With the injury-prone Sanford fighting back spasms per Angus' note below, I think we'll see a lot of Cory Schneider – and once he proves himself, I think we'll keep seeing him even when Sanford returns. All he needs are two straight starts. He only stopped 15 of 18 shots last night – but he needs steady work.

Marian Gaborik has stopped skating and stopped practicing altogether. That tells me we won't see him before Christmas.

Speaking of missing practice, Paul Kariya has yet to return. He is expected to miss at least week, but now I am under the impression that he won't be back before Christmas. I have kept him active in my one league – but no more. He will go on my IR and I don't expect him to come off in December.

Pekka Rinne is undefeated in four games with his shutout last night – meanwhile, Dan Ellis has a losing record. Don't say I didn't warn you in my Fantasy Guide. Mason stole the job from Vokoun two years ago, Ellis stole the job from Mason last year, and Rinne will steal from Ellis this year.

The Bruins have lost Aaron Ward to an apparent sprained ankle and have recalled Johnny Boychuk and Matt Lashoff. Boychuk, a defenseman, leads Providence in scoring with more than a point per game. Either one of them could see time on a power-play unit.

Ilya Kovalchuk's new linemates in practice: Marty Reasoner and Chris Thorburn. Wow, this team is in trouble. I don't mind Reasoner because I always felt his offense was underrated and underused, but neither of these linemates are in Kovy's class. As I commented in the forum yesterday – "Tavares, over to Kovalchuk – SCORES!"

Giguere left last night's game with a groin injury, opening the door for Jonas Hiller to get even more starts.

Some notes on prominent prospects in the AHL:

Brett Sterling has eight points in his last five games, finding his stride again. He is ranked 56th on my fantasy prospects list.

Teddy Purcell has 13 point sin his last 10 games. He was off to a very sluggish start but is back on track. He should be LA's first call up. He is ranked 21st.

Mike Santorelli has parlayed a strong camp in Nashville into a great start to the AHL season. He is riding a seven-game point streak and has 10 in that span. He is ranked 111.

Luca Caputi has slowly turned it around. After three points in 14 games to start, the Pens prospect has five in his last seven. He is ranked 53rd.

There are some doubters out there as to the value of my Midseason Guide and this is a note to them: FOR TODAY ONLY. I will sell last year's Midseason Guide for $1.50. That's right – if you don't believe that this is a valuable tool, I invite you to see for yourself by picking last year's up now for what amounts to chump change. See what you are getting and then decide for yourself if you want this year's version to help you. A buck-fifty. You lost more change than that in the laundry last week. TODAY ONLY. Just go to the "Shop DobberHockey " section.

In the last four games, Toronto rearguard Jeff Finger has two points, nine PIMs and is a plus-3. In deep multi-category roto-leagues, he is looking like a solid No.4-6 blueliner.

Matt Stajan played just 11 minutes last night because he had the flu.

Detroit line combos last night: Datsyuk with Cleary and Hossa; Zetterberg with Franzen and Samuelsson; Filpulla with Hudler and Kopecky.

Bobby Ryan played just over 12 minutes last night and was a minus-2. He'll have his ups and downs all year, which is why I don't see him topping 45 points. Long term, he's still a good one. 

Petr Prucha declined a conditioning stint to the AHL. Where there is smoke…

Robbie Schremp was called up by the Oilers. He has only a single goal so far this season, but is still hovering around a point-per-game thanks to plenty of helpers.

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Angus here with some late night or early morning updates, depending on where in the world you are located!

Steve Mason was stellar in a 3-2 win over the Canucks on Monday night. The way he has been playing, the Jackets may start to listen to offers for Pascal Leclaire. Then again, going with two good goalies is never a bad idea…

Pavol Demitra, always known as a streaky player, has gone ice cold the past three games with zero points. He is a point-a-game player with lots of ups-and-downs.

Curtis Sanford left the game with back spasms. It wasn't anything major, so bank on him getting one of the starts in the upcomming back-to-back against Minnesota and Detroit.

After a slow start, Pierre-Marc Bouchard is turning things around. After a very slow start, he has five points in the past two games. 

Pekka Rinne had his first career shutout tonight, blanking the Sabres with 30 saves.