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If you have Pavel Bure or Peter Forsberg in your
league this was a very dark week. Like many of you, I have endured Forsberg
taking up a roster spot all season in the hopes that he would return to
Colorado in January. Everything was going according to plan until the team
doctor found some tendon damage in his already surgically repaired ankle.
Sorry Peter. Thanks for coming out. He had surgery the same day and is out
of the line-up for at least four months.
From a fantasy perspective this is
devastating in more ways than you might expect. Not only will this continue
to hurt the production of players such as Ville Niemenen and Chris Drury it
could also lead to some young Avs being traded to lesser teams for a bona
fide #2 center. That means that players like Vaclav Nederost and Rick Berry
could find themselves plugging away on poorer teams - thus lowering their
fantasy value in subsequent years. Those expecting increased production from
players such as Drury will be desperately disappointed come April as the
feisty forward will be lucky to crack 50 points.
In south Florida the situation is much the
same. The Panthers were looking forward to welcoming Valeri Bure back to the
fold to play with is older brother Pavel. The eldest Bure's game had been
improving constantly and a few games with his sibling would get him right
back into form. At least that was the hope. The week ended with the team
learning that Pavel Bure would be out as long as 6 weeks with a broken hand.
Ouch! On the good news front Valeri should be back as you're reading
this.
Fantasy-wise this is a huge blow. Coach Keenan
was riding the Bure express and it was showing on the scoresheet. This will
have a huge impact on every area of the Panthers' lineup. It's impossible
for any player, even Valeri, to step in for Pavel. Look for a drop-off in
even strength goals with a marginal decrease in powerplay markers. Players
most impacted by this injury will be Viktor Kozlov and Kristian Huselius. We
think that Keenan will have a talk with the young Swede and tell him this is
his opportunity to shine and it's just possible he will. Look for Ivan
Novoseltsev and Niklas Hagman to see increased PP time. What can we expect
from Valeri? Not much. He has been a huge disappointment since his breakout
99/00 season. We see no reason for him to be able to step up now.
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