Fantasy Hockey Ramble – April 21, 2009
Dobber Sports
2009-04-21
The Dispatch is reporting that Derick Brassard has been cleared for contact. He will not be in Game 3, but Game 4 is looking very good.
If you're up for a long read, I recapped my moves/thoughts and strategies in one of my keeper leagues. You can find it HERE
I am about 99% certain that DobberHockey's new feature will go live tomorrow. It is so good that there will be a charge for it – discounted if you buy one of my packages (ultimate or keeper). However, it will be available for free for a couple of months…just so you can see how much it kicks ass. This will have you calling your Internet provider and asking if you can cancel your full Internet service, except for DobberHockey.
Another feature coming very soon – Eric Maltais, our very own Fantasy Frog, has completed fantasy profiles for over 500 players that you can reference throughout the summer. As soon as I get it properly formatted, it will be up.
Detroit's Justin Abdelkader and Ville Leino, as well as Nashville's Cal O'Reilly, are tied for the AHL lead in playoff scoring with six points in three games. All three deserve to be in the NHL next year – but the million dollar question is: will there be room?
Robert Lang was reportedly skating hard in full equipment yesterday. I don't think he will be ready for Game 4, but crazier things have happened. If the Habs can stretch it to a Game 6, I think we will see Lang.
Andrei Markov was also skating. He is a player who is more likely to return in Game 4.
Yesterday, Paul Kariya told stltoday.com that he is not cleared to play. He practed for an hour and a half yesterday and he will speak with the doctor before today's game, so there is hope. But only a glimmer. He is so close to returning, you can't help but hope the Blues push it to Game 5 just so Kariya can finally get in a game after all his hard work.
Patrick Kane is expected to play Game 4 after missing last night's contest with the flu. There is some question about that, however, given that he took a big hit in Game 2 from Rene Bourque and was slow to get up.
Jamie Lundmark failed to carry his strong regular season play into the playoffs. He was a healthy scratch. Just like that, a promising looking career comeback gets snuffed out. To be fair, he played seven minutes a game in those two games – after finishing the season with back-to-back 21 minute games.
Varlamov – 33-save shutout. He'll start at least 60 next year for the Caps barring injury.
Mat Schneider and Alex Tanguay were scratched with UBI's last night. Sergei Kostitsyn was a healthy scratch. No word on any of their statuses for Game 4, of course.