Pre-Season Preview: #4 Sandusky Slanderers

Coach: Tron Ries
Trophy Case: POH3 Championship---POH3 Fleury Division Winner---POH3 Associate's Cup Winner---POH4 Wrath of Reid---POH5 Fleury Division Winner

POH5 Regular Season Finish: 2nd
Postseason Finish: Semi-Final Loss

Pre-Season Rank
Forwards: 6th
Defensemen: 3rd
Goaltenders: 4th
Coaching Pedigree: 7th
Overall: 4th
Projected Win Total: 84

Keepers:
C Jeff Carter (3rd Year in Sandusky)
RW Corey Perry (3rd Year)
W Bobby Ryan (3rd Year)
D Lubomir Visnovsky (2nd Year)
G Jimmy Howard (3rd Year)

Outlook
Sandusky is the POH affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, with keepers Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan and Lubomir Visnovsky returning to the team in 2011-12. GM Tron Ries and the Slanderers recovered nicely from their abysmal POH4 campaign by winning the Fleury Division a year later. With four seasons under his belt, Tron Ries is proving that his down year in POH4 was an outlier, with regular season finishes of 2nd, 1st and 2nd in POH2, 3 and 5, respectively. The POH6 Slanderers are not a flashy club, with few big names that make you say, "Wow! Tron you are thee best man in my world!" But don't be fooled, this team has plenty of point producers. Jeff Skinner is coming off a Calder Cup win in 2010-11 and could improve on his 63-point rookie season. The lumbering Milan Lucic is another sneaky 30 and 30 guy, while Thomas Vanek leads an improving Sabres roster. Visnovsky, Ehrhoff, Seabrook and Souray form a strong backline for the Slanderers, as Ehrhoff signed in Buffalo for big-time money while Visnovsky returns after leading the league with 68 DEF PTS. In net, Sandusky has a formidable 1-2 with Howard and San Jose netminder Antti Niemi. Jose Theodore will be down in Florida, probably having a pretty rancid year but for a No. 3 goalie you could do worse than him. In order to defend their Fleury championship from a year ago, another big season will be needed from the Perry-Ryan duo in Anaheim. Perry is coming off a Hart Trophy win with his 50 G, 98-point season. 



Players to Watch:

G-Jimmy Howard

Howard took a step back last season after a tremendous rookie year. Luckily for GM Tron Ries, the Slanderers had POH5's No. 1 ranked goal scoring, shots on goal and defenseman units. It's hard to envision this group doing the same here in POH6, so more will be needed from Howard. With an aging defense in front of him, and no Brian Rafalski, can we really expect more from this third year goaltender?

D-Lubomir Visnovsky

Visnovsky helped fuel the Slanderers No. 1 ranked defensemen a year ago with his NHL-leading 68 D points. This free-wheeling blue-liner takes a ton of chances out on the ice, but in fantasy that's exactly what you want ...who cares if the Ducks get burned a few times in the process. Kris Letang and Drew Doughty won't be back this season to continue the Slanderers season-long Defensemen Points rampage we saw last year. That makes a repeat performance even more imperative for Lubo.

LW-James Neal

After a rather productive start to the season with Dallas, Neal was moved at the deadline to the injury depleted Penguins. He struggled, scoring just once after the move. But with a healthy Malkin, and the return of Crosby looming sometime this season, Neal will likely inherit one of the all-world centers to play alongside. He finished the 2010-11 season with 22 goals and 45 points, don't be surprised if that total comes up to somewhere in the low-to-mid 70's if he can develop a rapport with either Malkin or Crosby.