One of the highlights of my vacation last week was a chance to catch Van Halen at the American Airlines Centre in Dallas.
30 years after they released their self-titled debut album, Van Halen isn't the same howling force of nature that they were in the late 70's but, then again, who is? I had seen Van Halen three times with Sammy Hagar, but wouldn't bite the bullet and buy tickets for their latest tour when it came through Toronto.
After getting a couple of Toronto concert reviews from some co-workers, I was cautiously optimistic about getting a second chance to see Van Halen and, the more I thought about it, I like the idea of seeing the vintage VH material.
The musicianship of the band is still top notch, but the enjoyment of a VH show now depends on how much ham you can stomach from David Lee Roth. He's a showman -- always has been -- but sometimes it's like he's in his own bizarro world and you wonder just how soon it's going to be before the next Van Halen tour includes three members of the Van Halen family with the lyrics being piped in over the speakers.
Just to make sure this doesn't come across as too critical, I'll expressly state that I enjoyed the show, primarily for the reason that I suspected, getting to hear vintage Van Halen songs that I haven't seen live before.
After having some fun with the Foo Fighters' Toronto show in a fantasy baseball preview, I thought I might as well give VH a shot at recapping the 2007-2008 fantasy hockey season.
So, here are the awards, based on David Lee Roth-era Van Halen.
Eruption
To the players who made quantum leaps in their production (more than 20 points better than any previous NHL season):
Andrei Kostitsyn, Montreal (11 to 53)
Mike Richards, Philadelphia (34 to 75)
David Booth, Florida (10 to 40)
Patrick O'Sullivan, Los Angeles (19 to 53)
Dustin Byfuglien, Chicago (3 to 36)
Mark Streit, Montreal (36 to 62)
Braydon Coburn, Philadelphia (11 to 36)
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim (58 to 82)
Daniel Paille, Buffalo (11 to 35)
Tomas Plekanec, Montreal (47 to 69)
Daniel Girardi, N.Y. Rangers (6 to 28)
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh (85 to 106)
Alexander Radulov, Nashville (37 to 58)
Robert Nilsson, Edmonton (20 to 41)
Jump
To the players who increased their point totals by 40 or more points over their 2006-2007 totals:
Mike Green, Washington (12 to 56)
Mike Richards, Philadelphia (32 to 75)
Brenden Morrow, Dallas (31 to 74)
Andrei Kostitsyn, Montreal (11 to 53)
Robert Nilsson, Edmonton (1 to 41)
To the players who increased their point totals by 30 or more points over their 2006-2007 totals:
Tim Connolly, Buffalo (1 to 40)
Cory Stillman, Ottawa (27 to 65)
Alex Kovalev, Montreal (47 to 84)
Patrick O'Sullivan, Los Angeles (19 to 53)
Dustin Byfuglien, Chicago (3 to 36)
To the players who increased their point totals by 25 or more points over their 2006-2007 totals:
Nikolai Zherdev, Columbus (32 to 61)
Todd Bertuzzi, Anaheim (11 to 40)
Patrick Sharp, Chicago (35 to 62)
Marian Gaborik, Minnesota (57 to 83)
Mark Streit, Montreal (36 to 62)
Braydon Coburn, Philadelphia (11 to 36)
To the players who increased their point totals by 20 or more points over their 2006-2007 totals:
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit (68 to 92)
Mike Ribeiro, Dallas (59 to 83)
Shane Doan, Phoenix (55 to 78)
Nik Antropov, Toronto (33 to 56)
Alex Burrows, Vancouver (9 to 32)
Tomas Plekanec, Montreal (47 to 69)
Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix (29 to 51)
R.J. Umberger, Philadelphia (28 to 50)
Tomas Fleischmann, Washington (8 to 30)
Daniel Girardi, N.Y. Rangers (6 to 28)
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh (85 to 106)
Alexander Radulov, Nashville (37 to 58)
Ryan Kesler, Vancouver (16 to 37)
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington (92 to 112)
Ryan Malone, Pittsburgh (31 to 51)
Chuck Kobasew, Boston (19 to 39)
To the players who increased their point totals by 15 or more points over their 2006-2007 totals:
Brad Boyes, St. Louis (46 to 65)
Pavel Kubina, Toronto (21 to 40)
Brooks Laich, Washington (18 to 37)
Valtteri Filppula, Detroit (17 to 36)
Adrian Aucoin, Calgary (16 to 35)
Mike Peca, Columbus (15 to 34)
Derek Roy, Buffalo (63 to 81)
Jason Arnott, Nashville (54 to 72)
Ales Hemsky, Edmonton (53 to 71)
Joffrey Lupul, Philadelphia (28 to 46)
Brent Burns, Minnesota (25 to 43)
Jeff Halpern, Tampa Bay (25 to 42)
Jiri Hudler, Detroit (25 to 42)
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles (61 to 77)
Vaclav Prospal, Philadelphia (55 to 71)
Jeff Carter, Philadelphia (37 to 53)
James Wisniewski, Chicago (10 to 26)
Radim Vrbata, Phoenix (41 to 56)
Johnny Oduya, New Jersey (11 to 26)
Runnin' With the Devil
I'm giving this one to myself in the TSN Newsroom fantasy league (my only victory out of four leagues this season), well, make it all Martin Brodeur owners who got to ride him to a league championship, only to squeak through the fantasy playoffs (with three of the narrowest possible victories to win the title) as Brodeur faltered down the stretch.
You Really Got Me
Alexander Ovechkin - Going into the season, Sidney Crosby was the nearly-universal No.1 projected pick in fantasy drafts and one of the reasons for his clear advantage over Ovechkin was that Ovechkin's plus-minus was still a high risk category. After Ovechkin paced the league with 112 points, and finished with a plus-28 rating, it's safe to say that No.1 is up for grabs (make it a three-way race and include Evgeni Malkin) going into next season.
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
"You know you're semi-good lookin', and on the streets again"
To the guys who had brief moments of fantasy value throughout the season. Good enough to bring 'em onto your team for a week or two, but they eventually get cut loose again:
Viktor Kozlov, Washington (9 points in 6 games, Jan.19-31; 8 points in 6 games, Mar.21-Apr.3)
Jamie Langenbrunner, New Jersey (11 points in 8 games, Nov. 14-30; 8 points in 7 games, Jan.18-Feb.4)
Jiri Hudler, Detroit (7 points in 5 games, Nov. 1-13; 8 points in 6 games, Nov.27-Dec.9)
Andy McDonald, St. Louis (11 points in 8 games, Jan.8-24; 7 points in 6 games, Mar.25-Apr.5)
Andrew Ladd, Chicago (7 points in 5 games, Feb.8-16; 6 points in 6 games, Feb.28-Mar.9)
Jussi Jokinen, Tampa Bay (9 points in 8 games, Nov. 14-28; 9 points in 9 games, Mar. 11-29)
Johan Franzen, Detroit (18 points in 13 games, Mar.2-30)
Sergei Samsonov, Carolina (16 points in 12 games, Feb.21-Mar.19)
Antti Miettinen, Dallas (14 points in 10 games, Nov.23-Dec.26)
Jeff Halpern, Tampa Bay (13 points in 9 games, Mar.9-29)
Joe Pavelski, San Jose (9 points in 7 games, Mar. 16-28)
Valtteri Filppula, Detroit (8 points in 6 games, Dec.19-29)
Josef Vasicek, N.Y. Islanders (11 points in 9 games, Feb.12-28)
Travis Zajac, New Jersey (11 points in 10 games, Jan.2-22)
Martin Straka, N.Y. Rangers (10 points in 9 games, Feb.10-Mar.4)
Niklas Kronwall, Detroit (11 points in 11 games, Nov.27-Dec.19)
Brett McLean, Florida (10 points in 5 games, Mar.6-16)
Pascal Dupuis, Pittsburgh (9 points in 5 games, Mar.12-22)
David Krejci, Boston (9 points in 5 games; Mar.25-Apr.2)
Jamie's Cryin'
To those who let fantasy owners down the most this season (with point totals from 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 in parentheses):
To the players whose point totals dropped by 50 or more points from their 2006-2007 totals:
Teemu Selanne, Anaheim (94 to 23)
Joe Sakic, Colorado (100 to 40)
Sheldon Souray, Edmonton (64 to 10)
Simon Gagne, Philadelphia (68 to 18)
To the players whose point totals dropped by 40 or more points from their 2006-2007 totals:
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh (120 to 72)
Michael Nylander, Washington (83 to 37)
Chris Clark, Washington (54 to 9)
Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim (69 to 25)
To the players whose point totals dropped by 30 or more points from their 2006-2007 totals:
Vyacheslav Kozlov, Atlanta (80 to 41)
David Vyborny, Columbus (64 to 26)
Dan Boyle, Tampa Bay (63 to 25)
Justin Williams, Carolina (67 to 30)
Jozef Stumpel, Florida (57 to 20)
Philippe Boucher, Dallas (51 to 14)
Marian Hossa, Pittsburgh (100 to 66)
Doug Weight, Anaheim (59 to 25)
Bryan McCabe, Toronto (57 to 23)
Mike Cammalleri, Los Angeles (80 to 47)
Maxim Afinogenov, Buffalo (61 to 28)
Mike Sillinger, N.Y. Islanders (59 to 26)
Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose (69 to 37)
Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina (82 to 51)
Alexander Semin, Washington (73 to 42)
Ryan Smyth, Colorado (68 to 37)
Patrick Marleau, San Jose (78 to 48)
Martin Havlat, Chicago (57 to 27)
Fredrik Modin, Columbus (42 to 12)
Kevin Bieksa, Vancouver (42 to 12)
To the players whose point totals dropped by 25 or more points from their 2006-2007 totals:
Martin Straka, N.Y. Rangers (70 to 41)
Ladislav Nagy, Los Angeles (55 to 26)
Michael Ryder, Montreal (58 to 31)
Marc-Andre Bergeron, Anaheim (46 to 19)
Matt Carle, San Jose (42 to 15)
Gary Roberts, Pittsburgh (42 to 15)
Mike Van Ryn, Florida (29 to 2)
Andy McDonald, St. Louis (78 to 52)
Brendan Morrison, Vancouver (51 to 25)
Ryane Clowe, San Jose (34 to 8)
Jaromir Jagr, N.Y. Rangers (96 to 71)
To the players whose point totals dropped by 20 or more points from their 2006-2007 totals:
Andrew Brunette, Colorado (83 to 59)
Yanic Perreault, Chicago (38 to 14)
Dany Heatley, Ottawa (105 to 82)
Daniel Briere, Philadelphia (95 to 72)
Alex Tanguay, Calgary (81 to 58)
Petr Prucha, N.Y. Rangers (40 to 17)
Raffi Torres, Edmonton (34 to 11)
Dainius Zubrus, New Jersey (60 to 38)
Kyle Wellwood, Toronto (42 to 21)
Thomas Vanek, Buffalo (84 to 64)
Shea Weber, Nashville (40 to 20)
Atomic Punk
This has to go to Sean Avery, doesn't it? Honourable mention to Daniel Carcillo.
Little Dreamer
"They may talk about you cold when you were
Headed for the skies
But you were young and bold and baby didn't that
Change with a wink of your eye
Now no one's talkin' 'bout those
Crazy days gone by"
To the players who may have seen their fantasy days pass them by:
Sandis Ozolinsh, San Jose
Gary Roberts, Pittsburgh
Brendan Shanahan, N.Y. Rangers
Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim
Teemu Selanne, Anaheim
Doug Weight, Anaheim
Somebody Get Me a Doctor
To the players whose health continues to be the overriding issue:
Carlo Colaiacovo, Toronto
Peter Forsberg, Colorado
Tim Connolly, Buffalo
Martin Havlat, Chicago
Marek Svatos, Colorado
Ladislav Nagy, Los Angeles
And, as a bonus, to the players who may just need a sports psychologist to get their heads straight so they can consistently live up to their physical gifts:
Jaromir Jagr, N.Y. Rangers
Maxim Afinogenov, Buffalo
Phil Kessel, Boston
Jason Blake, Toronto
Steve Bernier, Buffalo
Michael Ryder, Montreal
And the Cradle Will Rock
"Well, they say it's kinda fright'nin' how this younger generation swings.
