Disappointments of the 2008-2009 Fantasy NHL Season

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By: staff Posted: May 5, 2009

Fantasy sports are often about expectations. Since they have put up great numbers in the past, it’s just logical to expect they would be better this season. But for some reason, this logic is not followed in some players which led to big disappointments for the fantasy players around the world. The 2008-2009 season of NHL is no exception as fantasy league owners draft great players from the previous season only to see them fall and disappoint everyone in the process.

If you have these players on your fantasy team, sorry for the disappointment:

Chris Osgood (Goalie)

Last Year: The current starter for the Red Wings was very impressive in last year’s playoffs. He has a huge role in getting the trophy for Detroit. That should set him up for a pretty good year the following season.

This Year: Unfortunately, the expectations were never reciprocated. This season, he only had 2 shutouts – a low stat for a starter. He also posted .887% SAV as well as the mediocre 3.09 Goals Against Average. Lucky for Osgood, the rest of the team seems very competitive and ready to take the crown again even with the lackluster performance.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Goalie)

Previous Years: Giguere is one of the players that you can expect numbers after the player lockout. You can expect his consistency which greatly complements a fantasy team especially on defense.

This Year: This year, on the other hand, is a totally different story. His GAA significantly increased. From 2.12 last year, his GAA increased to 3.10 this season. His shutouts were also reduced from 4 to merely 2 this season. No one knows if he’ll be able to perform as much as he did in the previous years.

Peter Mueller (Center)

Last Year: 22 Goals, 32 Assists and 54 Points in 82 Games. The stats showed a great year for a rookie which means better expectations for the next season.

This Year: 13 Goals, 23 Assists and 36 Points in 72 Games. Something is definitely wrong with the sophomore player as everything in his stats dropped. What’s even worst is that the expectations for Mueller are not only from the fantasy league players but also from his team.

Chris Higgins (Left Wing)

Last Year: Higgins showed up for all 82 games last year and was able to post very impressive numbers: 27 goals and 25 assists and 52 points is a great stat and it boosted his role for the Canadiens the following season.

This Year: With only 57 games this season, Higgins didn’t really provided impressive numbers. While fantasy league players expect a relative downturn, they didn’t expect that the difference would be very staggering: 12 goals and 11 assists are not the numbers you should expect when you only missed less than 30 games.

Andrew Cogliano (Center)

Last Year: As a rookie, Cogliano was very impressive as he helped the Oilers with 45 points. He’s young, aggressive and a great part of the team.

This Year: the youthfulness and aggressiveness is just not there. With only 38 points with the same number of games and 22 minutes of penalty, the disappointment on fantasy league players and Oilers fans is clearly there.