For those you angry at losing an extra hour of sleep thanks
to the cruel, cruel daylight savings rule, I have an especially toasty edition
of NHL Sleepers for you. This week I'll feature two rookies and one
player from the Bay who may have finally found his form.
1) Nigel Dawes
| LW
New York
Rangers
Upcoming Games this Week:
Monday, March 10th @ Buffalo
Friday, March 14th @ Florida
Saturday, March 15th @ Tampa Bay
Though it won't help any fantasy
owners, Dawes had the biggest goal of the game in Sunday afternoon's Ranger tilt against the
Bruins. In a scoreless contest, he netted the game winner in the shootout
to give the Blueshirts a 1-0 victory.
This continues an impressive hot streak the rookie has been
riding for the past six games. Over
the period he's had three goals, four assists and a +/- of 5. Though he
probably won't be making the NHL Eastern Conference All-Star team quite yet,
Dawes is benefiting from playing on a line with a pair of former ones in Scott
Gomez and Brendan Shanahan.
Clearly he's gotten a lot more comfortable as an NHL player,
and could be a real nice addition to your roster heading into your fantasy
playoffs, as he does everything he can to help his squad make the less
important version of the playoffs.
2) Corey
Crawford | G
Chicago
Blackhawks
Upcoming Games this Week:
Tuesday, March 11th @ Detroit
Wednesday, March 12th vs. Carolina*
Friday, March 14th @ Columbus
Sunday, March 16th vs. Calgary
* Projected Crawford Start
Now I don't have a lot to base this recommendation on, but
if you shut out the defending
Stanley Cup Champions in just your second career start, I think it's safe to
say you're fairly talented.
That is exactly what Corey did last Wednesday night,
stopping all 19 Duck shots en route to a Blackhawks victory. He doesn't
have much of an NHL body of work to judge, but he was twice selected to the QMJHL Second All-Star Team (2004, 2005) for what
that's worth.
According to the Chicago Tribune, he'll be starting Wednesday
night against the Hurricanes. I'd say it is in your best interest to pick
him up and start him if you need some help that evening.
3) Michel
Ouellet | RW
Tampa Bay
Lightning
Upcoming Games this Week:
Tuesday, March 11th vs. Islanders
Thursday, March 13th @ Bruins
Saturday, March 15th vs. Rangers
Since the Lightning acquired center Jeff Halpern as part of a package
for Brad Richards at the deadline, Ouellet has been hot. In the seven games since, he has
seven points, and this is coming from a guy who only has 27 points in 50 games
played this season.
Clearly the two are working out well playing on the same line, and seem as good a bet as any
to keep rocking, which should make this Tampa fan happy. Ouellet who hasn't
stood out since coming to the NHL may have turned a corner in his career and
started producing at the level he did as a younger man in juniors, where he was
an offensive force.
Finally, to be fair I have to give credit to those jerks
over at ESPN for tipping me off to Ouellet's
recent excellence.