Last week in the NHL, Who's Hot

The recent returns of Mathieu Schneider, Sean Avery and Dominik Hasek have made many a fantasy owner happy in the last two weeks. The double return of Dan Boyle from the IR and back onto the IR probably less so.

One good thing about early season injuries to top players is that you can often get them for nothing off of the waiver wire early in the season. I managed to add Mathieu Schneider, Dan Boyle and Shea Weber to my defence core in one league. Sure, my defence isn't so hot right now with 2 of those guys on the IR, but by the end of the season it will probably be the best in the league. Oh, and did I mention that I drafted Chris Pronger and Wade Redden before picking the other three off of waivers?

Top Players last week:
Center: Vinny Lecavalier leads all centers with 2 goals, 6 assists, +6 and 16 SOG. It would be nice if he took a few penalties and got some power play points too... but how much can you ask for?

Vincent Lecavalier: 2 goals, 6 assists, +6
Steve Reinprecht: 4 goals, 3 assists, +3
Cory Stillman: 4 goals, 3 assists, +0
Peter Mueller: 3 goals, 3 assists, +3
Sidney Crosby: 2 goal, 3 assists, +0

Wingers: Sean Avery's return from the IR has been an unqualified success. He has produced 2 goals, 3 assists, a +1, 16 PIMs and 12 SOG. Not bad for a guy you are counting on for your teams PIM total!

Vaclac Prospal: 2 goals, 6 assists, +6
Jere Lehtinen: 1 goal, 5 assists, +5
Martin St. Louis: 3 goals, 2 assists, +5
Sean Avery: 2 goals, 3 assists, +1
Ray Whitney: 1 goal, 4 assists, +1

Defensemen: Daniel Girardi... really? Don't get too excited, sure he put up 4 assists and a couple PIMs this week to follow up a goal last week but Girardi only managed 6 assists in 40 NHL games last year.

Sergei Zubov: 0 goals, 6 assists, +2
Daniel Girardi: 0 goal, 4 assists, +0
Sergei Gonchar: 2 goal, 2 assists, -1
Ed Jovanovski: 1 goal, 3 assists, -1
Mathieu Schneider: 1 goal, 3 assists, +0

Goaltenders: Martin Gerber is giving the best team in the league the kind of headache they would like to have. His brilliant start to the season hasn't been bothered one bit by the return of Ray Emery. 3 starts, 3 wins, a 0.97 GAA and a .963 save percentage, the only thing the guy didn't do was get us a couple shutouts. In one of my leagues some idiotic owner dropped Gerber in favour of keeping Cristobal Huet and Peter Budaj... Idiot. (Editors note: you're the idiot who made that move)

Martin Gerber: 3 wins, 0.97 GAA, 0.963 SPct
Johan Holmqvist: 3 wins, 1 loss, 2.01 GAA, 0.933 SPct
Rick DiPietro: 2 wins, 1.50 GAA, 0.941 SPct
Patrick Lalime: 2 wins, 1.89 GAA, 0.921 SPct
Roberto Luongo: 2 wins, 1.49 GAA, 0.952 SPct

Players to watch: Sid the kid has woken up and is producing across the board and don't look now but Daniel Briere and Scott Gomez are showing signs of life... now where did Chris Drury end up again?

In case you missed it Sean Avery and Darcy Tucker are both back from the IR, both of these super pests are highly valuable in leagues which reward PIMs. Hell, when they are hot they are useful in any league and Avery is hot right now.

Don't look now but Phoenix is proving to be more difficult than many teams expected this year. Shane Doan and Ed Jovanovski are both contributing and could be worth a look on your team, especially if SOG and PIMs are a consideration in your league.

Roberto Luongo has been playing up to expectations lately and Ondrej Pavelec has taken over from veteran Johan Hedberg in Atlanta and won 2 of 3 with a respectable 2.32 GAA.

Without Kaberle on the PP, the Leafs suck

I watched the Toronto Maple Leafs vs Ottawa Senators game last night with mixed feelings.

I expected, and even predicted, a Leaf's loss to the Sens. Without Tomas Kaberle the Leaf's do not have a puck moving defenceman to kickstart their offense. Even more disturbing is the fact that Kaberle is not only the Buds best offensive defenseman, he is also their best defensive defenseman. Without him the Leafs struggle on both the power play and the penalty kill.

Last night demonstrated that fact quite clearly. Ottawa scored 3 power play goals on 6 tries and also generated a short handed goal on 1 of 8 Leaf power play attempts. To top that off the Leafs couldn't manage much in the way of offense during their power play opportunities, let alone a goal.

If your fantasy hockey team has any Toronto Maple Leafs player on its roster I would suggest that you sit them until Kaberle returns to the lineup. Much of the Toronto offense is produced on the PP and without Kaberle this will be anemic at best.

