Neutral Zone Trap

Pacific Report - 10/25/06

2006-10-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

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Team	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Wins	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Losses	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>OTL	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Points	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>GF	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>GA	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Last 10
Dallas style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>8	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>1	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>0	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>16	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>29	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>15	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Year="2000">8-1-0 style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>
Anaheim style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>6	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>0	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>2	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>14	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>24	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>17	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> 6-0-2
San Jose style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>7	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>2	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>0	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>14	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>32	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>20	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Year="2000">7-2-0 style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>
Los Angeles style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>3	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>5	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>2	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>8	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>22	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>29	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Year="2002">3-5-2 style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>
Phoenix style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>2	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>8	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>0	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>4	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>19	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>44	style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Year="2000">2-8-0 style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>

style='font-size:16.0pt;color:#339966'>Dallasstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Stars

style='color:red'>Hot: Brenden Morrow (4 G, 5 A, 2 GWG), Mike Ribeiro (3 G, 4
A), Eric Lindros (1 G, 6 A, 20 PIM), Marty Turco (Day="1" Year="2000"> style='color:red'>7-1-0, 1.86 GAA, .936 Sv. %)

style='color:red'>

style='color:blue'>Cold: Jaroslav Modry (0 G, 1 A), Jeff Halpern (0 G, 2 A)

style='color:blue'>

style='color:#FF9900'>Injuries: Patrik Stefan (D2D, Hand Infection)

style='color:#FF9900'>

The Stars are blazing out of the gates, primarily because of
their astounding defense and goaltending (1^st in GAA).style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Marty
Turco, coming off of a down year in terms of his ratio categories, has
looked like the pre-lockout version to this point, and is stopping everything
in sight. While he’s yet to post his
first shutout of the young season (backup Mike
Smith did in his only start to this point), Turco has allowed two goals or
less in six of his eight starts.

New captain Brenden
Morrow is indeed taking more of a leadership role on the ice in a couple of
different ways. Morrow, who the Stars
severely need to step up a little more than he has in the past couple of
seasons on the scoresheet, is averaging a point a game in the early-going, and
has already netted four goals. More
importantly, perhaps (though it hurts his fantasy value), Morrow has been much
more disciplined in terms of staying out of the penalty box.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> After spending 183 minutes in the box last
season, the Stars would like to see him to avoid taking crucial penalties
without losing his edge physically. If
he can keep it up, Morrow will still be a fantasy monster, but he won’t be the style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Todd Bertuzzi clone you were after when
you drafted him.

A couple of newcomers highlight the hot list for the
Stars. Canadiens’ castoff style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Mike Ribeiro is currently second on the
team with seven points, and has at least one point in five of his eight games
this season. Ribeiro, a former twenty
goal scorer who posted 65 points the year before the lockout, has the potential
to step into a big role on the second line with the Stars, and should feed off
of an opportunity to work with Eric
Lindros. Speaking of Lindros, he
always scores when he’s healthy, and this season is no exception.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He’s notched seven points through the team’s
first nine games, and even seems to have added a bit of a mean streak to go
with his tremendous size. Lindros has
hit the box in all but two of his nine starts this season, and should style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>easily hit 100 PIMS if (and with
Lindros, it’s always a very big if) he can stay healthy.

It’s difficult to find a pair of players who aren’t red hot
on a team that’s won eight of its first nine, but there are a couple of guys
struggling to get on the scoresheet. style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jeff Halpern isn’t a fantasy stud by
any stretch of the imagination, but he’s got just two helpers so far this
season. Playing on the third line
certainly can’t be helping him much, so this figures to be a struggle all
season long. Jaroslav Modry has been a solid 35-40 point defenseman in the past
with the Kings and Thrashers, but he’s finding that there’s a little too much
blue-line depth for him to see enough time on the Power Play to make a
difference. Thus far, he has just one
point, and it didn’t come with the man advantage.

Next Five: vs. style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Detroitstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, vs. style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Los Angelesstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>*, vs. style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>St. Louisstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Edmontonstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Vancouver

The Red Wings have yet
to show us they’re anything more than a shadow of last year’s team, so start
Turco safely in all five. Expect for
Mike Smith to see his second start of the year against style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Los Angelesstyle='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> in the second of back to back nights. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The Kings, Blues, and Canucks aren’t really
scaring anyone with their offenses right now, though the Oilers are bound to
present a challenge. The same goes for
the skaters, though Roberto Luongo looms large against the ‘Nucks.

Anaheim Ducks

style='color:red'>Hot: Jean-Sebastian Giguere (5-0-2, 1.78 GAA, .941 Sv. %),
Chris Kunitz (4 G, 3 A, 6 PPP), Corey Perry (3 G, 4 A, 4 PPP)

style='color:red'>

style='color:blue'>Cold: Ilya Bryzgalov (Made Just Two Starts), Francois
Beauchemin (0 G, 1 A)

style='color:blue'>

style='color:#FF6600'>Injuries: None

style='color:#FF6600'>

While Teemu Selanne and Andy McDonald are style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>supposed to be asked to carry the
scoring on this team up front, it’s been the sophomore trio of Kunitz, Perry,
and Ryan Getzlaf that’s carried the offense so far.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> All three have very bright futures, both in
fantasy and real hockey, though it’s doubtful that they’ll be able to carry the
team to the lofty expectations that the media has laid out (the Ducks were
picked to win it all by a number of major publications).style='mso-spacerun:yes'> As they gain experience and continue to play
together, expect Kunitz, Perry, and Getzlaf to become big names in the coming
years.

Jiggy has gotten hot, and there’s little that Bryzgalov is
going to be able to do about that. The
Ducks have a couple of legitimate number one goalies, meaning that Mike Babcock
probably rides the hot hand all year.

Bryzgalov hasn’t been bad by any stretch of the imagination (1-0-0, 2.03
GAA, .939 Sv. %), but Giguere has been amazing in the early-going.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He’s allowed two or fewer goals in four of
his six starts, while gaining at least a point in each of them.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He did
replace Bryzgalov in his second start, when Babcock got a little upset with
Bryzgalov for allowing a pair of short side goals.

This team’s strength lies with their top two defensemen, and
both Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger have gotten off to strong starts.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They’ll need Beauchemin to step up and give
them another puck-moving defenseman if they have designs on truly making a run
at the Cup, though.

Next Five: vs. style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Edmontonstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Minnesotastyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Chicagostyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>*, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>St. Louisstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, vs. NY Rangers

You have to keep
riding Jiggy here if you have him, but he’ll face a couple of terrific offenses
in the Oilers and Wild (even without Marian Gaborik) to start this
stretch. Chicago could also present some
problems if Martin Havlat is back, while the Rangers loom as another team capable
of doing some damage offensively. The
Ducks’ skaters may have trouble getting the puck by Dwayne Roloson and Manny
Fernandez, but should be able to put some points up in the final three.

style='font-size:16.0pt;color:blue'>San Josestyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
Sharks

style='font-size:16.0pt;color:blue'>

style='color:red'>Hot: Milanstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Michalek (6 G, 4
A, 6 PPP), Jonathan Cheechoo (5 G, 5 A), Matt Carle (2 G, 7 A, 4 PPP), Steve
Bernier (2 G, 6 A, 6 PPP), Vesa Toskala (5-0-0, 1.99 GAA, .926 Sv. %), Evgeni
Nabokov (2 SHO), Patrick Marleau (4 G, 7 A, 7 PPP)

style='color:red'>

style='color:blue'>Cold: Ville Nieminen (1 G), Mike Grier (1 G)

style='color:blue'>

style='color:#FF6600'>Injuries: Ryan Clowe (1-2 Weeks, Foot)

style='color:#FF6600'>

The Sharks complete the trifecta of fantastic teams within
the Pacific, though they do things a bit differently.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> While the Stars and Ducks rely more on their
great defense, the Sharks are easily one of the top offensive teams in the league.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The emergence of second-line wingers Michalek
and Bernier only underscore that, as now the Sharks have not one, but two style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>dominant scoring lines led by bigtime
pivots. Joe Thornton and Jonathan
Cheechoo are again working their magic on the top line, and they’ve even added
a third potential breakout star in Mark Bell.

However, while Thornton has
been up to his old tricks in finding his linemates (10 assists), he’s yet to
score his first goal on the season.

style='color:blue'>

Though it’s still early, the second line of Michalek-Marleau-Bernier
has been the best line on this team.
They’re dominating both at even strength and on the Power Play while
consistently showing up from night to night (Michalek and Marleau have points
in 7 of 9 starts, while Bernier has a point in 6 of 9).style='mso-spacerun:yes'> However, having a stronger second line
surrounding Marleau has been the Sharks’ problem for a couple of years now, so
having a second line that can stick with the first makes them even more
frightening. Thornton,
Cheechoo, and Bell have been strong
this season as well, and neither line looks to drop off significantly.

Rookie Matt Carle has been exactly what the Sharks were
looking for along the blue-line, and is currently tied for the lead among
defensemen with nine points on the year.
He’s been solid in his own zone, while he’s been an absolute force on
the offensive end of the ice. He has a
nice shot, fantastic vision, and an uncanny ability to get the pucks to his
forwards in space. Christian Ehrhoff
hasn’t been bad either, but it’s clear who will continue to be the QB on the
top unit of the Power Play based on Carle’s early showing.

The Sharks couldn’t ask for much more from their goaltenders
either. Toskala has won twelve straight
regular season starts dating back to last season, and has been fantastic in
three of his five wins to this point.

Nabokov has run a little more hot and cold, posting two shutouts to go
along with a pair of lemons. They’ll
continue to alternate for the time being, though the hot rumor is that the
Bruins have been talking to the Sharks about Nabby in a deal that might involve
Glen Murray coming to San Jose.

Neither Nieminen nor Grier are
asked to do that much offensively, but neither are looking like the 20 goal
scorers that many thought they could be earlier in their careers.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They’re nice checking line players who will
maintain a solid enough +/- playing against opponents’ top lines.

Next Five: at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Detroitstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Nashvillestyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>*, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Floridastyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tampa Bay style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, NY
Rangers

The Sharks handled style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Columbusstyle='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> to start their five-game road trip the
other night, but it’s about to get a little tougher.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Detroit and Nashville figure to be two
legitimate playoff teams, while Tampa
and Floridastyle='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> are both very talented offensive
clubs. Long road trips can wear on a
team, so there’s a possibility they’ll look a little sluggish when they head to
the Sunshine style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> State. They’ll face elite goaltenders
in their next two games, but they’ve already proven they can beat Hasek (and
did, 5-1 last week in San Jose). Keep the skaters in the
lineup regardless.

style='font-size:16.0pt;color:purple'>Los Angelesstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
Kings

style='font-size:16.0pt;color:purple'>

style='color:red'>Hot: Anze Kopitar (3 G, 8 A, 4 PPP), Brent Sopel (2 G, 5 A),
Mike Cammalleri (5 G, 2 A), Mathieu Garon (Day="1" Year="2001"> style='color:red'>2-1-1, 1.59 GAA, .946 Sv. %)

style='color:red'>

style='color:blue'>Cold: Craig Conroy (1 A, -4), Rob Blake (2 A, -5), Dan
Cloutier ( style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>1-4-1style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, 3.73 GAA, .878
Sv. %)

style='color:blue'>

style='color:#FF6600'>Injuries: Alyn McCauley (Knee Surgery,
????)

style='color:#FF6600'>

The Kings don’t figure to make a playoff run, but they can
still do some damage up front. Rookie
Anze Kopitar has been doing just that, showcasing great hands, good vision, and
good speed to create eleven points in his first ten games.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Kopitar figures to be a fixture on the Kings’
first line for years to come, and he’s as exciting a youngster as there is to
watch in the league.

Coming off a 55 point first full season in the NHL, you
would think that more fantasy owners would have paid attention to Cammalleri in
the preseason. It’s their loss if they
missed out, as he’s already got seven points (including five goals) in the
first ten games of the year. He should
bump his point total closer to 70 this season playing with Kopitar, and is
certainly worth a look if he’s sitting on your Free Agent list.

After a couple of strong seasons earlier in his career with
Vancouver, Sopel dropped off everyone’s radar with a weak showing on Long
Island in 2005-06 (28 points in 68 games).
Early on this season, he’s showing signs of life, and is currently tied
for second on the team with seven points.
He’s notched at least a point in six of the Kings’ ten games this
season, and figures to be working his way into a lot more Power Play time
behind Lubomir Visnovsky.

Why the Kings committed to as much time and money in the
Cloutier deal as they did is beyond me.
He’s looked like what he always was in Vancouver
(and New York) so far… a mediocre
goalie. The defense in front of him
isn’t talented enough to keep the puck off him, and that’s going to mean
trouble for Cloutier all season long.
Unfortunately, the financial commitment they made means that Garon is
going to have a tough time supplanting him as a true number one goalie.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Garon was just fine as a starter last year,
and he’s been great when given the opportunity early this season.

Conroy is obviously missing Pavol Demitra.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He’s at his best when he has a superstar to
work with (see: Iginla, Jarome) and while he’s a fine two way center, he’s
simply not fantasy caliber right now. If
you have him, cut bait. He’ll have a 40
point season, but that’s not what you’re looking for.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Blake is big, old, and slow.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He should be on the Flyers!

Next Five: at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Minnesotastyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Columbusstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Dallas, NYstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Rangers, style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Pittsburgh

There’s no such thing
as an easy game for the Kings right now, but they figure to be playing five
teams that are superior to them in all facets of the game in the next two
weeks. Garon is safe to start for this
stretch, though he’ll likely be riding the bench in most of them.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If you have Cloutier, I strongly advise
looking elsewhere. Scoring may be at a
premium against Minnesotastyle='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> (14 GA in 8 games) and style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Dallasstyle='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> (15 GA in 9 games), so start your skaters
from other teams if they have a better matchup.

style='font-size:16.0pt;color:#993300'>Phoenixstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
Coyotes

style='color:red'>Hot: Opposing Goaltenders (1.9 GF/Game),
Nick Boynton (47 PIMS), Derek Morris (33 PIMS)

style='color:red'>

style='color:blue'>Cold: Dennis Seidenberg (-10… is that possible at this
point???), Jeremy Roenick (1 G, 1 A), Owen Nolan (2 G, 1 A), Curtis Joseph (Month="2" Day="5" Year="2000"> style='color:blue'>2-5-0, 3.95 GAA, .873 Sv. %), Mike Morrison (0-3-0,
6.13 GAA, .790 Sv. %)

style='color:blue'>

style='color:#FF6600'>Injuries: Steve Reinprecht (Broken Clavacle, 7-8 Weeks),
Keith Ballard (Broken Right Hand, 5 Weeks)

style='color:#FF6600'>

After writing the first Atlantic report, I thought to
myself, “God, the Flyers are awful!”
However, when you look at the Phoenix Coyotes, maybe they’re not really
that bad. Since beating St.
Louis last Tuesday, the ‘Yotes have scored just three
goals in four games, getting spanked by the likes of the Kings, Stars, Oilers,
and Flames.

Shane Doan, Mike Comrie, and Ladislav Nagy are still
legitimate fantasy options, but I’m not sure it runs much deeper than that up
front. Zbynek Michalek and Keith Ballard
both have bright futures along the blue-line, but neither is there yet (and
Ballard is out for a while). Jeremy
Roenick and Owen Nolan both appear to have been done about three years ago.

If there’s a bright spot here, I think I’ve finally seen the
reasoning behind carrying Cujo and Mike Morrison as the ‘Yotes two goalies,
rather than carrying prospect David Leneveu on the roster.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They didn’t want Leneveu’s confidence to be
completely shattered by the horror show around him!style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Avoid Phoenix

at all costs right now, though they do still have enough talent on the first
line to do some damage. With a healthy
Reinprecht, there may still be some hope for them to avoid being the worst team
in the conference by year’s end.
However, it’s going to take some time (and some… err… coaching from
HOFer Wayne Gretzky).

Next Five: vs. style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Edmontonstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, vs. NY Rangers, at style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Anaheimstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, vs. style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Los Angelesstyle='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>, vs. style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Dallas

On the positive side,
they have a (potentially) winnable game in the next five, hosting style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Los Angelesstyle='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>. The
only other positive is that all five games are at home.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Edmonton and the Rangers have front-line
offenses, while they’re virtually guaranteed to be shut out by either the Ducks
or Stars (if not both). You shouldn’t be
near either goaltender right now, and you shouldn’t have anyone outside of
Nagy, Doan, or Comrie in your lineup, no matter how deep your league is.

Atlantic Report - 10/22/06

2006-10-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

New Jersey Devils

Last Ten: 4-3-1

Hot: Brian Gionta (7 G, 5 A, +1), Scott Gomez (2 G, 8 A, +2), Zach Parise (3 G, 3 A, +1)

Not: Paul Martin (0 G, 2 A, -2), Martin Brodeur (4-3, 3.32 GAA, .895 Sv. %)

Injuries: Travis Zajac (D2d - Undisclosed)

The Devils aren't known for getting out of the gates quickly, and this season seems no different. Though they currently lead the Atlantic with nine points in the early going, they've lost three of their last five, including an embarassing 8-1 drubbing by the Senators Saturday night, in which Marty Brodeur was pulled. Needless to say, Marty's owners needn't worry. He gets better as the season wears on. The top line, featuring Gionta, Gomez, and Patrik Elias is the reason that this team is hovering just over the .500 mark early on, as they've combined for 29 points in just 8 games to this point.

Gionta seems to have had little trouble putting his lack of preseason time with the team behind him, and is amongst the league leaders in both goals (7) and points (12). Paul Martin, on the other hand, seems to be having a little trouble getting into the flow. His two points in eight games aren't that big an issue, though we'd like to see a bit of a better showing from him in the +/- department... Rookie Travis Zajac has been fairly impressive when in the lineup, and he's earning himself his fair share of Power Play time with the second unit.... It's nice to see Parise, a rather sizable fantasy flop last season, start strong. He has great hands and a ton of talent, so he's more than capable of keeping this going.

Next Five: at Pittsburgh, vs. Florida, vs. Columbus, vs. NY Islanders, at Montreal

Get your Devils' skaters in the lineup. Three of the next five are at home, and four of the next five come against mediocre defensive squads that missed the playoffs last season!

Pittsburgh Penguins

Hot: Michel Ouellet (4 G, 3 A, 5 PPP), Ryan Whitney (2 G, 4 A, 10 PIM), Evgeni Malkin (3 G, 1 A, +2), Jordan Staal (3 G, 3 SHP), Marc-Andre Fleury (4-3-0, 2.76 GAA, .924 Sv. %, 1 SHO)

Not: John LeClair (0 Pts., -3), Ryan Malone (0 G, 1 A, -4), Nils Ekman (1 G, 3 A, -4), Colby Armstrong (0 Pts., 0 PIM in last four games)

Injuries: Ryan Malone (4-6 Weeks, Broken Forearm)

The Pens have had one of the more celebrated starts around the league, as Sidney Crosby (2 G, 8 A) continues to impress, while Russian rookie Evgeni Malkin has scored in each of his three games. That said, their breakout fantasy player of the early-going is clearly Ouellet, who nobody expected much out of this season. Ouellet, who quietly finished with 32 points in 50 games as a rookie last season, is scorching out of the gates, and already has three multi-point games to his credit this season. He's seeing all kinds of Power Play time (which isn't really much of a shock, considering 18 of his 32 points came on the PP last year) and taking major advantage of his chances. He's someone you should ride while he's hot, because it's unlikely to last forever.

Ryan Whitney is building nicely on his strong rookie showing from a year ago, though Sergei Gonchar's own strong start (6 points, all on the Power Play) mean that he'll likely be relegated to the second unit on the Power Play for a while longer. He's doing a little bit of everything, and has racked up 10 PIMS and 3 PPP to go along with his solid 6 points in 7 games.... Ekman hasn't been bad on the offensive end, and has four points in seven games already, but he was brought in because of his talents as a two-way forward. A -4 rating through seven games when your team is winning just isn't getting it done.... Since racking up 17 PIMS in the first three games, Colby Armstrong hasn't done squat... literally. He's a -1 with no PIMS or points over the last four, failing to capitalize on any of his fifteen shots.... Fleury is establishing himself as a legitimate starting NHL goaltender, rather than the lame duck replacement that he looked like for much of last season.

Next Five: at NY Rangers, vs. Carolina, vs. New Jersey, at NY Islanders *, vs. Columbus

If you're riding Marc-Andre Fleury's hot start, these next three games may be a good time to give him a break. Pittsburgh will play two of the top offensive teams in the league in the Rangers and Hurricanes, and the Devils are no slouches offensively themselves.

New York Islanders

Hot: Alexei Yashin (3 G, 8 A, 7 PPP, +2), Miroslav Satan (1 G, 6 A, +2), Jason Blake (4 G, 2 A, 4 PPP), Tom Poti (2 G, 4 A, 5 PPP), Mike Dunham (2-0-2, 2.20 GAA, .939 Sv. %)

Not: Rick DiPietro (1-3, 4.11 GAA, .892 Sv. %), Trent Hunter (1 G, 1 A)

Injuries: Chris Campoli (Early November, Strained Groin)

Somehow it isn't that surprising that the Islanders picked up a little steam when goaltender Rick DiPietro was out with a groin injury for a few games. The team looked more confident in front of Dunham, who simply appeared to give the club a more talented backstop, rather than give them a third defenseman in the zone. Since starting out 0-3-0 on the West Coast, the Isles have managed at least a point in each of their past five games.

Alexei Yashin had a four-assist night in Saturday's 4-3 overtime win over Nashville, and now has seven of his eleven points in New York's past two games. He should continue to score a ton of points centering Miro Satan and Jason Blake, though, particularly on the Power Play.... Speaking of Satan, while it's nice to see seven points early on, he's their best finisher and has just one goal. Expect more results out of him in the near future... Poti is looking like one of the better signings of the offseason to this point, and is giving the Islanders something that they've severely lacked for a couple of years now... a puck moving defenseman who isn't absolutely terrible in his own zone... Brendan Witt isn't going to end up with a ton of points, but you have to love those 28 PIMS so far. He's landed in the box in all but one of the Islanders' games so far.

Next Five: vs. Buffalo, vs. Florida, vs. Chicago, at New Jersey, vs. Atlanta

Whether you have DiPietro or Dunham, don't even think of starting them (or anyone else, for that matter) against the Sabres. Apart from that, the upcoming schedule isn't that grueling. Four of the next five are at home, and the skaters should be able to produce offensively in all five games.

New York Rangers

Hot: Brendan Shanahan (8 G, 2 A, 5 PPG), Jaromir Jagr (2 G, 11 A, 6 PPP, 12 PIM), Michael Nylander (3 G, 10 A, +3), Martin Straka (3 G, 6 A)

Not: Karel Rachunek (1 A, -7), Marcel Hossa (0 Points, -4), Peter Prucha (0 G), Henrik Lundqvist (4-3, 3.52 GAA, .883 Sv. %)

Injuries: Marek Malik (D2d, Root Canal)

All in all, not a bad start for one of the bigger surprises in the league last season. The addition of Shanahan has given them someone capable of lighting the lamp early and often, and his addition on the Jagr line should certainly keep it rolling all year. Michael Nylander continues to show the effect that having a couple of elite linemates can have on a player, even if he's not really the most talented player in the league. Lundqvist is still winning hockey games, but that save percentage is awfully troublesome for a number two fantasy goaltender, much less someone who is expected to be a top ten overall goalie.

Though Hossa still has legitimate prospect status, he's going a long way to prove the theory that good bloodlines (aka, being Marian Hossa's brother) don't necessarily mean results. He's currently looking like the Billy Ripken or Ozzie Canseco of the NHL. He's not strong in his own zone, and he's yet to get on the board... Though he has five points, Peter Prucha is off to somewhat of a disappointing start. A thirty goal scorer as a rookie a year ago, Prucha certainly had a ton of upside as a finisher coming into the season, but has yet to find the net once to this point.... Young Russian defenseman Fedor Tyutin has been working his way into some more important ice time in the early going, and now has at least a point in four of his past five games. He's seeing some time on the second unit of the Power Play, and could eventually get a chance to play the point on the top unit. While Michael Rozsival is coming off a career year, he's simply not much of an obstacle.

Next Five: vs. Florida, at Phoenix, at Los Angeles, at Anaheim, at San Jose

The next three are all very winnable games, and Lundqvist should certainly be started without question. While the Rangers will begin a brutal west coast swing that ends against the powerful Ducks and Sharks, the skaters should be very productive at home against Florida, and Phoenix and the Kings haven't really shown that they can stop anyone defensively to this point. Benching some skaters for the last two, against Anaheim (5th in GAA) and San Jose (7th) might not be a bad idea.

Philadelphia Flyers

Hot: None

Cold: Mike Richards (0 Points, -3), Robert Esche (0-2, 6.51 GAA, .776 Sv. %), Derian Hatcher (0 Points, -10), Kyle Calder (0 Points, -4), Jeff Carter (1 G, 1 A, -3)

Injuries: Peter Forsberg (1-2 Weeks, Sprained Wrist)

OK. I have to admit, as a diehard Devils fan, it warms my heart to see the Flyers as the worst team in hockey. However, as a hockey fan in general, it's horrible to see what's become of them. The team still hasn't really adjusted to the rules changes, and generally runs one of the slowest teams in the league out there on a nightly basis. When your personnel doesn't fit the league, changes are a near guarantee, which led to three players being released this past week and eventually saw GM Bobby Clarke resign and Coach Ken Hitchcock fired Sunday.

After he scored twice in Philly's last game, I considered putting Simon Gagne as their only player who was hot... until I realized that he had a four-game pointless streak heading into that game. Gagne is a must play on a nightly basis. The same goes for a healthy Forsberg, Mike Knuble, and Joni Pitkanen. Apart from those four players, you're simply not seeing much out of Philadelphia right now. Geoff Sanderson's off to a decent start, with five points in eight games, but he's incredibly streaky. Jeff Carter is going to heat up at some point, and he's more than worth your time when he does. If you have a deep bench, grab him. Esche's vomit-inducing start has assuredly set Antero Niittymaki, who has been solid (2.99 GAA, .896 Sv. %) despite the team's horrible start, up as the starter for the foreseeable future. He's still not a great fantasy play by any stretch of the imagination.

The Flyers problems are much bigger than Ken Hitchcock, who may actually be a Hall of Fame coach. For now, they have about four or five guys that look like they should be in the NHL now that the new system is in place. Until they get some more players around them who are fast enough to play in this league, this team isn't going to get much better.

Next Five: vs. Atlanta, vs. Pittsburgh, vs. Chicago, vs. Tampa Bay, vs. Washington

This is a huge stretch for the Flyers, as they'll play a five-game homestand against four non-playoff teams from a year ago. Their competent fantasy players (Gagne, Forsberg [when he's back], Knuble, Pitkanen) up front are must plays, and will be responsible for turning the fortunes of the franchise if they're to make any kind of run this year. If they can't go 4-1 on this homestand, it's time for Philadelphia to start blowing it up and re-tool for the future. Niittymaki is a safe play against Chicago and Washington, though all five of their opponents are more than capable of going off.

Red Wings Limp Home After Getting Spanked Out West

2006-10-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

As your blogger/columnist throughout the NHL season, I'm coming to realize that following the NHL throughout the year is even more fun and exciting when I'm getting the chance to write about it on a daily basis. I'll be continuing to load us up with content daily both at NZT and FIC all year.

However, as this is the first season that we're covering hockey all season long (well... err.... at all?) at FIC, this is something that I'm hopeful will evolve throughout the year. Starting next week, rather than running the traditional gameday threads that I've been running throughout the first couple of weeks during the season, we're going to be running divisional content, spotlighting one division a night throughout the week. We'll also be adding a "Plus Play" each night which will note a skater and/or goaltender that has a favorable matchup coming up!

After winning the President's Trophy last season, many figured that the window was still a long way from closing on the Detroit Red Wings. However, after they earned seven points in four games following their opening night loss to the Canucks, the Wings were absolutely pummeled by three of the better teams in the Western Conference.

Detroit opened their four-game road trip out west with a 3-1 win over the Kings, but have struggled to get much of anything going since. After getting pounded by Anaheim (4-1) and San Jose (5-1) on Wednesday and Thursday, they took a trip up north to face the team that sent them spiraling out of the playoffs Saturday night. They would leave Rexall Place with the same hollow feeling that they left with last April.

In what was a battle of goaltenders for much of the game, Dwayne Roloson outdueled Dominik Hasek 3-1 as the Oilers took home the win. Though the teams combined for just one goal in the first 51 minutes, a late flurry gave the fans in Edmonton quite a jolt. After Danny Markov made a vicious hit midway through the third period, Pavel Datsyuk broke in alone on Roloson and nearly deked him out of his skates, burying a wrister underneath Rolo's left pad to knot the game at one. However, Detroit's momentum would not last.

