I Hate My [expletive deleted] Fantasy Team: Great Shake Up

(Ed. Note: "I Hate My [expletive deleted] Fantasy Team!" is a weekly feature on Puck Daddy in which we vicariously live through two Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey GMs as they provide snarky advice and tales of woe. This week's author is The Rev. Zamboni from The Palm Isle. Enjoy.)

By The Rev. Zamboni

Gone from the Bad Habitants are Filip Kuba, Bill Guerin and Dustin Byfuglien (and most likely Patrick Sharp, as soon as I figure out how to use the Internet). In their place: Alex Edler, Kyle Okposo and Jarret Stoll, respectively. The Bad Habitants are in fifth place this week, with a six-point lead over former champion "Osgood = Death."

Here's how it went down:

Kuba for Edler: Here's Kuba the past month,: 0 G, 4 A, minus-3, 6 PIMs, 3 power-play points. He's good for one goal, 27 assists, and 16 power-play points on the season. Edler has six goals, 22 assists and 16 power play points on the season. But three of goals, seven of the assists and six of the power play points have come in the past month. The logic: This was an easy decision. I'm essentially swapping out nearly identical defenseman, except one is playing well for a team that's getting better. Done deal.

Guerin for Oh!poso:

This one's harder to justify. Guerin has 15 goals, 19 assists, and 14 power play points. He's a minus-14, but he has 63 PIMs, and might be traded (which might sound good, but he's probably a third-liner on a decent team, which cuts his ice time significantly). The New York Islanders' Okposo rookie has 11 goals, nine assists and seven power-play points on the season. He's a minus-7. But. But. But but, he's playing more recently, and playing better. In the past month Okposo has a 6 G, 1 A, minus-1, 12 PIM, 5 PPP line. Guerin? 1 G, 1 A, minus-3, 17 PIM, 0 PPP. The logic: I'm an Islanders fan, but you can't call it a homer move. Call it a hunch. Or wishful thinking. I think it was Tom Waits who sang the line, "the well is full of pennies." Let's hope it's not.

Stoll for Byfuglien: At first look, of course this makes sense. But then you look at the roster and there's no room for Stoll. I've got three centers, all of them better than Stoll. But, Patrick Sharp. There's three weeks left in the season. I'm guessing he's gone for most of that time. Even a week is too long at this point. But if I'm wrong, and he's back in five days, I don't want to lose him on the wire. So I dropped Byfuglien, who was a fill-in who served his purpose and cooled off in a serious fashion (0 G, 1 A) this past month. Sharp comes back and I've got him at left wing. The logic: Roster trickery/patch job. And it may turn out best in the long run anyway. I'll miss saying "Byfuglien" though.

It was a 7-1 victory over the notebook-toting, spreadsheet worshipping, and apostrophe-challenged "77's" this past week that vaulted the Habitants into fifth place and spurred this week's minor makeover for the stretch run.

It's a short-enough season now, and I feel emboldened to try to capitalize on hot streaks, hence the Kuba for Edler swap, etc. But it's also been a fine year to explore the strategic benefits of luck, or as I call it after a few Molson Canadians, patience. Remember Tomas Vokoun, who was giving fits early in the season? His line for the past month: seven wins, 1.91 GAA, .941 save percentage.

And to think I almost made an offer for Scott Clemmensen one lonely, cold upstate night. (Derek Roy probably qualifies here, too, but he's a long way from the 32 G, 49 A Derek Roy of 2007-08).

Even the name, which I consider changing about every six hours, has proven fortuitous.

"Bad Habitants."

Who knew?