Sunday morning armchair

well, we're going to have another suspension in Philly. Randy Jones forced Patrice Bergeron to do his "bug on the windshield" impression. Bergeron broke his nose and Jones was "remorseful" without saying he did anything wrong. i watched "Behind the Mask" with Kelly Hrudey in the 1st intrmssn of the 2nd game (i believe) and Hrudey says that stuff like that will continue while coaches at all levels teach people to turn their backs to other players as a way to protect the puck. he's right and Jones is going to sit for a bit because of it. i'm betting it won't be much though, 5 games perhaps? Marco Sturm might get 30 goals, Mike Richards too. Richards pocketed his 2nd shortie of the season. if you count SHP in your league then absolutely look at Richards for some help in a very rare cat to find. Joffrey Lupul got one too, i told you he'd been moved up and he'll get lots in the near future. Simon Gagne missed his 2nd straight game with dizziness.

the Blue Jackets sure look to be clogging things up this year. they only gave up 17 shots on the night to a powerful San Jose offense. Joe Thornton got a goal and i can't seem to find anything else interesting to see here. i'm thinking that Pascal Leclaire isn't the "sell high" option that i thought he was when he started hot off the top of the season.

Marc Andre Fleury was ineffective last night against Montreal and Dany Sabourin took the Pens into a shootout only to eventually lose to Andrei Markov. Markov got himself a PP marker and the shootout winner (which doesn't really count) for the win. a lot of people expected that the Habs signed Roman Hamrlik this offseason to offset the loss of the now injured Sheldon Souray but in reality Markov bided his time and he's now the Habs best D. i have him on at least one team and am very pleased that i do. this just in ... Evgeni Malkin and his 3 assists is really good. Petr Sykora went 1 and 1, which is really good too and he should be able to suck at the teet of greater talent all season long.

it seems that all my Leafs needed was to get away from some home cooking. maybe a road trip will develop some defensive chemistry, maybe they all have to start meeting at a Toronto hotel before every home game so they can bus to the game together and give themselves the idea that they're actually on the road, maybe they just need to clear the front of their own net better and cover the off wing. at any rate, they beat the vaunted Ranger offense. Kaberle (the lynchpin) had 2 assists, Kubina and Kilger (nothing to see here, move along) went 1 and 1. the Leafs lead the league in offense and they also lead the league in worst defense. if they keep playing well on the road maybe they'll start insisting they stay on the road. prior to yesterday Brendan Shanahan was leading the world in SOG/game but he's only got 1 goal to show for it. strike while he's cold, those shots are going to go in.

i heard some talk about how Jersey was going to beat Ottawa last night and my reaction before the game was, "fat chance". there is such a huge difference between how these two teams are playing right now. things won't be so lean for NJ this season but i don't care if the season opener or not, you're not going to beat Ottawa with the way you've been playing so far. i don't like that Martin Gerber continues to play so well, he's getting in the way of my playing Ray Emery. it also looks like Mike Fisher potted 2 yesterday and as a C3 option in deep leagues he's an excellent add.

Mike Sillinger got a goal, played 19 minutes and was -6. it wasn't even cold outside yesterday and he's -6. ewwwwww. Carolina took the boots to the Isles yesterday. Rod the bod with a hattie plus an assist, Erik Cole with 3 assists and Ray Whitney with 2 and 2. Chris Campoli did get 2 assists for the Isles (and was -3) and is still a nice option as a D4, particularly now that Bryan Berard is shelved and someone has to man the point on the PP more often.

i had pegged Nathan Paetsch as a sleeper this season. ok, i wasn't the only one pegging him as a sleeper but i still added him to one of my teams. anyway, Paetsch has disappointed so far this season but went 1 and 1 yesterday. if you're looking for a bottom end D who just might explode for some offense a little bit then Paetsch continues to be a possible option. i think Campoli is a better option right now but if CC isn't available then look for Paetsch. Vinny Lecavalier went 1 and 1 and didn't get into a fight, my isn't novelty nice? i'll continue to take the unexpected PIMs though if he wants to throw'em out there. Marty St. Louis has quietly put 11 pts together, still only 2 goals but he's still contributing. Tomas Vanek and his $10M salary scored his 3rd goal on the season. he'll explode eventually.

