November 19,
2007
Predators Back on Track
By Darryl Dobbs, TheFourthPeriod.com
Eight games into the season and
panicked fantasy owners had a lot of questions regarding
Nashville.
Alexander Radulov had one
goal and four points. Is this the dreaded sophomore slump? Is
he a bust?
Chris Mason, after two stellar contests to start the year,
suddenly couldn’t win to save his life. Were the Preds wrong
in putting their faith in him? Would Dan Ellis become the new
goalie?
Everyone's calm now - Nashville
has gone 8-2-1 since then. Radulov has 11 points in 11 games,
while Mason has started six straight contests and has not lost
in regulation in that span. But wasn't in funny how crazy
fantasy owners were for a couple of weeks?
The best fantasy owners track hockey happenings daily, but one
side effect that this has is a loss of perspective. Two weeks
seem like two months when you research hockey several times in
a day. All teams go through their dry spells, and the Preds
have gotten theirs over with early.
Radulov has been lining up with Vern Fiddler and David Legwand
lately. The trio has combined for 23 points in the last eight
contests. Fiddler is looking as if he could be a 50-point
player this season, while Legwand has picked up where he left
off last season. If he can stay healthy, is ascension into
stardom is certain. He has the ability to put up 75 or even 80
points. Radulov is the jewel of the line. In just his second
season, he looks like a man on a mission to easily surpass 70
points this season. He’ll reach the century mark before his
25th birthday; mark my words (he’s 21 now).
The good news for the Predators is that when opponents hold
that line off the scoresheet, the line of Jason Arnott, Martin
Erat and J.P. Dumont shines. That trio has 27 points in eight
games.
Throw in an improved defense, the return of their rock on the
blueline Shea Weber, and a (once again) confident Chris Mason
and this team will, as I predicted before the season started,
easily make the playoffs. Now who wouldn’t want to buy a team
like that?
Meanwhile...
...Chicago's Patrick Sharp has averaged nearly 18 minutes
per game in ice time this season, including over three minutes
per game on the power play. In fact, he has played more than
18 minutes in each of his last four contests, so his ice time
is increasing as the season wears on. Sharp has 15 points in
his last 15 contests and is on a 65-point pace. The
25-year-old had a scoring touch in college, but his AHL
numbers wouldn’t indicate to me that he can tally 70 points in
the NHL. That being said, he is looking more and more like a
60-point player and he deserves a long look. Certainly he
should be picked up for now, given that he is in the middle of
such a hot streak.
...Randy Robitaille, after starting out strong for Ottawa
with three points in four contests, is pointless in his last
seven. He is also a minus-4 in that span.
...Despite nearly six shots per game in that span,
Toronto’s Jason Blake has been pointless in his last seven. He
is still playing with Mats Sundin and Alexei Ponikarovsky so
his drought shouldn’t last too long, but it is clear that last
season’s 69 points was a very inflated total. In Toronto,
consider him a 60-point player at the very best, but 55 would
be more accurate.
