I'm a little behind on my emails, but it looks like as of two weeks ago, first place in the TSN pool and 15th place in the HNIC pool is a guy who is a regular to this site. As the DobberHockey word spreads, we are seeing more and more of this… 

The following players have made Team Canada's Junior squad (with my Prospect or Goalie rankings in brackets):

G – Chet Pickard, NSH (68), Dustin Tokarski, TB (90)
D – Keith Aulie, CGY; Ryan Ellis, 2009; Cody Goloubef, CBJ; Thomas Hickey, LA (180); Tyler Myers, BUF; Alex Pietrangelo, STL (109); PK Subban, MTL (457); Colten Teubert, LA;
F – Jamie Benn, DAL (78); Zach Boychuk, CAR (107); Stefan Della Rovere, WAS; Jordan Eberle, EDM (68); Tyler Ennis, BUF (159); Angelo Esposito, ATL (62); Cody Hodgson, VAN (4); Brett Sonne, STL; John Tavares, 2009; Dana Tyrell, TB (103);

The ones who caught my eye and had me add them to the prospect rankings for next time: Della Rovere and Sonne.

My mistake on the below re: the KHL. They do, indeed, give out second assists. They are just very stingy with them.

Nashville prospect dman Cody Franson has made huge strides this season with 15 points in 20 games. The Preds will have a scary threesome next year with him, Weber and Suter.

Alexander Radulov leads all of the KHL in All-Star fan voting. He has 29 points in 34 games in a league which does not count a second assist. Again – he won't be in the NHL this season, but I believe he will be next season. No arbitration date has been set as of today.

The Sharks have recalled Jamie McGinn. His last stint was a productive one and he may be eligible for both wings, so it's worth watching. His stay will probably be just a game or two though.

Two points last night give Michal Frolik nine in his last eight.

Some chinks finally appeared in Craig Anderson's armor as he allowed five goals on 30 shots last night. A window has opened for Vokoun to seize his job back.

Curtis Glencross has a lower body injury and will probably miss the next two contests.

Andrew Ladd has eight points in his last five games.

Any questions that you would like discussed on the Dobber Nation radio show, send them to [email protected] – we have an email segment on the show. Guests for the show are Kris Versteeg, Kyle Quincey, Ray Ferraro and Matthew Bugg.

The dynamics of the Minnesota Wild for this season have been established. That is why I am curious to see the impact of Marian Gaborik's return, slated for Wednesday. Will Mikko Koivu see 30 fewer seconds of PP time? Will Antti Miettinen's overall ice time slip by 90 seconds? Will Benoit Pouliot or James Sheppard start seeing the press box? Subtle differences, but they start snowballing in fantasy leagues. Example: Mikko Koivu sees 30 fewer seconds on the power play, he doesn't get a PP goal that he may otherwise have scored… this leads to him getting zero points that game. If the situation repeats for a second game, the coach scales his ice time back a shift or two because he is slumping, which in turn further reduces his chance of producing. Suddenly, things snowball into a full-blown slump. Just an example and I'm sure it won't happen – but these are subtleties that over time impact fantasy hockey.

Dobber's Ultimate Fantasy Pack 2009A is now available for purchase. This Pack includes the upcoming Midseason Guide, the Interactive Playoff Draft List, the Fantasy Prospects Report, the 2009 Fantasy Guide and the 2009 Preseason Draft List – all for a price that is 31% off of buying them individually. CLICK HERE to purchase.

For those chumps who still doubt the value of a "Midseason Guide"… because none of the other bonehead fantasy hockey companies out there sell one (it's too expensive for the print magazines to bother with and the online fantasy hockey sites are too busy getting ready for baseball!), I am – for the second and FINAL time – making last year's Midseason Guide available to you for $1.50. This covers my cost, I don't profit from it, this is as low as I can make it where I don't LOSE money. This is strictly for your benefit so you can see what to expect in the Midseason Guide that will be out January 9. Buy the old one with the change that you dug up between your couch cushions and see for yourself. CLICK HERE