131730387 copyDobber checks in every Monday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

Stephen and Steven have been the best fantasy owns of the past two weeks. Stephen Weiss continues to enjoy life on a line with actual hockey players Kris Versteeg and Tomas Fleischmann, picking up the third highest assist total in the league over the last two weeks. But as an added bonus, his 20 penalty minutes in the November 13 game against Philadelphia (the start of the report's two-week cutoff) mark nearly 50 percent of his career-high season total.

But that game is already in the books — the odds of him having another 20-minute PIM game are roughly equivalent to the odds of Carolina giving Tomas Kaberle a contract extension. As for the other Steven, Mr. Stamkos hasn't been elite in any one category but he has been pretty strong in all of

Dobber checks in every Monday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

132966405 copyNearing the quarter pole we have Phil Kessel on pace for 62 goals and 112 points. Joffrey Lupul, Jason Pominville and Kris Versteeg are Top 10 scorers. And Tyler Seguin needs one point to tie last season's mark of 22.

This Bizarro-NHL is precisely why we love fantasy hockey. This unpredictability. Remember that bozo who drafted Kessel too high in September? Oh how you laughed. The same guy drafted Versteeg in one of the final rounds and you thought nothing of it. But lucky bastard or genius, he's kicking your ass right now.

As usual, let's take a look at a snippet from Frozen Pool, where you'll find the white-hot Versteeg making an appearance — yes, the guy is only getting better.

YHYAttribute that to chemistry with linemates Tomas Fleischmann and

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Dobber checks in every Monday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

Time to change things up a little. The studs and duds portion has put a spotlight on some of the players you want to consider trading away or acquiring. But the hungry masses are eager for more waiver steals, so as of this week you will find a beefier "Wire" section. I'm nothing if not a lucky son-of-a-bitch who gets to write about fantasy hockey for a living flexible.

Here's a snippet, courtesy of Frozen Pool, of the Top 10 skaters of the last two weeks, using the six common stat categories:

GRAPH1Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars is not getting enough love in fantasy hockey circles. He's getting lots of love — but not enough of it. To wit: stop making offers as if he's going to arrive soon. He's already arrived, unpacked his bags, opened a beer and sat

AP101208066775Dobber checks in every Monday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

I was browsing through some historical stats and came across this rotisserie ranking from 1999:

Screen shot 2011-11-07 at 10.28.53 AMActually, I kid. In case you didn't notice the "PHI" beside Jagr's name, this was taken from Frozen Pool when I put the analysis settings on "last two weeks". Despite a combined age of over 80, Selanne and Jagr lead the league roto-ranking when looking at the six main categories. Amazing that these are two players who could feasibly retire in seven months. Incidentally, the other old guys chronologically advantaged NHLers are also performing well. Nicklas Lidstrom is tied for 50th on this list and Ray Whitney is tied for 14th.

Studs...

These fellas are wielding a hot stick ...

Radim Vrbata, Phoenix Coyotes (5-4-5-9, plus-7, 4 PIM, 19 SOG) — One of the

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Dobber checks in every Monday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

If you're hard up for a penalty minutes guy, let me throw a name at you — Kris Newbury of the New York Rangers).

Newbury will offer you absolutely nothing else, but he's not going to hurt your plus/minus and he's averaging over four penalty minutes per game thanks to those 17-minutes accrued against Calgary on the 20th. He's doing what he can stay in the league and if you're falling behind in this category he'll be of use to you for a couple of weeks. (Update: Newbury was dropped to the AHL for the time being on Saturday.)

Also, let's not forget that my favorite PIM dark horse Zac Rinaldo has been recalled by the Flyers. He has yet to earn a minute in the sin bin since being called up two games ago. But the odds of that continuing are roughly

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Dobber checks in every Monday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have played 10 games. Other teams, such as Detroit, New Jersey and San Jose, have played just six. The impact that this could have on a fantasy squad is often ignored, like an impressive young rookie on a Barry Trotz team.

But think about it for a second — 67 percent more games than some other teams. Would you rather own a Penguin with seven points or a Red Wing with five?

This discrepancy is doubly-sucky for Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby owners. Malkin's patched up knee did not react well to the heavy early schedule and he has been forced to rest it. If he's on the Red Wings, resting it for 10 days would have meant missing three or four games. On the Penguins, it means six. Take three games away from Malkin and

Dobber checks in every Monday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

129282383It's always interesting to see the massive jumps (and drops) in the standings on a daily basis in that first half-month of the roto-league season. It's when things are settled down towards the end of October that you can truly identify what needs to be addressed. In the meantime, you're just trying to grab the best assets you can off the wire and lose the Senators Hurricanes dogs. These are the assets that will help you address your needs later on.

Studs...

These fellas are wielding a hot stick...

P.A. Parenteau, New York Islanders (4-1-6-7, plus-5, 4 PIM, 7 SOG) — With Nino Niederreiter pegged for a top six spot and Brian Rolston joining the squad, it looked as though Parenteau's ice time (read: production) would take a beating. With El Nino on

112056220 copyDobber checks in every Monday to force-feed you the latest fantasy hockey trends. The founder of DobberHockey.com and a columnist for The Hockey News website, he long ago immersed himself into this rollercoaster world and is unable to escape.

Finally, we can set our lineups for a full week for the first time this season. Hope still exists for one and all that not only will our hunches pay off, but we can actually win this thing. This is the one time all season where each and every member of your league is whining about their player's position eligibility active and putting forth an effort.

On a positive note…

Here are some guys who stand a good chance to have a kick-ass week…

Andrew Ladd, Winnipeg Jets — Now that Winnipeg's Game 1 crapfest jitters are out of the way, look for Ladd to step up. Last season he had 12 points in his first 11 contests. I can't help you with the (probably) horrific plus/minus when I look at this team, but the goals and assists will be great to start.

James