Canyon of Heroes followed week seven’s shutout victory with another convincing win, this time a 9-2-1 drubbing of Nailed to the Boards.
It may have taken a few weeks, but the way the Heroes have been playing is what we envisioned from the start. If this momentum continues, there is no telling what our future holds.
MATCHUP AND SCORES
When we look back at this matchup, our most significant flaws reared their ugly heads. We lost the assists and power-play points categories like always.
Somehow we managed a tie in the hits category, one that we have usually won.
We swept all four goalie categories as the guys put up a league-high seven wins with incredible goals against and save percentages.
For the second week in a row, we collected over 100 shots on a goal and despite being a -5, still won the plus/minus category by four.
The matchup started out with a bang. We jumped out to 11-1 and 10-1 leads before the middle of the week. It was only on Wednesday and Thursday did the matchup get close again. By the weekend, it was all but over in our favour. Nailed to the Boards dropped down into two categories.
STANDINGS & TEAM STATS
Thanks to another convincing win, we jumped up another spot in the standings, also eclipsing the 100 point plateau. That achievement is something we failed to reach last year until the very end of the schedule.
The win got us within four points of fourth place, who murdered us in week six. Our path to first place got narrower by a few points.
We also secured ourselves some breathing room from sixth place, where we hold a nine-point advantage.
A few weeks ago, we mentioned that a lot can happen in a weekly matchup. Thanks to back to back victories, we bumped up a handful of categories in team stats.
Some of our biggest jumps include goals scored, game-winning goals, and hits. In two of those categories, we now rank fourth overall!
Our goalie numbers continue to slowly climb, as we continue to lead the league in both wins and shutouts. It is convenient to run our a combination of goalies on any given night, which helps us compile good numbers.
Even though we sit in fifth place, we remain the league’s lowest-scoring team. Thankfully our goalies and a handful of player categories have carried us this far.
BENCH PLAYERS
For the second straight week, we left a pitiful five points on the bench. Those numbers had no impact on the final score.
The goalies who didn’t crack the lineup and still played may have lowered our overall numbers with their lacklustre play. Even though we left two wins off the scoresheet, that 4.88 goals-against average could have been a killer.
STUDS & DUDS
Best Player – Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals – 42 points
Worse Player: Jack Hughes – New Jersey Devils – 2 points
TRANSACTIONS
On December 3, 2019, we made a heart-wrenching decision to cut the first overall selection Jack Hughes (New Jersey). It has been a long rookie season for the centre, as his team sits at the bottom of the standings with the league’s worse record.
In his place, we signed free agent J.T. Compher from the Colorado Avalanche. He may not produce a lot of points to be a significant factor, but he was a +16 at the time of his signing. Having players who contribute to the positive side of the score sheet could be vital in future matchups.
Weekly Move Total: 1/4
Season Move Total: 6/60
Stay tuned for next’s week recap of the Canyon of Heroes 2019-20 fantasy hockey season.
Keeping the Stats 