Fleury…my man. A comeback in the works for Theo? Too late, of course. But I’ll have fun with this. My thoughts on Theo, who strangely enough I didn’t own until his “final” NHL season (in New York – I know he played a bit with the Hawks, but I don’t count that). He was awesome – racking up points like there was no tomorrow. And then he admitted an alcohol problem and went away for a bit. Then he returned and couldn’t get the points anymore. As a fantasy owner, from a purely selfish point of view…. was I the only one who wanted the waterboy to spike Fleury’s gatorade bottle with rum? The guy couldn’t stop producing…and then… he stopped drinking. It’s these intangibles that make fantasy hockey exciting, eh? Fleury admitting a problem out of the blue, Palffy suddenly retiring, Kevin Stevens getting knocked into next week, etc. Anyway, I’ve had a few too many myself now (at 1:30 am) so I figure if I rant too much on the topic, I will get in trouble (which is why I’ll hide this little ramble at the end of the prior day – which people rarely go back and check). I’ll end with this – go Theo!!

Our own Jeff Angus is reporting that Cody Hodgson was held out of scrimmages at the WJC camp with an upper body injury. To be frank, I don’t think he’ll be going to the WJC. He’ll be in Vancouver.

I just got my copy of the Score Forecaster magazine (of which I was a contributor), so expect that on the stands any day now. As for the Hockey News Ultimate Fantasy Guide, I hear it is on the stands already, but I have not seen it yet. I have an article in that one, as well as a rather funny ad.

Fascinating stuff on Colorado prospect Denis Parshin and Vancouver prospect Sergei Shirokov. The two have been threatened with a one-year suspension if they do not show up for training camp August 12. The two players received a “qualifying offer” and even though they didn’t sign it – in Russia it is automatically signed. At least until the player turns 28. The players want more money and have already tried (unscuccessfully) through Russian court to get the freedom to come to North America. Both Vancouver and Colorado could use immediate scoring help, so the situation bears watching. Full article and interviews found here.

I’ve been reading through some of the comments after a couple of Hockey News articles and Boston Globe blogs (from their communities) and I have to say – my readership is fantastic. I know you guys can be hard on me at times, or on one of the other readers… but you are like princes compared to some of the slaggers commenting on those sites. Wow, that’s all I have to say. The most entertaining writer at THN is Adam Proteau – his style really resonates with me, even if i don’t always agree with what he says. Comments like “terrible hockey writer”, etc are completely off base. Man, the only way he can go on without shooting himself is to just ignore the comments section entirely. Too much venom. I thank you all for being so kind to us at DobberHockey – we are all human, and this community recognizes that more than any other community (as I’ve just seen first hand).