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"Looking Ahead " has been updated. I invite you to check it out if you haven't already. Very valuable stuff if you are in a roto-league. 

Offside Sports – for the latest addition to DobberHockey, see the end of the ramblings… 

Bryan Berard was running the top power play for the Islanders yesterday, which would indicate that he will be signed sooner rather than later.

Lots of big news in Phoenix: Zbynek Michalek broke his left hand in practice Wednesday and is gone for four to six weeks. Brendan Bell has been recalled to fill his spot.

Mikael Tellqvist will get the start in the opener tonight.

Phoenix line combos: Kapanen with Doan and Vrbata on the first line. Reinprecht with York and Carcillo on the second line. Mueller with Zigomanis and Tjarnqvist on the third line. Hanzal with Weller and Winnik on the fourth line. The odd man out is Sjostrom.

St. Louis line combos: Tkachuk with Rucinsky and Backes. Weight with Kariya and Boyes. McClement with Stempniak and Mayers. Ryan Johnson with King and Hinote. Perron and Mike Johnson are extras for now.
 

Now it's Boston's turn to refuse to name a starting goaltender in advance. I fear this may be becoming the 'in' thing in the NHL – bad news for poolies. First Toronto, now Boston. It's catching on. At least Phoenix hasn't done that yet! 

Tuomo Ruutu's knee injury will keep him out of the lineup on Thursday (here we go again). However, he should be back in come Saturday.

Jonathan Toews will also not play on Thursday and is doubtful for Saturday, however he is very close.

David Krejci is centering a line with Phill Kessel and PJ Axelsson on the wings in practice. Brandon Bochenski is back on the top six.

Alexander Semin skated on his own on Wednesday and is expected to be back in the lineup Friday against Atlanta.

Mike Peca is still sitting out with back spasms and will probably miss both Friday and Saturday's contests for Columbus.

Marty Turco had a subpar start to his season, allowing four goals on just 23 shots. Peter Budaj had a bit of a collapse in the third, giving up two in 12.

With three goals and six assists in five preseason games, Chris Conner should be in the Dallas lineup. Or so say the Dallas media. I agree with them. If Dallas continues to lose, look for a quick recall.

An interesting article in the Detroit Free Press this morning about the team's failure to sell out last night.  

Bobby Ryan played under eight minutes in Anaheim's loss to the Detroit last night. If that keeps up, he won't play more than nine games this year. Keep an eye on the situation.

Colorado's Marek Svatos returned to the lineup, but played just over eight minutes. It would seem that Hlinka has firmly unseated him on the roster. Until that changes, Svatos will be a third liner at best.

Matt Lombardi (wrist) was back in practice yesterday, but lined up on the second line in place of Owen Nolan who was out with a groin injury. Conroy has had an audition on the top line.

Jiri Hudler played over 16 minutes last night. So far he is being treated like a second line player. With Babcock, you never know how he'll treat the young guys.  

If you haven't selected a site to run your fantasy hockey pool yet, take a look at this:

The Stastny, Hlinka, Brunette line combined for eight points last night. Hlinka, a huge producer in the Czech League last season, is fitting into the NHL just fine and looks good for 55 or even 65 (with continued chemistry with Stastny) points this year.

Do you know what's dumb? Leaf fans actually caring about who starts for the team in advance of the game. Fantasy junkies…sure, I can see that. But the casual Leaf fan? The goalies know in advance (trust me), that's all that matters. This topic is huge on the radio in the Toronto area. I just wanted to weigh in.

In a bit of a surprise, Frantisek Kaberle was back in the Carolina lineup a couple of weeks early. Cory Stillman missed the contest with a torso injury. 

Bought the Pool Guide? Here is a one-page supplemental sheet to give you the update.

Cuts of note from late Wednesday night/Thursday morning:

MacArthur, Sekeras, Buffalo.

Tambellini, Comeau, Jackman, Brennan, Colliton, NY Islanders.

Ramo, Tampa Bay.

Picard, Methot, Beech, Columbus.

Richardson, Colorado.

Byfuglien, Chicago. 

Every week, Ken Henderson draws up amusing hockey cartoons and has given DobberHockey permission to post. To introduce you to his work, I will be posting his cartoons daily for the next several days, before giving you his weekly stuff every Saturday.

Visit Ken Henderson's site Offside Sports for more of his work. 

Those of you new to DobberHockey, please note that I update the ramblings several times in a day. To read yesterday's ramblings, click "Next" below.