That doesn't mean you need to drop Sundin or McCabe from your roster, just leave them on the bench for the next little while if you have better options.

Kaberle out for the season?

The National Post is reporting that Tomas Kaberle may be gone for the remainder of the season after the devastating hit by Cam Janssen in Friday's game against the New Jersey Devils.

If any of you watched the Toronto Maple Leafs vs Washington Capitals game last night you would have immediately noticed the absence of Kaberle on the power play. Without Kaberle the Toronto Maple Leafs no longer have a skilled power play quarterback and we will see the effects of that over the next 15 games. Be prepared to see Toronto's point production from their defense and power play squads drop significantly over the remainder of the season.

On the other side of the concussion block, Chris Drury is slated to return to the lineup tonight against the Avalanche. Good news for Fantasy Hockey GMs as Drury is the second leading scorer on a surging Buffalo squad.

Has Ovechkin returned from the land of the dead?

If you happened to take advantage of Alexander Ovechkin's recent scoring slump to acquire the young superstar for your fantasy hockey roster then the gamble has paid off.

Saturday night saw Ovechkin bag an assist and he followed that up with a goal on Sunday night.

Tonight after the close of the second period he has already put up two goals and two assists. I had thought about writing a post earlier today to advise you to put him back in your lineup but with my penchant for cursed predictions, I didn't dare.

Hopefully, he can keep this production up for us all. But one note of caution, his shot totals have not actually risen. This could be a false positive but my fingers are crossed.

Why does Ovechkin suck in Fantasy Hockey

In case some of you haven't figured it out yet, I live in Toronto (well Mississauga, but close enough) and we got dumped on this morning.

My morning drive to Guelph usually takes about 35 minutes, including a stop for coffee at Second Cup. Today it took me over an hour just to get that coffee.

As a result my day is a little sluggish, slow and unproductive. Much like Alexander Ovechkin has been of late.

Ovechkin has gone pointless in his last 4 games and only has 2 points in his last 9. He is also a -3 in that stretch with only 4 penalty minutes. Is this a sign of things to come from the Russian wunderkind? Or is this just a blip on the fantasy radar for one of the most exciting players to hit the NHL in recent memory.

Here are some quick facts for you:
In his last 9 games Ovechkin has only two points and 31 shots on goal
In his previous 9 games he had 11 points and 38 shots on goal
In the 9 games previous to that he had 12 points and 50 shots on goal

Ovechkin's point production has certainly suffered over the last month, but more frightening is his shots on goal total. If a player doesn't shoot he can't score. Quite often offensively talented players go through slumps, most pundits will look at the shots on goal category as a gauge of what the problem is. If the shot totals are still up, the points will come back.

Looking at Ovechkin's monthly totals should make any of his fantasy hockey owners shake in their boots.

Month	G	A	Pts	SOG
Feb	2	1	3	34
Jan	7	13	20	61
Dec	6	17	23	76
Nov	12	5	17	66
Oct	6	8	14	65

The drastic drop in Alex's point production looks to be directly correlated with the number of shots he is taking.

I know, I know. February isn't over yet. The Capitals played 12 games in January and have already played 10 in February. Those numbers are close enough that we can predict that his shot (and point) totals will be the lowest of his career.

Last year Oveckin put up 3 goals and 2 assists in February with 43 shots on goal, in only 6 games.

If you own Ovechkin and someone has been banging on your door all season trying to acquire him, right now might be a good time to trade him for a higher producing player.

Unless you are in a keeper fantasy league of course. In a keeper there is a very short list of names that should even make you think about trading him for Crosby's sake! (for example)

If you are going to hold onto him (or you just traded for him like I did) keep an eye on his shot totals. If he is consistently average upwards of 5 shots per game you can expect to see an increase in his point totals around the corner. His February shots per game average is only 3.4, if that doesn't go up consider making a move this season.

More Trade Rumours: Biron on his way out of Buffalo

Earlier this year Darcy Regier stated emphatically that the Sabres would not be trading Martin Biron. Buffalo was very happy having a solid backup goaltender for a run at the cup this year and the value of a strong backup goaltender was made apparent last year (can anyone say Cam Ward?).

However, the recent spate of injuries that has hit Buffalo is forcing them to change their stance. Biron is making $2.1 million this year and clearing him out of their lineup would give them some badly needed cap room to replace some of their injured forwards core.

Buffalo is currently missing Alex Kotalik, Paul Gaustad, Tim Connolly, Maxim Afinogenov and Jiri Novotny from their forward ranks and will miss defenseman Jarolsav Spacek for a month from the blueline.

