If you have not already noticed, the Columbus Blue Jackets are sitting pretty at 8-3-2 in this young season. And it would have been really hard to miss the heroics of goaltender Pascal Leclaire, who has already posted five shutouts. But the play of a particular whipping boy may have slipped by even the keenest observer.
Brian Campbell is close to re-signing long-term with the Sabres. This just in: Ilya Kovalchuk has tweaked his knee. The Kovalchukian one was in pursuit of his third consecutive hat-trick, and already had a goal to his credit this evening against Washington. Unfortunately, thanks to the folks at Versus, the feed cut and there's no update on his condition. [...]
In the blink of an eye, the NHL season is more than one month old and you might have dropped and signed more goalies than you did all of last year. Just take a look at the goaltending situation for each team and there are many “starters” giving way to their “backups”. Whether it’s due to their team severely lacking in the scoring department, nagging injuries or their own troubles between the pipes, this season is quickly turning into the backup goalie revolution.
Angus here, mid-day update (6:30 for all you out East). Peter Forsberg has reportedly left the team he was practicing with due to ankle problems. Those rumors of an NHL return look to be squashed - for good. Time to hang them up, Pete. Erik Johnson was sent to the AHL for conditioning. He looks to be [...]
Alexander Edler logged over 22 minutes last night and had over 3 minutes on the PP. He will get a lot of opportunities with Krajicek/Bieksa/Salo all out long term. Kovalchuk has been on a tear since the Hartley firing, and posted back-to-back hattricks over the past two games. He is the extremely streaky and should contend [...]
You may not agree with the order- I don't either- but get that pen and paper handy. It's time for another mock of a mock draft, Bugg Bytes-style.
Angus here, I'll be putting up some tidbits later on in the day while Dobber is away. Peter Budaj is getting the start tonight against the Canucks. Look for Alexander Edler to see a lot of PP time with the Canucks top three offensive d-men all out for the next month. One of the quietest off-season pickups, Radek [...]
Spezza signed a 7 year-$49 million extension today. As long as he can stay healthy him and Heatley will end up being one of the best dous in NHL history. Sidebar-say goodbye to Redden. Ottawa doesn't want another 5 million plus salary on the booksso he will walk in the summer. They most likely will not trade him [...]
I’ve heard that dogs can smell fear. The same is true of great fantasy hockey owners. Are you that shivering nervous little Chihuahua, afraid to make a move for fear of getting eaten alive by the big bad dogs of your pool? Top dogs can sniff out a potential meal. You need to be able to swiftly identify those players that are under-performing and go after them. Here are some early season morsels to chew on from the Eastern Conference.
Angus here, I will also be covering the ramblings while the big man is away.Because of the Canuck injuries, Luc Bourdon has got the call. He has been fantastic this season in the AHL, but will be thrown to the wolves with his first test against the explosve Avalanche on Saturday night Kevin Bieksa will be [...]