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.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Kaberle out for the season?
Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Wednesday, March 7
Below are the reported starters for Wednesday night:
Kings - Mathieu Garon vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Avalanche -
Lightning - Marc Denis vs Oilers - Dwayne Roloson
Coyotes -
Lot's of questions tonight for starting goaltenders, I will keep an eye on the regular sources and update this post if I find new information.
The Kings, the Avalanche and the Lightning all played last night so the listed started for those teams is a strong, edumacated guess, although Budaj has played well lately and Theodore may ride the pine as the Avs try to push for a playoff spot.
The Columbus Blue Jackets picked up Brian Boucher off of waivers recently and there has not been enough time to spot a trend for their starting goaltender. My best guess is Norrena but he has been shakey lately so they may go with Boucher.
UPDATES: The Columbus Dispatch is reporting Norrena as the starter tonight.
The Arizona Republic is reporting that Mikael Tellqvist will start tonight for Phoenix.
As I noted, I will keep an eye on the news wires and update you if I find new info.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Tuesday, March 6
Below are the reported starters for Tuesday night:
(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)
Panthers - Ed Belfour vs Thrashers - Kari Lehtonen
Avalanche - Peter Budaj vs Bruins - Tim Thomas
Devils - Martin Brodeur vs Flyers - Martin Biron
Predators - Tomas Vokoun vs Red Wings - Chris Osgood
Penguins - Marc-Andre Fleury vs Senators - Ray Emery
Capitals - Brent Johnson vs Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft
Flames - Miikka Kiprusoff vs Blues - Curtis Sanford
Sharks - Evgeni Nabokov vs Wild - Niklas Backstrom
Kings - Sean Burke vs Blackhawks - Nikolai Khabibulin
Lightning - Johan Holmqvist vs Canucks - Roberto Luongo
Things to note tonight:
Manny Fernandez may be back in the lineup for the Wild tonight but no confirmed reports have been seen by me as of yet.
No news yet on when Dominick Hasek will return but there is a slight chance it could be tonight.
DiPietro may be worth $67.5 million
Ok, maybe not. But last night he certainly tried to make that argument.
DiPietro saved 56 of 57 shots only to lose in the shootout to the New York Rangers to post a New York Islanders record for saves in a game.
If you own DiPietro and your Fantasy Hockey League counts Save % as a stat you are probably giddy with happiness right now.
If you own Jagr, Nylander, Avery or Mara you are cursing DiPietro right now. All 4 of those players took 6 or more shots on goal last night and couldn't manage to put one by DiPietro. In fact 8 Rangers posted 4 or more shots during the game. Only Petr Prucha and Matt Cullen managed to get one by DiPietro last night and Cullen's occured in the shootout.
I'll be back later today with the expected starters for tonights games.
Monday, March 5, 2007
NHL Weekly Wrapup - Who's Hot and Who's Not
The story this week is Buffalo. Specifically the way that almost every healthy player left on that roster has stepped up to keep the Sabres atop the Eastern Conference, except maybe Daniel Briere (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he is now the only Sabre on my fantasy hockey roster right?).
Centers: Jochen Hecht has 19 points in his last 15 games. That is a significant part of his 44 total points on the season. His dual position eligibility couple with his current production makes him a useful option in many leagues right now.
Jochen Hecht: 2 goals, 5 assists
Jason Spezza: 2 goals, 5 assists
Olli Jokinen: 5 goals, 1 assist, 1 GWG
Pavol Demitra: 3 goals, 3 assists, 1 GWG
Pavel Datsyuk: 6 assists
Who's Not: After a 6 game stretch where he potted 9 points Daniel Briere has only managed 1 point in his last 3 games. His team has managed 17 goals in those three games (1 of which Briere missed with the flu) yet Briere only managed 3 measly shots on goal.
Wingers: Drew Stafford is certainly benefiting from the raft of injuries in Buffalo. Over the past week has has managed 3 goals, 1 assist and 2 GWG. Stafford has 8 points in his last 6 games to go along with those 2 game winners a +2 rating and 7 penalty minutes (thank you Ottawa).
Dany Heatley: 4 goals, 2 assists, 1 GWG
Rick Nash: 4 goals, 1 assist, 1 GWG
Jason Blake: 3 goals, 3 assists
Marian Hossa: 3 goals, 2 assists, 1 GWG
Drew Stafford: 3 goals, 1 assist, 2 GWG
Who's Not: Evgeni Malkin. Yes you did read that right. Since the Penguins acquired Gary Roberts at the trade deadline Malkin has managed exactly 0 points in 4 games. The good news is that he is still shooting the puck so this is likely a mere blip in the road to fantasy greatness.
Defensemen: Tony Lydman recently snapped a 9 game pointless streak with 1 goal and 3 assists in his last 3 games to continue the Buffalove.
Matt Carle: 1 goal, 4 assists
Marc-Andre Bergeron: 2 goals, 2 assists
Wade Redden: 1 goal, 3 assists, 1 GWG
Chris Pronger: 1 goal, 3 assists
Tony Lydman: 1 goal, 3 assists
Who's Not: Aside from my entire defensive line, Matthias Ohlund is the proud owner of a 9 game pointless streak. He has a fairly decent 27 points on the season, until you notice that 21 of those points came in the first 3 months and he has put up only 6 points in his last 26 games.
Goaltenders: Who else but Ryan Miller. 3 wins propels Miller to the top of the goaltender rankings in the last week.
Ryan Miller: 3 wins
Ed Belfour: 3 wins
Kari Lehtonen: 3 wins
Peter Budaj: 3 wins
Miikka Kiprusoff: 2 wins
Who's Not: The Roly Poly Goalie (Dwayne Roloson, can you tell I have a 2 year old daughter?) has lost 4 straight including 3 last week in the wake of the Ryan Smyth trade.