If they expect to make an extended run into the playoffs this year they will need to address their issues up front and Biron makes for an enticing piece of trade bait. With only 7 days left before the NHL Trade Deadline you can expect to hear Buffalo making some moves, starting with finally giving Martin Biron the trade he was requesting last year at this time.

If you have an open spot on your roster or a fringe player that you can safely drop you might want to consider picking up Biron for your trade deadline gamble.

After all, what is the point of Fantasy Hockey if we don't take these little gambles once in a while?

Last week in the NHL

Here is the weekly look back at who was hot in fantasy hockey over the past week.

Centers: Mr. Joe Sakic proves that he still has some gas in the tank and he is on an 8 game point streak with 15 points in that span.

Joe Sakic: 2 goals, 6 assists
Vincent Lecavalier: 4 goals, 3 assists
Patrick Elias: 2 goals, 4 assists
Pavol Demitra: 3 goals 2 assists
Brendan Morrison: 2 goals, 3 assists, 1 GWG

Wingers: Milan Hejduk seems to have remembered that he is an offensive talent in the NHL and I advised you to pick him up in the middle of last week. He snapped a 6 game point streak in the Avs 5-4 loss to the Canucks last night, but he is still one of the hottest players in the NHL right now.

Henrik Zetterberg: 4 goals, 4 assists, 2 GWG
Teemu Selanne: 4 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Jarome Iginla: 4 goals, 3 assists, 1 GWG
Andrew Brunette: 4 goals, 3 assists
Milan Hejduk: 4 goals, 2 assists, 2 GWG

Defensemen: Karlis Who? Skrastins put up 4 assists last week but don't jump on the bandwagon just yet, that equals his production from the rest of the season. He has yet to score a goal this season either. Leave him on the waiver wire.

Brian Rafalski: 3 goals, 1 assist, 1 GWG
Karkis Skrastins: 4 assists
Scott Niedermayer: 4 assists
Mathieu Schneider: 1 goal, 3 assists
Sheldon Souray: 2 goals, 1 assist

Goaltenders: With 3 wins and a shutout Manny Legace led all goalies last week and yes, he still is with the St. Louis Blues, for now.

Manny Legace: 3 wins, 1 shutout
Tim Thomas: 2 wins, 1 shutout
Martin Gerber: 2 wins, 1 shutout
Martin Brodeur: 2 wins, 1 shutout
Ed Belfour: 2 wins, 1 shutout

Forsberg traded to Nashville

Hmmm, so much for the Leafs, or the Red Wings.

Peter Forsberg is now a Predator.

I hope you decided to take a 'flyer' on Forsberg before this because his price will likely be too high for you now. With the injury questions that perennially surround Forsberg any trade for him in your fantasy league now would be very risky. His value certainly increases now that he is with the Preds, the second best team in the NHL.

Who's Hot:
Milan Hejduk, he has had a dissapointing season this year, I think I dropped him from my team in week 4. However, he is currently on a 5 game point streak and has 12 points in his last 8 with 3 game winners and only 1 pointless game in that time. Last night he potted a hat trick to propel the Avs to a 7-5 win over the Flames.

Jamie Langenbrunner, still hot with a 7 game point streak (12 points).

Joe Sakic, speaking of the Avs, Sakic had 5 points in the Avs win and he has a 6 games point streak and has also put up points in 7 of 8 games. He has 15 points and 1 game winner in that span.

Henrik Zetterberg, continuing his torrid pace he has points in 8 of his last 9 games. 8 goals, 12 assists and 4 games winners in that span make him the hottest player in the NHL right now. Over the last month he has put up 23 points, 3 more than Sidney Crosby.


Who's Not:
Well Maxim Afinogenov, Cristobal Huet and Alexei Kovalev aren't. Afinogenov is out for at least 6 weeks and Kovalev for three, no one is quite sure how long Huet will be out but he went for tests on his pulled hamstring yesterday. Hamstrings are a tough injury for goalies to come back from so don't expect him back any time soon (cough, Hasek, cough).

Jason Pominville has shown some flashed of brilliance this year with the Sabres but he is currently in a 4 game point drought, his longest of the season.

Alexander Ovechkin. Seriousely, the Russian forward only has 2 points in his last 6 games following a 13 games point streak and I know EXACTLY why this is happening. I just traded for him.

Trade deadline approaching, what will happen this year?

Last night was pretty quiet in the NHL, unless you were the Detroit Red Wings. The Flyers pounded the Red Wings 6-1 by posting 5 unanswered goals in the third period. Probably the most interesting part of this game is that Peter Forsberg looked healthy grabbing a goal, an assist and the game winner. That makes me wonder just where he is going at the deadline this year?

First I'll take a quick look at the trades that have already happened this year, starting with the Conroy trade, and then I'll take a look at the hottest names rumored to be moving this year.

Trades that have happened:

Flames get Craig Conroy, Kings get Jamie Lundmark
Not a huge trade but it certainly increases the value of Craig Conroy, if Conroy can regain the past chemistry with Jarome Iginla he could be in for a productive few months.

Rangers get Sean Avery and John Seymour, Kings get Jason Ward, Marc-Andre Cliche and Jan Marek
Not a big deal but the swap to the Rangers could give Avery a nice boost this year. Avery is probably owned in most leagues that reward penalty minutes but he could also increase his points total if he ends up on one of the top scoring lines in New York.

Rangers get Pascal Dupuis, Wild get Adam Hall
In Dupuis the Rangers get an offensively talented young winger who has yet to realize his potential in the NHL. This is a bit of a change for New York as they are usually getting a player like this near the end of their careers, not the start. Very little fantasy upside this year, but keep an eye on his production in larger leagues.

Hurricanes get Josef Vasicek, Thrashers get Eric Belanger, Predators get Vitali Vishnevski
None of these guys really make a fantasy impact, however the three way trade does give each team some depth and help at key positions. All three teams are stronger after this trade especially the Predators who get a large physical presence on D out of Vishnevski.

Flames get Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau, Bruins get Chuck Kobasew and Andrew Ference
Brad Stuart is the only piece here with a fantasy impact this season. Stuart should see increased power play ice time with the Flames and he fits in nicely to their physical defense core. Don't expect a huge numbers increase for Stuart but he could come close to equaling his current point production (17 points) over the remainder of the season.

Stars get Ladislav Nagy, Coyotes get Mathias Tarnqvist
Nagy has tremendous offensive upside and adds a bit of a nasty edge to the Stars. Keep an eye on which line he ends up on in Dallas as we could see a jump in production. He is already on pace for a career year in points (albeit it only 60 points) but getting out of the situation in Phoenix can only help his season this year. He may be too much of a fringe player this season but keep an eye on where he lands this offseason.

Trades that could happen:

Adrian Aucoin: His contract may be a problem but Aucoin is an offensively minded defenseman who can only be helped by leaving the Blackhawks. May end up in Montreal.

Todd Bertuzzi: If healthy Bertuzzi could provide some scoring punch at the end of the season, keep an eye on this one.

Eric Brewer: Probably the most affordable Dman on the market Brewer is unrestricted at the end of the year and will most likely be moved to any number of teams looking for a top 4 defenseman. This is the trade I am watching almost as closely as the Forsberg sweepstakes.

Joe Corvo: Another puck moving defenseman on the block, Corvo will not likely improve his stats by moving to another team.

Peter Forsberg: Regardless of whether he gets traded or not the important question is Forsberg's health although a move to any other team in the NHL will likely improve his production over the final months of the season slightly.

Bill Guerin: A veteran presence with grit and a scoring touch Guerin will likely be moving at the deadline. As long as he doesn't end up in Philly that should help.

Gary Roberts: Moving to another team probably won't make much of a difference in Roberts season, other than a playoff appearance that is.

Sergei Samsonov: If the rumours are true and Samsonov heads to the Blackhawks he could end up as a dark horse sleeper pick for the close of the season. Heck, put Jonas Hoglund on a line with Martin Havlat and he'll score points.

Mats Sundin: Speaking of putting pylons on the first line with proven scorers, the rumours about Sundin being moved can only improve the production from the Leaf Captain. In my opinion this trade is unlikely, even if the Leafs fall out of playoff contention. As much as I respect Sundin I hope the Leafs trade him this year. After all, we can just resign him in the summer can't we?

Jose Theodore: Who cares, even if Theodore ended up as the starting goalie for a contender I wouldn't trust him between the pipes on my fantasy team. Ignore this guy unless he remembers how to play.

Keith Tkachuk: Tkachuk's contract will get in the way here, and it is not likely he would improve his fantasy output either way. He is valuable on your roster right where he is.

Darcy Tucker: Again it is not likely that the Leaf's will pull the trigger on this deal, even if they are out of the playoff race. If it does happen you can expect Tucker's performance to dip a little as only the Leaf's would be willing to start him on their top scoring line. On the other hand, if you already own him any production from him would be nice at this point.

In Blind Sight... play Jagr

So in keeping with the theme of this blog I took my own advice on Saturday.

Jaromir Jagr is one of the most exciting players in the NHL, but over the last few weeks his production had slipped and he was performing at a mere point per game pace. I advised that you sit him on Saturday night and mentioned that I had him planted firmly on my bench for the evening.

Somewhere around 6:30 on Saturday night I realized that I had just predicted that Jagr would have a quiet night on Saturday and that got me to thinking...

So, since every prediction I make tends to backfire I slotted him into the lineup at the last minute and I got to take advantage of his 3 assists.