Vernon Fiddler scored his first 2 on the season and could get up toward 20 if given a chance at some ice time. he's got a great name playing for a Nashville team eh? Martin Erat got over 21 minutes of ice time last night and bears watching in case that time turns into goals coming up. he might be a guy you could trade for that wouldn't cost you too much. Radulov got 2 assists last night and i'm still pegging him as a decent RW3 option. Olli Jokinen and Cory Murphy each had 2 pts last night, go figure. the offense in Florida will filter through one or both of them this season.

Brad Boyes has 8 goals already this season. i actually drafted him as a C3. pretty pleased about that. Mike Green will continue to contribute to the Caps offense this season as long as Brian Pothier and/or Tom Poti can't seem to prove that they can consistently contribute. the Caps can't seem to find a reliable D to play over 20 minutes/game.

in my PPTOI piece last week i noted that Tobias Enstrom is among the league leaders for PPTOI for D this season. he played over 23 minutes yesterday and got an assist. if you're ignoring him still you won't be able to much longer. Ilya Kovalchuk with 3 pts (told you he'd explode, this will continue), Slava Kozlov with 2 goals (should also continue), and Jason Williams had 2 pts (quietly has 10 on the season). Patrick Kane is also pretty good and the diminutive stuff doesn't seem to get in his way, perhaps his coach has given him a couple pointers in that area.

some power forwards to note in Phoenix last night; Carcillo got a goal and 6 PIMs, Doan with a goal and 2 assists, and Brendan Morrow with 3 assists. Mike Ribeiro also had a goal and 2 assists but he doesn't qualify as a power forward. Martin Hanzal had over 20 minutes of ice time yesterday and is definitely worth a look in deep leagues and keepers.

finally, there's a new commercial on Sportsnet that talks about how many out here in the West can't seem to stand the "Toronto Sports Network"'s hockey coverage since they don't seem to focus on Western teams at all. i personally love the focus on Toronto cuz that's where all the teams in the other sports i watch are based and i just happen to be a Leafs fan. anyway, last night the Kings were hosting the Oilers on the back end of HNIC's double-header and i actually found myself cheering for the Kings. i don't know what it is about the Oilers and Flames but i just can't cheer for them. i really can't stand them much at all and i personally get all bothered by Sportsnet's focus on the Flames and Oilers out here. anyway, Jason Labarbera has been showing that he's going to be the guy for the Kings over the last week. ignore all my other prognostications about JS Aubin. my bad. Raffi Torres is playing really well over the recent past. i'm in one informal league with Victoria Matiash of ESPN's fantasy hockey and she named her team "I love Lubomir". now she's a wonderful girl and can really put away the beer and i just want to say that i agree about Visnovsky. i don't think we feel the same about him since i'm not sure she's talking about hockey but still the guy is the Kings best option from the back and he really doesn't get the print he deserves.

my football season is almost over, i only have one more on-field game to officiate. i enjoyed the whole experience and want to encourage you to consider officiating as an option where you are.

goals of the week

Jonathan Toews, good Winnipeg lad.