You know, it's more than just some new sensation."
To the best teenagers in the 2007-2008 season:
Jonathan Toews, Chicago
Patrick Kane, Chicago
Erik Johnson, St. Louis
Peter Mueller, Phoenix
David Perron, St. Louis
Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh
Milan Lucic, Boston
Sam Gagner, Edmonton
James Sheppard, Minnesota
Jiri Tlusty, Toronto
Honourable mention (for turning 20 early in the season):
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington
Bryan Little, Atlanta
Nick Foligno, Ottawa
Everybody Wants Some
As poolies, we all want to get that impact player ahead of the curve, let's hand this one out to the best rookie prospects for next season:
Kyle Turris, Phoenix
Patrik Berglund, St. Louis
Kyle Okposo, N.Y. Islanders
Steve Stamkos, Whoever picks #1 in June
T.J. Oshie, St. Louis
Teddy Purcell, Los Angeles
Tuukka Rask, Boston
Bobby Ryan, Anaheim
Fabian Brunnstrom, Free Agent
Nikolai Kulemin, Toronto
Brian Boyle, Los Angeles
Cody Franson, Nashville
Shawn Matthias, Florida
Derick Brassard, Columbus
Jakub Voracek, Columbus
Luc Bourdon, Vancouver
Michael Frolik, Florida
Mikhail Grabovski, Montreal
Claude Giroux, Philadelphia
Mean Street
To those who provide value with their PIMs:
Daniel Carcillo, Phoenix
Sean Avery, N.Y. Rangers
Jared Boll, Columbus
Chris Neil, Ottawa
David Clarkson, New Jersey
Alex Burrows, Vancouver
Scott Hartnell, Philadelphia
Steve Ott, Dallas
Unchained
"Change, nothing stays the same
Unchained, yeah you hit the ground running"
To the top producers who signed with new teams as free agents last summer:
Brian Rafalski, Detroit
Petr Sykora, Pittsburgh
Tomas Vokoun, Florida
Scott Gomez, N.Y. Rangers
Mathieu Garon, Edmonton
Mathieu Schneider, Anaheim
Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia
Chris Drury, N.Y. Rangers
Daniel Briere, Philadelphia
Scott Hartnell, Philadelphia
Let's also send this out to the top unrestricted free agents this summer, who could be in new locations next season:
Marian Hossa, Pittsburgh
Mats Sundin, Toronto
Jaromir Jagr, N.Y. Rangers
Kristian Huselius, Calgary
Vaclav Prospal, Philadelphia
Brian Campbell, San Jose
Dan Ellis, Nashville
Hot For Teacher
"I think of all the education that I missed.
But then my homework was never quite like this."
To all fantasy hockey owners who spend the inordinate amount of time getting prepped for their drafts. I'm sure I sabotaged some of my education with my preparation for fantasy drafts and would likely be affecting my career if it wasn't for the good fortune that my career requires me to spend an inordinate amount of time preparing for fantasy drafts.
So This is Love? and I'll Wait
"You've got me captured, I'm under your spell.
I guess I'll never learn.
I have your picture, yes I know it well.
Another page is turned.
Are you for real ? It's so hard to tell,
from just a magazine."
These awards go to my personal favourites. Guys that I've been touting (and acquiring, when possible) over the past couple of seasons and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't:
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim
Tomas Plekanec, Montreal
Alexander Radulov, Nashville
Shea Weber, Nashville
Kari Lehtonen, Atlanta *sigh*
Niklas Kronwall, Detroit
Patrick O'Sullivan, Los Angeles
T.J. Hensick, Colorado
And finally...
The David Lee Roth Award
For the players who resurrected careers that appeared to be dead and gone:
Alex Kovalev, Montreal
Jose Theodore, Colorado
Mathieu Garon, Los Angeles
I'll get into keeper questions with the next fantasy hockey blog.
In the meantime, keep up with the NHL Off-Season Game Plans and NHL Player Rankings throughout the playoffs.
Scott Cullen can be reached at scullen@tsn.ca