In case you have forgotten, if I get around to making a firm prediction about a team or a player... ignore me and do the opposite.

Last week in the NHL, Who's Hot

Interesting week in the NHL.

Dominic Hasek finally went down with an injury that every one of his owner's has been fearing this season. The good news is that it is not the dreaded groin injury that would likely take him out for the rest of the season. He was out yesterday and is expected to be out of the lineup again tonight with a swollen wrist. Makes one wonder what he has been doing in his spare time...

Since Chris Osgood is also out with a broken finger Joey MacDonald is expected to start his second game in two nights. On Sunday night MacDonald made 16 saves to earn his first NHL win. The defensively minded Red Wings give any goaltender a chance to win, if you have the option, pick him up and start him in goal tonight as the Wings play the lowly Flyers.

Top Players last week:

Center: Pavol Demitra is really enjoying the return of Marian Gaborik. The return of
Gaborik has woken Demitra who has slowly increased his play of late and now has 41 points in 48 games.

Jordan Staal: 5 goals, 1 GWG
Joe Sakic: 2 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Evgeni Malkin: 2 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Pavol Demitra: 2 goals, 3 assists, 2 GWG
Rod Brind'Amour: 1 goal, 5 assists

Wingers: Henrik Zetterberg has definitely lived up to his promise lately. Z has sparked the Red Wings to 6 wins in their last 7 with 16 points in those 7 games. In fact the Wings one loss in that period happens to coincide with Z's one pointless game (a 1-0 loss to St. Louis, no this is NOT typo).

Henrik Zetterberg: 5 goals, 4 assists, 2 GWG
Ray Whitney: 4 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Martin Havlat: 5 goals, 3 assists
Marian Hossa: 2 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Jaromir Jagr: 2 goals, 4 assists

Defensemen: Michal Rozsival led all defensemen last week with 2 goals, 2 assists and a game winner, for the Rangers. Despite my recent unhappiness with Jagr's play of late the Rangers seem to have woken up in the stretch run and Rozsival has been a huge part of that.

Michal Rozsival: 2 goals, 2 assists, 1 GWG
Sergei Zubov: 1 goal, 3 assists, 1 GWG
Roman Hamrlik: 1 goal, 3 assists
Sergei Gonchar: 4 assists
Phillippe Boucher: 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 GWG

Goaltenders: Mike who? Mike Smith replaced Marty Turco twice last week and both times led the Stars to comeback wins over Minnesota and Colorado. Just to make his week even more remarkable he earned a shutout win against Anaheim on Saturday night.

Mike Smith: 3 wins, 1 shutout
Marc-Andre Fleury: 3 wins
Martin Brodeur: 2 wins, 1 shutout
Henrik Lundqvist: 2 wins, 1 shutout
Ryan Miller: 2 wins

Players to watch:
Although Mike Smith lead all goaltenders last week the odds of him permanently replacing Marty Turco as the starter in Dallas are extremely low, still he might warrant a pickup as your third or fourth goaltender. Dallas plays a lot of Sunday games so if you are behind in goaltender starts Smith may help you as you likely don't have two regular starters to go every Sunday. The Stars play Sunday games for the next six weeks in a row so you can take a flier on Smith getting a few starts/replacements for the rest of this month.

Evgeni Malkin is probably not available in your league, and if he is you might want to find a new league. However, Jordan Staal has been red hot lately with points in 9 of his last 11 games potting 10 goals and two assists in that span. If you are lacking in goal production he would be a great pickup right now. Malkin and Staal have been skating on the same line and they are playing well together, Malkin has garnered 5 goals and 13 assists in that same period.

Saturday Night Special

Fairly full plate tonight with 11 games on the schedule.

As far as I know here are the starting goalies for tonight:

J-S Giguere (ANA) vs Marty Turco (DAL)
David Aebischer (MON), Ray Emery (OTT)
Miika Kiprusoff (CGY), Ryan Miller (BUF)
Henrik Lundqvist (NYR), Olaf Kolzig (WAS)
Curtis Sanford (STL) vs Michael Leighton (PHI)
Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) vs Andrew Raycroft (TOR)
Rick DiPietro (NYI) vs Tim Thomas (BOS)
Curtis Joseph (PHX) vs Ed Belfour (FLA)
Cam Ward (CAR) vs Niklas Backstrom (MIN)
Mathieu Garon (LA) vs Tomas Vokoun (NSH)
Kari Lehtonen (ATL) vs Roberto Luongo (VAN)

As far as I can tell these will be the starters tonight.

The Rangers dumped all over the Lightning last night 5-0, you might want to adjust your lineup to get some Rangers into it. However, much of the scoring last night was done by 3rd and 4th liners so you likely don't have them on your roster. On a personal note, Jaromir Jagr is still on my bench.

