Mid-Season Team Report Card: Flyin' Elbows (Mark)

Calgary (CP) Sorry Mark... this one's gonna hurt.

Click Here to view Mark's Pre-Season Team Report Card.

Significant Roster Changes:
+ Dan Boyle
- Scott Niedermayer

Analysis:
In my Pre-Season analysis of Mark's team, I genuinely thought that Mark had a good chance of winning IF his team stayed healthy. Well, his team didn't stay healthy and I'm unsure how much higher he'd be in the rankings even if everyone was playing. The glaring holes on defence and in net are too much to overcome.

Grades:
+ Forwards (C): Ranks 6th in G, 12th in A. While having a ton of people that can put the puck in the net but not many people that can set them up, the Elbows have had a rash of injuries on the forward front that causes this ranking to drop. I actually really like a lot of his forwards, but they are no good if they are constantly on the IR.
+ Defence (F): Bouwmeester, MAB, Poti and Pothier have all been major disappointments this year. A nice deal to pick up Boyle was made but that will pay off next year. As long as he's on the IR, Mark has a lot of work to do in the area as he builds aroung J and Dan.
+ Goalies (F): Ranks 12th in W, 2nd in L. At the midway point, there was a 10 W spread between Mark and the next lowest ranked team. Emery is still hampered by the off season injury and Roloson unfortunately looks mediocre. Guess who the 3rd option is? Karri Ramo... yikes!
+ Special Teams (D-): Ranks 7th in PPG, 12th in PPA. This is a direct effect of the lack of PP defencemen on his team.
+ Goon Factor (D+): Ranks 11th in PIMs. Residing with a bunch of teams all within 40 PIMs of one another, Mark won't make up any ground in this area.
+ Overall (D): Since Mark has packed it in for this year and is playing for next, some of his injury-prone forwards may be held out as bait to help the higher teams push for title. Some more high draft picks would be optimal for Mark to claim some good defencemen that will become available next year.

Fur Engee (CP)