Follow Five Minutes For Fighting on Twitter and Facebook!

Last year I compiled a pretty comprehensive list of all sorts of fantasy hockey team names I've found over the years in various leagues, message boards, and random surfing on the web. My friend Mike added a bunch of gems he came up with as well. You can find last year's list here.

But, as you can imagine, a year is a long time to scour the internet and rack your brain for other clever (and stupid) things to name your fantasy team. Sure, that year could have been better spent doing a lot of other things, but I'm here to help you make your friends laugh, so I've amassed another set of names to help you.

Because, as always, no one should feel the shame of a lame fantasy hockey team name. You might not have the best roster, and you might finish in last, but at least you'll get a few laughs. And, ultimately, isn't that what fantasy sports are about?

No? They're about money? Okay, well read my post about sleepers then.

For the rest of you, onto the names!

Follow Five Minutes For Fighting on Twitter and Facebook!

Last year I waited until closer to the start of the season to post my fantasy sleepers in the vain attempt to do better in my league, but this year I’ve decided to share my knowledge with ample time before the season begins. I’m a giver.

I will make one disclaimer: the term sleeper is relative. If you’re in a pool with a bunch of fans from one team then those players instantly become overrated. That doesn’t mean you still can’t get them and they won’t be productive, but it means other people will be reaching for those players as well, so they probably won’t really fit the true definition of a sleeper.

I have one more piece of advice: don’t doubt yourself. In one of my pools last year I was planning on taking Carey Price. My thinking was that he was actually pretty decent in the previous season (despite the hate) and with Alex Auld as the backup he was going to play a ton. Anyway, he was hanging around pretty late (everyone already had at least a goalie, some had two), and I was ready to pounce. The only problem was I was in a league with Montreal fans and I began to worry why they were leaving him. Did they know something I didn’t? Was he back in the party scene? If emotionally invested Habs fans didn’t want him, why should I? Well, I didn’t take him and he turned out into a Vezina quality goalie. Trust yourself.

More than a few eyebrows were raised when the Flyers signed James van Riemsdyk to a 6-year deal worth $4.25 million per season. That sure seemed like a whole lot for someone who hasn't really done much in his career.

The deal has also emboldened some other restricted free agents, notably Kyle Turris. Sources told ESPN that Turris is now looking for a deal worth $4 million a season. Um, good luck with that, buddy. James van Riemsdyk has at least proved he's a quality NHL calibre player; Kyle Turris hasn't even come close to proving that.

My latest post at The Good Point tackles the JVR extension and argues that it's actually a lot more reasonable than people initially think. Sure, the Flyers are taking a risk. But they took the same risk with Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and Claude Giroux, and those all worked out pretty well.

One final note: I have been named The Good Point's hockey columnist, which means I will have a weekly column that looks at some of the major issues in the NHL during a given week. The column will be published every Thursday, so set your clocks accordingly.

Once again, thanks for reading and supporting my writing.

This was the hardest post I’ve ever written. I can barely comprehend what happened, so how can I write about it? I can’t write anything that comes close to explaining what happened, and, ultimately, no words can. Instead, I wrote about my memories of Wade and what this all means for the NHL, from that point the words just started to come out. It is my humble submission and my inadequate attempt to answer one question: why?