More info on tonight's starting goalies

From a few sources I have read that Nikolai Khabibulin is expected to start tonight for Chicago, but none of the sources were very certain of that fact, mainly because Lalime pitched a shutout in his last game. I would tend to agree with them and I am changing my recommendation from Lalime to the 'Bulin Wall'. After all, it Patrick may have got the win and the shutout, but it was his first game this season.

As for the other game, the Rangers will definitely be starting Lundquist for one game and Weekes for the other this weekend, but nobody seems to agree on which one will be tonight. I'll stick with Lundquist starting tonight and Weekes up tomorrow.

Tampa Bay will have Holmquist in net and Edmonton will play Roloson.

New predictions and tonight's starting goaltenders

Hmmm, so yesterday I explained that any game prediction that I make should be automatically regarded as the opposite of what will really happen. In that explanation I suggested that the Nashville Predators would win a relatively low scoring game against the Leafs and because I was predicting that outcome you could expect a massive Leaf's win.

Looking back it seems that a double prediction makes it more likely that my original prediction comes true. Interesting... but I'm simply too lazy to make multiple predictions on each game in the NHL so let's stick with the idea that you can expect the exact opposite of what I predict for a game.

On to hot players and who to watch.

Jamie Langenbrunner continued his hot streak with the game winner in the Devil's 2-0 win over the Islanders last night. Langenbrunner has posted 3 goals and 6 assists in his last 5 games. If he is available in your league jump on the bandwagon while you still can.

Speaking of bandwagons, Martin Biron has won three straight for the Sabres fueling speculation that a goalie controversy is brewing in Buffalo. Don't believe it, the Sabres are committed to Ryan Miller and look at Martin Biron as the best possible backup goalie in the League. If you are a Biron owner make sure you keep an eye on who Buffalo plans to start and get him in your lineup whenever possible. This late in the season Buffalo will likely start Biron a little more to give Miller some rest and keep Marty sharp for the upcoming playoffs. If you were hoping that Biron would earn a starters job this season, forget it.

Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres has flown quietly under the fantasy hockey radar most of this season (not mine though, I've had him on my roster since the third week of the season). On Wednesday night he potted two goals, one of which was the game winner (and no, of course I didn't have him in my lineup). Vanek has already surpassed his output from last season and so far this year he has 28 goals, 26 assists, he is + 28, with 3 GWG and 26 PIMs. Not bad for a sophmore season. Buffalo has recently put Vanek back on their third line with Afinogenov and Roy, expect this trio to regain the scoring touch they had earlier in the season.

There are only two games on tap in the NHL tonight, Tampa Bay vs the Rangers, expect Holmqvist to start against his old team and Lundquist to start for New York.

The second game is the Chicago Blackhawks at Edmonton. The starting goaltender for Edmonton is simple, Dwayne Roloson, but the Hawks have three goalies on their roster, Brian Boucher, Nikolai Khabibulin and Patrick Lalime. Lalime got his first shutout in two years in the Hawk's last game but Khabibulin is the outright star. It's anyone's guess who the starter is but at this point I would bet on Lalime. If I hear any different I will update you immediately.

Speaking of which, Boucher backed up Lalime in the Hawk's last game with Khabibulin sitting out the game in the press box. If that happens again tonight I think we can take it as a sign that Chicago is close to inking a deal to send Khabibulin packing. Regardless of where he ends up it will probably increase his fantasy value quite a bit.

Last night in the NHL, still keeping up my end of the bargain

As predicted Vancouver was shut-out last night by the Chicago Blackhawks and Patrick Lalime.

No, don't worry, that isn't a typo. Yes, in yesterday's post I suggested that the Canucks would put up some good numbers against the Hawks. But in case you missed the point of this blog you are supposed to automatically expect the opposite of any game prediction that I make. So if I think that a team will win a tight game, expect a barnburner... and a loss.

I don't make predictions because I expect the opposite to happen, it's just the way my life goes.

For instance, tonight the Nashville Predators host the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Pred's are one of the hottest teams in the NHL this season and the Leafs are on a 5 game win streak and possess one of the hottest goalies in the league right now in Andrew Raycroft. Vokoun has been pretty good of late himself and I would predict that the Predators will win a tight, low scoring game, somewhere in the 3-1 range. If I were you I would sit Raycroft, start Vokoun and every Predator player you have and expect my prediction to backfire and bank on a monumental 8-2ish type Leaf's loss.

Of course, now that I've made a double prediction who knows what will happen. Tomorrow, we can look at it in Blind Sight and see where I went wrong.

I am pretty horrible at predicting the outcome of games, but I am good at spotting hot players, trends and evaluating possible trades. So if you have questions, send them to me at blindsightis2020@hotmail.com

Speaking of which, if you have not picked up Niklas Backstrom yet, get on it.

