Attention new forum users – I have just discovered that anyone who registered to DobberHockey since 10/16 did not get registered to the forum. We are trying to fix this issue and I will be adding those who registered during that timeframe manually to the forum and emailing you. This is all part of the site upgrades, a side effect that we did not know about until now.

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Just added a bunch of quick-hit news updates in our newsfeed feature.

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If any of you are interested in a limited edition, signed and certified Pavel Bure framed picture, just 510 out there, click here. Carries a $279 price tag, but if I’m a huge Bure fan I think about this for sure.

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Depending on the quality of your fantasy league, Matt Moulson should be a steal. Yes, his value declines. By a lot. I was clear on that in my breakdown. But if your league has a dozen active GM’s who read sites like this one on a daily basis, then every one of them knows that Moulson’s value is down without John Tavares on his line. In fact, the pendulum has probably swung way too far the other way. He’s still a 25-goal scorer, he’s just not a 35-goal guy. And if he clicks with Hodgson, who knows? So far so good, anyway. He’s durable, doesn’t get hurt, and is a lock for at least 55 points. Is his owner treating him like the plague? Then take advantage!

Then again, if your league is full of amateurs who tend not to over-analyze then no you won’t be able to steal Moulson for a song. This is actually one time where ignoring the buzz in the fantasy hockey world actually helps them.

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Onto Thomas Vanek. Gee, who did he line up with? You can go to Frozen Pool any time to find things like this out. But I’ll save you the trouble. Brace yourself:

Yep, Jack Capuano decided to try him out with Tavares. I’ll give you a moment to get back on your chair.

The result wasn’t as good as Moulson’s first game – zero points and just one shot on goal, 19:49 of ice time.

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Cam Talbot has been dynamite for the Rangers – 2-1-0, 1.96 and 0.929. There’s no shortage of goalies getting an opportunity so far – Talbot, Bachman, Andersen and Hutton/Hellberg. Do you want me to rank them? Okay:

The next two weeks: Bachman, Hutton, Talbot, Andersen, Hellberg,

The next month/full season: Hellberg, Bachman, Talbot, Hutton, Andersen

Over the next five years: Hellberg, Andersen, Bachman, Talbot, Hutton

They’re all fairly evenly matched in terms of talent ‘here and now’ (not talking long term potential). And their future almost completely relies on the opportunities given. Team X’s terrible fifth-string goaltender could be a star if the first four goalies are hurt. Whereas Team Y’s amazing backup goalie could never amount to anything if the No.1 guy remains healthy.

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Michael Del Zotto picked up a point for the first time this season. I had a hunch this was coming and had added him to my Dobbernomics.com team yesterday. I think we could be in for a little run here. Just a hunch, nothing more.

Mats Zuccarello picked up his second point of the season, but also in the last three games. His ice time was 18:32 last night. Look what Alain Vigneault did last night:

As you can see, he split up the guns. With these line combinations, I really hate the Brad Richards outlook. And also the Derick Brassard one. They’re being dragged down in terms of potential production. Stepan is, too, but I like his wingers better.

Also, Zuccarello led the Rangers in PP ice time with 4:21. The team is going with a four forwards PP system, and believe it or not – Del Zotto isn’t the defenseman. It’s Ryan McDonagh. If MDZ doesn’t reclaim his spot there soon, his statistics will end the season dreadfully low.

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Is it time to take Michael Bournival seriously? It’s time to take Michael Bournival seriously. The 21-year-old has seven points in his last seven games. He’s been clicking with Tomas Plekanec. The result has been power play time. And the domino effect  – David Desharnais‘ PP time was down to 1:01 Monday, while Bournival enjoyed his 2:50.

For more on Bournival, all you need to know – right here.

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My THN article from Monday looks at five surprise players and breaks down their odds of continued success. 

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Fantasy owners are watching what happens in the Anaheim game, not for goals but for the saves. We all thought that this season would be about Jonas Hiller versus Viktor Fasth, but so far it’s Hiller versus Frederik Andersen. The rookie Andersen has been tremendous so far, and undefeated. Whereas Hiller, who was awesome the first few games, has stumbled a bit of late and was off to a rough start last night giving up two early goals. But he buckled down and stopped everything after that. He always seems to pull through when his hold on the No.1 job starts to weaken.

Teemu Selanne left the game in the third period after taking a stick to the face. He’s already on a schedule that has ‘rest days’, his last game missed was three games ago, so missing the next game is probable in my opinion. If he was injured, then obviously he’ll be out longer. Here is the footage:

Update – Selanne lost some teeth.

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Matt Read has four points in three games after netting zilch in the first eight. He played on a line with Simmonds and Couturier.

Steve Mason has started five straight for the Flyers and eight of 10. He’s been playing really well, despite the win-loss record. Over the past few years I have been quite successful – and lucky – when it comes to calling goaltending situations, but this is an example of my being wrong. I felt that Ray Emery would take the top job by Christmas despite Mason having Golden Boy status. There is still time, but it doesn’t look good at all. Still, the odd one slips by me but for the most part I’ve been happy with my long-term goalie calls. Instead of being right 52% of the time… I think when it comes to goalies I’ve pounded that percentage up to a cool 53%.

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Let’s check in on the NHL goal-scoring race:

1. 11 – Alex Steen 

…(big space)

225. 1 – Mike Smith (tied with 100+ others)

400. 0 – Claude Giroux (tied with 100+ others)

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Martin Brodeur has started – and won – two in a row. But indications are that Cory Schneider will be ready to return next game.

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The Blackhawks pulled Khabibulin halfway through the game last night after he gave up four goals on 22 shots. The team came back and won in front of Crawford.

Jonathan Toews had a natural hat trick and four points, giving him nine in his last five contests.

Kyle Turris has 11 points in 12 games on the year, and five in his last four with his two points last night.

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I’m wrapping this up. I gotta knock out early – I usually go to bed around 1am, but I’m closing in on 11pm and I’m not going to make it. The kids had me up between two and five last night. Can’t finish the Toronto-Edmonton game, but I’ll quickly fire off a couple of things:

Richard Bachman gets the start and has been hung out to dry. After two and a half periods he stopped 19 of 23. He’s not stealing the game obviously, but he’s not losing it either. Phil Kessel is running rampant.

The Oilers need size, toughness and defense. Andrew Ference and Nick Schultz were good starts on the back end, but they need a big, grinding forward with experience. And with the emergence (albeit small sample size) of Mark Arcobello, the Oilers need to trade Sam Gagner. If there was a clone of Milan Lucic out there and this clone was available, he would be perfect for this team

Speaking of Gagner, he was back in the lineup. After two periods, here is what the Edmonton lines looked like (in other words – the Arcobello vs. Gagner watch):

Yep. Arcobello is getting screwed. Just as we feared. I had hoped that he would get in 20 games before Gagner returned, and show that he belongs and maybe push Gagner to the wing. But 13 games is not long enough, so Arcobello is off the scoring line. After six pointless games on a checking line, it will be five games in the press box and then off to the minors I fear.

Gagner was minus-4 as just a few minutes remained.

Nail Yakupov, again with five minutes left as I desperately try to tear myself away from the game and the lap top, is minus-4. He was minus-4 three games ago as well.

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Jagr makes no mistake on this one:

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Ray Whitney photobomb!

Those of you who saw a pop-up here indicating a need for a Java upgrade, my server and site were scanned and verified as clean. I do require Java on some areas of the site and I am told that you actually do need to upgrade your Java. Whenever it is needed, it will pop up if you need it – not just my site. If you don’t need it, you won’t see the pop up. To be on the safe side, don’t click through the pop up but rather look for it on your computer or via downloads.com