The Oilers answered quickly, re-claiming the lead just two minutes later when rookie Ladislav Smid (currently known as that other guy the Oilers received in the Chris Pronger trade) showcased the skills that made him a top ten overall pick just a few years ago. Smid split a pair of Red Wings' defensemen with a beautiful breakout pass to Petr Sykora, who moved in alone on Dominik Hasek and beat him over his left pad. Joffrey Lupul (the key piece of the Pronger trade) would add his third goal of the season just two minutes later, taking a nice flip pass from Daniel Tjarnqvist to earn a breakaway of his own. Lupul went the embarassing route, beating Hasek five-hole to essentially put the game away.

All in all, Detroit was outscored 13-6 in going 1-3 on the road trip, with the only win coming against a team that probably won't figure in the playoff mix. The Wings now face a crucial early-season stretch, as they'll come home to face the Sharks again before heading back out on the road to face the red-hot Dallas Stars. Two games later, they'll be hosting Calgary, another one of the favorites to win the conference. Even rival St. Louis seems to be playing fairly well early on, and isn't a gimme in the middle of those three.

Could we be staring at a 3-8-1 Red Wings team before they've even faced the team that figures to be their main competition in the Central (Nashville)? It's doubtful, but they're definitely going to have to take advantage of the home cooking to get the ball rolling. Six goals in four games simply doesn't get it done in this league anymore.

Around the League

- Brendan Shanahan notched his eighth goal of the year and later scored the only goal of the shootout in the Rangers' 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Michael Nylander scored and added two assists for the Rangers, while Jaromir Jagr had two helpers. Darcy Tucker scored twice for the Leafs.

- Jose Theodore probably never wants to return home again, as he was lit up for 8 goals on 36 shots in Colorado's 8-5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Sheldon Souray finished with a four point night, scoring two goals in the Habs' victory, while Saku Koivu and Andrei Markov each had three assists. Michael Ryder, Sergei Samsonov, and Mike Johnson finished with a goal and an assist apiece. Andrew Brunette lit the lamp twice for the Avs, but they simply couldn't overcome a shoddy homecoming performance by Theo.

- The Sabres continued to tear up the league with a 6-2 thrashing of the Boston Bruins. Buffalo, now 8-0, got a pair of goals from Chris Drury, while they also saw Maxim Afinogenov (1G-1A) and Thomas Vanek (1-2) extend their multi-point game streaks to four and three, respectively. Brian Campbell tossed in three assists from the blue line, while Boston rookie Phil Kessel scored his first NHL goal in the loss. Martin Biron spelled Ryan Miller for Buffalo, and stopped 24 shots as he improved to 2-0 on the year.

- Marian Hossa scored twice to claim the NHL scoring lead with nine as the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Florida Panthers 4-2. Hossa mixed it up a bit, scoring a pair of non-traditional goals. He started the scoring early in the second, burying a penalty shot against Florida goalie Alexander Auld, and added an empty-net tally to seal the deal with just three seconds to play. Ilya Kovalchuk added his second of the year, netting the game-winner early in the third for Atlanta. Old man Joe Nieuwendyk scored his third of the year on the Power Play for Florida.

- The Ottawa Senators finally showed some life (and then some), spanking the New Jersey Devils so badly that the Devils had to pull the best goaltender in the world. The scary part is that it wasn't the usual suspects who were doing the damage for the Sens, as they'd switched their lines a bit the other day. Antoine Vermette and Dean McCammond scored twice each as the Sens pasted the Devils 8-1. Jason Spezza added a goal and two assists, temporarily relieving some concerns about his balky back, while Dany Heatley and Joe Corvo each added a goal and a helper. Brian Gionta remained red hot, scoring New Jersey's lone goal to tie the game at 1 midway through the first. Devils goalie Martin Brodeur stopped just 20 of 26 shots before getting pulled late in the second. Ray Emery was brilliant on the other end of the ice, turning away 34 of 35 shots.

- Tom Poti scored 23 seconds into overtime as the New York Islanders beat John Grahame and the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3. The fifteen-year man, Rick DiPietro, did his best to silence the critics with a strong big-game performance, turning away 37 of 40 shots he faced from the defending champs. Speaking of ridonculous contracts, Alexei Yashin had a pretty big game himself, assisting on all four Islander goals. Poti complemented his goal with a pair of assists in regulation. Justin Williams scored twice for the 'Canes, while captain Rod Brind'amour added a goal and two assists. Eric Staal and Ray Whitney saw their point-scoring streaks halted at four games for Carolina.

- Roberto Luongo made 37 saves and Lukas Krajicek scored 2:32 into overtime as the Vancouver Canucks downed the Nashville Predators 4-3. Brendan Morrison completed the Canucks' second third-period comeback in a row with his second goal of the season at 18:20 of the third. Jan Bulis had a goal and an assist for the Canucks, while Preds' rookie Alexander Radulov made his NHL debut in the loss. Rookie defenseman Shea Weber had a pair of assists for Nashville.

- Lee Stempniak had a pair of goals and an assist in Chicago as the St. Louis Blues beat the Blackhawks 4-3. Stempniak scored for the second straight night, continuing his hot start, and seems like a legit breakout candidate playing on a powerful line with Peter Cajanek and Keith Tkachuk. Curtis Sanford started for the second straight night for St. Louis, and may start pushing Manny Legace for some more playing time after consecutive quality starts. Michal Handzus gave one of his former teams fits, scoring and adding a helper for Chicago. Radim Vrbata also got on the scoresheet with an early goal. Vrbata has now scored at least one point in seven of eight games this season. The 'Hawks were without Martin Havlat Saturday, who will be out for the next two to three weeks after spraining his right ankle Friday night.

- The rookies were on display in Pittsburgh as the Penguins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3. Evgeni Malkin scored his third goal in as many games, netting his first career game-winner seven minutes into the third period. Jordan Staal scored his second of the game and third of the season on a penalty shot just 45 seconds later to ice the game for the Pens. Jackets' rookie Gilbert Brule notched his first of the season to get Columbus on the board late in the first. Nikolai Zherdev finished with a goal and an assist for the Jackets, while Sergei Gonchar and Michel Ouellet did likewise for the Pens. Marc-Andre Fleury continued to look strong, stopping 36 of 39 shots to improve to 4-3 with a 2.76 GAA.

- Stars' rookie Mark Smith stopped all 22 shots he faced and Dallas used a balanced scoring attack for the second straight night as they shut out the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0. Mike Modano, Mike Ribeiro, and Phillipe Boucher each scored for the second straight night for Dallas, who will return home to start a four game homestand Monday.

- Though star winger Marian Gaborik was out with a strained groin, the Wild didn't need him in San Jose. Minnesota took it to the Sharks 4-1 Saturday night as they beat Evgeni Nabokov four times on just eighteen shots. Though San Jose heavily outshot Minnesota, the Wild controlled the game from the outset, striking almost immediately in the first period when Mark Parrish buried a slapper from the slot 2:31 in. Though the style of the NHL has changed, the Wild still find ways to lull you to sleep a bit when they have the lead, and did so throughout. Manny Fernandez made sure that the lead would stand, stopping 31 of the 32 shots he faced. He lost his shutout with just over six minutes to go, and the outcome of the game was no longer in doubt. Brian Rolston scored his team-leading sixth goal of the year in the victory, while Stephane Veilleux added a goal and an assist. Patrick Marleau scored the Sharks' lone goal late in the third. Gaborik is expected to be re-evaluated Sunday in the Twin Cities.

Wild Fall in Anaheim; Sabres Stay Hot

2006-10-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

It's always wonderful to turn Sportscenter on and see that, on a night when there were no other professional sports played, hockey is buried until about a half-hour into the show. Though T.O. hasn't made any noise in the NFL this past week, I'm sure they'd sooner air a story on what he ate for breakfast than show hockey highlights. It's truly disheartening how the mainstream media just doesn't seem to care, and the sad thing about this is that I would assume that nearly half of the casual fans of the NHL might not even know the season has started because the biggest sports media outlet in the U.S. won't even give hockey the time of day. I mean... it's not like there were any big early-season matchups tonight or anything, were there? We only had a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals from last season matching two of the favorites in the East and a matchup of the West's last unbeaten team (Minnesota) against many experts' pick to win the Stanley Cup (Anaheim). Now that I've gotten that off my chest.....

The atmosphere in HSBC Arena was electric tonight as the Sabres downed the defending Stanley Cup Champion Hurricanes 5-4. Buffalo, who lost a thrilling seven game series to the Hurricanes last May, has won the first two meetings with Carolina this season as they've come flying out of the gates with a 7-0 start. Dating back to last season, they've now won twelve straight regular season games, a new franchise record.

In a game many would figure might be dominated by two of the league's best offenses, we had few surprises Friday. Neither Cam Ward (5 GA on 29 shots) nor Ryan Miller (4 GA on 20 shots) had strong nights from a fantasy perspective, though neither goaltender played particularly poorly. The offensive stars just happened to click tonight.

Scott Walker started the scoring for Carolina on a nice feed from Eric Staal midway through the first, but Buffalo's Jason Pominville, who scored the first goal of the NHL season when the two teams met on opening night in Carolina, answered back just four minutes later. Each team would score twice in the second, with Staal getting on the board on the Power Play and star winger Maxim Afinogenov scoring Buffalo's second goal in a two minute span midway through the period to give the Sabres a short-lived lead.

With the two teams tied entering the 54th minute, however, Thomas Vanek buried a quick wrister that squirted through Ward's pads to put Buffalo in front for good. Jaroslav Spacek scored just two minutes later to give the Sabres some much-needed insurance before Mike Commodore buried a shorthanded marker with 1:15 to play to complete the scoring, but Buffalo stood tall in the final minute as they held on 5-4.

Sabres Notes: Afinogenov had a hand in Buffalo's final three goals, scoring late in the second and assisting on Vanek and Spacek's goals in the third. Vanek and Afinogenov have now combined for fourteen points in the past two games, as they had four and five points respectively in Buffalo's 9-1 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday.... Chris Drury was held without a point for the first time in seven games Friday.... Spacek's game-winner was his second in as many games.

Hurricanes Notes: Though Tim Gleason hasn't exactly solved the issues of putting a defenseman on the point on the Power Play, the 'Canes have gotten a nice start from their other acquisition in the Jack Johnson deal. Eric Belanger scored his third of the year and has at least a point in five of eight games so far this season... While we were expecting a fairly healthy split in goal from Carolina, Ward has now started four straight and seven of the eight games they've played this season. Expect John Grahame to get into a game soon.... Since suffering three game scoreless streaks, Staal and Whitney have now had at least a point in each of the past four games. Three of the four were multi-point games.

While the East Coast's game of the night was all about offense, the blueliners and goaltenders controlled the big game in the West Friday. The Ducks used a pair of goals from their defensemen and J.S. Giguere made 27 saves as Anaheim outlasted the Minnesota Wild 2-1. Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer started the scoring early in the second, beating Wild goalie Manny Fernandez, who was without his stick, on a quick wrist shot. Stay-at-home defenseman Sean O'Donnell padded the lead seven minutes later when Sammy Pahlsson found him open in the slot.

Wild winger Pierre-Marc Bouchard finally got on the board just over a minute later on a high deflection off to the side of the net. Giguere was fantastic the rest of the way, though, stopping all eleven shots he would face in the third.

Ducks Notes: Don't go running to your waiver wire to grab O'Donnell. His goal in the second was his first of the year, and just his fifth since 2002.... Off to a 4-0-2 start with a fantastic 1.77 GAA and .942 Save Percentage, Giguere has seized control temporarily of the starting role in Anaheim. Expect Randy Carlyle to ride the hot hand all season, meaning that Ilya Bryzgalov should still see plenty of starts once Jiggy cools off... Corey Perry assisted on Niedermayer's goal, and seems to be building nicely on his strong rookie season from a year ago. With four points in the past two games, he now has seven in as many games this year.

Wild Notes: Brian Rolston assisted on Bouchard's goal to extend his point-scoring streak to three games. He leads Minnesota with nine points so far this season... Marian Gaborik saw his point-scoring streak end at three games, while Pavol Demitra was held without a point for the first time in seven games this season... Kurtis Foster assisted on the Bouchard goal for his first point in four games... Fernandez stopped 27 of 29 shots in the loss.

Around the League

- Bryan McCabe and Kyle Wellwood each had a goal and an assist as the Leafs beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2. McCabe started the scoring midway through the second period by burying a pretty feed from behind the net from Mats Sundin. Wellwood added his second goal of the season to break a 1-1 tie late in the period, while Michael Peca added his first goal with Toronto 34 seconds later to provide the difference. Andrew Raycroft made 23 saves as he improved to 4-2-1 on the year.

- Simon Gagne scored twice, but it wasn't enough as the Flyers dropped their fifth straight in Florida 3-2. Olli Jokinen's Power Play goal with less than two minutes to go in the third was the difference. Eddie Belfour stopped 25 shots for his first victory of the season.

- The Vancouver Canucks scored the final three goals of the game as they shook a monkey off their back and beat the Blues 3-2 in St. Louis. The Blues, who finished with the worst record in the NHL last season, won all four meetings last year, but just couldn't hold off a furious late third period charge from Vancouver tonight. Markus Naslund sent the game to overtime with just 26 seconds to play, burying a Power Play opportunity to knot the game at 2-2. He would find Sami Salo in the dying seconds of overtime, who beat St. Louis goaltender Curtis Sanford as time expired in the extra session to escape with a victory. The Sedin Twins combined for three assists, with Henrik assisting on both Power Play goals in the third. Sanford was fantastic for most of the game, stopping the first 26 shots he faced and finishing with 36 saves in 39 chances.

- The Dallas Stars used a balanced attack and scored twice in the final 1:14 to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4. Montreal transplant Mike Ribeiro knotted the game at 4-4 at 18:46 of the third off of a centering pass from Niklas Hagman. Phillipe Boucher added his first of the year just 45 seconds later for the final margin. Jere Lehtinen had a goal and an assist for the Stars, while Radim Vrbata had three assists in the loss for Chicago. Martin Havlat went without a point for the first time in six games this season, and left with an injury to his right ankle in the third. X-Rays were negative, but he'll be re-evaluated tomorrow.

Preds Sweep Through Atlantic Trip

2006-10-20T00:53:00.000-07:00

Even with goaltender Tomas Vokoun taking the night off, the Nashville Predators stayed red hot as they completed their sweep through the New York Metropolitan area. Martin Erat scored a power play goal and added an assist in regulation, while he netted the only successful shootout attempt as the Preds beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 . Paul Kariya added a pair of helpers, while Jason Arnott stuck it to his old mates with a Power Play goal two minutes into the contest. Backup Chris Mason made thirty saves in the victory, while Nashville did have the advantage of facing the Devils Scott Clemenssen, rather than Martin Brodeur.

Since a slow start saw Nashville lose twice to the perrenial doormat Blackhawks, Nashville has gotten rolling, winning four in a row. The three most recent victories saw them defeat the Islanders, Rangers, and Devils during a vicious four-day road trip. They'll return home Saturday to host the Vancouver Canucks, and currently find themselves tied atop the Central Division despite losing their first three games.

For New Jersey, it was simply a lack of scoring depth that hurt them in this one. The top line was as amazing as ever, with Brian Gionta scoring twice and adding an assist. Scott Gomez would score the other New Jersey goal, while captain Patrik Elias assisted on all three Devils goals. Still, it wasn't enough, as the only other player to record a point for New Jersey was Brian Rafalski.

In Other Action

- San Jose made the Red Wings wish they'd foregone their west coast trip. A night after getting blasted by Anaheim, Detroit was beaten even more soundly by the Sharks, 5-1. Patrick Marleau paced the Shark attack, scoring twice in the victory, while Milan Michalak continues to look like a stud in the early-going. Not only did Michalak net his sixth of the year; he also added a pair of assists to bump his point total to ten through seven games. Rookie defenseman Matt Carle added two more assists to take the NHL lead among defensemen with eight points on the year. Both were on the Power Play. Vesa Toskala made 21 saves as he improved to 4-0 on the year.

- Mathieu Garon continued to look strong early on, stopping all forty shots he faced as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0. Garon, who will have to split time with Dan Cloutier until one of them wins the job outright, has certainly made a statement in two of his three starts to this point. With the victory, he moved to 2-1 with a 1.67 GAA and a .952 Save Percentage on the year. All four Kings goals came on the Power Play in this one, and (for the most part) the usual suspects were providing them. Mike Camalleri (1-1), Anze Kopitar (1-1), Alexander Frolov (1-1), and Rob Blake (0-2) each had two point nights. Dustin Brown added his first of the season to complete the scoring. Backup Coyotes' goaltender Mike Morrisson looked anything but sharp, allowing three goals on just thirteen shots before getting pulled to start the second.

- Dany Heatley finally got on the board, but it wasn't enough as the Senators lost to the Colorado Avalanche 2-1. Heatley, coming off a fifty-goal effort last season, took six games to get into the scorer's column before burying a wrister top shelf midway through the third period. Joe Sakic got the scoring started midway through the second period, while Brad Richardson would net his second shorthanded goal of the year for the eventual game-winner a few minutes later. Jose Theodore made 27 saves as he improved to 2-2-1 on the year.

- Ryan Craig scored his fifth goal of the year and Marc Denis stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced as the Tampa Bay Lightning disposed of the Flyers 4-1. Brad Richards and Vinny Lecavalier each had two assists in the victory.

- Evgeni Malkin scored for the second time in two games, and also added an assist as the Penguins snuck off Long Island with a 4-3 overtime win. Sidney Crosby had three assists, while Nils Ekman, Sergei Gonchar, and Ryan Whitney each had multi-point games. Marc-Andre Fleury showed he's more than capable of playing on back to back nights, and stopped 34 of 37 shots to improve to 3-3 on the year. Isles center Alexei Yashin had a hand in all three New York goals, scoring once and adding a pair of helpers.

- Glen Murray scored twice and Hannu Toivonen made 26 saves as the Bruins beat the Calgary Flames 3-2.

- Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin each scored, but it wasn't enough as the Caps lost to the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 in a shootout. Marian Hossa scored twice and added an assist for the Thrashers, while Ilya Kovalchuk had a hand in setting up two of the three Atlanta goals. Caps backup Brent Johnson had his second strong showing in as many starts thi season, stopping 40 of the 43 shots he faced. Unfortunately, Washington hasn't been able to give him much support (either offensively or defensively), and he dropped to 0-0-2 on the year.

Malkin Scores, But Can't Stop Brodeur From Winning Number 450

2006-10-19T00:28:00.000-07:00

While the story in Pittsburgh was clearly Evgeni Malkin, one of the best goaltenders the league has ever seen did his part to steal the show. Malkin looked strong all night, showing fantastic speed, tremendous creativity, and even poking home his first career NHL goal Wednesday night, Martin Brodeur stopped 37 of 38 shots for his 450th career victory as the Devils beat the Penguins 2-1 in Mellon Arena.

Malkin had more than a handful of chances in this one, and kept the crowd in Pittsburgh buzzing all night long. He had a deflection off the crossbar in the first period before he punched a rebound through the pads of Brodeur for the Pens' only goal late in the second. In the third period, Malkin again made his presence felt with a sizzling slapper that deflected off of Brodeur's glove and broke the glass behind the net.

The enigmatic Russian center, considered by many to have a similar impact to that which teammate Sidney Crosby had last season, was moved around quite a bit. He began the game playing on a line with Crosby and winger Mark Recchi before settling into his expected role as second line center, where he played the pivot between Recchi and Ryan Malone. He also got to see some time alongside one of the better defensive left wingers in the league in Nils Ekman, and got an opportunity late in the game (when New Jersey finally took a penalty) to showcase his skills on the Power Play.

Malkin has arrived, and it looks like anyone trying to downplay his impact had better start eating their words. This kid isn't going to be a great player in this league.... he's already there.

Still, while the night clearly belonged to Malkin for most of the league, Martin Brodeur continued his assault on just about every goaltending record that his idle, Patrick Roy, once held. Brodeur moved to within 101 wins of Roy's all-time record, becoming just the third goaltender in NHL history (joining Roy and Florida's Ed Belfour) to win 450 or more games. He was workmanlike in holding one of the league's most exciting offenses to just 1 goal on 38 shots, and spoiled the debut of Malkin just as he did in Crosby's first game a year ago. Hats off to Brodeur, who figures to be the most celebrated goaltender of all-time when he hangs up his skates. Thankfully, that won't be for a few years, yet.

Around the League

- Tomas Vokoun stopped 38 shots as he won his third straight game and earned his first shutout of the year in Nashville's 3-0 win over the New York Rangers. Vokoun, who certainly seemed to be struggling to find a rhythm after missing the end of last season (and the playoffs) with a blood clot, has almost immediately worked himself back into must-play status in the past week. In three starts since allowing thirteen goals in his first two games, Vokoun has allowed just two goals on 95 shots. Nashville concludes their east coast trip tomorrow night with a game in New Jersey, however, and as hot as he is, I wouldn't be surprised to see Vokoun rested in favor of Chris Mason.... Preds center Josef Vasicek sat the game out with a strained hip flexor. It's uncertain whether this will land him on the IR or not. If it does (particularly if you're in a keeper), look out for Alexander Radulov, who would certainly be the expected call-up. Radulov was a monster in Juniors, and has six points in just four games for Milwaukee in the AHL.

- Brian Rolston scored his fifth goal of the season and Marian Gaborik buried a wrister 25 seconds into overtime as the Minnesota Wild moved to 6-0 with a 2-1 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings. Manny Fernandez stopped 34 of 35 shots in the victory, while former Wild farmhand Patrick O'Sullivan scored his first NHL goal in the loss.

- Alexander Semin scored his team-leading sixth goal as the Washington Capitals downed the Florida Panthers 5-2.

- John-Michael Liles scored his first two goals of the season and Peter Budaj made 27 saves as the Colorado Avalanche escaped from Toronto with a 4-1 victory.

- A pair of former Senators scored as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1. Martin Havlat scored his league-leading seventh goal of the season in the first, while Bryan Smolinski scored his third of the year early in the third to provide the difference. Sophomore sensation Christopher Higgins scored his fourth of the year in a losing cause for the Habs, while Nikolai Khabibulin made 28 saves as he improved to 4-1 on the year.

- Ryan Getzlaf scored the first of three Power Play goals from the Ducks in the second period as Anaheim beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1. Rookie Shane O'Brien scored his first NHL goal 100 seconds later, while Chris Kunitz buried the final Power Play tally with less than two minutes to go in the period. Corey Perry had a goal and two assists in the win, while J.S. Giguere turned away 21 of 22 shots for the win.

Malkin to Make Much Anticipated Debut

2006-10-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

After a preseason injury cost Penguins rookie Evgeni Malkin the first two weeks of the season, Malkin is slated to make his debut Wednesday night in New Jersey as the Pens take on the Devils. While Malkin's is perhaps the most anticipated debut since fellow Pens' center Sidney Crosby's a year ago, Pittsburgh is forcing him into the lineup in a situation that will parallel Crosby's first game a year ago.

Last season, Crosby started opening night.... in New Jersey. Malkin will get to showcase his skills against the most decorated goaltender in the NHL Wednesday night, and he's expected to center a line with Ryan Malone and Mark Recchi. Both are capable finishers, and Malkin will be asked to work his magic as an elite playmaker right off the bat.

It's been a long journey for Malkin to finally lace up the skates for his first game in the NHL, and anything short of a point in his first appearance will be considered a letdown. If nothing else, he makes the second line in Pittsburgh look a lot more dangerous, but he'll have a difficult time making noise right off the bat.

And Then There Were Two.......

2006-10-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

Heading into play Tuesday night, it was certainly a statistical oddity that there were still three teams that were perfect to this point. In Tuesday night's action, two of them put their unblemished record on the line, with one finally falling from the ranks while another absolutely steamrolled what figures to be a pretty decent team. Let's have a look at how the Stars and Sabres fared.

While many teams changed their style a touch after the lockout, the Dallas Stars remained pretty stagnant last season, continuing to win predominantly because of a stingy defense and solid goaltending. The 218 goals they allowed last season was the sixth best total in the NHL, while they relied heavily on their top two lines to carry the scoring load. Simply put, it wasn't broken, and they didn't try to fix it. Though they didn't have the speed or front-line talent of a San Jose or Anaheim, they still won the division going away because of their system.

Through five games this season, things were looking even better for Dallas. Marty Turco was looking better than ever, as he stopped 147 of 155 shots in posting a 1.60 GAA and .948 Save Percentage while going 5-0. The madness stopped (or did it) in San Jose last night, though, as the Sharks got to Turco with a Power Play goal late in the first. Though the defense continued to look suffocating, and Turco allowed just one more goal in the game, the offense was shut down by a talented Sharks defense and a red hot Evgeni Nabokov as Dallas fell to 5-1-0 with a 2-0 loss in San Jose.

Across the continent in Philadelphia, the Sabres, coming off of a phenomenal playoff showing that made them one of the clear favorites in the East this season, are doing things a little differently. Are they talented defensively? Sure, though they're not in the same league as Dallas in this department. However, while Dallas lacks more than two or three potentially dominant forwards, the Sabres have the deepest offense in hockey.

Buffalo, which you could argue has assembled the fastest team ever, has a good young core of defensemen, a fantastic young goaltender in Ryan Miller, and can run three amazing scoring lines at you. Simply put, while I'll boast about the depth of talent in Nashville, there is another team in the NHL that can match them. The Sabres used that depth and that incredible speed to skate around a Flyers' squad that, like the Stars, is stuck in the ice age and bury them 9-1.

Just looking at that score makes you cringe a bit. Even in the golden age of hockey, you didn't have many teams threatening to post double digit scoring totals. Now, after having watched nearly a decade of clutching, grabbing, and attempting to keep the games in the 2-1 and 3-2 range, it just boggles the mind. After tonight's drubbing of Philadelphia, the Sabres 31 goals on the year are six more than any other team in hockey. What makes it even more sick, however, is that nine players on the Sabres have four or more points (equal to a 55 point pace) through six games.

Chris Drury has been the breakout star to this point, notching ten points (seven goals) already. While Drury has always been a nice player to have as a third center, though, he's never had a monster fantasy season. In seven full seasons, we've never seen Mr. Clutch finish with more than 67 points once. Daniel Briere is certainly building upon his breakout season in 2005-06 (58 points in 48 games) and has nine points to this point. Maxim Afinogenov and Thomas Vanek each had monster nights on Tuesday, combining for nine points between them (1-4 for Maxim and 2-2 for Vanek), and both are poised to become legitimate stars this season. What's even more ridiculous is that I've yet to mention Jason Pominville (30 points in half a season as a rookie last year), Derek Roy (46 in 70 games in his second season), or Ales Kotalik (62 points in his second season) and Tim Connolly (55 points in 63 games last season) has yet to play this season.

If you have to score to win in the new NHL, the Sabres certainly have it. While it will be fun to see if the Bears and Colts can go undefeated in the NFL (please don't take this as an implication that a team going undefeated is even possible in the NHL), it should be even more fun to see just how dominant this Sabres team can be in the East. Nobody can score with them when they're on, and even if the top two lines aren't on, that third line is incredible.

One of my readers at FIC kind of gave me a hint that I might not be giving the league's other unbeaten team enough love. I can assure you that I'm not neglecting the Wild, but that they just keep happening to play on nights when I haven't had time to watch them or write. The strange part about the Wild being in this mix is that while Dallas wins primarily because of defense and Buffalo can just plain outscore you, the Wild meet somewhere in the middle.

Sure... they have plenty of scoring depth, and they have a potentially dominant first line. While you have to hate giving up a kid like Patrick O'Sullivan in order to get him, Pavol Demitra should transform Marian Gaborik from a kid with ungodly talent into a Rocket Richard winner. With Gabby and Demitra, it doesn't really matter who you put out there on the opposite wing, does it? Regardless, the scoring prowess doesn't stop there. Pierre-Marc Bouchard showed as a rookie that he's more than capable of setting his linemates up. He just needs to show more of a scoring touch himself this season to become an elite winger. Brian Rolston's 79 points last year may prove to be a career year, but his 7 in 5 games this year are saying that he won't fall too far short of repeating the feat. Mikko Koivu and Branko Radivojevic are two very talented kids who have simply never gotten a chance to play on a big scoring line. Given that chance, they should continue to produce.

The wildcard has to be Mark Parrish, who could well stick on the first line with Gabby and Demitra if given the opportunity. Parrish has fantastic finishing skills, and while he depends on his linemates to create his shots, he'd have a terrific playmaking center in Demitra and an even better sniper on the opposite wing in Gaborik who can also create. Ideally, you'd end up with more of a power guy who could protect your two stars, but having someone with that deadly a slapshot playing with Demitra and Gabby could make for a monster year for all three of them!

Defensively, they're still coming of age a bit, but there simply couldn't be a better system in the NHL to do it in. Jacques Lemaire has always taken great pride in his defensive genius, and all of the forwards are capable of helping a young blue line corps out. Kim Johnsson gives them a potentially elite offensive defenseman, while Kurtis Foster has the size (in his own zone) and vision (in the offensive zone) to develop into one of the best two-way defensemen in the league. Keith Carney gives them a nice, veteran stay-at-home guy, while Martin Skoula gives them a solid veteran two-way defenseman.

