Any FANTASY HOCKEY GUIDES that are ordered will be emailed within 30 minutes.

Breaking news: Japer is reporting that Alexander Semin has been placed on IR, obviously because of his ankle. 

Bruno, a reader from Switzerland, gave me this interesting tidbit: Patrick Stefan was forced to announce his retirement from professional ice hockey sport after only playing three regular season games for SC Bern in the Swiss National League. Patrick Stefan made this statement tonight on Swiss TV. After having hip surgery this summer the injury appeared again and he was told by doctors he won't be able to again play professional hockey.

Shea Weber is out three to six weeks with a dislocated kneecap. He went into the boards awkwardly last night and left the game – now we have the official word. 

Interesting new blog from Chicago's Danny Richmond . In case you're a fan of Chicago, Richmond…or you just like blogs.

Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner picked up their first NHL points last night. Gagner played under 11 minutes and Cogliano played 14:30.

Steve Bernier played just five minutes last night – the San Jose media has not disclosed why because hockey takes a back seat there. 

Matt Foy was a healthy scratch last night, while James Sheppard sat out while his visa gets sorted out. He will likely miss the next game or two until that issue is resolved. 

It looked as if Shea Weber turned his ankle as he went into the boards, but the Tennessean is reporting an apparent knee injury. He left the contest last night and did not return. More info as it comes in.

Brett Sterling will begin the season on a line with Kovalchuk and White. This is a huge opportunity for Sterling, quite obviously. 

JS Giguere is eyeing an October 14 return from his hernia surgery, which means he will miss one more contest. 

Erik Johnson picked up his first NHL point – an assist – last night. He was the No.1 power-play quarterback for the Blues in his first game, so if you were a little worried, don't be. Everything is going just like you would expect. 

Denis Savard felt that Patrick Kane was the best forward on the ice last night. It was Kane's NHL debut and that's a great sign of things to come. The team was shutout 1-0. Wish I could tell you who he played with (see below for info on how to change that). 

Since he is suspended for a month, instead of 'X' amount of games in the AHL, the Flyers were smart and recalled Steve Downie, thereby allowing him to serve both suspensions at once.

The Blues finally, officially signed Mike Johnson yesterday. The Blues recalled Petr Cajanek in hopes that the re-entry waivers (half price) will entice some teams.

Kamil Kreps was recalled by the Panthers.

Devin Setoguchi is day to day with an ankle injury. He blocked a shot in exhibition play and was not in the lineup yesterday. 

Peter Mueller's first NHL game: 14 minutes, no points, minus-1. Martin Hanzal's: 16 minutes, one assist, plus-1. It is looking as if Mueller will have a slow first half, but I am confident that his year overall will be a good one. 

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

Not a bad debut as the No.1 guy in Nashville. Mason made 35 saves for the shutout. I have in a couple of leagues – including the expert league – he was easy to get because he is so underrated. 

Alexander Radulov played just 12 minutes for the Preds last night. He arrived in camp in worse shape than last year (when he was in stellar condition) and will likley need several games to get rolling. Reserve him for a couple of weeks. 

Peter Budaj got the hook last night and Tyler Weiman made his NHL debut in net for the Avs. He stopped all 10 shots. Budaj has allowed six goals in his last three periods of play. As I said in the pool guide , he does not have the No.1 job sewn up and should not have been considered a 'Tier I' or 'Tier II' goaltender as a result. 

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

"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.

I have a problem. NHL.com changed their stats summary to give you a list of players and their shifts (length and time) called 'TOI' for each game. It's not bad…but it has replaced their shift chart. Now, at a glance it is impossible to see the line combos unless you go over every players' chart and draw it out yourself. This impacts what news I can bring to you. I wrote to them, representing DobberHockey, The Hockey News and the Forecaster. If you could write to them as well – the more feedback the better. You can write to them here .  Say you want the shift chart back! Just a quick one-sentence complaint.

With Kris Russell in the lineup now, Duvie Westcott will be a healthy scratch tonight for Columbus. He is a depth defenseman at best, even though he had an early season offensive spurt last year – the team was more desperate then.

It is looking as if Jonas Hiller will get the start on Friday. His one NHL game was a good one (a win versus LA). 

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.