Playing out the string

For the first time since the Bare Naked Hockey League (the one with my high school buddies from Dracut) went to a head-to-head/playoff format, I'll miss the postseason. With six weeks left to our regular season, I'm left playing spoiler. Even though I'm last out of 12 teams, I thought I had a chance at the 7th and last playoff position, but then I remembered that's based on points scored and not record (which is the basis of the top six spots).

As far as looking to next year, we're allowed to keep up to two players for the following season and there's not much suspense there. I'll likely keep Patrick Kane and Anze Kopitar, who are the #5 and #9 forwards in our scoring system.

Also in contention are Shea Weber, Daniel Sedin and Pavel Datsyuk. Weber warrants serious consideration since he is my top defenseman. He checks in as the No. 10, and his 246 points is 4 ahead of Datsyuk, my disappointing first-round pick, and 24 behind Sedin, my #4 skater.

My Achilles' heel this season was definitely my goaltending. Steve Mason sunk me as the #33 goalie this season as my fifth-round pick, while Tim Thomas, my third-round draft pick, has underperformed as the #17 goalie. Jon Quick, my reserve-round goalie, ranks 10th at the position, but hasn't proven himself to the point where he'd be in keeper territory (a la Brodeur or a Luongo).

I'll have an update on my dynasty league, including the breakdown of a trade.