With all of that said, however, you can't discuss the Wild without mentioning Manny Fernandez. Fernandez, who was originally brought to the franchise to start over Dwayne Roloson, didn't really earn his way into a regular starting job until Roloson cooled off for the first half of last season. Since then, he hasn't looked back. Fernandez was an absolute monster last season (30-18-7, 2.29, .919), and has looked even better early on this season (5-0, 1.77, .935). He almost always positions himself perfectly, doesn't give up a lot of big rebounds, and handles the puck as well as anyone not named Martin Brodeur in the league. Expect an even bigger year from Fernandez as he's the number one all season!

Goalie Platoons Getting Murky?

Two of the three most blatant platoon situations saw their teams in action Tuesday, with one goaltending situation (Philadelphia) seeming to become a little clearer, and the other (San Jose) getting even more confusing.

- Robert Esche allowed all nine goals in the Flyers' 9-1 loss to the Sabres in his first start since opening night. While Antero Niittymaki clearly earned his playing time during that span, he won't have to earn it for a little while. Esche is simply in a bad place right now, and he and Ken Hitchcock don't seem to see eye to eye. It's a travesty that he was left in for the entire rout.

- Evgeni Nabokov improved to 2-1-0 with his second shutout in three games this season in a 2-0 win over the Dallas Stars. Nabby, who has been alternating games with Vesa Toskala, will need Toskala (3-0, 2.97, .901) to drop off a bit if he's to start regularly, but he's making it awfully difficult for coach Ron Wilson to leave Nabby on the bench when he's playing this well.

- With the backups playing Tuesday, the Oilers and Canucks played to their second 2-1 contest in two nights. This time, the Oilers were the victors behind Jussi Markkanen. Both Markkanen and Canucks' backup Dany Sabourin looked strong. Behind Dwayne Roloson and Roberto Luongo, respectively, don't expect either to threaten to take over the starting job. Markkanen should see about 25 starts, while Sabourin should see no more than 10 or 15.

- San Jose's Milan Michalak continues to look like one of the breakout stars of the early-going. He scored his fifth of the year (the eventual game-winner) late in the first period on a deflection from rookie Matt Carle. Michalak now has seven points in six games with the Sharks this season. Carle added another assist later, and is on a point a game pace early from the blue line.

- Curtis Joseph made 25 saves, while Owen Nolan scored his first NHL goal since 2004 as the Phoenix Coyotes beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2. Mike Comrie and Shane Doan each had a goal and an assist while Ladislav Nagy added two helpers against his old team in the victory.

- Sheldon Souray and Radek Bonk each scored twice as the Habs defended their home ice and beat the Calgary Flames 5-4. Neither Miikka Kiprusoff nor Cristobal Huet looked particularly sharp in a game that figured to be dominated by two of the better goaltenders in the league, but the game was incredibly up-tempo (and televised in French for those of you who have Center Ice!). Matthew Lombardi lit the lamp twice for the Flames, while Dion Phaneuf had a goal and two assists in the loss.

Sabres Remain Unbeaten With Another Shootout Win

2006-10-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Maybe Jussi Jokinen and the Dallas Stars (who won their first eight shootouts last season) could find a challenging opponent in the league's new format. Ryan Miller had a terrific night, and the Power Play netted two goals in five chances as the Buffalo Sabres moved to 5-0 on the year with a 3-2 shootout victory in Detroit.

The Sabres, considered amongst the favorites in the East, have made a living early in the year off of the shootout format introduced by the league a year ago. After Ales Kotalik buried the gane-winner Friday night, Buffalo now finds themselves three for three in shootouts through just five games. While the skaters have been impressive for Buffalo in the shootouts, Ryan Miller has been the difference, as he's been successful in stopping 8 of 9 attempts so far this season.

Miller was also the difference throughout regulation and overtime play Friday, though. While he struggled early, misplaying the puck on Detroit's first goal, Miller rebounded to stop 41 of 43 shots in his third victory of the year. Only soph center Jason Williams would find a way to solve Miller this night, burying what was essentially an empty-netter for the opening goal and adding another tally late in the first. From that point forward, Miller was a brick wall in net, stopping 25 shots in the game's final two periods while making several acrobatic saves.

Chris Drury got the Sabres back into the game with five minutes to go in the first, netting his team-leading third goal of the season, while Thomas Vanek would score his first of the year late in the second period to knot it up. Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek allowed two goals on seventeen shots in the loss.

Around the Leage

- Jay Bouwmeester buried a slap shot from the point with nine minutes remaining in the third period as the Florida Panthers beat their cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2. Bouwmeester, who didn't score his first goal until March last season, busted into the scoring column much earlier this year as his slapper beat Lightning backup Johan Holmqvist five-hole on the Power Play. Juraj Kolnik and Nathan Horton added even-strength tallies, while Olli Jokinen had two helpers as the Panthers moved to 3-2-0 on the year. Ryan Craig remained red hot for the 'Ning as he scored his fourth goal of the season.

- Ray Whitney scored the game-winner with just 0.5 seconds left as the Carolina Hurricanes finally got off the schnyde, defeating the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3. Craig Adams scored twice in the victory, while Eric Staal added a goal and an assist. Carolina captain Rod Brind'amour added three helpers as the 'Canes improved to 1-3-1 on the year. Offseason acquisition Jon Sim scored twice in the second period for the Thrashers.

- Roberto Luongo had a rare bad start, allowing 6 goals on 37 shots in a 6-4 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Patrick Marleau scored his first goal of the year, while Milan Michalak added a pair of helpers for San Jose. Curtis Brown's breakaway shorthanded goal proved to be the game-winner in a back and forth contest. The Sedin twins combined for five points in the loss, while Markus Naslund added his third goal of the year and defenseman Kevin Bieska added a goal and two assists.

Notes

Bouwmeester took forever and a day to score his first goal last year, but he scored five in the season's final two months. He has a big shot, a terrific pedigree, and could emerge as a top ten defenseman by year's end.

If Craig is somehow still available in your league, you have to grab him at this point. He's logging a ton of important ice time, and he's splitting his time between the first and third line in Tampa. Though he was a bit of a surprise with his scoring ability last year, he's definitely taking steps to prove that he's for real early on this year.

Sim also has four early goals, and he's worth a look as well. Though he's still yet to have a breakout year, Sim did have a terrific second-half after joining the Florida Panthers last season, finishing with 10 goals and 18 points in 33 games. He'll see his fair share of time in the box, but he's a lock to stick as a top six forward on a team that lacks a lot of offensive depth in Atlanta. Put him alongside either Ilya Kovalchuk or Marian Hossa and it spells career year.

Don't buy into Craig Adams' two goal night. He won't be a fantasy factor. It was nice to see Staal and Whitney put solid games together, while Brind'amour could fit as a third or fourth center in fantasy circles.

Luongo will be fine... it was just a rough game for him. He probably should have stopped two of the goals, though.

As a fan, I love the balance of scoring on San Jose. They can roll four lines and not miss a beat. For example, the top line of Thornton, Cheechoo, and Mark Smith combined for zero points and was a -2 on the night. However, the team still scored six goals. Any one of the top six forwards on the Sharks are quality fantasy options, and they'll be even better when Mark Bell (out indefinitely with a groin pull) is healthy. Patrick Marleau is a household name, while Steve Bernier and Milan Michalak may be in the very near future.

As a fantasy owner, I hate that they have quite that much scoring depth. It takes away too many chances for the big guns.

Speaking of scoring depth, that's something that the Canucks just don't have. The Sedin Twins and Markus Naslund are all phenomenal players to have, and will have to carry the Canucks all season. Through five games, they've combined for nineteen points. The rest of the Canucks have combined for..... nineteen points.

After a one goal, two assist performance, Bieksa is probably going to be a hot name among the free agents tomorrow morning. Though it looks like he'll see his fair share of Power Play time (because the Canucks lack a dominant PP QB), I'm not buying yet. He has a good shot, but he's always looked like he'd develop into a stay-at-home guy. Sami Salo and Matthias Ohlund are both better options to run the point, while Lukas Krajicek will be the go-to-guy down the road. If you're after Bieksa, I hope it's because you're assuming he might have a 25-30 point season and get you some PIMS to go along with a decent +/-.

Isles on the Board... Champs Remain Winless

2006-10-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

If you would have told me that after four games, the New York Islanders had yet to win their first game, I would have shrugged. They're a relatively young team with just a couple of legit scorers, a mediocre defense, and a goalie whose contract reads like a mortgage. Toss in crazy Charlie Wang, who has gone through three GMs since April (and ended up with his backup goalie as his final option), and a four-game west coast trip to start the year, and it would have almost been expected that they begin the year 0-4. However, they were the winless team that finally snuck out a win in Anaheim Wednesday. What was the difference tonight for the Islanders, you ask? Their goaltending.

While the Isles did allow four goals in a 5-4 shootout win in Anaheim, the strong backstopping they saw out of Mike Dunham (not Rick DiPietro) kept them in what would probably have been a blowout otherwise. The Isles were outshot 50-24 through the overtime period, but Dunham looked unfazed by the volume of pucks the Ducks were spitting out at him. He stopped 46 of the shots in regulation, and continued to look red hot during the shootout, blanking the Quack Attack on their final seven attempts after allowing a goal to begin the shootout to rookie Ryan Shannon. Though the Isles seemingly took forever to close the deal, Mike York eventually won it in the eighth round of penalty shots.

Though there were four multi-point players in the Islanders-Ducks game, the only two really worth having on a fantasy roster are Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger. Sammy Pahlsson's two-goal night was a career night.... he's coming off of a career high eleven goal season in 2005-06, and has been in the league for five years. Chris Simon, who finished with a goal and two assists, is a career agitator who's capable of putting 30-40 points on the board, but has to hit 150 PIMS or so to really be worth your time.

Across the continent in Florida, the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes turned to their backup goalie (John Grahame) to see if he could make a difference. He did, all right, hosting an open house in the Hurricanes' net. Florida beat Grahame 6 times on just 31 shots, continuing Carolina's early-season struggles by downing them 6-3.

Olli Jokinen led the way, scoring twice (one shorthanded) and pitching in with two more assists. Ageless wonder Gary Roberts netted two more in the victory, while 23-year-old center Stephen Weiss had a three point night as well. Alex Auld had his second straight terrific start, this time getting the positive result (a W) to go along with it. Auld stood tall against 32 of Carolina's 35 shots as he improved to 2-0-1 on the year.

Carolina got the work they wanted out of their role players (Eric Belanger and Scott Walker each had a goal and an assist), but got nothing out of the first line for the third straight game. Ray Whitney, Eric Staal, and Erik Cole have combined for just four points in four games. If you're an owner of Whitney, Staal, Cole, or Justin Williams do not panic! We're talking about elite forwards that have just gotten off to a slow start. Maybe they don't quite hit their point totals from last season, but they're still guys that are going to turn it around in the coming weeks. When they get hot (particularly if they get hot at the same time), look out!

In other action

- Mathieu Schneider became the first defenseman to score a hat trick this season as the Red Wings rolled over the Phoenix Coyotes 9-2. Schneider scored late in the first and added two more (including the game-winner) during a five-goal second period that chased Phoenix goalie Curtis Joseph. In what could only be described as a smoregasbord around Schneider (who is American, despite the Swedish name), Swedes Henrik Zetterberg (1-1), Tomas Holmstrom (1-1), Nicklas Lidstrom (0-3), Nicklas Kronwall (0-2), and Mikael Samuelsson (2-0) all recorded multi-point nights for the Red Wings. Pavel Datsyuk added a goal and two assists as the Red Wings improved to 2-1 on the year. Ed Jovanovski scored his second goal in the past two games for the 'Yotes.

- Kari Lehtonen failed in his bid for his third straight shutout, but carried the streak more than five minutes into the second period. He still played well, allowing just the one Power Play goal on 23 shots in a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins. Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist, while Slava Kozlov added two assists for the Thrashers in the victory.

- Michael Ryder beat Antero Niittymaki just 38 seconds in and David Aebischer looked strong for the second time in as many starts as the Habs beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1. Aebischer looked sensational tonight, stopping 27 of 28 shots, including 13 of 14 in an action-packed third period. Alexei Kovalev scored his first of the year for Montreal, while soph sensation Christopher Higgins added a shorthanded empty-netter in the waning seconds to slam the door. Philadelphia's woes on the Power Play continued, as they were 0-for-8 in the game and are now just 3-for-32 on the year.

What the NHL Just Doesn't Seem To Get

2006-10-11T00:56:00.000-07:00

As, for the most part, I've seen a lot of positive movements with the league since the lockout ended, I will be writing a counterpiece to this argument in the coming days. However, since I'm a glass half-empty kind of guy, we're going to start out with the negatives.

After making sure that all three of the guys in each of my fantasy leagues that were playing tonight were on my active roster Tuesday, I got bored and scanned the net to find something to write about tonight. Since there were just three games, a gameday piece was going to be virtually useless, so I had to find something meaningful for all of you to read about.

Upon heading to what became one of my favorite hockey sites as I endured the lockout, I found this brilliant piece, which aptly told a Fox Sports writer to get a clue. However, while I certainly side with Eklund's musings about O'Connor's ignorance, there are certain clear and evident areas where the NHL needs to improve to reach a wider audience.

In just over a year since the lockout ended, the NHL has clearly put a more marketable product on the ice, but it is more difficult to find a game to watch than it was as recently as three years ago. Losing the deal with ESPN (largely due to ESPN signing a more lucrative deal with the unwatchable [in my eyes] brand of basketball that is the NBA) will clearly hurt the league in the long-run, but that's a small hurdle in comparison to the obstacles they're placing in their own path. Versus (formerly known as OLN) continues to make strides to improve itself as a cable network, and as opposed to what ESPN was doing (using hockey to fill a time slot where they couldn't find anything more important to air), they're trying to build their network around the NHL.

Hockey is known primarily as a niche sport in the U.S., and a significant part of the reason for this is that seeing a game live really is that much better than watching it on television. Those of us who have been watching hockey for years can still find the beauty of the game (and follow it) on television, but it's much more difficult for the casual fan to get involved.

I've had many friends who stare blankly at me when I tell them that hockey (not baseball, as many of my readers would instantly assume) is the sport that I enjoy most. Most of them tell me that they've never been able to get into hockey, citing the following reasons:

1) The puck is too small for me to be able to follow the game closely
2) I don't understand the rules
3) The game moves too fast, making it incredibly difficult to watch on television

Upon asking most of them if they've ever seen a game live, the response I usually get is a resounding no! However, those of them who have taken my advice and ponied up the cash to go see their local NHL team (in this case, the [gulp] Blues) play have all been hooked after just one game.

While the NHL put plenty of butts in the seats (92% of capacity, by the league's calculation last season) after hockey returned from the lockout, the majority of those butts belonged to people who were diehard fans before the lockout and/or businesses that bought season tickets for their employees and usually actually attended the games. Why? Going to an NHL game when you're not a diehard simply doesn't fit into the budget. The average Fan Cost Index* actually dropped a touch from $253.65 to $247.32 last season, but it certainly won't be dropping again this year.

After eighteen teams, including the St. Louis Blues (my hometown team, which finished with the worst record in the league last season!) hiked their ticket prices this offseason, the FCI is expected to reach $258 this season, nearly $100 more than the FCI for an MLB game and just $5 short of the FCI for the NBA. While it's doubtful that the NHL could ever compete in a cost index with baseball (which plays in stadiums that typically have a capacity for more than twice what most NHL arenas do and plays nearly twice the home games that an NHL team would), you'd like to think that they'd put forth a better effort at providing a more cost-effective product to their major competitor.

Throughout most of the NHL season, its main competition is the NBA. Yes... the NHL begins its season during the MLB playoffs. Yes... football season is just hitting stride when the NHL begins its season, but that's generally just one day of competition out of every seven. Throughout the winter, the only sports that generally have at least one game every night of the week are basketball and hockey.

Why, then, since basketball is (currently) a much more prominent sport in the U.S., does the NHL force ticket prices upon the public that are so competitive with the NBA? You would like to think that Gary Bettman, who is still, at heart, an NBA guy, would realize that the easiest way for the NHL to draw some of those fans caught on the border between the two would be to have significantly lower ticket prices than the NBA games do. As of last year, the average ticket price to an NBA game was $45.28. The average ticket price to an NHL game was $41.19.

By lowering ticket prices, you draw new fans... presumably those who haven't seen an (or at least, many) NHL game(s) live. Fans seeing live hockey is the best way for the league to build its fan base, and they're making it more and more difficult for Joe and Jane Fan to actually see a game live. While HDTV is certainly presenting a better product on television than ever before, it's simply not the same.

This, of course, brings me to my other rant about the NHL season. For years, many have claimed that the NHL season is simply too long, and/or that they need to contract some teams to shorten the season. If this year's schedule is any indication, contraction certainly wouldn't be necessary to cut into the length of the year. They just need to actually schedule games.

What do I mean, you ask? This October, in what would appear to be a crucial time for the league to try and make itself heard, American teams expected to make major impacts such as the Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres each have two instances where they'll go four days without playing a game. The irony here lies in the fact that the Sabres, one of the clear favorites in the East, are currently mired in a stretch where they won't play from this past Saturday until this upcoming Friday, a massive span of five off-days between games, before they play again on Saturday. More and more games are being booted to the weekend in the early-going this season, which makes absolutely no sense. Since the NBA season has yet to start, doesn't that mean that the weekday games will have less competition for a viewing (and attending) audience?

Any business model will tell you that you don't try and build your business by going head on with a dominant, somewhat similar product (aka, the NFL and College Football) when you don't have the resources that your competitors have. Instead, you build the demand for your product where there's less competition. Forcing most of the games to the weekend when both College Football and the NFL are flooding the market is simply a losing battle. Take advantage of the weeknights by scheduling eight to ten games Monday through Friday, and then have the more limited scheduling nights on the weekends.

Regardless, I've gone a bit off topic with that rant. The simple fact of the matter is that by the end of October, most of the teams in the NHL will have played eleven games in twenty-six days, or one game every 2.36 days. Since most of these teams will routinely be playing on back to back nights at least twice during the seasons' first month, wouldn't it make sense that this number be slightly under 2.00? Shortening the season doesn't have to take place by lowering the amount of teams that are in the league, or by cutting the length of the regular season from 82 to 70 games. It could take place by simply scheduling games closer together. Playing every night isn't necessary, but three games every five days is certainly feasible.

Cutting the length of the season (either in days, games, or both) is certainly something that's becoming increasingly necessary, though. Simply put, having the playoffs extend into June (as they have for nearly a decade now) doesn't make sense for a sport that's played on ice. Simply cutting down on the time between games (this year, the season will last from October 5 until April 8.... a span of 185 days. Even cutting that figure to 164 days (an average of one game every two days for each NHL team) would shorten the season (and ensuing playoff season) by three weeks, having it end in early-to-mid May, rather than the second week of June.

The NHL has come a long way in the past two years, but there are still significant flaws in the business plan, and that is how they need to look at it... as a business plan. By getting more (new) fans out to hockey games and setting the schedule so that they can capitalize on the potential to draw new fans via live attendance and a television audience, the league could certainly make itself more prominent in the U.S. We certainly already know that it will continue to do well in Canada, and those of us that are already fans in the U.S. aren't going anywhere. It's all a matter of expanding the market.

* The Fan Cost Index (FCI) measures the following: Four average-priced tickets, Four small soft drinks, Two beers, Four Hot Dogs, Two programs, parking, and two adult-sized caps

Finnish Goalies Aiming for World Domination!

2006-10-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

Over the past two NHL seasons, it's been abundantly clear who is currently the top goaltender in the world. While Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek still remain the most accomplished goaltenders in the league and are each coming off of fine seasons, neither can even dream of challenging Finnish sensation Miikka Kiprusoff's recent production for the Calgary Flames. Kipper's road to NHL stardom wasn't always paved with success, though.

Selected in the fifth round of the 1995 draft by the San Jose Sharks, Kipper did nothing but achieve at every other level, but never seemed to get the credit he deserved. A year after being drafted, Kiprusoff was dominant for TPS Turku in the Finnish Elite League, winning 26 of 39 starts while posting a 1.86 GAA. After coming to the states, he had two fine seasons with Kentucky of the AHL, eventually earning a job as the backup for one of the better goaltenders in the NHL, Evgeni Nabokov in 2001.

However, he would never surpass Nabokov in his two full seasons as the primary backup in San Jose, and would actually battle quite a bit of adversity just prior to his breakout campaign. Kipper would endure his worst season as a professional in 2002-03, finishing the year 5-14-0 with a 3.25 GAA and a woeful .879 Save Percentage. This led to him falling out of favor with the Sharks, as fellow Finn Vesa Toskala would take the reins as Nabokov's primary backup in 2003-04 and Kiprusoff was expected to fade into obscurity.

In November of 2003, however, everything would change. The Calgary Flames, desperate to find someone (anyone) more consistent than Roman Turek, took a chance on Kiprusoff, trading San Jose a second-round pick for the Sharks' middling third goaltender. Given a chance in Calgary, Kiprusoff didn't let his window slip by. He would go on to dominate after wresting the starting duties away from Turek, winning 24 of his 38 starts in 2003-04 while finishing with a ridiculous 1.69 GAA and .933 Save Percentage. After leading the Flames within a game of the Cup in the season before the lockout, he was on the fast track to establishing himself as one of the elite goaltenders in the NHL.

What did he do for an encore, you ask? Kiprusoff dominated the league again, finishing second in wins (42), third in Save Percentage (.923), and leading the league in GAA (2.02) and shutouts (10). While the old guard did manage to prevent him from winning the Vezina unanimously (he was voted first on 25 of 30 ballots), they couldn't prevent him from winning the award as the league's best goaltender.

Guess what? Kipper's back in 2006-07 and backstopping what figures to be one of the top teams in the west in Calgary. And, yes, he brought some more Finnish friends with him......

Second year Thrashers starter Kari Lehtonen made a big impact in his first full season in Atlanta last season, but the best is yet to come. Lehtonen, widely considered the best goaltending prospect in hockey, went 20-15 with a 2.94 GAA and .906 Save Percentage as a rookie last season for a perennial doormat down south. However, bouts with groin and ankle injuries kept him (and the Thrashers) from realizing his full potential.

If his hot start is any indication, look out North America! Lehtonen allowed two goals in regulation in a season-opening loss to Tampa Bay, but has since posted back to back shutouts against the Panthers and Lightning. The latter came in a breathtaking 1-0 victory in Tampa Bay, where he stopped 34 shots and showed poise beyond his years. Lehtonen turned away seventeen shots and killed a full-scale two minute 5-on-3 Power Play in the second, while he dealt with a scrum of five players in his crease in the dying seconds and never looked rattled. Lehtonen is the future of Finnish goaltending, and he's already here.

Bruins' rookie and fellow Finn Hannu Toivonen also looked fantastic in his first start of the year (ironically, against Tampa Bay). The Bruins' goalie of the future (and present) stopped 29 of 31 shots just one night after his #1A goalie, Tim Thomas, was lit up by the Florida Panthers. A big beneficiary of the lockout, Toivonen showed what he could do in the minors in 2004-05, going 29-18-3 with a 2.05 GAA and .932 Save Percentage for Providence in the AHL. Toivonen got his first chance to shine at the NHL level last season, but missed over half the year with an ankle injury. When healthy, he performed well, and finished 9-5-4 with a 2.63 GAA and .914 Save Percentage.

On the bright side, the Bruins think highly enough of Toivonen that they dealt 2003-04 Calder winner Andrew Raycroft to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a draft-day deal. Though his competition (Thomas) is coming off a career year and a monster preseason, Toivonen is without question the primary Bruins' goaltender worth grabbing in fantasy leagues. The scary part is that, to acquire Raycroft, the Leafs gave up another big Finnish goaltending prospect, 19-year-old Tuukka Rask, who went 12-8-7 with a 2.06 GAA and .926 Save Percentage for Ilves Tampere in Finland last year.

Thinking back to Kipper, it's hard to simply erase the job that Vesa Toskala has done over the past year from memory. Toskala was fantastic (23-7-0, 2.56, .901) last year in wresting at least a full-time split with Evgeni Nabokov in San Jose, and was the starter for the Sharks in the playoffs last season. He enters this season in a full platoon for playing time with Nabokov in a system that's expected to keep both goaltenders fresh throughout the year. On Monday, Toskala bested Kiprusoff in Calgary, leading the Sharks to a 4-1 win and moving to 2-0 on the year.

Does anyone remember who started six of the games for the Oilers in the Finals last year? If you guessed Jussi Markkanen, give yourself a gold star. Markkanen doesn't boast nearly the upside of anyone else on this list, but he has worked himself into a nice little career as an above average backup goaltender. When Dwayne Roloson (36) retires, Markkanen may still have a few years left to take over the starting job in Edmonton.

And then, of course, how can you ever forget Flyers' #1A goalie Antero Niittymaki, who went 23-15-6 with a 2.97 GAA and .895 Save Percentage as a rookie last season. Though Niittymaki clearly isn't 100%, he opted to forego surgery and instead took a cortisone shot that he hopes will deal with his ailing hip. Niittymaki has had tremendous success in the minors, and should see at least a 50/50 split with Robert Esche this season for the Flyers. Expect him to improve on his modest GAA and Save Percentage totals as he gains experience at the NHL level.

So is the NHL going to start being dominated by the Finns? Hardly, but they certainly have a good start at a key position!

Weekend Review: A Handful of Youngsters Lighting It Up

2006-10-08T21:15:00.000-07:00

Quick! Who scored the first hat trick of the 2006-07 NHL season this weekend? I'll give you a hint. He's a young, speedy Russian winger that plays for the Washington Capitals. Yes, I know... Alexander Ovechkin is amazing, but it wasn't him. Is it possible Ovechkin has found another bigtime scorer to share the workload in Washington?

Alexander Semin would say he has. Semin beat Conn Smythe winner Cam Ward on three of his six shots as the Capitals buried the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 Saturday night, dropping the defending champs' record to 0-2-1. Semin also scored a goal in the Caps' first game of the year, a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers Thursday night, and has now notched four in just two games.

After posting 22 points (12 goals) in just 52 games as a rookie in 2003-04, the former twelfth overall pick elected to stay in Russia for an extra season after the lockout. Though he finished with just 19 points in 42 games for his Russian clubs last season, Semin has both the skills and the pedigree to improve drastically in his second NHL season. The 22-year-old will be asked to carry much more of the scoring load in Washington than he had to in Russia. He has the hands, the speed, and the creativity to do so. Semin will see lots of Power Play time for the Caps this season, and he's worth a look in leagues with any depth whatsoever.

On the opposite coast, the Los Angeles Kings were pleasantly surprised by the play of rookie Anze Kopitar this preseason, so much so that they elected to carry the 19-year-old Slovenian winger on the top line to begin the year. Kopitar, the eleventh overall pick in the 2005 draft, is playing in just his first season in North America and was a bit of a longshot to make the team entering camp. However, after scoring five points in just four preseason games, he earned his spot, and doesn't seem to be looking back.

Kopitar scored twice in the Kings' season-opening loss to the Anaheim Ducks, and followed it up with a fantastic three assist performance as the Kings defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-1 in the home opener. Having a chance to center star Russian winger Alexander Frolov should only help him develop more quickly. Combined with fellow rookie Patrick O'Sullivan, Kopitar will give the Kings a terrific young nucleus to build around.

Up the California coastline a bit, rookie defenseman Matt Carle buried his second goal in just two games, netting the game-winner in the first period of Saturday's 2-0 win over the New York Islanders. Carle, who finished last season with six points in just twelve NHL games after winning the Hobey Baker award as college hockey's top player, is a player who demands immediate attention in any fantasy league. The 6'0, 182 pound blue-liner dominated the college ranks in each of his three seasons, finishing with 123 points in 112 games and two national titles at the University of Denver.

He brings good speed, great vision, a heck of a slapper, and a winning attitude to one of the league's best young teams. Furthermore, the fact that the Sharks moved their two best puck-moving defensemen in the past year (Brad Stuart and Tom Preissing) to make room for him means that he should have a chance to be a dominant force on the Power Play right away. Quarterbacking Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo, and Mark Bell with the man advantage should add up to a monster year.

Second-year winger Jason Pominville of the Sabres looks ready to take a more active role this season. Pominville, who scored the first goal of the NHL season in the Sabres' 3-2 Opening Night win in Carolina, has now scored in each of the Sabres' first three games, including the game-winner in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. The gritty, speedy winger is no stranger to sticking a dagger in the Sens, and ended their playoff series with a shorthanded goal in overtime of Game Five last season.

Though he doesn't have elite size, Pominville does play with tremendous heart, and should be a factor on both the Power Play and the Penalty Kill this season. As a rookie last season, he finished with 30 points (18 goals) in just 57 games, and he's been rewarded with an opportunity to play on the Sabres' top line with captain Daniel Briere and veteran winger Jochen Hecht. Nobody on the Sabres has proven that they're going to be dominant in the point-scoring department, but Pominville joins a group of seven other forwards worthy of serious consideration in any league.

