November 7, 2009

Jeff Angus

2009-11-07

Sounds like Jhonas Enroth could make his NHL debut tonight for the Sabres.

 

Finally some good news on the injury front. Daniel Sedin will fly in to Dallas and practice with his teammates tomorrow (Sunday). This is a surprise as the newspapers were speculating a November 20 return for him. Sounds like he had a few great skates over the past few days.

 

Mike Green is a game time decision tonight for the Caps, as they battle the Panthers for the second straight night.

 

As of now, neither Pavelski or Setoguchi are playing tonight. Pavelski may take the pregame skate and then make a decision. I think Setoguchi is a little further away.

 

Ouch. The Islanders lose one of their best blueliners for the season. Radek Martinek tore his ACL last night against the Devils. This means more ice time for the likes of Hillen and co.

 

Washington has placed Michael Nylander on waivers. Will they be willing to bury him in the minors all season? That may be the only option here.

 

The Leafs won again! However, it came against the only team worse than them – Carolina. Jonas Gustavsson is tightening his stranglehold on the starting job – after two early goals he locked it down during the final two periods. He is big, fast, and extremely athletic. Once the positioning comes around (and with Allaire coaching him that is a given), I think he has star potential.

 

Of the Leafs' nine points, Gustavsson has earned them seven (record of 2-2-3).

 

An interesting feud has started between Maxim Lapierre and Pierre McGuire. Pierre called Lapierre out two nights ago on TSN for refusing to answer the bell. Being an agitator is tough sometimes – there is a fine line between constantly chirping and refusing to fight. As Pierre said, reputations travel fast around the league – and players are going to start taking liberties with Lapierre if he doesn't change his ways.

 

The Canucks let an amazing start by Cory Schneider go to waste as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Stars. Schneider was absolutely peppered – through two periods he had already faced 40 shots (and only allowed one goal). Dallas looked they were on the PP the entire game. Promising for Schneider owners, as this helps his trade value (which in turn increases the chances Vancouver moves him).

 

Ryan O'Reilly scored two goals for the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche. Was there ANYONE out there predicting this? Even the most optimistic Avs fans were hoping for 10th-12th in the West… A second round pick playing close to a PPG fresh out of junior is absolutely amazing.

 

Kessel recorded his first point in a Leafs uniform, earning a Denis Wideman on a third-period Jason Blake goal. (A "Dennis Wideman" is a saying I use to refer to a second assist).

 

Zach Boychuk played 15 minutes, but was held pointless. He did fire five shots on goal, though. Carolina is a great team to buy low on right now – good luck figuring out who (MS Word wants me to change this one to whom, but too bad!) to get though. Ruutu is a decent multi-cat guy, but Brind'Amour is washed up. I like Corvo  – this team has too much talent to be a bottom feeder. Do they miss Seidenberg that much? 11 losses in a row…

 

Tomas Fleischmann didn't score (but he did record an assist). Washington got some secondary scoring in a 4-1 win over the Panthers. Morrison (with one "n") netted two goals. Theodore had a strong game, only allowing one goal on 29 shots.

 

Mike Green left the game with an injury – I have no idea what happened and I'll try and find out more.

 

Semin had his second stinker of a game in a row. He is still much too inconsistent to be anywhere above a PPG pace over a full season.

 

Steve Ott saw more ice time in Neal's absence (20 minutes, to be exact). Neal didn't travel with the team to Minnesota for tonight's game; so expect Ott to see inflated minutes once again. He earned it with his stellar offensive play last season.

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The Colorado/Chicago shootout went eight rounds, ending with a Chris Stewart goal. Niemi was decent, allowing three goals on 22 shots. The Hawks really want/need Huet to get going, so Niemi is basically going to have to post shutouts to earn consecutive starts – tough situation for him.

 

Andrew Ladd will be a very valuable fantasy player if he ever gets on a team where he isn't so far down on the depth chart. He is on pace for only 40 points, but he is only seeing 12 minutes per game. He is big, fast, and strong offensively. I think he has the upside to be a 25-30-goal guy one day. Ladd had an interesting season last year – he started with only two points in 10 games before finishing with 49. I think he is worth owning, especially in keeper leagues. Chicago can't boast this much depth forever (especially with the impending cap crisis), so Ladd will either be moved or promoted.

 

Steve Downie, Ryan Kesler, Dustin Brown, and Mason Raymond are all tied for the league lead in penalties drawn with 10. I think this would be a very cool stat to one day integrate into fantasy hockey – it actually rewards hustle (and in some cases, diving), instead of just arbitrarily giving out points for penalty minutes (which logically makes little to no sense).

 

Hedman is out tonight against the Habs with a minor concussion.

 

Lee Stempniak is quietly putting up some points lately. Including a four point night against the Ducks, he has seven points in his last six games. He gets a lot of ice time (for some reason), and is seeing time on the top power play unit. He has a good shot, but is small and very soft on the puck. Not really sure what the deal is here – I know the Leafs don't have much depth up front, but there have to be some better options available…

 

Bryan McCabe played in his 1000th game tonight. Kudos, Brian! And thanks again for helping me win my pool back in 2005-06!

 

Gatticus over on the message board asked me three for some quick proline picks. Ask and ye shall receive! I like the Rangers in Calgary to complete the Battle of Alberta sweep. I'll take the under in the Buffalo/Boston game (this may be a cheap one… Miller and a popgun offense), and finally I like the Blues/Flyers game to hit the over. The Blues are due for a breakout game…

 

An absolutely awesome year for the Hockey Hall of Fame – Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, Brian Leetch, and Steve Yzerman. What do they all have in common, besides being younger than Chris Chelios? All four were absolutely awesome players and completely deserving of being in the Hall. There have been a few questionable inductees lately, but none this year. Three of the four are pure class off the ice as well – sorry, Brett!

 

I know they aren't the same players, but James van Riemsdyk was picked right before Kyle Turris, and his extra year of college has really paid dividends. At least the Coyotes recognized they rushed Turris and sent him down to the AHL this season. JVR scored his third of the season tonight (a marker that ended up being the game-winner).

 

Tough times in New Jersey – already without Paul Martin, they also are now without their second best defenseman, Johnny Oduya. Oduya was also their offensive catalyst from the back end. Andy Greene stands to benefit. I was high on him as a sleeper two years ago, but the role of the undersized offensive guy ended up being stolen from him by Cory Murphy.

 

Sticking with the Devils, Bergfors is quietly having a nice season. He is a fun player to watch – not big, but very shifty. Reminds me of a more physical (although that doesn't bear much weight in this comparison) Sergei Samsonov. He should hit 40-45 points this year, with a lot of upside for the future.

 

David Booth is making small strides in his return – he still has only done so much as walking and swimming headache free. I wouldn't expect him back for at least two weeks (Angus MD, free of charge).

 

Just as quickly as I bashed him last night, Andrei Kostitsyn saw time on the Habs top line at practice today (Gionta missed practice, but just for "maintenance"). Kostitsyn needs to play with the same consistency every game – something that separates skilled players in the NHL from skilled players who leave to go back to Europe.

 

More coming later on this morning! It is a Saturday and I am on the West Coast and need my beauty rest.

 

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Mar 29 - 19:03 BUF vs N.J

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