Fantasy Hockey Schedule Week 20: Time To Start Planning

The NHL trade deadline is about two weeks away and more than likely so is your fantasy hockey pool trade deadline.  Time to start planning what you are going to do with your roster: Is it time to rebuild or sacrifice some youth and go for it this year?

If your pool uses the final weeks of the season as playoffs, something to consider when making a trade is the number of games to be played.  Look at your scoring periods for your playoff weeks, as you don’t want to be trading away a player that plays four games in a playoff week for a player who is only playing in two games.  Those two extra games could be the deciding factor. 

Another thing to consider is where teams are in the standings.  A team that is a lock for the NHL playoffs may not play their stars as much to rest them for playoffs.  A team battling for a playoff spot or first place in the division will play their star players more to secure a playoff spot or home-ice advantage.  Just a couple of things to consider as you approach your trade deadline.

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 20

Rick Stewart/Getty Images

BUFFALO, NY - DECEMBER 23: Drew Stafford #21 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against Dennis Wideman #6 of the Florida Panthers at HSBC Arena on December 23, 2010 in Buffalo, New York. Florida won 4-3. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

Four games: Buffalo, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Vancouver and Washington

Three games: Anaheim, Boston, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Los Angeles, Montreal, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Phoenix, San Jose, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Toronto

Two games: Atlanta, Columbus and Pittsburgh

Home and Away Games for Week 20

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

DALLAS, TX - JANUARY 15: Evander Kane #9 of the Atlanta Thrashers skates the puck against Trevor Daley #6 of the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on January 15, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

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 February 10, 2011):

Home: Buffalo (12-12-1), Chicago (16-13-0), Edmonton (7-15-4), Minnesota (13-11-2), Nashville (12-5-6) and Tampa Bay (18-6-2)

Away: Atlanta (12-11-5), Dallas (14-11-1), Detroit (16-8-2), Los Angeles (12-13-1), Philadelphia (17-6-3), Pittsburgh (15-7-3), Vancouver (16-7-4) and Washington (12-10-3)

Teams That Play on Sunday

Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images

MONTREAL, CANADA - JANUARY 17: P.K. Subban #76 of the Montreal Canadiens skates with the puck while being chased by Alex Tanguay #40 of the Calgary Flames during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on January 17, 2011 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Canadi

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 Week 18):

Buffalo (1-0), Calgary (2-2), Chicago (6-3), Detroit (3-2), Minnesota (3-3), Montreal (0-4), NY Rangers (3-3), Philadelphia (4-1), Pittsburgh (0-2) and Washington (7-1)

Back-to-Back Games in Week 20

Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images

OTTAWA, ON - FEBRUARY 02: Jimmy Howard #35 of the Detroit Red Wings makes a save down low off a wraparound attempt by Chris Neil #25 of the Ottawa Senators during a game at Scotiabank Place on February 2, 2011 in Ottawa, Canada. (Photo by Phillip MacCal

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 Week 18):

Anaheim (4-6), Boston (6-3), Buffalo (5-8), Carolina (5-6), Dallas (3-5), Detroit (5-4), Florida (3-8), Los Angeles (4-5), Minnesota (2-9), New Jersey (3-9), NY Rangers (10-4), Ottawa (2-8), Philadelphia (7-4), St. Louis (6-3), Toronto (3-6), Vancouver (6-3) and Washington (2-5)

Top Five and Bottom Five Teams

Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 26: Kent Huskins #40, Dany Heatley #15 and Devin Setoguchi #16 of the San Jose line up in position prior to a defensive zone faceoff against the Los Angeles Kings during their NHL game at Staples Center on January 26, 2011 in Lo

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 a goalie from teams that are on a hot streak. Here are the top five and bottom five teams up to February 10, 2011:

Top five: San Jose (9-0-1), New Jersey (8-1-1), Calgary (8-1-1), Philadelphia (8-2-0) and Vancouver (6-1-3)

Bottom five: Ottawa (0-8-2), Edmonton (2-7-1), Atlanta (2-5-3), Florida (2-4-4) and Colorado (3-7-0)

Streaking Skaters

Paul Bereswill/Getty Images

UNIONDALE, NY - JANUARY 11: Mikael Samuelsson #26 of the Vancouver Canucks skates during an NHL game against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on January 11, 2011 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/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 you can dress them while they are on a hot streak. Here are the top five scorers up to February 10, 2011 for the past seven and fourteen days:

Skater past seven:

R.J. Umberger-COLUMBUS (GP-four G-two A-six)

Drew Stafford-BUFFALO (GP-three G-five A-one)

Mikael Samuelsson-VANCOUVER (GP-three G-three A-three)

Thomas Vanek-BUFFALO (GP-three G-three A-three)

Nathan Horton-BOSTON (GP-three G-one A-five)

Skater past 14:

Mikael Samuelsson-VANCOUVER (GP-five G-four A-six)

Jonathan Toews-CHICAGO (GP-four G-two A-six)

Daniel Sedin-VANCOUVER (GP-five G-two A-six)

R.J. Umberger-COLUMBUS (GP-five G-two A-six)

Ryan Kesler-VANCOUVER (GP-five G-five A-two)

Hot and Cold Goaltenders

Paul Bereswill/Getty Images

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 11: Goalie Antti Niemi #31 of the San Jose Sharks stops a shot by the New Jersey Devils during the second period of an NHL hockey game on February 11, 2011 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Ge

Here are the top five goaltenders and bottom five goaltenders up to February 10, 2011 for the past 14 days:

Hot goaltenders past 14:

Antti Niemi-SAN JOSE (GS-five W-four SO-two GAA-1.78)

Ilya Bryzgalov-PHOENIX (GS-five W-three SO-two GAA-2.26)

Miikka Kiprusoff-CALGARY (GS-five W-four GAA-1.94)

Martin Brodeur-NEW JERSEY (GS-three W-three GAA-1.29)

Roberto Luongo-VANCOUVER (GS-three W-three GAA-1.67)

Cold goaltenders past 14:

Craig Anderson-COLORADO (GS-three L-three GAA-4.03)

Ondrej Pavelec-ATLANTA (GS-four L-three GAA-4.02)

Robin Lehner-OTTAWA (GS-three L-three GAA-3.83)

Kari Lehtonen-DALLAS (GS-three L-three GAA-3.28)

Brian Elliott-OTTAWA (GS-two L-two GAA-4.44)

Aaron Brouwer is the co-creator of www.fantasyhockeycoach.com.  FHC is a free fantasy hockey service that developed a ranking system combining post-lockout statistics, current factors and our own hockey knowledge.  Brouwer writes about fantasy hockey and the Calgary Flames on Bleacher Report. You can contact Coach Brouwer at [e-mail].