Thomas Vanek has three goals in his last two games with a game winner and 4 penalty minutes, the Sabres seem to be heating up a little so get him back in your lineup if you've been sitting him while they were slumping.

Miroslav Satan has posted 4 goals, 2 assists, +6 rating, 4 penalty minutes and 17 shots on goal in his last 4 games with the Islanders. With a dissapointing 41 points on the season many leagues may be able to find Satan on their waiver wire. And just to make it un-official, there are rumours that Satan is being pursued by the Devils prior to the deadline.

Ok, so that last bit is not true (as far as I know!), but don't you wish it was true just so you could enjoy all the headlines that trade would produce? Besides, as a Leaf's fan, I've always thought that Satan guy was the devil in disguise. When he was with the Sabres he was a significant part of our Buffalo curse.

Have a good day and remember, In Crosby We Trust.

What Happened... in the NHL last night

The Leafs have won 5 straight and last night it was again Andrew Raycroft who stood up and gave the Leafs a chance to win with a wicked glove save on Bill Guerin early in the third period.

As a Fantasy GM I would suggest you ride the Leaf's and specifically Raycroft as long as they are hot. As a Toronto Maple Leafs fan I want to see them go into a prolonged losing streak that takes them out of the playoff's and forces them to enter a rebuilding period. Ah well, such are the conflicting loyalties of fan and GM.

Most astute GM's have noticed Michael Cammalleri's play of late, but in case you have missed it he has 6 goals and 14 points in his last ten games. If the point production isn't reason enough to pick him up keep in mind that he is putting up those points while playing for the horrible LA Kings. He is available in my league, I would suggest you check your waiver wire right now and grab him if he is available!

Chris Mason didn't do me any favours last night, and I'm sure a lot of Fantasy GM's are groaning about the 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mason and Vokoun have been absolutely stellar on the best team in the NHL over the last month so don't cut bait on him over just one bad game.

Tonight there are 5 games on tap, Ottawa at Buffalo could produce some fireworks tonight and San Jose finishes off a back to back against Anaheim. The Ducks won a 7-4 goal fest last night and I would expect something similar tonight. I expect the Sharks to come out on fire and take it to the Ducks early, I also expect that Anaheim has too much defensive depth for the Sharks and we will see them pull off a win in the third period. Either way, expect a lot of scoring from this game.

Vancouver hosts the Chicago Blackhawks tonight as well, expect the Canucks to put up some decent numbers and adjust your rosters accordingly.

Looking over the waiver wire Bryan Berard may still be available in your league, especially since he hasn't posted a single point in his first two games back from injury. I wouldn't expect that scoreless streak to continue much longer so if he is available in your league take a flyer on him. He could end up as a top 3 defenceman over the remainder of the season.

Time to sit Jagr?

I know, you are asking yourself if I'm on crack this morning.

Frankly, no. I can't afford crack. I'm lucky if I get caffeine.

Jagr has had a rather pedestrian month with only 10 points in 11 games with only one multi-point game in January. Frankly I expect more than a little under 1 point per game from him. If he is in your lineup you may want to swap him out for a hotter player. But remember this is Jagr we are talking about. Be ready to swap him back in if he and the blue shirts wake up and start scoring in bunches.

What's on tap tonight?

A full slate of games are going tonight but I see two that could generate some high scoring.

Buffalo at Boston: After being blown out 7-1 by the Sabres on Jan. 30th expect the Bruins to come out swinging. Unfortunately with their goaltending issues lately expect them to fall short. I see a 6-2 win for the Sabres tonight. Marty Biron will be starting in net for the Sabres if Lindy Ruff's comment a few days ago can be trusted. Start the usual cast of characters for the Sabres and take note that the B's top line has been reshuffled to include Patrice Bergeron, Glen Murray and Marc Savard.

Carolina at Tampa Bay: Both teams are offensively minded and have been having goalie issues recently. Don't start Ward in net (in fact John Grahame may get the call) but ensure that the top scorers on each team are active in your lineup. Take note that Eric Cole is a game time decision with a lower body contusion.

As for the rest of the games, it is anyone's guess. The Vancouver Edmonton game could produce some fireworks but with Luongo and Roloson both able to steal games I wouldn't bet on it. Nashville should beat up on Phoenix so if you can determine who is starting (Vokoun?) make sure you have him active.

Goaile troubles

Quick note for Monday morning.

Frederik Norrena was injured in the second period of the Blue Jackets win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets are already playing without injured starter Pacal Leclaire who has been out since December 26th. Third stinger Ty Conklin finished the game with 15 saves. Conklin may be a decent short term pickup if you are in need of goalie wins. Columbus is on a 3 game win streak and have won 4 of their last 5. If Conklin stumbles be ready to drop him quick. Norrena is listed as day to day with the dreaded lower body injury and could be back as soon as Tuesday at Vancouver.