Rick Nash is gonna be a superstar. 50 goals every year for a decade isn't out of the question.

blogging through the boxscore

i'm trying to think of ongoing titles for certain days of the week so that i don't have to try and be creative EVERY day. so far Wednesday is my review day and Sunday i have the Sunday morning armchair, i'm thinking Tuesday will be my stat review day. if you have suggestions then ... suggest them.

see the bloodbath that was Koci last night? Zdeno Chara schooled him good. it seems that Koci broke his nose in the previous game so you gotta respect the fact that he stuck that broken nose right back in harm's way again. Chara is a mean dude. that gets missed sometimes because he contributes offensively more than most D but his PIM levels are always rather nice for a fantasy team. the big drawback for Chara is +/- ever since he left Ottawa and went to Boston. with the Bruins improved play of late though i'm hoping that +/- isn't an issue for Zdeno this season and beyond.
did i tell you the story of Zdeno Chara when he first came to North America? his english was non-existent but he was befriended by a veteran in Long Island, Ray Ferraro. Ferraro used to refer to him as "big dummy" and Zdeno is 6'9" tall without a clue what Ferraro was calling him. eventually Chara figure it out and went to find Ferraro saying "I KNOW BIG DUMMY!", that'd be enough to make a guy the size of Ferraro crap his pants on the spot. no word as to whether that actually happened or not, the crapping part that is, i have it on good authority that the other stuff happened.
anyway, i like Chara and i have a bit more respect for Koci too. now if only both guys would score a little more.

Rick Nash scored a pretty one last night. side of the net, stick back between his legs and then top corner. if i can find a copy of it i'll embed it here, if i can't then you just plain missed a nice one. Pascal Leclaire got his 4th shutout and like i said in posts past, he's really benefitting from a defensive style being put in place by Ken Hitchcock. Jared Boll is becoming a really nice PIMy option for fantasy. old school.
speaking of nice ones, the goal that Ales Hemsky scored in the shootout last night to win the game was NOT a nice one. he lost the handle and it slid between Backstrom's pads. oh well, they all count like that. Horcoff had a 4 pt night and comes up with those but the guy to watch in Oil country of late has been Raffi Torres. dude's getting ice time, bangs around the boards and carries the extra value because he's eligible at LW. if you need some help at LW3 then this may be the way to go.

i've liked Phil Kessel a lot to start this season and he's going to have a career high in pts and surprise many as a secondary scoring threat in Boston.

Jari Tlusty debuted for the Leafs and pocketed 2 in his first night on NHL ice. actually i think he Foligno'd one of them but that counts too. i picked him up as an LW3 flyer-type since i'm behind the curve at LW. it could go either way for me, it could be HUGE or disastrous. i still can't believe that Antropov is putting together a season like this but ride it while you can. Alex Steen is a viable option for secondary scoring in TO but it would be better if he got eligibility on the wing for fantasy purposes. Sid and Gene (that would be Malkin) each with 2 pts and Pitt only gets 2 on the night. i guess that says something that we already know, the offense flows through those 2 guys in Pitt.

man do i ever want Vinny Lecavalier to explode offensively. it's looking like Brad Richards and Vinny Prospal are getting all the gravy. don't worry though, it'll happen. i just want it to be yesterday or sooner. i still say that TB should trade for a goalie and they'd be a world beater. picture Huet in a lightning bolt. that's just spitballing though, i've heard no rumours.

Dan Ellis with a shutout for the Preds last night. Ellis' pic on Yahoo makes him look like a hobbit. attaboy Bilbo. nothing to see here with this guy imo. some guys are still down on Radulov but his ice time is increasing and stats along with it. it still seems like the offense is running through JP Dumont, Legwand and Arnott though. the Tootoo twain went 1 and 1 and is good option if you're in the market for a pest, unfortunately he doesn't get enough ice time to really be useful except in really deep leagues.

McDonald and Kunitz were the 2nd and 3rd stars in a game where the Ducks were shutout by the Yotes. i don't see why. how do the champs get shutout by the worst team in the league? that's supposed to be a gimme boys. think the coach is gonna bag skate 'em? why not? wake 'em up.

