Good things happen when I actually get to PICK my fantasy team. The Bloggers Challenge #2 should be much better with this powerful lineup.

Frolov-Morrison-Marian Hossa
Erat-T.Ruutu-Havlat

Zidlicky-Visnovsky
T.Kaberle-Spacek

Vokoun-Gerber

Bench: Huselius, Comrie, Hemsky, N. Kronwall

9 of 16 are Czechs of Slovaks, so I met my quota ;)

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As the season approaches, I'm going to offer my 2 cents here and there on certainly players and fantasy hockey. After a whole year off, I'm involved in a lot more pools than I ever used to be. I used to be involved heavily in sim leagues, but those take a lot more work than pools.

Josef Vasicek - He's not a terribly fast skater and his 45 points in 82 games in 2003-04 might not wow you, but he was only 23 that year and has been developing at a fairly steady rate. With 8 points in 5 preseason games, he's got to be catching the eye of fantasy league owners looking for a steal. The Hurricanes are obviously counting on him to be an offensive leader more than ever, and he'll probably get a lot of opportunities to rack up 60+ pointes.
Vasicek had an amazing season last year with Slavia Prague with 43 points in 52 games while playing outstanding defense up front.

The only worry with Josef is that he's a lot like his Slavia Prague teammate Josef Beranek in that he's offensively productive in Europe, but only so-so in North America. I'd expect Bobby Holik numbers from Vasicek this year.

Alexander Frolov - This 23-year old winger is really poised to break out in a serious way and he may get overlooked as he is not yet established. He scored 24 goals and added 24 assists in 03-04 at the tender age of 21 and he looked consistantly dangerous late in the season, even as the rest of the LA Kings crumbled around him. He's been smoking this preseason and has found great PP chemistry with Pavol Demitra and Jeremy Roenick.

Eric Brewer - I know many of you may be tempted to pick Brewer not that he's THE MAN in St. Louis. Don't buy it, folks.

For the past few seasons, Brewer was already getting 24 minutes of ice time per game with the Oilers. He wasn't always a primary PP point-man, but he probably won't be getting a whole lot more PP time in St. Louis, either. Christian Backman, Doug Weight, and Andy Roach will be running the PP from the points.

Eric Brewer's still got some developing to do, but he doesn't really have the offensive tools to suddenly explode and give you a pool-breaker. His production the last 4 NHL seasons in points: 21, 25, 29, and 25. I'd expect 30 points and nothing more. Don't go out of your way to pick Brewer thinking that you'll get a steal. He's also playing with a team that has very few offensive weapons, so buyer beware.