Fantasy Hockey Schedule Week 14: The Halfway Mark

Jan. 4 marks the halfway point of the NHL season.  The Pittsburgh Penguins are the top team in the East while the Detroit Red Wings are the top team in the West. 

The Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs are all where many predicted they would be: which is in the bottom five teams. 

No one would have predicted, though, that the New Jersey Devils would be the worst team in the NHL at the halfway mark.

Sidney Crosby leads the NHL in scoring with 65 points and in goals with 32.  Steven Stamkos is right on Crosby’s tail for goals with 31.  Dustin Byfuglien is leading all defensemen in scoring with 14 goals and 38 points. 

The biggest issue, especially for fantasy GMs, at the halfway point is all the injuries.  There have been several injuries to each team and it has affected everyone from star players to grinders. 

Many of these injuries have been long term of two weeks or longer.  The latest to go down are Ryan Getzlaf (facial fractures), Ryan Whitney (ankle) and Jonathan Toews (upper body). 

Here is some great information for helping you to decide who to dress for the upcoming fantasy hockey week.

Games to Be Played in Week 14

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ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 16: Eric Staal #12 of the Carolina Hurricanes against the Atlanta Thrashers at Philips Arena on December 16, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Four Games: Carolina, Chicago, Florida, Minnesota, New Jersey, NY Islanders, San Jose, Tampa Bay and Vancouver

Three Games: Anaheim, Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Nashville, NY Rangers, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Toronto

Two Games: Montreal, Ottawa, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Washington

Home and Road Games

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VANCOUVER, CANADA - DECEMBER 18: Goalie Roberto Luongo #1 of the Vancouver Canucks covers up the puck before Francois Beauchemin #22 of the Toronto Maple Leafs can get his stick on the loose puck during the third period in NHL action on December 18, 2010

When it comes to dressing your players for the upcoming week, especially your goalies, it is important to know which team is on a long road trip and which team is enjoying an extended period at home.

Listed below are the teams that play at least three home/away games this week or play all their games at home or on the road (home/road records up to Dec. 30, 2010):

HOME: Anaheim (11-6-1), Chicago (12-9-0), Colorado (10-6-2), Los Angeles (13-2-1), Montreal (12-5-2), New Jersey (5-11-2), San Jose (10-5-3), Vancouver (13-3-2) and Washington (14-4-4)

AWAY: Buffalo (7-8-3), Columbus (9-6-2), Detroit (11-5-1), Minnesota (8-6-3), Nashville (9-9-1), NY Islanders (3-12-3) and Tampa Bay (11-8-3)

Games On Sunday

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ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 16: Dustin Byfuglien #33 of the Atlanta Thrashers against Patrick Dwyer #39 of the Carolina Hurricanes at Philips Arena on December 16, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

If you participate in any type of head-to-head hockey pool then you are likely dressing a lineup for each scoring period, which usually ends on Sunday.

As the week comes to an end and you find yourself in a close battle for those wins, you want as many players as possible playing for you. Here are the teams that play on Sunday (record for Sunday games up to but not including Week 13):

Anaheim (3-4), Atlanta (2-2), Carolina (0-3), Chicago (4-1), Dallas (1-1), Minnesota (1-2), New Jersey (0-2), NY Islanders (1-2), San Jose (0-1) and Tampa Bay (1-2)

Back-To-Back Games

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VANCOUVER, CANADA - DECEMBER 11: Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates with Martin St Louis #26 after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks in overtime to win 5-4 during NHL action on December 11, 2010 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC,

When you are deciding which goalie to dress you need to look at the NHL schedule to see if your goalie's team will play in a back-to-back game that week.

Most coaches will not dress the same goalie in back-to-back games so that is something to consider when you are thinking about which goalie to dress for the week.

Here are the teams that play in back-to-back games this week (record of second game of back-to-back up to, but not including, Week 13):

Chicago (4-3), Columbus (4-2), Detroit (2-3), Edmonton (2-1), Florida (2-5), Minnesota (1-7), Nashville (2-4), New Jersey (1-6), NY Islanders (2-5), NY Rangers (9-0), Ottawa (2-3), Pittsburgh (6-1), San Jose (2-4), Tampa Bay (5-3), Toronto (0-5) and Vancouver (3-2)

Florida, Tampa Bay and Vancouver all play two sets of back-to-back games this week.

Top And Bottom Teams Over Last 10 Games

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VANCOUVER, CANADA - NOVEMBER 24: Henrik Sedin #33 of the Vancouver Canucks takes a slapshot during NHL action against the Colorado Avalanche on November 24, 2010 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Knowing which team is on a hot streak or cold streak will help in making your lineup decisions. For example, you definitely want to dress goalies from teams that are on hot streaks. Here are the top five and bottom five teams up to Dec. 30, 2010:

TOP FIVE: Vancouver (8-0-2), Philadelphia (7-2-1), Tampa Bay (6-2-2), Colorado (6-2-2) and Detroit (6-3-1)

BOTTOM FIVE: New Jersey (1-9-0), Montreal (3-7-0), Toronto (3-7-0), Edmonton (3-5-2) and Buffalo (4-5-1)

Top Skaters Over Last Seven and 14 Days

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ST. LOUIS, MO - DECEMBER 23: Nicklas Lidstrom #5 of the Detroit Red Wings shoots the puck against the St. Louis Blues at the Scottrade Center on December 23, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

Most elite stars are consistent scorers, but there are several players who are very streaky, so keep an eye on their stats so that you can dress them while they are on a hot streak.

Here are the top five scorers up to Dec. 30, 2010 for the past seven and 14 days:

SKATER PAST 7

NICKLAS LIDSTROM-Detroit (4GP 3G 5A), HENRIK SEDIN-Vancouver (3GP 1G 7A), SIDNEY CROSBY-Pittsburgh (4GP 4G 3A), SHANE DOAN-Phoenix (4GP 3G 3A) and ANZE KOPITAR-Los Angeles (4GP 1G 5A),

SKATER PAST 14

DUSTIN BROWN-Los Angeles (8GP 6G 6A), LOUI ERIKSSON-Dallas (8GP 4G 8A), SIDNEY CROSBY-Pittsburgh (6GP 6G 5A), MARTIN ST. LOUIS-Tampa Bay (6GP 4G 7A) and HENRIK SEDIN-Vancouver (6GP 3G 8A)

Hot and Cold Goaltenders

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WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 09: Semyon Varlamov #1 of the Washington Capitals makes a save against the Florida Panthers at the Verizon Center on December 9, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

HOT GOALTENDERS PAST 14

SEMYON VARLAMOV-Washington (2GS 2W 1SO 1.00 GAA), COREY CRAWFORD-Chicago (3GS 3W 1.33 GAA), RICK DIPIETRO-NY Islanders (2GS 2W 1.44 GAA), TOMAS VOKOUN-Florida (4GS 3W 1SO) and ROBERTO LUONGO-Vancouver (4GS 3W)

COLD GOALTENDERS PAST 14

MARTIN BRODEUR-New Jersey (6GS 6L 4.34 GAA), NIKOLAI KHABIBULIN-Edmonton (4GS 1W), KARI LEHTONEN-Dallas (6GS 2W), JONAS GUSTAVSSON-Toronto (4GS 1W 3.47 GAA) and RYAN MILLER-Buffalo (6GS 2W 3.61 GAA)