The fantasy previews continue with centers. In this post, centers will be evaluated of their past performance and their rankings. Goalies and defensemen previews have already be posted, so check them out today.
Evgeni "Geno" Malkin pops the puck in the air during the 2009 NHL All-Star Game Elimination Shootout.
In most fantasy hockey leagues, a team has to dress five defensemen for their lineup. Of course, there aren't too many defensemen out there that can be labeled as "great" in order to fill up even two spots.
To continue to 'Fantasy Hockey Preview' posts, it now moves on to defenseman. Read the goalie preview here for the top ten goalies going into this season.
Zdeno Chara, captain of the Boston Bruins, handles the puck.
Goalies are a major part in a team's success not only in hockey, but fantasy hockey as well. It is key to keep a close eye on goalies around the National Hockey League in case a "sleeper" becomes available.
As fantasy hockey drafts are starting to be scheduled, one has to be prepared for it so they can come out of it with the best squad. Goalies may be the most important part of a team's success.
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers, gets set for an incoming puck.
Going into the 2011-12 NHL season, many hockey fans and pundits alike felt that it might be the last season for New Jersey Devils' goaltender Martin Brodeur.
The reasons for this were quite simple. He was getting old (hockey-player wise), looked like he did not have the same skills that made him successful in the first place, was coming off a year in which he and his team missed the postseason for the first time since the 1995-96 season and lastly, people felt that may be it was time to move on and start thinking about the future.
As it turns out, these same people were dead wrong. Brodeur surprised everyone last season by not only having a pretty solid regular season, but an incredible run in the postseason in which the Devils came within two games of winning the Cup.
For starters, Brodeur did not seem to show his age last season. Brodeur started 59 games and went 31-21-4 with a 2.41 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and 3 shutouts.
While those numbers are probably considered mediore for a Brodeur regular season, Marty did happen to save his best for the postseason. Brodeur won 14 games, posted a terrfic 2.12 goals against average, had a save percentage of .917 and managed to post 1 shutout.
With Zach Parise no longer a Devil and high expectations heading into the upcoming season (whenever that is), Brodeur is going to have to be at his very best if the Devils want to get back into the postseason and show that last year was no fluke.
Luckily for the Devils, Brodeur always loves a challenge, which is why he is not close to being done.