Ryan Miller has been off lately. The Sabres have lost 8 of 13 this month and Miller has been in net for 6 out of 10 losses. In those 10 games Miller has a 3.2 GA average and has let in 5 or more goals in two games. The Sabres will probably continue to go to Miller as Biron has not been much better this month. Biron has two losses in 3 starts and a 3.67 GA average in January. If you have better options you may want to sit Miller until he regains his form.

This is bad news for owners of Biron. With Millers shaky play the likelihood of the Sabres trading Biron at the deadline is pretty low.

On a better note, the Nashville Predators continue to be hot winning 10 of 12 in January. Both Vokoun and Mason are playing well right now. This is a mixed bag if you picked up Mason while Vokoun was on the IR. I wouldn't suggest dropping Mason anytime soon. The play of Mason makes one wonder if the Preds will be moving him at the deadline for some depth up front? That is certainly a nice little rumour to drop in your league if you are trying to trade Mason for depth on your roster.

Welcome back Carolina and who to start in goal tonight?

Up until last night I was convinced that the All Star break managed to give us nothing but time and rumours. Apparently I was wrong.

Carolina seems to have taken the time to recharge there batteries and they came out swinging against the Washington Capitals last night. The 6-2 win over the Caps was a convincing one and it seemed like every offensive threat they have was contributing last night. Even Eric Staal! Keep in mind that almost every game between these two teams has been a blowout this year and it is a pretty even swap. Carolina is now leading the season series 3-2 and they have game 2 of a back to back going tonight. If you have either Caps or Canes players it might be a good idea to get them in your lineup for tonight.

Speaking of underachieving power forwards, Rick Nash potted a goal last night as well. Hopefully this is a sign that Nash and Staal are actually going to show up for the rest of the season.

And speaking of lineups... 13 teams play the second of their back to back games tonight. Seriousely. Carolina, Washington, Buffalo, Columbus, New York Islanders, St. Louis, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Phoenix, Edmonton and Los Angeles all play game 2 tonight. This means lots of games played by backups tonight.

Expected starters for each team are listed below. NOTE: this is nothing more than an educated guess coupled with some reading of local newspapers.

Carolina Hurricanes: John Grahame
Washington Capitals: Olaf Kolzig
Buffalo Sabres: Martin Biron
Columbus Blue Jackets: Fredrik Norrena
New York Islanders: Rick DiPietro
St. Louis Blues: Manny Legace
Minnesota Wild: Niklas Backstrom
New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur
Pittsburgh Penguins: Jocelyn Thibault
Nashville Predators: Chris Mason
Phoenix Coyotes: Mikael Tellqvist
Edmonton Oilers: Dwayne Roloson
Los Angeles Kings: Sean Burke

Make sure you take a look at your roster and make adjustments where necessary. Some of these are guesses, some of them are common sense and some are pulled from local news sources.

NHL All Star game lacking

I don't know about the rest of you but I found the NHL All Star game boring as hell.

The much hyped line combo of Crosby and Ovechkin didn't manage to do much of anything at all during the game. Most of the time they looked a little uncertain out there and they never managed to connect with each others game. Ah well.

The good news? Daniel Briere was the MVP with 1 goal and 4 assists, Rick Nash potted two goals. Okay, so that probably doesn't really matter to any of you but Briere is my key Center and Nash has been a permanent fixture on my bench all season long. Hopefully Briere continues to lead the Sabres in points for the rest of the season and Nash wakes up from his long sleep. I'm sure a few of you out there are hoping this is a sign of a return of the Rick Nash we thought we had drafted.

What else was hot? Martin Brodeur was pummelled in net but came up with a spectacular glove save on Jonathan Cheechoo in the second period. Has anyone else ever noticed how much Brodeur tends to accentuate his saves with wildly waving body parts and post save flourishes? His save on Cheechoo was text book positional play as he slid across with stacked pads and his glove hand up high. Cheechoo simply hit Brodeur's glove as he tried to put it up over the pads. What did Brodeur do? He pulled a complete flip while holding his glove hand up high to show off his catch. You know what Marty? Good save... but I would be more impressed if I saw you do that flip with a pint of beer and not spill a drop.

Why is it that NHL goaltenders want to embellish their saves? Does anyone remember Felix the Cat? Potvin had a very good glove hand in his day and he had a habit of waving his glove around like he'd caught the holy grail after a save. Keep the after save displays to a minimum folks, they are annoying. Mike Palmateer used to stare at his glove after making a save as if to prove to himself that he really did catch that. I definitely prefer the more humble style that seems to have gone the way of the Dodo in the NHL.

That's enough for todays rant... real hockey is only 3 more days away!