Fantasy feelings (Part 1)

I'm in a handful of pools this year, but the biggie is a $100 entry fee, auction draft that took place earlier this week. We had just 21 teams this year, and with the minimum salary set at $10, the biggest a team can be is 10 players.

You're essentially looking to get five points out of every dollar you spend in this one, as 500 points generally wins the pool. I partner with a friend of mine, Pete Evans, and here are the teams we ended up with, along with the point totals we're looking for to hit 500:

My team

1. Henrik Zetterberg 85
2. Patrick Marleau 80
3. Maxim Afinogenov 70
4. Paul Kariya 70
5. Jason Blake 65
6. Ales Hemsky 65
   
7. Nathan Horton 65

I'm fairly happy with that crew, with Blake perhaps being the biggest question mark (it's not often you don't overpay for a Maple Leaf in a pool in this city). Healthy, these guys should all hit these point totals, with Hemsky and Horton safe bets to get into the 70-point range.

Zetterberg looked terrific in his first game on Wednesday night.

Team No. 2

1. Henrik Sedin 75
2. Rod Brind'Amour 70
3. Pierre-Marc Bouchard 55
   
4. Brendan Morrow 50
5. Dustin Penner 50
6. Mike Comrie 50
7. Jochen Hecht 50
8. Matt Lombardi 50
9. Keith Tkachuk 50

A different strategy here, with fewer 'home run' type players and a lot of bargains. Fifty points is sort of the minimum buy, and I think Morrow, Comrie and Lombardi should all be locks to exceed that point.

Sedin and Brind'Amour are probably going to fall right into the range we pegged for them, while Bouchard could really be one of this year's breakout candidates.

With Hemsky, Penner and Lombardi all on my lists, there's definitely some Battle of Alberta flavour. (What can I say — they've taught me well.)

Any fantasy junkies care to weigh in?