Dobber here – I have a new ETA for the new shop (my third ETA, yeah yeah I know). Assuming that our testing for the new Downloads section works out this evening, we will launch the new shop tomorrow morning – meaning you can purchase the Fantasy Guide without the annoying Paypal extra legwork. No more Paypal. In-house secure system.

Goldie here – Was offline most of the week, but my interview with Marc Cheverie is up, as is the new 4.0 version of our website. We’re also set up on Scribd, so the Monthly Scouting Journal is viewable on mobile devices like iPhones and Droids. Oh, and former DU goalies Adam Berkhoel and Glenn Fisher have retired.

Alex Burrows has been in Vancouver over the past few days rehabbing his shoulder. He played through an injury during the postseason, and is doubtful to be ready for October 9th.

With him out of the lineup, a spot in the lineup opens up for Jordan Schroeder (as of now, at least). Samuelsson slides up with the Sedin twins.

Some Potential Flyer line combos from this article:

Hartnell-Briere-Leino, JVR-Carter-Zherdev, Carcillo-Richards-Giroux.

Rumors that Washington is shopping Fleischmann for either Bieksa or Souray are floating around.

Buy the 2010-11 DobberHockey Pool Guide here!

Vancouver is pretty deep up front, but Edmonton isn’t (at least not right now). Fleischmann is a versatile top six forward. He isn’t perfect, but it is hard to ignore 50+ points, even on an offensive powerhouse like Washington.

With regards to Souray/Bieksa, Washington would be the ideal situation for fantasy relevance (especially for Souray). Bieksa is a right shot so he probably wouldn’t play with Green on the top unit.

Kirill Petrov is staying in the KHL for at least one more season. Disappointing news as I know many Islander fans were pencilling him in to the 2010-11 lineup.

Viktor Tihkonov is returning to the NHL, but it may not be in Phoenix. According to Puck Daddy's Dmitri Chesnokov, Tihkonov has requested a trade and there are 15 teams interested in him. He doesn't have elite offensive upside but he will be a very solid two-way second line forward in whatever league he chooses to play in.

I hate to paint all Russian players with the same brush, but it is just so risky to draft them right now. In hockey pools where your window to win should always be 1-3 years, it is pretty pointless to rely on a player who may not even come to North America during that timeframe (Blues prospect Vladimir Tarasenko recently announced he was staying in Russia for another year as well).

You can tell it is August when a column dedicated to Billy Sweatt's fantasy upside is posted…

The shootout absolutely sucks. It doesn't attract new fans. I don't know anyone who likes it. At best, people are indifferent. Some games deserve to end as ties.

Chris Mason's new helmet is awesome. Borrows from Kirk McLean's mask from the early 1990's.