Second-year center Ryan Craig doesn't have nearly the pedigree of anyone listed above (all first or second round picks, while Craig was an eighth round selection back in 2002), but he is establishing a nice little track record of success. Craig, who posted 28 points in just 48 games as a rookie last season, has come out of the gates flying, netting three goals in his first two games. Despite not having elite finishing skills, the 24-year-old has already earned himself a lot of Power Play time on a Lightning team that's stacked up front, and rumor has it that he may soon find himself playing alongside Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis on the first line a little more often.

Craig's biggest assets are his heart and his size. At 6'2, 220, he has ideal size for a power forward, and brings much more than just simple scoring prowess to the table. He's rarely outworked by anyone on the ice, and wins just about any battle for the puck. Though he doesn't rack up the PIMS by any stretch of the imagination (6 in 48 games last season), he has the size to intimidate and protect his linemates if necessary. Finally, speaking of those 6 PIMS in 48 games last year, he has great hockey sense, and knows when to agitate without having to take a trip to the box. A shift to the top line is an extreme possibility, as he could help to free up more space and protect Tampa's two top scorers.... he'd probably vulture quite a few points playing with them as well.

Second-year San Jose winger Steve Bernier has yet to score a goal, but he's still making a big impact. Through two games, the emerging power forward has four assists, three of which have come on the Power Play. Bernier, 21, has fantastic size (6'2, 233) and a couple of terrific linemates that should help him succeed immediately. That's not to say that he looks like he'll need that much help from outside sources. As a rookie, Bernier buried 14 goals and added 13 more assists in just 39 games last year.

Bernier, taken with the sixteenth overall pick in the 2003 draft, routinely lit it up in four years of junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, scoring 151 goals and finishing with a total of 313 points in 271 career games for Moncton. He didn't skip a beat in his first pro season with Cleveland in the AHL, and had 20 goals and 23 assists in 49 games before getting the call to San Jose. He loves to work in front of the net, has improving vision, and owns a fantastic shot. In short, don't worry about the fact that he hasn't scored a goal of his own yet... it's coming soon.

Goaltending/Other Notes

- After a disappointing 2005-06, Evgeni Nabokov looked stellar in his first start of the year Saturday. Nabokov turned away all 26 shots he faced as the Sharks beat the New York Islanders 2-0.

- Kari Lehtonen is off to a fast start for the Thrashers after recording a 6-0 shutout of the Florida Panthers Saturday night. Lehtonen moved to 1-0-1 on the year, though he had looked strong in Atlanta's season-opening 3-2 shootout loss to the Lightning as well.

- A night after Tim Thomas was lit up by the Florida Panthers, Hannu Toivonen stopped 29 of 31 shots in a 3-2 win in Tampa Bay. Continue to expect a healthy split between the two, but Toivonen should eventually win the starting job outright.

- Dominik Hasek had to stop just thirteen shots in Saturday's 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has yet to suffer his annual groin injury.

- The Kings goaltending situation got a little fuzzier Saturday when Mathieu Garon stopped 35 of 36 shots in his first start of the year. Los Angeles just inked Dan Cloutier to an extension, seemingly implying that he'll be the starter, but the incumbent Garon looked terrific in a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.

- Blues' defenseman Barrett Jackman sprained his MCL in that same game, and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with the injury. He will not require surgery, but St. Louis now finds themselves short three (arguably their top three) defensemen, as Christian Backman and Jay McKee are already out of the lineup. If you own Jackman, you have him for his PIMS. He's a consistent enough source to hold until you can place him on your league's IR.

Big Night For Big Bert

2006-10-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

Through one game, the Florida Panthers have no regrets. Todd Bertuzzi, who was acquired in a draft-day deal for star goaltender Roberto Luongo, made his presence with his new team felt immediately. The massive winger got off to a great start in game one, scoring the first goal of the game and adding three helpers later as the Panthers routed the Boston Bruins 8-3.

Bertuzzi, who will be a free agent at year's end, needed this kind of start in a bad way. Since taking a cheap shot at Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore in 2004, Bertuzzi's reputation around the league has been shot. The fact that he was coming off a down year, with 71 points and a -17 rating, only added fuel to the fire that Bertuzzi might have trouble finding many suitors at year's end. He needs to take this opportunity to show not only that he can score in bunches, but that he's cleaned up his act.

However, it looked like a huge weight was lifted from Bertuzzi's shoulders tonight. The boo-birds weren't out in South Florida, as they were often last season in Vancouver. Teaming up with Olli Jokinen on the Power Play and Nathan Horton and veteran Joe Nieuwendyk at even strength seemed to calm him. He still had his mean streak going, but seemed a lot more focused on the ice. If we see a rejuvenated Bertuzzi on the ice all season long, Florida is going to be very tough to beat.

Some other notes:

- After allowing just three goals in the preseason, Boston goalie Tim Thomas was absolutely lit up tonight. He allowed seven of the eight Florida goals before being removed in favor of Hannu Toivonen. It would seem that Boston will ride the hot hand, which isn't either of them right now. Expect Toivonen to start in Tampa Bay tomorrow night.... Nieuwendyk, who turned 40 last month, scored two goals and added an assist in the victory.... The Florida Power Play was just plain scary, converting on four of six opportunities. Bertuzzi got it started, while Mike Van Ryn, Olli Jokinen, and Nathan Horton added Power Play markers.... Zdeno Chara had a multi-point game in his Bruins' debut, assisting on the Bruins first two goals... The other key component the Panthers acquired in the Luongo deal, Alexander Auld, had a solid if unspectacular debut, allowing 3 goals on 37 shots.

- It was a big night for a pair of young stars as the New Jersey Devils avenged last season's playoff loss with a 4-0 opening night victory in Carolina. Second-year center Zach Parise notched two goals, including the game-winner just 26 seconds in, while freshly signed winger Brian Gionta added three assists. After missing the entire preseason, it didn't look like Gionta, coming off an 89-point season, missed a beat. Martin Brodeur stopped all 29 shots he faced for his first shutout of the year.

- Vancouver made a fantastic comeback in Columbus, scoring twice in the final ten minutes of regulation and adding another just 31 seconds into overtime as they ruined the Blue Jackets' home opener 3-2. The Sedin twins hooked up on the game-tying and game-winning goals, with Daniel putting the finishing touches on both. New Jackets' starter Pascal Leclaire certainly doesn't deserve much of the blame, as he stopped 41 of 44 shots in the loss.

- The Sabres moved to 2-0-0 with their second straight shootout win in a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. This time it was Maxim Afinogenov who did the damage, scoring the game-tying goal in the waning seconds of regulation and netting the first of two goals the Sabres would score in the shootout. Thomas Vanek added the clincher in the shootout. The Habs wasted fine efforts from Saku Koivu and Christopher Higgins, who finished with three points each.

- After watching Sara Evans bastardization of the Star Spangled Banner (an aside... you do not play techno music in the background during the National Anthem!), the Ducks and Kings played a tight 4-3 contest in Anaheim. Kings rookie super-sleeper Anze Kopitar scored twice, with the second being deflected into the net by Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin. The usual suspects on Anaheim's top line combined for a pair of goals, while the young second line, led by Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, showed that they're ready to make some noise as well. J.S. Giguere got the nod on opening night, and stopped 41 of 44 shots in the victory, though he did cramp up late in the third period.

Mixed Reviews on Openers For Three Former Number Ones In Net

2006-10-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

The second night of the NHL season brought us three starts from top overall draft picks, including one who signed the most ridiculous contract in all of professional sports late this summer. Tonight's play offered the sleeper in Pittsburgh, the superstar on the road in Detroit, and the "savior" taking a trip to the desert. While one outplayed the hype and another lived up to it, a third played so poorly that he got pulled after two periods.

Everything about Pens' netminder Marc-Andre Fleury screams sleeper. After a mediocre 2003-04 campaign as a rookie, he was pushed into the starting role a year ahead of schedule after the lockout last season when Jocelyn Thibault was injured early on. All in all, he had a strong showing in his first effort as the full-time starter, and improved drastically on both his Goals Against Average and Save Percentage. Through one remarkable start, I've seen nothing to change my thoughts about tabbing him as one of the best sleeper goaltending options in the league.

Fleury looked absolutely brilliant in shutting down a high-octane Philadelphia offense on Thursday, at times looking possessed. The third-year netminder balked at the forty shots he faced, turning each of them aside in the Pens' 4-0 win. He killed two 5-on-3 Power Play opportunities for the Flyers, and ten Power Plays overall. If there's any kind of negative to find with Fleury's first game, it's that the defense in front of him didn't look much stronger than it was last season, and it certainly didn't look very disciplined. Pittsburgh finished the night with 27 Penalty Minutes.

While I'm snickering a bit at Rick DiPietro being the savior on Long Island, the people of Vancouver, British Columbia aren't being sarcastic about using that term to describe their new netminder. The funny part is this: DiPietro and Roberto Luongo will forever be linked, since Luongo was the man that the Islanders traded to Florida in order to acquire the pick to draft DiPietro.

As for Luongo's play Wednesday, it was just another night at the office. He looked spectacular as usual, turning away 27 of 28 shots by the Detroit Red Wings. It certainly wasn't an easy assignment for Luongo to draw to start the year, having to face the team that won the President's Trophy last year on the road to begin his Canucks' career, but he was more than up to the task. The usual suspects (Markus Naslund and the Sedin Twins) were involved in two of Vancouver's three goals, as they managed to give him enough support to start on a high note. For once, the scoring punch in front of a tremendous goalie will be the question mark in Vancouver.

If the season's first game is any indication, it's a good thing that Rick DiPietro never has to worry about playing to earn a contract extension again. The fifth year netminder seemed to be handing out goals on a platter in Phoenix Thursdsay night, and allowed six goals on just thirty-two shots before getting pulled to begin the third period. While he didn't look horrible to start the game, he was peppered with seventeen shots in the second, four of which got by him.

DiPietro, who signed a massive fifteen year, $67.5 million deal in September, has to deal with perhaps the greatest expectations in all of sports. There's no way that you sign a deal for that long and that much cash without feeling all the pressure in the world on your shoulders. He'll be backstopping what figures to be one of the worst teams in the East this year, and living up to the deal on a short-term basis is going to be nearly impossible. If nothing else, the commitment that the Islanders made to him this offseason means his job is more than secure, but I'm not so sure that's going to be a good thing for fantasy owners in 2006-07.

Some other notes:

- The Blackhawks were red hot in the preseason, and it sure carried over to opening night. While their defense often looked like it just wasn't there, the offense gave us an indication that they're going to be fun to watch (even without Tuomo Ruutu in the early-going). Martin Havlat scored twice and set up a couple more in Chicago's 8-6 win in Nashville. Rene Bourque added a shorthanded goal and two assists in the victory. The Bulin Wall looked like anything but, yet he picked up the win despite allowing six goals on forty shots.

Nashville's Tomas Vokoun didn't look sharp in his first meaningful action since suffering a blood clot that kept him out for the final month of last season. He may need a little time to shake off the rust, and you may be better off keeping him on the bench his next time out until you see that he's back in game shape. David Legwand certainly looked like he's healthy after offseason knee surgery, and finished with three points (two goals) in the loss. Legwand didn't garner nearly the preseason attention he deserved, and could be in for a huge season if he's healthy.

- A night after the Senators took it to Toronto on their home-ice, the Leafs went into Scotiabank Place and absolutely smacked the Sens around. Martin Gerber stopped just 19 of 24 shots, while Andrew Raycroft built on a solid first start in Toronto and turned away all 34 shots he would face in a 6-0 win. The Leafs, who were heavily dependent upon their Power Play last season, scored twice on just five attempts with the man advantage. Youngster Kyle Wellwood, who had 45 points as a rookie in 2005-06, led the way with four assists, while Chad Kilger and Darcy Tucker each scored twice in the victory.

- Dwayne Roloson showed no ill effects of the knee injury that knocked him out of the Stanley Cup Finals last season, and stopped 31 of 32 shots in the Oilers' 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames.

- Marc Denis stopped the puck when it mattered, keeping the Atlanta Thrashers from scoring on all three of their shootout attempts. However, despite the 3-2 shootout win, Denis stopped just 9 of 11 shots during regulation and overtime play. Grinder Ryan Craig scored both of Tampa's regulation goals.

- Brad Richardson netted a pair of goals, including a shorty, in Colorado's 3-2 defeat in Minnesota. He's certainly talented, but don't look for this to become a regular occurrence. Think of fifty points as a good year in terms of his development, which could make him valuable in really deep leagues.

- It wasn't Jonathan Cheechoo who was the beneficiary of Joe Thornton's first two assists of the year, but young power forward Milan Michalek. Michalek netted a pair of Power Play goals 46 seconds apart in the second period of San Jose's 5-4 overtime win against the St. Louis Blues. Cheechoo was certainly still a factor, adding an assist on one of Michalek's goals and setting Mark Bell up with a beautiful pass to give the Sharks a 4-3 lead late in the third. Rookie Matt Carle got the scoring started for the Sharks in the first, and saw the majority of the Power Play time along the blue line.

As for the Blues, I was fairly impressed despite the five goals allowed. Their checking line looked strong, particularly early on, and actually combined for a couple of goals in this one. After finishing with the worst record in the league last season, St. Louis showed a lot of heart tonight, answering back quickly after Michalek's two goals and burying a deflection with 5 seconds to play to send the game into the extra session. Simply put, they were outclassed in the overtime session, and San Jose controlled most of the play from the middle of the second period on. Manny Legace allowed five goals, but two were solid power play goals and nobody was stopping Mark Bell's go-ahead goal in the third.

Thoughts on Opening Night

2006-10-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

While the Sabres new uniforms may be ugly as sin, the team as a whole sure looked good in beating the Hurricanes on home ice. While the game certainly could have gone either way, beating the defending Stanley Cup champs in their barn on as emotional a night as this deserves a ton of credit.

Some fantasy notes on the games:

- Both Cam Ward and Ryan Miller seemed to pick things up right where they left off last season. Ward stopped 30 of 32 shots, getting beat only by an early deflection and a double deflection in the second period. While Miller would certainly tell you he wishes he had Eric Staal's slapper on the 2-on-1 back, he still looked great himself, stopping 32 of 34 shots, including all three shots he faced when it counted in the shootout.