Labarbera held off the Stars and won 2-1. i was pulling for Aubin to win that job but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. i actually dumped Labarbera in one league today though in the hopes that Jimmy Howard starts more than pundits are really saying he's going to. if Jimmy starts more than i'd much rather roster the Wings starter than the Kings starter. it's a gamble. hope it pays off.
Mike Cammalleri had less ice time than Frolov, Kopitar AND Brown last night. what's up with that? i still love Camm for elite numbers and i think he'll be carried there by the magic that is Anze Kopitar. if you can get either and stomach some minor aches over +/- then you'll be pleased.

what you looking at?

watch the baseball game last night? i didn't. i wanted to but decided to go out to the movies with a buddy instead. we went to see Transformers. i know, i know it's been out for months and should go to video any day now but there's a cheapie movie theatre that i go to here in the Peg. if you're looking for a movie review, you're not getting one, other than i didn't really like the movie much. there's no way that the hot chick even has anything to do with the high school dweeb though. that's a different blog though. i came back from the movie to see that the Evil Empire Red Sox were wayyyyy up and had put down a spanking on a couple kid Rockies last night. i stopped watching soon after i started. turned it on to Letterman instead. gotta love the Top Ten before you crash for the night eh?

anyway, a little hockey for you. i've been searching around at some blogs i've found and i'm seeing a lot of homer-itis. what's the point of blogging about your favourite team only? what use is that to anyone? i'll try to provide some competent advice about fantasy hockey for you and i'll try to broadbase it as much as i can. you don't want to read about my favourite team all the time and i don't really want to just write about them. it's more interesting to me to try and help people figure out how to an NHL fan and use that kick their buddie's asses in their fantasy league.

Chris Clark. he hadn't been heard from until last night, want to know why? he was just put on Alex Ovechkin's line again. that move is going to create more room for AO as Clarkie clogs up the front of the net or bangs around in the corners. Clark got himself 2 last night and they both count even though the 2nd one Foligno'd off of his skate. i say that because Mike Foligno used to score the garbagest of goals (that is so a word, i just made it up). i remember a playoff game where Foligno was trying to regain his balance in front of the net, leaned over and the puck caromed off his ass into the opponent's net. classic moment. Clark is a Foligno type, except with more skill and plenty of PIMs opportunity.
there was a rare Vinny Lecavalier fight with Shaone Morrissonn (dude's got way too many letters in his name). Vinny scored himself 19 PIMs. now that he's got that out of the way he can take those knuckles and snap himself the 50 goals i'm expecting out of him. i actually saw some rankings with Vinny in the 2nd round this season. i personally snapped him up at the bottom of the 1st round in a keeper league and i thought i had myself a steal. and i did.

why are people worried about the Sabres? yes they only have a couple wins on the season but Ryan Miller is a great goalie, they still have most of their young snipers and they have adequate replacements to pass them the puck. they got beat up by the Canes last night but the Hurricanes aren't the same team they were last year. Cam Ward may take a run at the Vezina trophy the way he's playing and wins are going to be plentiful. Jason Pominville with 2 goals (easily projecting 30 on the season) and Eric Staal with 3 pts (this might be the year he's a scoring leader and is well over 100 pts).

Vancouver/Detroit was on tv last night while i squirmed in my theatre seat and tried to figure which guy was an autobot and who was a decepticon. apparently Dom Hasek was taken out of the game at some time and Chris Osgood faced zero shots while he was on the ice. i couldn't find a reason why that was, but it was. Sami Salo debuted for the Nucks. Sami is extremely underrated, has a more than decent blast from the point and sees the ice very well. Salo shouldn't be on your waiver wire but if he is then snap him up. in the very least activate him, i'm expecting goals in the teens for him again, if he's healthy. Tomas Holmstrom is already what Chris Clark wants to be and what Mike Foligno never even dreamt of being.

did i blog that i read somewhere that Mike Knuble has been taken off Gagne/Briere's line and replaced by Joffrey Lupul? it's true best i can tell. if you want to make a play for Lupul then nows a good time since his value is about to go up again. to start the season both Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were on many waiver wires. they aren't anymore and they won't be seen there for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time. they got skills and provide a more than adequate secondary scoring for the Flyers, who i can't stand but have to admit that they're going a long way this year. Simon Gagne was staring at cartoon birdies after getting rocked by Jay Bouwmeester last night. he'll be fine, i hope. i have no news so it may just be wishful thinking. speaking of Bouwmeester, i LOVE the Cats D. they have themselves a stableful of stud D for the next decade. oh and Olli Jokinen is fab too don't you think? he looks weird though. still dude can score and shoots a ton so he can be on my team anytime.

Calgary handed Minny it's first "real" loss. they loss previously in a shootout but this one was a real loss. the Wild had a 3-0 lead after 1 and the Flames scored 5 unanswered by the end of the night, only 1 on the PP. Iginla with 3 pts, Tanguay with 3 (about time), Phaneuf absolutely destroyed Veilleux in a fight and underrated Aucoin chipped in a couple assists while leading his team in ice time. Kipper bounced back from getting pulled in San Jose the other night and held off the Wild for 2 periods. that's what star goalies do. some are pretty down on Kip but don't you be!

PP TOI/game

i did some simple stat sorting to look at PP TOI (power play time on ice). as you might imagine if you did so you'd fine that there are a whack of forwards listed there that you wouldn't find on your league's waiver wire but the gems found in doing a search like that is when you're sorting for a D who mans the point more than most. i mean PPP is PPP and one really shouldn't look the other way if a resource sits on the waiver wire. then again maybe you're D is stacked and you have no use for this post. let me just highlight some names and numbers for you.

Tom Poti - 6:17/game - and the Caps offense hasn't really taken off yet. Alexander Semin is due back tonight and you just know the PP options down low will take a giant leap. who gets the puck down low? how about the guy lugging the puck up the ice. i've seen Poti turfed on some teams already. mistake.

Filip Kuba - 5:30/game - how this guy gets ignored every year i don't know. he shoots the puck and he's got himself a pretty good offensive squad to feature on the attack. he shouldn't be on a wire but if he is then you've already wasted too much time reading this.

Tobias Enstrom - 5:21/game - who? no seriously, who? well someone has to carry the puck and get it to Hossa/Kovalchuk. Enstrom is ranked 13th in D for PPTOI. definitely a sleeper and you just know that the Thrash's offense is going to explode soon. then again this sleeper pick may just blow up all over you too but that's why we play the game. you want the glory then you have to make the tough calls.

Paul Martin - 5:19/game - i've seen the former Prime Minister on waiver wires too. Sean Allen touted that Karel Rachunek was going to head up the Devils' PP but that's not how it looks to me, 10 games in.

Marek Zidlicky - 5:19/game - Z took a step back last season (Dan Hamhuis took several steps back) and the time to add Z may be past since Shea Weber should be returning soon but for a short term add, this is still a decent move.

Kris Russell - 5:02/game - another who? he's in C-bus and somebody has to fill the void that Bryan Berard left on their PP. we know Adam Foote can't do it anymore. just hand it to Mr. Nash there Kris.

Andrei Zyuzin - 4:56/game - i've watched Zyuzin since he was drafted way back when. he's always been more of a defensive presence than anything else. it seems as though the Hawks need him to be a bit more than a defensive presence though so he may just get some extra time to help out offensively.

Craig Rivet - 4:54/game - i saw him get one in Calgary last night and you just know with all the offensive options in the Sharks he'll get himself his own share of stats this season. he won't be on a waiver wire but you may want to trade for him as a possible D4 or so.

Jaroslav Spacek - 4:51/game - i've never really been a fan but it does seem like he's getting some opportunity. he hasn't shown enough to me to make me want to add him to my team but i understand why guys do.


interesting eh? the rest of the list is chock full of names that you'd expect to be there and there's no hope that you'd find them on a waiver wire anyway. maybe Rob Blake is on there but i figured he was too obvious to list as a sleeper type of option. Francois Beauchemin tops the entire list by the way but i didn't list him as a sleeper either because he isn't and i expect his TOI to come down as Mathieu Schneider and eventually Scott Niedermayer get on the ice.

it's not looking like i'll be getting to a team review this week since i've been strapped for time. i do want more submissions for team reviews though so feel free to fire them in.

