Left-field commentary on the perpetually expanding fantasy hockey universe. Published every second Sunday throughout the season. View the RN archive here.

I have heard some n̶o̶n̶-̶S̶t̶a̶m̶k̶o̶s̶ ̶o̶w̶n̶e̶r̶s̶ people claim that Steven Stamkos' elite stats have been primarily a by-product of playing with some dude named Martin St. Louis. This has been true to a degree, obviously - but is it still? Well, in his first two games without Marty, Stamkos had zero points. Case closed. St. Louis is the catalyst, obviously. Except Stamkos spent the next three games on an absolute rampage, going 4+3=7 and plus-4. Taking St. Louis' place on Stamkos' seven scoring plays? Studs like Moore, Gilroy, Downie, Kubina, Malone, Hedman, Brewer, and Tyrell. True that Vincent Lecavalier had three assists in there too, but only one was a primary. Mr. Stamkos is the real deal with or without St, Louis, and he'll challenge for the Richard every year for for the next decade plus, or until whenever his laser beam wears out.

After the jump, my least offensive and most conventional column yet. That's right folks - I'm on the wagon.

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Left-field commentary on the perpetually expanding fantasy hockey universe. Published every second Sunday throughout the season. View the RN archive here.

We're into December, and the cream is rising. The Bruins and Rangers are winning like stink, while the Maple Leafs and Stars are downing a strong dose of everyone's constant companion: reality!

But if you're leading your pool today, it is most likely not a case of business as usual. Sure, your studs are behaving (they better), but it's the unlikely scenarios that are making the difference. After the jump, my top five overachievers so far this year, plus realignment, letters to Souray, Sather's dirty tricks, Boudreau, cheeseburgers, a Montoya Cup update and much much more.

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Left-field commentary with an emphasis on the tech and media aspects of the fantasy hockey universe. Published every second Sunday throughout the season. View the RN archive here.

Hey, if anyone out there needs any extra goals, Taylor Hall scored three from my bench last night, so I'm not using them. Fucking hell. I had my reasons, and they were logical, but still...fucking hell. If you didn't catch Hall's head-on collision with the post in the third period, it sums up everything you need to know about this kid. Up 9 -2 with a hat trick already under his belt, Hall almost KILLED HIMSELF looking for goal number four. Just awesome. 

Much disgust in the direction of the shameless PR behind Georges Laraque's new book, The Story of the NHL's Unlikeliest Tough Guy, alternatively titled Throwing Former Teammates and NHL Legends Under the Bus. Look, if you want to try and make some money with a Cansenco-esque steroid rat-out, whatever. But dragging Wayne Gretzky through the shit in the name of selling units? That's just plain slutty. Apparently Laraque believes that The Wayner is "the worst coach I've ever played for", and a point was made of leaking this juicy tidbit to the press just days before Laraque's book release. Seriously, Georges, this is the best you can do? You know when you watch a movie trailer, and you say to yourself, "nahhhh I'm not gonna see that one". Yeah. This is like that. So, if you believe in all that is good and holy and right in this world (in short, Wayne Gretzky), then leave Laraque's sensationalist nonsense on the shelves and instead celebrate the upcoming Gretzmas season with something from simpler and cheesier times. 

As per Facebook, the New York Islanders would like to invite you to Hurricane's Grill & Wings in Syosset for a wing eating contest and game viewing party! Wow. Super. I guess this explains the whereabouts of the 10,000 people missing from Nassau. 

After the jump: dwarves, mushrooms, mules, Bambi, tweeting vs. squawking, selling high vs. staying high, and a little bit more.

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Left-field commentary with an emphasis on the tech and media aspects of the fantasy hockey universe. Published every second Sunday throughout the season. View the RN archive here.

So I had this bizarre dream, in which Edmonton, Dallas and Minnesota were all top 8 in the standings, and the Leafs were in first place. The Leafs! How ridiculous is that? You know, I'm a pretty typical Western Canadian hockey fan, pre-programmed to resent the Buds for hogging the media spotlight no matter how bad they've been in recent years. So it's refreshing to finally see the performance living up to the hype, last night's Bruins whitewash notwithstanding. 

Did you know...Justin Goldman over at goaliepost/goalieguild has tweeted (twat?) 30,836 times as of last night? The man is my kind of insane. Hilariously, for every 1000 goalie-centric tweets, he throws in one about his love of some obscure Scandinavian heavy metal band. Goldman is truly an eccentric mad genius.

After the jump, party at Hartnell's! Plus Jagr's secret powers, the perils of drinking and the internet, regret, second chances, and much much more.

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Left-field commentary with an emphasis on the tech and media aspects of the fantasy hockey universe. Published every second Sunday throughout the season.

So the NHL GameCenter 2011-12 iPhone app is pretty damn special. It crashes often, the video freezes here and there, and every time I change signals I have to log in again. But when it's working, which is most of the time, I'm watching games (dangerously!) IN MY CAR. Or in my in-laws' bathroom during dinner. Or during That Important Meeting at the old day job. Serious genius.

Lean back, relax, and travel back in time with me to Sheldon Souray's 2006-07 bottom line: 26 G, 38 A, 135 PIM, 224 SOG. 48 PPP. Sweet Jesus. I think we can overlook the -28. Through his first seven games this year, Souray is hilariously on pace for 12 G, 47 A, +70, 246 PIM and 211 SOG. I guess he needed that extra year of development in the A. His stock will drop, or more likely he'll hit the IR, but so far so good for the best comeback story of this young season. Sorry Jaromir.

Great piece from Puck Daddy on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' two-and-a-half goal performance last Saturday, and the intense media man-crushes that followed. Ron Wilson's Gretzky backhand "connection" was nothing short of awesomely preposterous. Kudos to PD for calling it out.

After the jump, Pavelec, Mason, and the art of shitting the bed, plus James Reimer, Brian Burke, honey crullers, TSN, Tonys Montoya and Esposito, and much much more.

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Hey FHSers,

Welcome to the first FHS Random Notes of the 2011-2012 season. Look for this feature every other Sunday throughout the year. No rules here, but I'll do my best to keep things entertaining with some left-field commentary and an emphasis on the tech and media aspects of the fantasy hockey universe. After the jump, the latest on iPhone apps, Sean Avery, BizNasty, Gretzky, MacKinnon, Jesus and much much more.

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