Matt Stajan was hit in the eye yesterday by a soccer ball while warming up. His vision in that eye is blurry and he could miss as much as a week. Grabovski should fill this void and this could snap him out of his slump.

Back from a little baby break – thank you to everyone for the well wishes. I stuck a pic of my daughter below.

Surprisingly, TJ Hensick played just 10 minutes last night, despite Stastny being out of the lineup. He also saw little PP time. My hunch on his impact after the Stastny injury seems to be incorrect. He played with Wolski and Jones. Svatos was back in the lineup and took some of Hensick's PP time.

Sorry for doubting Ryan Smyth a couple weeks ago. The guy sure knows how to step up when the chips are down. Now that he is (arguably) the best player on the team again (now that Sakic and Stastny are out), he is really stepping up. He has six points in two games since the Stastny injury.

Kronwall saw nearly 30 minutes of ice time as a result of Lidstrom missing the game (ankle). Lidstrom's ankle is not broken, but he will not be playing this week and if I were to guess I would say do not expect him for three weeks.

Paul Kariya will undergo surgery on his hip and is probably done for the remainder of the season. Terrible blow to my entry in the Expert League – but I had been doing without him for a long time now anyway. Now with Selanne out as well, I have replaced them via the wire with Fedotenko and D'Agostini.

The Habs had recalled Max Pacioretty yesterday but he did not get into the game. He is ranked 21st on my Fantasy Prospects List

Claude Giroux has played the last two games for the Flyers, but has yet to record a point and is a minus-2. He started slow this year in the AHL and is apparently doing it again in the bigs. He remains a prime prospect talent who I rank 10th on my fantasy prospects list.

Another kid who has played in his team's last two contests is Pittsburgh's Dustin Jeffrey. The 94th ranked prospect on my list saw little ice time (13 minutes combined). He has 17 points in 30 AHL games. He'll probably be another two years in the AHL before making the jump, but any winger in the PIT system with an ounce of offensive talent bears watching, for the simple reason that any of them could wind up playing with a superstar as their center.

Jose Theodore will get the start tonight.

Tomas Fleischmann will be out for at least several days with mild pneumonia.

Jonathan Quick has two shutous in his last three starts. The 22-year-old former third-round pick is worth a short-term flyer, but I don't see him becoming a starter in the NHL. A backup, for sure, but a starter – I'm just not sold. But all goalies hit their hot runs and he is on one now.

Mats Sundin will join the Canucks on Monday, which is several days later than expected. So instead of 46 games, he'll play 44. So look for 40-45 points, with a bunch of points early on – I can see 10 in his first six games. IF he does that and you don't trade him (sell high) then you are quite naive believing that he'd keep up a pace like that.

While it was not announced in so many words, it is clear to me that Marian Groinsorik will not be playing this week.

James Neal followed up his hat trick against the Leafs with another two points last night. He has six points in his last four, after having 10 points in 25 prior to that.

Leave it to the Leafs to get another hot prospect rolling. First Neal and his hat trick, then Kyle Okposo and his two points. Okposo followed that up with another point last night.

After three points in seven games to start the year, Slava Kozlov has 31 in 28 since, including 10 in his last six.

Nigel Dawes saw 15 minutes of ice time for the first time since Oct. 5 last night. He has five points in his last five games and has finally found his groove.

Jason Arnott has just two points in his last 10 contests. JP Dumont has just one in his last six.

I see Dan Ellis followed up Pekka Rinne's 40-save performance (on 42 shots) with 38 saves of his own (on 40 shots). This battle will continue, it seems. The Preds aren't scoring, so they need these guys to continue with this. Nashville is the Devil's of the 92-04 years in terms of snoozefests.

Mikhail Grabovski has just three points in his last 10 games.

Rick DiPietro missed yesterday's game just as a precaution – the team didn't want him playing back-to-back. That will change though, and probably soon.

Coming in 12 days – Dobber's Midseason Guide

ANGUS UNLEASHED:

After a brutal start, Brendan Morrison is starting to play better. He has six goals in his last eight games, after positing only two in the first 27 games.

Vanek's injury sure didn't last long, he did not miss a game and recorded an assist for the Sabres on Saturday night.

A pair of hat tricks on Saturday as well. Rene Bourque and Andrei Kostitsyn both potted three in respective wins for Calgary and Montreal. Bourque has been a great surprise for the Flames. I nabbed him a few weeks ago in one of my rotisserie leagues.

Don't forget that Canada and Kazakhstan face off starting at 3:00 PM EST/Noon PST today!

Roberto Luongo is going to attempt to skate again at some point this week. The discomfort has subsided and now it is time to test it out again on the ice.

After an initial slump post-Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro is back producing. He had three points on Saturday night and continues to be the catalyst behind the Stars attack. Also keep an eye on James Neal, the big winger is fitting in nicely in the top six and has five points in his last two games (including a hat trick).

Jonathan Cheechoo had a goal and a helper on Saturday. I personally see him having a big second half and would scramble to grab him in any league. He has that ability to get very hot for 30-40 games.

Want to see something cool? Check this link out. A photographer snuck into the old Buffalo auditorium and got some amazing pictures.

Ryan Malone finally had a breakout game, posting four points as the Lightning won 6-4 over Florida. Marty St. Louis absolutely ripped the team earlier today, so maybe his words had a positive effect. Check his comments out here.

Avery Natalia Dobbs- born December 25, 2008