Rankings/List

With the salary cap in place, NHL teams can no longer freely spend to bring in a high-salaried, veteran free agent.

More and more teams are signing their young players to long-term, high dollar contracts.

Add a few of these contracts to any team and the organization will have little room under the cap to go after a free agent.

Instead, they fill the holes from within, or with cheaper free agent options.

Welcome to the third edition of the top 20 fantasy goaltenders. Today I will be ranking 11-15.

11. Cam Ward (CAR)

Last year's stats: Wins: 18 / GAA: 2.69 / SV%: .916

The Hurricanes didn't have a very good season last year, but with a healthy Cam Ward and Eric Staal and the additions of Anton Babchuk and Joe Corvo on the blue line, they should do just fine.

12. Jonathan Quick (LA)

Last year's stats: Wins: 39 / GAA: 2.54 / SV%: .907

The Toronto Maple Leafs switched around their line-up quite a few times this past season, switching through different forwards until they figured out who deserves a spot on the team.

Well judging by last season, I narrowed my top 12 forwards if the Leafs season started right now.

Granted the fact that this list might change in a few weeks... *cough* top six forward *cough*

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The beautiful thing about a sports season is that it always ends.

For one team, an end of the season and start of a new season is bittersweet, a time to surrender a title unless a rare repeat allows them to retake it.

For the remaining teams, it's a rebirth, a time to start fresh with new players and a new mentality.

The 2009-2010 season for the Pittsburgh Penguins was one of character: How will the young Pens perform when they have a target on their backs?

The overall season result?

We are officially almost one month into the start of the 2010 NHL Free Agency period.

Going into free agency, each team had a different goal. Some teams wanted the player to get them that extra push into the playoffs. Other teams needed to rebuild or almost start from scratch. Finally, there were others who just wanted to touch up here and there and didn't want to make any major changes.

How has each team done this offseason with getting their teams ready for 2010-2011? Let's find out.

Speed is not everything in the NHL, but often, players who can turn up the jets at the right time will find themselves on an island with only a goaltender in their way.

All 25 players listed in this slideshow can get a step on the best defensemen in the league and should make a major impact for their respective teams next year.

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There isn't a fan in the NHL that doesn't like goals. If they didn't, why watch the sport?

We often find ourselves putting way too much credit into those lofty goal totals though. While it's great to have a player that can score 40, 50, or even 60 goals year-in and year-out, there are guys that don't come anywhere near those totals that play big roles for our favorite clubs.

So why not show a little love?

Welcome to the second edition of the top 20 fantasy goaltenders. Today I will be ranking 6-10.

I have decided I am only going to rank the top 20, as when I get into the 20s it will be harder because some teams are still looking for goalies or have not decided who will start.

6. Roberto Luongo (VAN)

Last year's stats: Wins: 40 / GAA: 2.57 / SV%: .913

Of the four major North American sports, the captain is most noted and recognized in professional hockey. It is an honor bestowed to the player on each team that exemplifies himself as a leader that the other players on the team can skate behind.

Over the years the Chicago Blackhawks have had many different captains that have emerged from within the organization to become outstanding representatives of Blackhawk Hockey.

Right now, it's the dog days of summer, especially for the hardcore hockey fanatic. However, the ongoing Ilya Kovalchuk saga has at least given fans something to read about, as well as the large number of free agents still on the market.

In this article, we'll quickly look ahead to next year, but what I'll be doing is analyzing the odds that were provided by the website The Spread (www.thespread.com) on who will win the Stanley Cup in 2010-11.

These odds are as of June 10th, 2010, the day after the Blackhawks defeated the Flyers in six games.