Petri Kontiola is reportedly unhappy with his lack of NHL opportunity and would like the Blackhawks to do something about it. If nothing happens, I am afraid he will be off to the SEL, where several teams are rumored to be interested. Kontiola has over a point per game in the AHL and has little to prove at that level. Hopefully, Chicago can accommodate him… or he develops a bit more patience.

John Curry played well in his first NHL start, but took the loss.

Not only did Andrew Hutchinson blow his training camp when he had a one-way contract, but he was recalled yesterday and played his first NHL game of the season… and was a minus-3. D'oh!

Atlanta Dman Nathan Oystrick has four points in his last three games.

Two more points for Dman Matt Hunwick. The Bruin has eight points in six games.

James Neal saw over 20 minutes of ice time last night. Only Ribeiro had more, among forwards.

Joe Sakic played exactly one shift last night. It is time to cut bait with Burnaby Joe. He sounds done.

I made a couple of deals this week in my third keeper league – that's the one with the guys from the Forecaster Magazine where you keep 12 players – points and plus/minus, 4C, 8W, 6D, 2G and a bench.

My team before the trades:
C-Jokinen, Kopitar, Brassard, Ribeiro
W-Kovalchuk, Hemsky, Eriksson, Huselius, Voracek, Pyatt, Nolan, Versteeg.
D and G – irrelevant to this blurb, but D is weak, G is fairly strong

My team was 13th of 14 teams last season and I took it over in September. After ending October 13th, I managed to pull up to 6th. I have too many young guys for such limited keepers and I wanted to upgrade my wing. I traded Brassard and Nolan for Gomez and Satan. I think in the end I may lose about five points at center and gain about 15 on the wing, and I won't mind not protecting Gomez (Brassard would have been protected) thus clearing a protected spot. Then, in a further quest for points here and now, I played the Voracek card. I moved him and Ribeiro for Eric Staal and Jiri Hudler (plus an 8th round pick). Not only do I think I gain points at both positions for this season, but I think Hudler's upside is fairly close to Voracek's and I KNOW Staal's upside is above Ribeiro's. I see Ribeiro's production dropping without Morrow, so even though I grabbed a struggling Staal, I think for this year it is still an upgrade.

As of today I'm up to 5th. And here are my 12 keepers:
For sure: Jokinen, Kopitar, Staal, Hemsky, Kovalchuk, Price, Filatov
Consider: Gomez, Giroux, Eriksson, Versteeg, Bieksa, Goligoski, Theodore, Leclaire, Hodgson, Pietrangelo

Speaking of the Forecaster, here is my article for them posted yesterday.

My Hockey News article today will be about Loui Eriksson.

The fight of the year! Carcillo vs. Dorsett: