The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Malkin was fighting a virus for the first week and a half of the Final and he had trouble keeping food down. That explains a lot.

As expected, both Bret Hedican and Glen Wesley have retired. Hedican may latch onto a team in California, but his hip is so fragile I can't believe LA, SJ or ANA would want him. Regardless, as I'm sure you have guessed, the Canes will be looking for a No.4 and No.5 defenseman via free agency.

Ondrej Fiala, ranked 397 on my prospects list, was not signed by the Wild so he goes back into the draft. The team was reportedly concerned about his injuries.

Columbus has given qualifying offers to Fritsche, Leclaire, Picard, Lindstrom, Rome, Wilson and Methot.  None of this is a surprise.
 

675 people beat me in the DobberHockey Ultimate Playoff Pool 2009, but it's the Top 4 who get the prizes. Congrats to Jean for taking the top prize of a Nicklas Backstrom autographed Caps jersey, courtesy of hockeyknight.com.

David Nunes, Patrick Gilbert, Jeremy Wall, "Miscreants", Doug Yool, Paul Siopiolosz and Colin McPhee all tied for second, however the tie-breaker is "Least Games Played" followed by a randon draw. That means that Siopiolosz and McPhee are tied for second and third. The other five are all tied for fourth place.

Random draw: Jeremy Wall wins Dobber's Ultimate Fantasy Pack 2008C – it's the fourth prize…but really it's first prize in everyone's hearts! It includes my just released Fantasy Prospects Report, my Fantasy Guide 2008-09 (out Aug. 1 and updated all summer), my Midseason Fantasy Guide 2009 and my Interactive Playoff Draft List 2009.

Random draw: Paul Siopiolosz wins a Rbk EDGE Authentic jersey brought to you by coolhockey.com, fully customized to your needs by team/player. Fully licensed by the NHL – you won't find better, faster or cheaper service anywhere for authentic hockey jerseys. These guys supply retail stores, so skip the middleman and just buy direct from them! Visit coolhockey.com by clicking on their logo.

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Which means Colin McPhee takes the blocker ($225 value) from Sever Goaltending as third prize. They will customize the colors to McPhee's specifications. Click here for an example , and visit Sever’s website by clicking the linke below:

Thanks to all the above sponsors, as well as www.poolexpert.com for their support. Pool Expert, by the way, does baseball as well so keep that in mind even though we're 60 games into the MLB season…

McPhee and Wall still need to email me at \n [email protected] This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to give me contact information, etc. Thanks to all 2250 teams who participated in this year's pool.