has yet to score a goal, you know he’ll contribute a few. If he stays healthy, he probably can finish as a plus-25.At number two on the list with a plus-12 rating is Kris Draper, who I’ve never really thought of as a fantasy player. You probably haven’t either, and don’t start now. Forwards should not make their foremost fantasy contribution in plus/minus, which is what you would get with Draper. His four goals and six assists are a fast start by his standards, nothing more. Tied with Draper is Keith Tkachuk, who, in his first full season with the St. Louis Blues, looks poised to finish among the league leaders across most offensive categories. Tkachuk never contributed much in the plus/minus category except for the 1998-99 season, but why shouldn’t the trend change? For the past five years, Tkachuk’s fantasy value seemed in permanent decline, but having Doug Weight pass him the puck and Chris Pronger and Al MacInnis on the points does a lot for a guy’s totals. Being on the ice does a lot too —- tellingly, his only decline is in PIM, where he’s on pace for a career-low 50. He’s playing like John LeClair in his prime, so put him down for 90 points and plus-30. The surprise of the season, Jarome Iginla, ranks fourth in plus/minus at plus-11 while leading the league with 23 points. He didn’t exactly come out of nowhere —- Calgary, actually -— but he never showed this kind of pace before. True, for the past two weeks he’s gorged himself on lesser teams, but I think we can put him down for 80 points. If we do that, he’ll probably stay around plus-10 or plus-15. Calgary cannot maintain its current success, so Iginla can’t keep raising his plus/minus. Another pleasant surprise this year is Jon Klemm, who’s performing as the Blackhawks hoped when they acquired him in the offseason. For fantasy owners, his two goals and five assists come with a plus-10. Having gone unbeaten for nine games before losing to Anaheim, Chicago might achieve a playoff berth this year. Their roster has some quality players, so I’d say he could finish as a plus-20. Klemm is a bonus for the fantasy teams he plays for this year. I’m sure he was a late pick in most drafts. Though he doesn’t lead in plus/minus, we’ve saved the best for last. Brendan Shanahan is the one untouchable player this year, because he’s helping his fantasy team in so many ways. Ten goals, seven assists, plus-11, two power-play goals, three short-handed goals, 49 shots and one more stat that sets him apart.
Penalty MinutesShanahan is the roto-superstar this year because while racking up the gaudy numbers in 14 games, he spent almost one full game in the penalty box —- 50 PIM. Many scorers spend that much time in the box during a full season. If you’re curious, Shanahan’s pace puts him at almost 300 PIM for the season.That probably won’t happen, but even talking about the No. 2 scorer as a leader in PIM is rare. Just as stars are usually too busy scoring to spend time in the box, leaders in penalty minutes usually spend too much time trying to break NHL rules to worry about the puck. That’s bad on two fronts, because while goons don’t put the puck in the net, opposing players do put the puck in the net when goons take the ice. Plus/minus hurts, because if a goon doesn’t score, at least you stay level. But a negative is a negative. Here’s a suggestion: If the defenseman lowest on your depth chart stinks -- say you have Bryan Berard and his four assists -- dump him and pick up a defenseman with penalty minute potential. I think this is the one roster spot you can afford to specialize. If you try it, make sure you sign a defenseman able to stay on the positive side of zero and who may chip in a goal or assist now and then. Looking at the PIM list, Edmonton has a pair of candidates who likely aren’t signed in your league in Sean Brown and Jason Smith. Brown has two goals and three assists, a plus-8 and two period’s worth of penalty minutes. Smith has two goals, four assists, a plus-five and 23 PIM. Edmonton’s playing well, so they might make a worthy experiment. One last fact about Shanahan. Strangely enough his best season, 1993-94 when he scored 102 points, also was his best season for penalty minutes with 211. He hasn’t been within 37 penalty minutes of that total at any other time in his career. So what are we in for this year? Dave Wallace wishes he hadn’t drafted Pavel Bure instead of Brendan Shanahan.
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