WK14 - Buffed Up

"Hey Sitch!" said Byfuglien.

Who says offense needs to come from forwards?

Dustin Byfuglien (drafted in Round 5 by Sitch) has blossomed since being moved back to defense. For the greater portion of the first half of the season, Byfuglien was playing as a RW; though his point production was decent, it wasn't nearly as good as it has been in the last few weeks. In fact, Byfuglien was this week's second top player point producer (25.60 points), second to Tomas Tatar (free agent).

"What about my Crosbone?!" said Burgundy. "How's he doing?!"

He's doing just fine, my dear Burgundy. The media seemed to bombard C-bone with concern after he had only scored a handful of goals over the last 20+ games, but he hit the back of the net three times this week. Plus he's been a play-making machine all season long, so there wasn't anything to worry about.

Let's look at the charts, courtesy of the stats machine. The Pierres will join once again to provide the colour commentary.

Adds McGuire: Sitch was this week's top bread earner, bringing in 214.10 points, well ahead of the League average of 152.74. He's now been the top bread earner for three weeks, and his lead over second-place Burgundy has gapped just over 100 points. As previously mentioned, Byfuglien has been a force for Sitch this week, but Sitch also got well-rounded scoring from Andrew Ladd, Steven Stamkos and Nicklas Backstrom, all banking 17+ fantasy points over the week.

Adds LeBrun: How about that trade made between Dick Burns and Burgundy, which moved Kyle Okposo and Braden Holtby to Team DB? Okposo tallied five goals this week, helping Dick bring home 147.60 fantasy points, which was the second-most points banked by a select-GM this week. Holtby booked two wins and brought in 22.50 fantasy points for Dick Burns. Not to shabby!

Adds McGuire: There were no changes in the standings this week, but something tells me we're on the cusp of crazy movement soon. The changes in rankings is going to be more drastic than the change between my radio voice vs. television voice!

Adds LeBrun: I second that, McGuire! Let's check out the PPGP to get some more colour.

Adds McGuire: Sitch continues the lead in PPGP; he bettered his PPGP to 3.72 (previously 3.65). Safari (3.27), Dick Burns (3.40) and Burgundy (3.37) are all within close range of each other though, potentially setting up for huge ranking changes in the coming weeks. After spending a few weeks under the radar, Dick Burns has emerged as having the second-best PPGP. Can you believe it?!

Adds LeBrun: To quote you, McGuire, "Yes! I can!" Dick has received great performances recently from Holtby (as previously mentioned), as well as the resurgence of Semyon Varlamov and the Avalanche. His goalies have been able to steadily bring up his PPGP; should the season play out the way it currently looks, Dick could be challenging for top spot. Don't let his current ranking fool you!

Adds McGuire: One word: green.

Adds LeBrun: Agreed.

Thank you, McGuire and LeBrun, for your professional commentary. I hope your premonition of crazy movement in the rankings proves to be correct. 

Aside, the rumour-mill has been spinning and inside sources are saying that all select-GM's are going to meet at the end of January. While the details cannot be confirmed at this time, CSIS agents have identified that Safari has booked a ticket to Toronto and will be landing within a few weeks. Given that all select-GM's will be on the same soil, the probability that they will meet up seems high.

"Who says I'll be there?" said Dick Burns. "Maybe I"ll send one of my doppelgängers."

I guess we'll have to wait and see. Until next time, gentlemen and lady,

- the Fucking Randy