October 17, 2010

Dobber Sports

2010-10-17

 

Angus here – Mason Raymond is playing with the Sedin twins tonight against Carolina.

 

Cory Schneider is getting the start.

 

Tomas Kopecky continues to roll, and he now has seven points in six games.

 

How awesome are the Florida Panthers? So awesome that they can waive Michael Grabner and scratch Steve Reinprecht. The latter finally got into a game Saturday and scored a goal.

 

Rusty Olesz has five points and is a plus-5 so far this campaign. Despite that, his ice time has declined with every game, reaching a season-low lat night of 12:44. I’ve always been a fan of his skill, but am all too aware of his fragility. His 78 games last season was the exception, not the rule.

 

Brian McCabe had four points and was plus-4 in the game.

 

A good player to try and acquire, or rather two good players, would be Stephen Weiss and Michael Frolik. They have a combined one point so far, but will finish 1-2 in team scoring (I don’t trust Booth to stay healthy, either).

 

Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle were pointless and minus-3. Not the greatest signs, but they’ll remain NHLers and the numbers will improve as the season continues. Eberle saw a season-high 17:48 of ice time.

 

Granted, Martin Hanzal only scored his first point last night in his third game, but I have a good feeling about him. The coach loves him, throwing him out there in every situation. This will be a career year for him, I have little doubt. He leads all Phoenix forwards in ice time – by a wide margin (nearly two and a half minutes per game more than the next forward).

 

As long as Jordan Staal remains out, Marc Letestu will continue to post three points every four games. When Staal returns, he will be the one to produce at that rate. What I’m curious to see, however, is how Letestu will do when Staal is back. Will he have earned a full-time spot? If so, does Mike Comrie get scratched more often?

 

In the last four games, Carey Price is 3-0-1, 2.46 and 0.922. If you drill down even further, his first game (which is going back five games) was merely a weak first period against the Leafs. The final two periods of that game he seemed to find his mojo. Where are the Price-bashers? It’s been pretty quiet in the below comments section without them…

 

Robin Lehner stopped all three shots he faced in his first NHL action. With Brian Elliot having a weak game, you may see more of Lehner if it continues. Lehner got in for five minutes as Elliott took care of problem with his equipment.

 

Jordan Caron got his first career NHL point. He played 13 minutes in his second career NHL game. I think he goes back down after he plays nine games. Marco Sturm is still about a month away, but that’s soon enough to have the B’s considering sending Caron back down when the time approaches.

 

Jacob Josefsson played 13:46 in his first career NHL contest. He saw 2:55 of power-play time, as well.

 

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Zach Parise has just two points in six games so far – but he’s the only ‘plus’ forward on the Devils. Jason Arnott, Jamie Langenbrunner and David Clarkson lead the duds with a minus-6 (Arnott is minus-7). In fact, Langenbrunner is playing his way out of the top six. I can’t see Arnott losing his spot alongside Elias though.

 

Part of that plus/minus ugliness for the Devils is Martin Brodeur. He’s not the goalie he was three years ago. Under a defensive system, he would continue to thrive and put up nice numbers, but with the team going in a different direction his 0.887 SP is very telling.

 

Marc-Andre Fleury: 0-3-0, 3.41, 0.853
Brent Johnson:     3-0-0, 1.32, 0.953
How can the coach go back to his starter? He’ll ride Johnson for as long as this lasts.

 

The more games I watch this season, the more I believe Alex Goligoski will get 65 points. He looks every bit the star that Gonchar was, the Pens haven’t missed a beat in that sense.

 

Michael Grabner has two points in four games with his new team. He’s getting just 12 minutes a game in ice time though, and at this point does not figure into their top six.

 

John Tavares returned from his concussion Saturday, and Blake Comeau immediately saw a three-minute drop in ice time. Comeau is a winger, JT is a center, but it’s just a matter of the coach leaning on the players he needs. With Tavares back and with the team holding a comfortable lead, the coach doesn’t need to play the hell out of a guy like Comeau.

 

The centerfold of this week’s edition of Washed Up magazine: Milan Hejduk. With one point and a minus-6 rating five games in, he’s blowing it on the second line and the Avs have other options whom they are starting to turn to. Hejduk saw a season low 14:44 yesterday.

 

Matt Stajan’s three-point effort last night, in just his second game of the season, puts him above Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen in scoring for the Flames.

 

Goaltender Anders Lindback is 2-0-1, 2.41 and 0.921 so far. Playing goal for the Preds is just a good thing, no matter how you slice it. Rinne is ready to return, though, so he’ll take his job back now.

 

AM640 reports that Tyler Bozak left practice this morning when he took a puck to the face. He did not return.

 

Mike Green missed yesterday’s game with an upper-body injury. John Carlson saw his ice time shoot up over 24 minutes as a result.

 

Marcus Johansson saw just 10 minutes of ice time.

 

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