Bo, then Deion now Clark, the next 2 sport athlete

little time today but this is worth the 6 minutes you'll spend. i actually was laughing out loud in my cubicle while watching it, i'm sure that my co-workers figured i'm more of an idiot than they did previously.

Quick Hits

Darcy Tucker is out indefinitely. normally he's a very good option for PPG and PIMs. some are giving the Thrashers starting job to Hedberg automatically but i say that Ondrej Pavelic has a decent shot at the starting job while Lehtonen is shelved. no need to add Pavelic just yet but i'd be watching closely. Milan Hejduk is still hurt and Pavol Demitra is DTD for a bit. Bryan Berard is shelved with a groinage and when healthy is a nice source of PPP, if you can handle the poor +/- he'll undoubtedly give. Kevin Bieksa got his 1st of the year yesterday, the first of many. i read one blog where he called Bieksa the worst player in the NHL drawing a regular paycheck PUH-LEASE. Curtis Sanford got a start yesterday on the road in C-bus and got past a Columbus squad that has been limiting it's shots allowed due to a system put together by coach Ken Hitchcock. Hitch is one of the best hockey minds in the game and Philly made a HUGE mistake letting him go last year. Rick Nash has 5 goals and is gonna keep exploding.

Sunday morning armchair

Scott Walker left the game with a torso injury of some kind a couple days ago, apparently it didn't look pretty at all. the Canes lost in Philly last night and Walker didn't play. i picked Walker as a very viable RW3 in deeper leagues and in fact had been recommending him to a poster on the Rotopass board earlier this week. i haven't been able to get any more info other than "it didn't look good" since it happened. bear in mind that Walker can be turfed to the wire fairly easily if you can't wait for the Canes to IR him. in H2H leagues you should've already done so.
in the "Sid vs. Alex" battle last night Sid got an assist on the winning PP goal, MA Fleury was the star of the game and both Sid and Alex were continued to ask how many times they spoke since the last time they played each other, like they were huge buddies or something.
Manny Fernandez outdueled Henrik Lundqvist in a scoreless shootout win last night. how does Phil Kessel get to be the 2nd star when his team doesn't score and he only had 1 SOG? whatever. Manny may just be taking the lead in the goalie battle in Boston after that game. i've never much liked Tim Thomas as an option anyway. the Bruins are 5-2 by the way, good on them i guess but i don't want any team in the Northeast doing well except my Leafs so i think i'll just be giving the Bruins the evil eye until they realize that they're really not this good anyway.
Ray Emery is back baby! he's going to take the job folks so unload Martin Gerber in your league unless you have him for the express purpose of handcuffing him to Emery. the Sens have a solid week off and they're retreating to a resort for a few days of chemistry building. it's also going to do a LOT of good for Emery's strength building in that wrist. if you thought the Sens were scary before what about after they deal Gerber for some MORE scoring? also note that personal fave Chris Neil had himself a dominating night garnering the 1st star selection and serving up an assist.
the Islanders offense is all smoke and mirrors. i'm not buying into Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko or Miroslav Satan. if you're hoping for this to continue and staking your fantasy team's fortune on one or more of them then i think you're in store for a big crash and burn. that doesn't mean that i'm not interested in all Isles though; i like their D, roster some of them, and i love Rick DiPietro in all leagues.
Montreal beat Buffalo last night. ptui and ptui on both teams. i don't see how Montreal pulls this off either. they're too small and they don't have a single reliable superstar on their roster. they do have a bunch of very good guys and a handful of guys who've shown real brilliance but still, i don't see it maintaining over the course of a season.
