How to Avoid Drowning in Your Hockey Pool

We all need to have a discussion.

I know in my heart that since the season began two weeks ago, but really last week, we have all spent less time on internet porn and more time on our fantasy pools.

And we're all re-tooling our picks. It's 10 days in the season and we're all in a mad dash for last second changes and uber-bandwagoning. We're discovering guys we'd never heard of before (Adam Voros?!!!!???). We're waiting for hot starts to cool down, yes, you, Brandon Dubinsky.

We all know how out of whack the first couple of weeks can be in a NHL season as far as player stats are concerned. Guys like Chris Kontos look like they're going to win the Art Ross with 326 points only to finish the season with 12 goals 6 assists and a stint in the minors. The real top scorers are rarely at the top of the standings out of the starting gate. Things usually revert to a normal pace come November, when the early bloomers go back to the law of averages and the real blue chips reclaim their thrones from the seat warmers.

I promise you that a ranking list that is currently made up of:

1. Koivu (the other one)



2. Kariya (the real one)



3. Semin (like spermatozoa)



4. Dubinsky (Dubi, grrr!...)



5. Voros (enjoy it while it lasts, kid)

will soon make way for your regular top point getters.

So don't drop your instinctive picks too soon for these early birds, as much as it pains you to keep them on the list of "available players" while they rack up the points. Even if Dubisnky has 50 goals by January, he'll cool off, you know he will. If Mikko hits the 100-point plateau in February and goes on tour with Mika,

...let it be, he'll come back to earth. Stick with your Ryan Garlock pick, you know it's bound to pay dividends.

So who are you struggling with so far? Who do you want to ditch? Who are you itching to roll-out the red carpet for?