- It's hard to judge things based on one game alone, but Brian Campbell is looking like he'll be one of the most improved defensemen in hockey this season. We already knew the kid could fly, but he had a couple of nice plays where he absolutely stood up the 'Canes forwards in his own zone and did a brilliant job of one-on-one defending. Both he and Dmitri Kalinin really impressed me, and the two logged plenty of vital ice-time.

- Count me in as one of those surprised by Ray Whitney's hot start. He made a terrific outlet pass to set up Staal on the first goal and deked everyone in the arena with his fake of a slap shot and tape to tape pass to Erik Cole for Carolina's second. Playing with Staal and Cole should help him to load up on the points this season, and he's certainly off to a hot start. A smaller, faster skater, Whitney is one of the players the new rules should cater to, but he always seems to have trouble staying healthy.

- It's good to see the refs aren't going to swallow their whistles after one year of really enforcing the rules. Opening night saw two 5-on-3 goals (one by Carolina and one by Colorado) and a Penalty Shot by Mats Sundin. As long as they keep making the calls as they are in the rulebook, it's going to continue to make for a lot more special team opportunities and a lot more open ice for the skill players to work with. What that all adds up to is more exciting hockey for the fans.

- While the Sabres have ugly jerseys and a heck of a hockey team, the Leafs look like they're going to be just plain ugly in both departments. They mustered a phenomenal fifteen minutes or so against one of the best teams in hockey, but found themselves in a scoreless tie after that span. Eventually, they just let the more talented Sens walk all over them. Captain Canada is going to have to carry that team on his back if they want to finish anywhere higher than last in a stacked Northeast Division.

- Patrick Eaves took a step towards silencing any critics of breaking up the Heatley-Spezza-Alfie line by netting one goal and setting up another. Eaves looked amazing on the ice tonight, though it was against what figures to be a bottom-feeding team. He has great hands, good size, and good speed, and should be a true asset to the Sens.

- Andrew Raycroft surprised me a bit with his play tonight, as did Martin Gerber. Both are decent backstops, but neither is really a front-line guy. Gerber's nice in fantasy circles because he should net a lot of wins. Raycroft? Not so much.

- The most impressive goaltending performance of the night clearly took place in Colorado, where Marty Turco allowed a pair of quick Power Play goals in the first period, but still stopped twenty shots in the period and shut the 'Lanche down the rest of the way. Turco would cement his terrific performance by making a perfect outlet pass to Daryl Sydor to set up the game-winner in overtime. Coming off the worst season of his career, Turco's off to a nice start.

- Speaking of Sydor, the overtime goal was just his eighth since the 2002-03 season, and his first game-winner in that span. Don't be that guy that gets excited and grabs Sydor because he's suddenly going to become a goal-scorer. He's a stay-at-home defenseman who just came out of the box and happened to skate right into a perfect outlet pass. He buried the breakaway goal over Jose Theodore's left shoulder to give Dallas a 3-2 win. If I recall correctly, Dallas did a lot of damage in overtime (particularly in shootouts) last year as well.

- It was good to see Wojtek Wolski get on the board early this year. The rookie, who netted two goals and six points in nine games with the Avs last season, was a top player at Brampton in the OHL last season, and should emerge as a classic power forward in the next couple of years. Unfortunately, Colorado will need him to take a big step forward right away if they hope to make the playoffs this season.

- Versus' (formerly OLN) coverage was light years better than what I recall from most of the season last year. Obviously, early last season, everything was put together very quickly, but it's good to see continued improvement. By the time the playoffs rolled around last season, they had fairly strong hockey coverage. I'll be getting Center Ice in the next couple of days (currently enjoying the free preview), but I get the feeling I'll still watch my fair share of their Games of the Week.

We're going to be trying to go as close to daily with updates early in the year as we can, but there are some days when my hours at work are just going to make it too difficult. We'll certainly have another update posted after Friday's games, though a post tomorrow night is unlikely.

James Meyerriecks has been writing at Fantasy Info Central since its inception in 2001 and writing The Hook throughout the MLB season since 2002. This year, he's tackling a new hockey column called The Blue Line. He's also represented FIC in several baseball experts leagues throughout the years and is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.

Preds Send Radulov to AHL Affiliate

2006-10-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

The Nashville Predators surprised (and disappointed) some eager fantasy owners when they sent 20-year-0ld Right Winger Alexander Radulov to the Milwaukee Admirals, the club's AHL affiliate, to begin the year. Radulov, expected by many to make the club and be amongst the league's top rookies, is coming off of a prolific season in the QMJHL that saw him score 61 goals and add 91 assists in just 62 games. He was named the Canadian Junior Player of the Year in just his second season in North America and signed with the Preds in January after being selected in the 2004 draft.

Simply put, while this move puts some fantasy owners who took a shot on Radulov in their drafts in a bind, it's going to be the best thing for his long-term development. In Milwaukee, he'll get premium ice-time on the club's top scoring line, while he'd struggle to even get regular shifts on the Preds' fourth line. Nashville coach Barry Trotz said it best.

"It does Rad no justice to be playing on the fourth line here," Trotz said. "He needs to be one of our top nine forwards. Having him go to Milwaukee is the right thing to do."

Trotz's assessment is dead on. Who's going to sit in order to get Radulov into a more favorable spot? The club is loaded with wingers, and will feature the following three veteran scoring lines:

Paul Kariya-Josef Vasicek-J.P. Dumont
Martin Erat-Jason Arnott-Steve Sullivan
Scott Hartnell-David Legwand-Scottie Upshall

Toss in a handful more solid, experienced wingers in Jordin Tootoo, Darcy Hordichuk, and Vernon Fiddler, and it makes it awfully difficult to find a spot for Radulov. The only player covering his natural wing who you could even consider pulling there is Upshall, a former first-rounder who scored 24 points in 48 games as a rookie last season. Sullivan and Dumont are proven wingers. As for his off wing, forget about it! Kariya is an unquestioned superstar, Hartnell is quickly developing into one of the better power forwards in the league, and Erat enters his fourth NHL season coming off of his first twenty-goal campaign. The Preds are strong up the middle as well, and there's simply nowhere that they could find regular ice-time for Radulov.

He should, however, be the first guy called up if there's an injury to any of the players on the top three lines. Radulov still needs to add a little bulk up top, but he's quick, elusive, and has already shown a tremendous ability to finish. His 91 assists in 62 QMJHL games last season should account for his vision on the ice as well, and the impact that he'd make in all offensive facets of the game when he gets the call should be incredible. Radulov finished the preseason with 2 goals and 2 assists in 6 games.

Despite currently being in the AHL, Radulov is a player that you have to hold onto in keeper leagues, and may still warrant a roster spot in single-season leagues as well.

James Meyerriecks has been writing at Fantasy Info Central since 2001, and writing The Hook throughout the MLB season since 2002. This season, he'll be tackling a new hockey column called The Blue Line. He's also represented FIC in numerous baseball experts leagues over the past three years and is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.

Zherdev Signing Makes Jackets Real Contenders

2006-10-04T01:29:00.000-07:00

When Doug McLean announced that he had managed to re-sign Nikolai Zherdev late last week, you could almost feel the egg being peeled off his face. Zherdev, the former sixth overall pick who netted 27 goals and added 27 assists in just his second NHL season, was no longer just threatening to play in Russia; he was actually doing so, and it looked like he was going to stay there. However, just six days before the start of the NHL season and seven short of the expiration of Zherdev's out-clause with his Russian club, Zherdev finally agreed on a three-year extension with Columbus.

Needless to say, getting the 21-year-old Right Winger into camp completely changes the complexion of this team as they enter the season. Zherdev may not be the most talented two-way forward in the league, but he's bursting with offensive talent. Though he often makes it look effortless, Zherdev has one of the more explosive first strides in the league and can fly with the best of them. He has a terrific sniper's mentality on the ice, and he has both the size (6'1, 186) and the hands to become a dominant forward in the league. Though it's unclear whether he'll be able to immediately step in on the first line where he belongs, Zherdev merely adds to one of the deepest young offensive cores in hockey.

Let's talk about some of the top young guns on the Jackets, which means we'll even ignore one of their primary stars.

Rick Nash - Nash has already developed into one of the top power forwards in the NHL. After winning the Rocket Richard trophy as the league's leading goal-scorer in 2003-04, you could easily argue that Nash was even better when he was on the ice last season. Though he lost ten goals off of his previous season's production, Nash played in just 54 games last season as he missed time with both ankle and knee injuries. More importantly, he showed tremendous improvement as a two-way player, improving from a -35 in 2003-04 to a +5 last year. He's an elite power forward and a franchise player.

Gilbert Brule - He may soon steal Patty Verbeek's old nickname (The Little Ball of Hate!), as he loves to play a grinding, physical game despite his small stature (5'10, 175). Brule, 19, is coming off a dominant 38-point performance in 27 games in Juniors last season, and proved that he could handle jumping to the NHL level by scoring four points in just seven games for the Jackets. Clearly amongst the favorites for the Calder entering this season, Brule will get a temporary chance to play on the first line while Sergei Fedorov nurses his shoulder injury. More than anything else, this should just prove to be an audition for a role that he'll rightfully inherit a year or two down the line on a regular basis. Brule averaged 1.12 points per game and 1.87 PIMS per game in three years with Vancouver of the Western Hockey League, and figures to see similar production in the next few years in the NHL.

Manny Malhotra - The oldest of the young guns up front, Malhotra has settled into his role as a quality checking-line center. His point production (31 last year in 58 games) won't blow you away, but his play in his own zone will. At just 26, Malhotra has already established himself as one of the better third-line centers in the game, and he's due to have a big offensive season or two down the road.

Alexander Svitov - Just 23, Svitov has fantastic size for a power forward (6'3, 217) and loves to muck it up a bit. While he doesn't look like he's ever going to emerge as a complete offensive force, he has a good shot, strong hands, and an uncanny ability to create traffic in front of the net. The former third overall pick of the Lightning has terrific potential at both ends of the ice, and should start making an impact as soon as this season.

Alexandre Picard - Another big forward (6'2, 190), Picard is a coach's dream. He leaves everything he has on the ice, has good speed, and great hands. If only he could fill out a little bit, Picard could easily develop into one of the better power forwards in the league. He'll start the year in Syracuse.

Toss in a couple of the better two-way forwards of the past decade (Sergei Fedorov and Fredrik Modin), a terrific all-around offensive force like David Vyborny, and a sniper like Anson Carter, and the Jackets should have not one, not two, but three potentially dominant scoring lines. In today's cap-driven NHL, finding three lines that can do as much damage as this troika is capable of won't be easy. Now, if they could only find a way to get some consistent play between the pipes from Pascal LeClaire.........

James Meyerriecks has been writing for Fantasy Info Central since 2001, and has written The Hook throughout the MLB season since 2002. This season, he'll be tackling a new hockey column called The Blue Line. He's also represented FIC in numerous baseball experts leagues throughout the years and is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.

Devils Have League to Thank for Getting Under Cap/Signing Gionta, Martin

2006-10-04T00:24:00.000-07:00

For the full fantasy scoop, head to FIC each Wednesday and check out The Blue Line!

GM Lou Lamiorello and the New Jersey Devils were under fire for much of the offseason, as it didn't look possible that the team would find a way to manage to sign Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta and find a way to keep the roster under the salary cap. However, a savvy move to deal Vladimir Malakhov and a fortunate call from the league office regarding Alexander Mogilny's status on the exemption list helped them get the job done.

The NHL news around the net yesterday was littered with articles regarding Gionta's signing in New Jersey, but we'll add another here. The 27-year-old winger, who scored 48 goals and added 41 helpers last season, re-signed with the Devils for three years at approximately $4 million per season.

The lesser-known Martin was clearly the second-best defenseman last year for a team that's been noted for their blue-line prowess for the past decade. In just his second NHL season, the 6'1, 190 pound defenseman showcased his skills on both ends of the ice, finishing with a +1 rating and tossing in 37 points, 20 of which came on the Power Play. He'll Quarterback New Jersey's second Power Play unit and see some occasional minutes with the first. He didn't get the long-term security that Gionta did, but did ink a 1 year, $2 million deal.

New Jersey's trade of Vladimir Malakhov and a conditional first-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Jim Fahey and Alexander Korolyuk was only the first step in setting up the deal. The move freed up about $3.1 million in cap space for a team that still had five players to sign and was already over the cap. Malakhov, a 38-year-old stay-at-home defenseman, signed a 2 year, $7 million deal with New Jersey prior to last season, but played in just 29 games as he battled with knee injuries for much of the season.

Perhaps more important was the league's decision to allow New Jersey to place Alexander Mogilny on the exemption list. Like Malakhov, Mogilny signed a 2 year, $7 million deal prior to last season, but after the league ruled that he was physically unable to play due to a chronic hip condition, New Jersey was able to escape from the second year (for cap purposes at least), and he won't count against their salary cap in the 2006-07 season.

New Jersey also used their new-found cap space to sign three more players: Backup goalie Scott Clemmensen, Defenseman David Hale, and Winger Erik Rasmussen. None of these three players are expected to have much of a fantasy impact, though Hale has great size and plenty of upside on the blue line.

What do the deals mean to the Devils?

Obviously, signing Gionta means that they were able to re-sign last year's leading scorer and keep one of the more powerful 1-2-3 punches in the league in tact. Though he's only been in the league for four seasons, Gionta has established himself as a terrific two-way player in the Devils' system who is a monster on the Power Play and can even help out killing penalties. He has breakaway speed, a powerful slap shot, and even has pretty good vision on the ice. Simply put, he can take a three inch patch of ice and make it look like he has three feet of open space.

Bringing Martin back shores up a relatively weak blue line corps and gives them a second puck-moving defenseman to go along with Brian Rafalski. He eats up minutes on the ice (1,800 + last year) and is solid in his own end as well.

What does it mean to fantasy owners?

Anyone who owned Patrik Elias or Scotty Gomez had to be smiling when they heard about this move. Elias and Gomez should now find themselves teamed up with one of the league's best snipers all season instead of rotating linemates until they find someone to team up with. While last season's 89 points will likely end up as Gionta's career best, he's still a legitimate 40 goal scorer who makes everyone around him better. Expect another fine season from Gionta. He's a legitimate top five Right Winger.

Martin will have less of a fantasy impact on the players around him than Gionta will, but he's still a borderline option as a fourth defenseman in fantasy leagues. He's going to be a major factor on what figures to be a strong Power Play unit, and should continue to improve his play in his own zone in his third season. Just don't expect a lot of PIMS.

James Meyerriecks has been actively involved writing for Fantasy Info Central since 2001, and has been writing The Hook throughout the MLB season since 2002. This season, he'll be tackling a new hockey column called The Blue Line. He's also represented FIC in numerous baseball experts leagues throughout the years and is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.