Patrick Kane is going to be very good. i caught some of the debacle in Toronto last night but i was a bit distracted by the baseball game too and i was still trying to recoop from trying to keep my traction in a mud bowl football game i was officiating in yesterday afternoon but still, the Leafs shouldn't have given that game up like they did. Don Cherry said something after the game that i actually agreed with (and that hardly ever happens). he said that Mats Sundin shouldn't be killing penalties. he's right. Mats already is out there in EVERY other situation imaginable and the Leafs should put some other guys out there to kill penalties, like Stajan and Steen perhaps, Wellwood when he's healthy.
defensive mishaps continue for Atlanta, maybe not as many as Toronto but still they continue. Atlanta got spanked by Tampa Bay last night. Lecavalier got 2 pts, Prospal 3 pts and St. Louis 3 pts. Waddell needs to find a coach quick, he doesn't belong back there and the sooner that somebody rights their ship then they'll be fine. it's going to mean a real trainwreck for the Thrashers this season though.
Marty Turco had himself a nice night getting the win against the defending champs. JS Giguere got the hook. i don't like the look of that Giguere situation. i think Anaheim needs to bring back at least one of Selanne or Niedermayer soon before the gap gets too large in the Pacific Division. maybe all they need is a healthy Mathieu Schneider for now though. well anyway, the Ducks are going to be fine, make the playoffs and they'll be heard from late into the year. in that game last night people often forget about a guy like Mike Ribeiro who helps his team more than people realize. he can be a really nice add as a C3 since he gets significant PP time and his defensive play is helped a lot by playing on a defensively responsible team.
the goalie rotation continues in Minnesota and Josh Harding is going to have significant value in fantasy before the season is out. i had been thinking he'd get 25 starts or so but it could be that the splits go as high as 50/50 for the Wild. nobody talks about the Wild much but they're the closest team to me geographically and quite honestly, if Marian Gaborik is healthy then they are going to go a very long way. i peg Gabby for 50 goals and a league leader in scoring this season, and i got him in a keeper league too. SWEET.
Detroit beat up on Phoenix last night. YAWN. Nik Lidstrom put up 27 minutes of ice time. go figure. Henrik Zetterberg had 7 shots and went 1 and 1. Detroit might very well be a world beater ... again ... and again. they very nearly got past Anaheim last year in the playoffs and probably would've if Zetterberg had been 100%, which he wasn't. i'm not a Wing fan but you have to love the talent they stack up every night of the week. oh and Jimmy Howard is waiting in the wings (pun intended) to solidify their goaltending for the next decade too (keepers take note).
Mike Keenan goes into every game making sure that his team gets the first goal at home. his D pinches, they press harder and they do their best to put the boots to whoever they're playing right off the bat. the Flames played the Oil last night in the ongoing battle of Alberta and Dustin Penner takes a hooking minor 9 seconds into the game. thank you very much says Kristian Huselius less than a minute later scoring his 6th goal of the season on the PP. Huselius is a guy i don't get. he did absolutely nothing as a Panther and then turns into a 30 goal scorer in Calgary. maybe being under Keenan again will slow him down, and yet i don't think so. i don't think you'd be able to land this guy cheaply for your own team but if you have a spare winger to offer up for him or some excess elsewhere on your roster then it never hurts to have an extra 30 goals at LW where you'll have trouble finding it otherwise.
Jeremy Roenick (still an idiot) scored his 3rd last night. i can't believe he's still getting PP time but i have an inkling that even I would be able to score on the power play if Joe Thornton is on the ice with me. i'd still be ignoring Roenick for your fantasy team. seriously, look elsewhere. it seems that Mike Grier garnered 20 minutes of ice time last night, i just wish that big Joe wouldn't have to be required to have chemistry with 10 different forwards on that roster. Evgeni (call me Gene) Nabokov shut the door all night against the Preds and is ... well he's pretty good i guess eh?

got back from church this morning and it was amazing. life is hard my friends but let me just say that seekers, find. i'm going to enjoy my Sunday afternoon with my wife.