March 20, 2010
Jeff Angus
2010-03-20
Ales Kotalik has one goal and one assist as a Flame. Oh, and he still has two years left at $3 million per (with a NTC to boot).
For the second straight year (Matt Gilroy in 2009), the Rangers have signed the most sought after defenseman free agent in college hockey. Lee Baldwin had one goal and nine helpers with the University of Alaska-Anchorage this season. This deal hasn’t been announced anywhere yet, but it should be soon.
Jordan Eberle didn’t have to wait long to make an impact at the AHL level. He scored a goal and added an assist in his first game with Springfield last night.
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Todd Bertuzzi has no goals and only three assists in his past 10 games. I picked him up earlier in the season to take advantage of his hot stretch, as he saw increased minutes with both Franzen and Holmstrom out. However, his fantasy value is basically nothing at this point.
Lubomir Visnovsky has five goals in seven games since being acquired from Edmonton. His career high is 18, and don't be surprised if he approaches it next season with the Ducks. Niedermayer looks like he will be retiring, and Visnovsky will be given the duties of quarterbacking the top unit along with Getzlaf, Perry, and Ryan.
Devan Dubnyk FINALLY got his first NHL win last night, as he stopped 31 of 33 shots against Detroit. His record up to that point in the NHL was a miserable 0-8-2. Fun fact – Dubnyk was picked ahead of Mike Green in the 2004 Entry Draft (as were a few other borderline NHL players).
Mathieu Garon got the win last night, and is 6-0-3 at home this season for the Blue Jackets.
Rick Nash had two goals in his return to the lineup. He has too much skill to not flirt with 50 goals very, very soon.
It looks like Curtis “auto loss” McElhinney will be needing a new nickname soon. He came in to mop up Jonas Hiller’s mess last night, and the Ducks rewarded him with a comeback victory.
Mikael Backlund had a very interesting game for Calgary last night. He made an awful blunder defensively, passing the puck back to Kiprusoff, which eventually led to a Manny Malhotra goal. However, he was one of the best Flames offensively, setting up two goals. He still isn't seeing much ice time (just 7:57 last night) though.
Kristian Huselius is sizzling with eight points in his last three games. He had a goal and an assist last night.
The Hobey Baker finalists for 2010 have been announced:
F Bobby Butler, New Hampshire
* G Marc Cheverie, Denver
* F Blake Geoffrion, Wisconsin
* F Gustav Nyquist, Maine
* F Mark Olver, Northern Michigan
* F Chase Polacek, Rensselaer
* F Rhett Rakhshani, Denver
* G Cody Reichard, Miami
* G Ben Scrivens, Cornell
* D Brendan Smith, Wisconsin
Nyqvist, a Red Wings draft pick, should be the favourite. He scored 18 goals and added 41 assists for the University of Maine this season.
Cody Hodgson, who is still nursing a broken foot, was the first star in Brampton's win last night against Kingston. He scored the game winner and also added an assist. He hasn't missed a beat since returning last month from his back injury.
Kirill Kabanov was benched midway in the second period last night in Moncton's game, and he didn't return to the ice for the third. He took a few bad penalties and was called out by teammates for it. Without Kabanov's help, Moncton scored four third period goals to win 6-3. His stock has been plummeting big time over the past few months.
Kari Lehtonen is starting tonight for the Stars.
Brent Seabrook practiced with his teammates yesterday, but there is no word on a possible return date.
Tim Connolly is… INJURED! Yes, you heard that right! He has a sore foot and is questionable for tonight. The band-aid boys were just starting to miss him too.
I’ll have some more stuff up this afternoon. Not many games last night in the NHL, but the CHL playoffs have just kicked off.
Absolutely fantastic scrap between Clowe and Iginla last night – very even. Iginla has the edge early, but Clowe catches him with a stuff uppercut near the end: