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Some early afternoon updates:

Once a band-aid boy, always a band-aid boy. Pascal Leclaire “pulled up lame” at practice today, according to the Ottawa Sun. (What is he, a horse?) Brian Elliott is battling the flu, so Mike Brodeur has been recalled and is expected to start tonight.

Tampa Bay has recalled Dustin Tokarski.

Colin Campbell still is an idiot. Puck Daddy puts it better than I ever could. Campbell and the NHL, who have stated COUNTLESS times that they want to ban headshots, find some insane way of justifying Gonchar’s because Clutterbuck “hit him hard” earlier in the shift? Good grief.

Campbell then goes on to say Gonchar hit him with his shoulder? Umm….

Back to fantasy hockey  – this headshot/suspension stuff gets me a bit riled up sometimes.

After missing time with a groin injury, Colin Wilson is (slowly) rounding in to form. 11 points in 24 games at the AHL level is far from impressive, but he is playing his best hockey of the season right now. I expect him to earn at least one call-up down the stretch here.

Carey Price is staring tonight as the Habs host Dallas.

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Michal Neuvirth had his second dud in a row after being a surprise start. Jose Theodore was perfect in mop up duty and the Caps ended up coming back from 4-1 down to win. If I was a betting man, I’d say Jose gets the next start!

Daniel Alfredsson, originally supposed to be out for a few more weeks, may play on Monday. Someone needs to check this guy to make sure he isn’t on something – this is the second straight significant injury he has brushed off much earlier than expected!

Cool article from two summers ago on Alex Burrows. This was before his big breakout 28 goal season. It is wide knowledge that Burrows worked his way up from the ECHL, but for a time he was also regarded as the best ball hockey player on the planet.

Dobber’s Hockey News column from yesterday.

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Alex Goligoski (finally) returned to Pittsburgh's struggling power play's top unit. He had an assist, and played over six minutes on the power play (and 20 seconds more than Sergei Gonchar). Goligoski's production is essentially dependant on PP minutes, so this is a great sign for poolies who own him (like me).

Darren Dreger reported last night that JP Barry and Ray Shero met last night in Calgary to discuss Sergei Gonchar's future. I can see him signing on for three or four more years with the Penguins, bringing him right up to retirement.

Awful break for Teemu Selanne – he fractured his jaw last night against the Bruins and is going to undergo surgery this morning. He will be out at least 3-4 weeks and probably longer. The injury occurred when a puck his face (obvious enough explanation, I suppose).

Alex Burrows scored his 20^th of the season last night in the loss against Minnesota. 35 is not out of the question for him, especially with the way the Sedins are playing this season.

Speaking of the Sedins, they were pointless last night. Henrik ended a 10 game point streak that saw him record 19 points. Since November 29^th, Henrik has only two pointless games. Last night, and December 20^th against the Blues.

Kyle Brodziak has a five game point streak going after scoring last night against the Canucks. The Wild are getting production from three balanced lines right now. Brodziak is centering Havlat and Latendresse, Belanger is centering Clutterbuck and Nolan, and Koivu is centering Brunette and Miettinen.

Like Brodziak, Latendresse has been on fire since that line was put together. He has nine points in his last five games. He was skating really well last night and with his size is awfully tough to contain both off the rush and along the boards.

After a seven game pointless streak in December, Antti Miettinen has started scoring again. He had three points last night, and has seven in his last eight. He has always been a streaky producer, and is probably worth taking a flier on in a one-year league if you need goals or assists.

After getting yanked in Chicago (a game the Wild eventually came back from 5-1 down and won), Nik Backstrom has won two straight. He was solid last night stopping 29 of 31 shots. In general he has been trending up (like Minnesota as a team) after an awful start to the season. His numbers from last season were obviously a bit optimistic to expect again this season after Jacques Lemaire left, but he still is an elite goaltender on a team finally starting to find its game.

Stephen Weiss had two points last night. He has gone a bit cold lately, with only two in his previous seven games. Weiss is what he is – a 60-70 point center, with a small chance at a bigger season or two. This means that his production won't be all that consistent.

In five games since returning from injury, Cory Stillman has four points. He is a great one-year option as he is a very reliable offensive producer (and he never really gets that much fanfare, so you shouldn't have any issues acquiring him).

Sidney Crosby has 30 goals and is on pace for 50. This is his way of saying F-U to the hockey fans that assumed he was purely a playmaker, I guess. Also doesn't help when he has to play with an aging Bill Guerin on one wing and a mixed bag on the other.

Jay Bouwmeester is pointless in seven, and hasn't scored a goal since November 14^th. His defensive game has been solid, but for over $6 million per year, he needs to start burying a few more pucks. Calgary's best defenseman has been Mark Giordano this season (and lately it isn't even close).

David Moss has one point in his last 19 games, and is still playing between 11 and 15 minutes per game. After 20 goals in 2008-09, he is on pace for only 12 this season.

After a stretch of one win in seven starts, Marc-Andre Fleury had a great game last night, stopping 37 of 38 shots. He is an elite goalie obviously, but is still prone at times to some inconsistent stretches over the course of a full season.

Dennis Wideman had 13 goals each of his past two seasons, and hit the 50-point mark last year. He is on pace for 5 goals and only 25 points. Definitely one of the biggest fantasy disappointments so far.

I won't even go in to my thoughts on the Stephane Auger situation (follow me on twitter if you really care), but the NHL misses the boat ONCE AGAIN when they decided not to suspend Sergei Gonchar after a vicious and intentional headshot on Cal Clutterbuck. Had Clutterbuck hit Gonchar this way, or had Gonchar injured Clutterbuck, you can bet a suspension would have been handed down. As the saying goes, the only thing more dangerous than an idiot is an idiot in power. Aptly describes Colin Campbell.

I posted a video of the Gonchar hit below to jog your memories:

Dan "Big Sexy" Sexton scored last night – it was his first marker in eight games.

This article talks about how the Oilers won’t go out and get goaltending help, even with the season-ending surgery with Khabibulin. JDD has been average at best, and the same goes for Dubnyk. This news means there is a great shot at seeing Taylor Hall in copper and blue.

Jonas Hiller has been lights out lately – he has won five straight starts, allowing more than two goals only once in that span.

John Scott absolutely DESTROYS Alex Bolduc. He has about 80 pounds and seven inches on Bolduc – not sure what Alex was thinking here…. (he also separated his shoulder during the fight):

Here is the Gonchar flying elbow/forearm smash on Clutterbuck:

As always – post comments correcting any mistakes (yes, I do make them), adding any useful news I missed, or asking questions of me or your fellow Dobberites. Cheers!