Kaberle returns, hopes Janssen doesn't shoot the messenger

The rumors out of Toronto are that Tomas Kaberle will return to the ice tonight, ironically against the team that knocked him out of the lineup earlier this month.

Kaberle is the offensive catalyst for the Toronto Maple Leafs and arguably there best defenseman to boot. If you have been sitting the Leaf players on your roster tonight might be a good time to put them back in your starting lineup... ummm Maybe Not.

Martin Brodeur was pulled from his last start after allowing 4 goals on 12 shots. If history has any bearing Marty will be on fire tonight and a shutout is a distinct possibility.

On the PIM side, all reports out of the Leaf dressing room say that no Leaf player will be looking for revenge on Cam Janssen, not even Darcy Tucker. I'm not sure how much of that medicine you are willing to swallow but I tend to believe it. More because the Leaf's don't truly have a player capable of taking Janssen to task than anything else.

Both Darcy Tucker and Wade Belak have dropped the gloves with Janssen this year and both fights went to Janssen, although Tucker did give a good account of himself (if my memory serves). It can be difficult to send a physical message when you get the snot beat out of you by the guy you are trying to give the message to.

If there is an attempt to send a message tonight, expect Janssen to shoot the messenger.

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Tuesday, March 20

Below are the reported starters for Tuesday night:
(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)
Black Hawks - Nikolai Khabibulin vs Blue Jackets - Frederik Norrena
Bruins - Tim Thomas vs Canadiens - Jaroslav Halak
Panthers - Ed Belfour vs Flyers - Martin Biron
Devils - Martin Brodeur vs Maple Leafs - Andrew Raycroft
Islanders - Rick DiPietro vs Lightning - Marc Denis
Senators - Martin Gerber vs Blues - Curtis Sanford
Coyotes - Curtis Joseph vs Wild - Niklas Backstrom
Red Wings - Dominik Hasek vs Flames - Miikka Kiprusoff

How did I do last night?
4-4 for starters, 1-2 on winners
(Bold is the actual winner, Italic is my predicted winner)
Penguins - Jocelyn Thibault vs Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist
Canucks - Roberto Luongo vs Oilers - Dwayne Roloson

NHL Weekly Wrapup - Who's Hot and Who's Not

Centers: Patrick O'Sullivan is currently on a 5 game point streak (1 goal, 6 assists) for the Los Angeles Kings. The rookie center scored his first goal since January 27th on Sunday, the game winner no less, to go along with 2 assists on the night. If you are looking for a flavour of the week you might do well to snag O'Sullivan while he is hot.

Joe Thornton: 4 goals, 6 assists, 1 GWG
Joe Sakic: 3 goals, 6 assists
Sidney Crosby: 4 goals, 4 assists
Mike Modano: 4 goals, 2 assists, 1 GWG
Patrick O'Sullivan: 1 goal, 5 assists, 1 GWG

Who's Not: Brought over from the Washington Capitals to provide some offensive talent to replace some of the injury riddled Buffalo Sabres leading scorers Dainus Zubrus has been a dissapointment. In the 9 games since the trade Zubrus has managed only 2 points, if you picked him up after the trade deadline hoping to cash in on the high scoring Sabres lineup, stop, drop and pick up someone who is hot (i.e. Patrick O'Sullivan).

Wingers: Milan Michalek has been on fire in his last 4 games with multipoint performances in each. 2 goals and 7 assists in that span make him a fantasy impact player again this season. If an impatient owner let him drop earlier this season snag him now for the stretch run.

Milan Michalek: 2 goals, 7 assists
Alexander Semin: 4 goals, 4 assists, 1 GWG
Bill Guerin: 5 goals, 1 assist
Jussi Jokinen: 1 goal, 5 assists
Keith Tkachuk: 3 goals, 2 assists, 2 GWG

Who's Not: Markus Naslund has been having a horrible season with only 54 points for a low scoring Vancouver Canucks team. In the month of March he has only produced 3 points and is now on a 5 game pointless streak. If you are still holding onto him hoping for a resurgence, stop. The time is well past to cut him loose.

Defencemen: Ryan Whitney is punishing me for letting him drop onto waivers back around the New Year. He leads all d-men over the last week with 1 goal and 5 assists for the surging Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ryan Whitney: 1 goal, 5 assists
Scott Niedermayer: 6 assists
Rob Blake: 3 goals, 2 assists, 1 GWG
Marc-Andre Bergeron: 2 goals, 3 assists
Lubomir Visnovsky: 1 goal, 4 assists

Who's Not: After a productive first half of the season Zdeno Chara has been dissapointing lately. In 22 games since the start of February Chara has only 8 points with only 2 of those in the month of March. I wouldn't suggest dropping the tallest defenceman in the league, but I would certainly suggest that you leave him on your bench. He is on mine.

Goaltenders: Peter Budaj is undefeated in regulation in his last 10 games with 2 overtime losses and 1 shutout in that span. The Avalanche are surging coming into the playoff stretch and Budaj is perhaps the hottest goalie in the NHL.

Peter Budaj: 3 wins
Marc-Andre Fleury: 3 wins
Niklas Backstrom: 3 wins
Mathieu Garon: 3 wins
John Grahame: 2

Who's Not: Would you believe Martin Brodeur? Marty lost 2 of 3 last week including a stinker in Carolina where he was pulled after letting in 4 goals on 12 shots.

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Monday, March 19

Below are the reported starters for Monday night:
(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)
Penguins - Jocelyn Thibault vs Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist

Canucks - Roberto Luongo vs Oilers - Dwayne Roloson

How did I do last night?
12-12 for starters, 2-6 on winners
(Bold is the actual winner, Italic is my predicted winner)
Lightning - Johan Holmqvist vs Capitals - Olaf Kolzig
Sabres - Ryan Miller vs Thrashers - Kari Lehtonen
Senators - Ray Emery vs Penguins - Marc Andre Fleury
Kings - Sean Burke vs Ducks - JS Giguere
Sharks - Evgeni Nabokov vs Avalanche - Peter Budaj
Coyotes - Mikael Tellqvist vs Stars - Mike Smith

Starting Goalies in the NHL tonight Sunday, March 18

Below are the reported starters for Sunday night:
(Bold is my predicted winner, Italic is an uncertain starter)
Lightning - Johan Holmqvist vs Capitals - Olaf Kolzig
Sabres - Ryan Miller vs Thrashers - Kari Lehtonen
Senators - Ray Emery vs Penguins - Marc Andre Fleury
Kings - Sean Burke vs Ducks - JS Giguere
Sharks - Evgeni Nabokov vs Avalanche - Peter Budaj
Coyotes - Mikael Tellqvist vs Stars - Mike Smith

How did I do last night?
I was hung over and shivering from the cold. It was 90 degrees in Vegas when I left and -5 when I got back to Toronto. I spent the day in bed instead of reading newspapers and trying to figure out who was starting where last night.