2nd Half Stars & Stinkers

This is typically one of our more popular posts (see last year's complete with mini-jerseys!) as we get a lot of people asking us about guys that typically go north or south during the 2nd half of the season (also see our 2nd Half Draft where I touched on some of these guys) but Scott Cullen over at TSN kinda stole our thunder today with his list... decent list but in some cases just looking at the career averages can be misleading, so I like to dig a little deeper...

2nd Half Stars 

These are the guys who make a habit of turning it up after the all-star break... we won't ask them what they were doing in the 1st half.  Here's our All 2nd Half Stars Team:

F - Pavel Datsyuk - career ppg: .94 pre AS break, 1.09 post AS break.  Over his career, March has been his best month, by far (1.16 ppg).  

F - Brad Richards - career ppg: .90 pre AS break, 1.00 post AS break.  His numbers have increased post break in 7 of the past 8 seasons. 

F - Eric Staal - career ppg: .90 pre AS break, .92 post AS break.  This is where Cullen's list breaks down as Staal's career splits don't look that hot but if you look at his numbers pre/post Jan 1st for the last three seasons he's .83 ppg pre & 1.09 post and they've increased dramatically each of those seasons.  

Honourable mention amongst the forwards goes to Scott Gomez (.75 pre, .89 post, 24 pts in 26 gms after Feb 1st last year), Jason Pominville (.75 pre, .85 post, increased the past 4 years), Thomas Vanek (.79 pre, .86 post, his career post Feb 1st s% is 20.1% versus 13.6% prior) and David Backes (.57 pre, .61 post, over the past 3 years he's .42 before Jan 1st & .69 after). 

D - Mike Green - career ppg: .62 pre AS break, .78 post AS break.  His numbers have increased post Jan 1st in each of the last 3 seasons.  

D - Nicklas Lidstrom - career ppg: .73 pre AS break, .77 post AS break.  His numbers have increased post break in 4 of the past 5 seasons.  

Honourable mention amongst the dmen (note: hard to find dmen this year as two of our regulars, Mark Streit & Ryan Whitney are out long-term) goes to Sergei Gonchar (last 5 seasons: .75 pre-Jan1st, .85 post, increased 4 of the last 5 years), Tom Gilbert (.32 pre, .64 post, had 20 pts in his final 21 games last season), and Carlo Colaiacovo (.36 pre, .45 post, last two seasons: .36 pre-Feb1st, .55 post). 

G - Henrik Lundqvist - career numbers: 2.40 gaa & .916 sv% pre AS break, 2.17 gaa & .922 sv% post AS break.  His numbers have improved post break in each of the past 4 seasons.

Honourable mention amongst the goalies goes to Cam Ward (last 3 seasons: 2.76 & .907 pre, 2.37 & .919 post), Pekka Rinne (pre: 2.45 & .915, post: 2.25 & .922) and Chris Mason (pre: 2.76 & .910, post: 2.36, .917).  Marty Turco also deserves a mention (pre: 2.42 & .908, post: 2.16 & .915) as his numbers typically get better but last year was an exception and he doesn't really look up to the challenge this year.

Stinkers after the jump...

2nd Half Stinkers 

Here's the guys that always seem to go south after the all-star break and smart fantasy GMs should consider unloading these guys soon.  Here's our All 2nd Half Stinkers Team:

F - Martin St. Louis - career ppg: .93 pre AS break, .83 post AS break.  His numbers have decreased post break in each of the past 5 seasons.

F - Patrick Kane - career ppg: 1.06 pre Jan1st, .81 post.  His numbers have decreased post Jan 1st in each of his 3 seasons.  

F - Corey Perry - career ppg: .82 pre AS break, .65 post AS break.  His numbers have decreased post AS break in each of the past 4 seasons.  

Honourable mention amongst the forwards goes to Ilya Kovalchuk (prior to this year: 1.07 pre, .96 post, decreased in 4 of the past 5 seasons) although it's hard to see him get worse, Dany Heatley (1.07 pre, 1.01 post, decreased in each of the past 5 seasons) and Phil Kessel (.69 pre, .52 post, his goals/game goes from .38 to .26 after the break).   

D - Dan Boyle - career ppg: .64 pre AS break, .55 post AS break.  His numbers have decreased post break in 4 of the past 5 seasons.

D - Zdeno Chara - career ppg: .46 pre AS break, .38 post AS break.  Everything tends to dip (points, plus/minus, PIMs & shots) after the break... hardest shot competition must drain him.

Honourable mention amongst the dmen goes to John-Michael Liles (last 5 seasons: .59  pre, .47 post), Tomas Kaberle (last 2 seasons: .69 pre, .16 post) and Dan Girardi (.39 pre-Jan1st, .24 post).   

G - Ryan Miller - career numbers: 2.48 gaa & .917 sv% pre AS break, 2.79 gaa & .908 sv% post AS break.  His numbers have gone south post break in 4 of the past 5 seasons.

Honourable mention amongst the goalies goes to Tim Thomas (prior to this season: 2.53 & .920 pre, 2.72 & .914 post) and Roberto Luongo (last 3 seasons: 2.26 & .922 pre, 2.69 & .909 post).