The final three days of the regular season bring some interesting decisions for fantasy hockey fans. First off, can you believe after six-plus months, this all ends on Sunday? By now, you have survived two of the bigger nights (Tuesday and Thursday). Coming up is the real test. Why? Even Friday has seven games on the schedule which is higher than usual (typically four or five is the norm).
What does the Friday schedule look like? Let’s take a quick look.
Friday April 11th Schedule
- Chicago @ Washington — 7 pm
- Carolina @ Detroit — 7:30 pm
- Columbus @ Tampa Bay — 7:30 pm
- NY Islanders @ New Jersey — 7:30 pm
- St. Louis @ Dallas — 8:30 pm
- Winnipeg @ Calgary — 9 pm
- Colorado @ San Jose — 10 pm
There are some questions to be asked here. Who will be “rested”? It is the one thing you hate to inquire about but it is a fact with all these worried coaches. On Thursday night, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara were rested against Winnipeg but Jarome Iginla was inserted back in.
This is just how it is going to be for the weekend. As we pointed out on Fantasy Hockey X, maybe it is time to consider moving leagues back a week. The last week is becoming more and more of a gong show anyway.
There are three players that we are going to focus on for your lineups Friday night. Let’s hope they actually play. That would be nice.
Free Three For Friday
Ryan Strome — F — New York Islanders
Ryan Strome is one of those players who has top line potential. The Islanders do not have much going for them but at the very least they are going to be entertaining one way or the other at this point. His development has been a pleasant surprise late in the season. Basically the New York Islanders have infuriated New Jersey almost all year, aside from one game. Strome, in particular, is a player to watch as a multiple-point effort is possible against a Devils team just playing out the string.
Alex Stalock — G — San Jose Sharks
It is awful to say but Alex Stalock is playing less badly than Antti Niemi. That is just fact. Seriously, Stalock is an interesting play (if he starts) on Friday because San Jose needs to stop the bleeding with a win and it just seems Niemi is not the answer right now. The “starter” in San Jose has a save percentage hovering around .900 since February 1. For a Sharks team with Stanley Cup aspirations, they need some stability. Stalock could at least provide this with his solid numbers (1.91 GAA, .929 save %). Maybe it is time for San Jose to find out what they have in the last couple games before the playoffs. Colorado and Phoenix are pretty good tests.
Karri Ramo — G — Calgary Flames
No one could believe this but suddenly Karri Ramo has a .915 save percentage? Quietly, Ramo has a 17-13-4 record and has played quite well as the season comes to an end. With a favorable end schedule, the Calgary goalie actually becomes an attractive play because Winnipeg has packed it in while the whole Flames team plays hard. Give Bob Hartley credit as he really has turned the culture around in the “sea of red”. As Calgary improves little by little, Ramo may be a more viable fantasy play. He could even win 30 next season. It is not that far fetched.
