Now that the All-Star game is behind us, we are about to begin our stretch run.  January was an interesting month in the Dobber Experts pool.  While The Comish is still out front by 16.5 points, at one point the lead had shrunk to only five points.  Angus has reduced his projected games played at centre from plus-23 to only plus-6. In doing so, he has allowed Notch to move up and compete for second place. The two have been swapping positions on almost a daily basis.

Lanky gained 12 overall points in the month and moved up one place from 5th to 4th place in the standings. Sticks&Stones dropped like a stone, losing ten points and one position into 11th.  The main reason for Lanky’s big month was the goaltending of Conklin, Garon (5 Wins, 2.38,  0.929, 1 SO) and Harding.  They have come up big for Lanky in the absence of Fleury.  In the last month Lanky’s save percentage rose from 0.902 to 0.909 and goals against average dropped from 2.90 to 2.76.

The Comish had the best month in shots on goal, points and shutouts.  Lanky had the most penalty minutes.  Notch had the most wins with 14, but The Comish, Third Degree Burns and Lanky all had 13 wins in the month.  The Ultimate SC had the most goals.  Angus recorded the most assists with 111 followed closely by The Comish with 110. Angus added plus-39, increasing his plus/minus total to plus-124. Duke Power is next with plus-98 and sitting third in the category is Sticks&Stones with plus-39.

February will likely see the overall lead shrink as the games played factor comes into play. The Comish sits at plus-27 projected games over at centre. Angus is at plus-6 and Notch is at minus-4 projected games at centre.  It should be an exciting month with many possibilities.

I thought it would be interesting to see which players warranted a waiver wire selection. Here’s the list from the beginning of the season. Date, Player, Claimed by, (Released by):

4 Oct – Christopher Higgins Mon, Angus (Sticks&Stones)
4 Oct – Sam Gagner Edm, Sticks&Stones (Yahoo Add)
13 Oct – Niklas Hagman Dal, Duke Power (Notch)
14 Oct – Bryan Berard NYI, Dobber (Yahoo Add)
18 Oct – Mike Richards Phi, Angus (JP)
28 Oct – Pavel Kubina Tor, Ultimate SC (Dobber)
28 Oct – Scott Hartnell Phi, Ultimate SC (Dobber)
4 Nov – Jochen Hecht Buf, JP (Lanky’s Hitmen)
6 Nov – Chuck Kobasew Bos, McKeen’s Magic (Duke Power)
23 Nov – David Clarkson NJ, Angus (JP)
28 Nov – Scott Niedermayer Ana, Comish (JP)
4 Dec – Maxim Afinogenov Buf, Dobber (Sticks&Stones)
4 Dec – Dustin Byfuglien Chi, Dobber (Notch)
9 Dec – Dennis Wideman Bos, Duke Power (Notch)
9 Dec – Dustin Penner Edm, Ultimate SC (Dobber)
16 Dec – Pierre-Marc Bouchard Min, Comish (Notch)
30 Dec – Braydon Coburn Phi, Angus (JP)
1 Jan – Taylor Pyatt Van, Ultimate SC (Dobber)
12 Jan – Martin Straka NYR, McKeen’s Magic (Notch)
19 Jan – Dustin Byfuglien Chi, Angus (Dobber)
24 Jan – Braydon Coburn Phi, Comish (Angus)

There have been four trades made since the end of December:

Jan. 5
To Legion of Dobber:  G-Ray Emery Ott
To The Comish:  D-Tom Poti Was

Jan. 14
To Notch:  C-Eric Staal Car, RW/C-Jiri Hudler Det, D-Andrej Meszaros Ott
To Legion of Dobber:  RW-Marian Hossa Atl, C-Patrick Marleau SJ, D-Christoph Schubert Ott

Feb. 2
To McKeen’s Magic:  C-Mike Richards Phi
To Angus:  RW-Teemu Selanne Ana

To McKeen’s Magic:  C-Mats Sundin Tor
To The Comish:  D-Tomas Kaberle Tor