Here it is – the official DobberHockey Olympic Pool! To sign up, simply click on the link here. Click on “Join this Pool” and then proceed to make a team name and fill out the other information. You can then pick your players. You are able to change your picks from now until the beginning of the games, so don’t stress over them too much right now!

If you haven’t done so already – buy the Midseason Guide and support the site!

Mike Knuble had two goals last night, making it five in his last five games. He is going to be money for the Capitals down the stretch and in the playoffs – absolutely fantastic around the net. With Ovechkin shooting the puck, the ones that don’t get through certainly will be rebounded somewhere in the slot.

Patric Hornqvist, who is absolutely on fire right now, scored the loan goal last night in the Nashville 1-0 win over Calgary. Hornqvist is second in the entire league in 3^rd period goals with 11, two behind Marian Gaborik. Thanks to the Forechecker for that stat. In addition, Hornqvist has 14 goals in his last 19 games.

There are a lot of players in Europe who are like Hornqvist – on the surface. Undersized, good skaters, and great hands around the net. The difference? Hornqvist has guts. He plays hard, he is feisty, he battles after whistles, and he isn't afraid of going to the net on a regular basis. I am not calling all Euros soft, but many that come over simply can't translate their skilled games to the NHL with the hitting and defensive pressure.

Some news out of Vancouver – Marc-Andre Fleury has a minor finger injury, and may not play tonight. He hurt it in Calgary, but played through the pain in Edmonton. If he isn't ready to go, John Curry will get the start.

Per Joe Haggerty (an insider who follows the Bruins), Dennis Wideman is on the block. Talk about selling low, eh? Wideman is barely on pace for five goals and 25 points, after 50 last season. With miserable production and a cap hit close to $4 million, I can't see too many teams lining up to get him.

Pavol Demitra is playing his first game of the season tonight. Expect him to start on the third line with Kyle Wellwood and someone else (I'll guess Rick Rypien or Jannik Hansen). Steve Bernier is out, as his minor groin strain is still bothering him.

Calgary shook their lines up last night, hoping to spark the offense a bit. Putting a guy who took almost 40 games to get his first goal of the season on the top line (Conroy) probably wasn't the best idea… Calgary was shutout and is really struggling to find the back of the net. I am not sure why this is much of a surprise to anyone – they really were banking a lot on unproven depth to come through. Jokinen is the only real disappointment in terms of expectations. Iginla's production is fine, but he is taking too many nights off for a captain.

Beyond Iginla, Jokinen, Langkow, and Bourque, I wouldn't call any of the other forwards top-six quality. Glencross, Moss, and Dawes are all solid players who can produce in stretches, but having all three in the top six is not a viable solution.

Neither Phaneuf nor Bouwmeester seem comfortable right now, and Mark Giordano has been the best and most consistent Flame defenseman at both ends of the ice lately. It is great when depth players step up, but not when Calgary's top three on defense has a combined cap hit of approximately $17 million.

Dan Ellis only had to make 21 saves for the shutout, but he earned it with a few point blank saves in the game.

Jamie Lundmark saw over 17 minutes of ice time, behind only Langkow among Calgary centres.

Mike Brodeur is a great short-term goalie to own right now – Ottawa is a defensive club (well they try to be one), and teams usually play even harder defensively when it is a rookie or backup in between the pipes (no statistical evidence, just a general feeling I get from watching games).

Thanks to sparrowtrini for bringing this to my attention on the message boards. A DobberHockey favourite, Cal O'Reilly, has stepped up his play lately. He has three points in the last three games, and is skating on a line with JP Dumont and Martin Erat. The Preds have won each of those three games (the perfect sweep of Western Canada). I didn't know Cal was the older brother of Ryan either – seems obvious enough now, but I never connected the dots.

Cal is a wizard offensively but needs some time to get comfortable making plays at the NHL level. Too often, skilled AHL forwards shy away from playing their game at the NHL level for fear of making mistakes, and because of this they don't really contribute as much as they should/could, and are demoted back to the farm team. A vicious cycle, if you will. For Every Rich Peverley (although Rich deserves a TON of credit for capitalizing on the opportunity given to him), there is a Corey Locke.

John Carlson has been recalled by Washington, and was pointless in 14 minutes of ice time last night against the Leafs.

Cap Geek, in addition to being a great resource for salary information, is on the ball with transactions (players recalled, players demoted, that sort of thing).

Jerome Samson has been demoted by Carolina, and Drayson Bowman (who I wrote about a few days ago) has been recalled.

Vesa Toskala, fresh off a shutout on Thursday, got absolutely lit up last night in Washington, allowing six on 24 shots.

With a massive five point night, Ovechkin has pulled to within two of Henrik Sedin for the league lead.

Hagman was pointless and a minus-2, but had  10 shots on goal (and he fired another 10 that missed the net).

It is going to be at least another two weeks before either Paul Martin or David Clarkson are skating. I really want Clarkson to come back – his combination of offensive production and truculence makes even Brian Burke smile.

Cristobal Huet is starting tonight – his second straight. So much for the alternate starts! I think the Hawks will want to start playing one goalie (Huet) down the stretch more to get in a rhythm.