Dobber Nation – up now! Great insights from all three guests!

Dobber’s Puck Daddy article is up today. Check it out here.

Absolutely hilarious article about Anton Stralman. He had to have an impromptu wedding in order to get his family in to the States. I can’t really describe how funny it is – just read it.

LOOOOOOOOCH. Milan Lucic is a game time decision tonight. I’d wager 75% of the time that means the player is in (no hard facts to back up my claim, of course).

Washington has recalled John Carlson.

Dobber jumping on for a sec – man, the Wings were really screwed out of a goal in that clip below. A must see. Anyway, I just wanted to share this link to MacLean’s interview with Gary Bettman. He is truly the King of Weasels – answering everything yet answering nothing. I want to hire him to defend me when I’m in my wife’s bad books.

Another Panther I forgot to mention – Keith Ballard. Three helpers last night (in addition to being +3). I had commented before that I was surprised at his lack of production in Florida. When he was  Coyote (and I saw him play more often), he really impressed me with his shot and skating. I figured he had monster potential offensively. It isn’t too late to turn it around now, but he is seeing only 54 seconds of PP time per game, good for SIXTH among Florida defensemen.

Florida really spreads out their ice time – Radek Dvorak led all forwards in ice time with 17 minutes played, and there were nine forwards between 13 and 17 minutes of ice time. Hard to get point-per-game production in limited minutes. (More a comment on why they have no PPG players so far.)

Backstrom has gone from fantasy gold to a losing machine this season. The Wild can't seem to get him a win. He was decent against the Coyotes, allowing three goals in 32 shots. It is hard to justify dropping him because he is such a good goalie, but it sure is frustrating getting nothing out of him right now, especially considering his pre-season value.

Peter Mueller, what gives? After an awesome rookie season that saw him net 22 goals, he has 14 in his past 90 games (including one in 19 this season). He was one of the most dominant players I saw play in person when he was with the Silvertips of the WHL, but for whatever reason he just isn't bringing it at the NHL level.

Peter Budaj, miracle worker! Just what the doctor ordered for the goal-starved Oilers. They had six different goal scorers, and four players with multi-point games (Brule, Visnovsky, Hemsky, and Gagner). Brule saw 16 minutes of ice time, higher than his usual 12-14. Patty O'Sullivan had a goal as well and led Oiler forwards in ice time. He needs to step up his compete level but the talent is there – just may take another year or two for it to all click together.

Daniel Sedin is eying a Sunday return against Chicago after skating on his own for an hour before practice today. There is still some soreness but he looked pretty good. There is a slim chance he plays on Friday against Colorado, but don't expect him back until the weekend. Henrik has been fine without him statistically, but Daniel's return will boost the entire Canucks team, as it allows them to spread out the offense a bit.

Gamblers take note – Marty Turco is starting tonight against Columbus. Aaron Portzline tweeted this earlier: Turco's career record against Columbus is 14-1-0-2. Sure the teams and times have changed, but that is a hard stat to ignore.

Kirill Kabanov is out for 10-12 weeks with a wrist injury. He was probably a long shot to make the Russians at the World Juniors anyway this season, but this is the proverbial nail in the coffin.

Ryan Smyth's mysterious injury is a fractured rib, according to Darren Millard. He will miss 4-6 weeks. I think this will negatively impact both Kopitar and Williams. Anze will still produce at a solid clip, but Smyth does so many little things well that often aren't appreciated. Dustin Brown will fill in – this also opens up a top six spot for Teddy Purcell, but he hasn't exactly earned it with his play so far.

Anze's first game without Smyth? Pointless with six shots on goal in over 23 minutes of ice time.

Marc Savard should be back soon. He got his cast off a few days ago and is itching to return to the lineup. There is a small chance he plays tonight, but if not expect him on the weekend. Expect him also to sign a long (five to seven years) term extension with the Bruins pretty soon. Apparently the cap hit will be below $6 per year. Savard is 32, so the contract should be frontloaded if the Bruins want to buy out the last few years.

The Bruins have scored over three goals TWICE since Savard went down 13 games ago. Their offense has been just abysmal.

Jovanovski took the trip to Minnesota with the Coyotes, but he likely won't be playing in either game. He should be back soon, but don't expect him to play against either the Wild or the Blues.

Ryan O'Byrne is playing tonight, and Montreal has sent down Mathieu Carle.

Pittsburgh currently has five of their six regular defensemen out of the lineup (only Mark Eaton is left standing). However, help is on the way. Sergei Gonchar is most likely going to play tonight, and Brooks Orpik is very close to a return as well. They hopefully are not rushing Gonchar back because he won't exactly be eased in with all of the other injuries the Pens are dealing with.

Montreal is now without Brian Gionta, who will miss around a month with a broken foot. Both Kostitsyn and Pacioretty will get auditions on the "top" line with Gionta and Cammalleri. I use quotations because Plekanec is better than Gomez, but Cammalleri is the go-to-guy on Montreal. Kostitsyn especially has something to prove after an absolutely abysmal start. His compete level (and overall play) has improved quite a bit recently, though.

Mathieu Perreault's line – five points in seven games, and a solid +5. Bruce Boudreau counts on solid defensive play from all of his players (outside of a few), and Perreault has not looked out of place in the Caps lineup.

Thanks to NYR9394 for bringing this up over on the message boards. James Neal is riding a 10 game points streak with five multi-point games during that span. Big time upside – and you can bet your bottom dollar Stevie Y and the Canada management team is taking notice.

Another buy-low guy Matt Niskanen had a goal (his first of the season) last night. He isn't ready (yet) to run the Dallas power play, but he should develop into a consistent 40-50 point defenseman. He currently is on pace for 30 points, but expect him to finish up closer to the 40 point mark.

Alex Auld was great against the Wings, stopping 32 of 31 shots. He did catch a lucky break (check out the video clip I posted at the end of the ramblings), but he is giving Dallas confidence in someone other than Turco, which is something they haven't had in a looong time.

Jamie Benn saw only 12 minutes of ice time and has cooled off a bit recently. It is rare that young players keep a consistent level of production. Benn is pointless in four and only has one assist in his last seven games.

Ryan Miller had a poor game last night, and that is something that hasn't happened so far this season. Expecting him to maintain his unbelievable pace was unrealistic, and the Panthers were due for a bit of a breakout. He allowed three goals in the final nine minutes.

David Booth has been shut down completely for a few days after experiencing headaches and dizziness after a few workouts last week. Not good news…

With Michael Leighton now out as well, Justin Peters got the call up to Carolina. Don't expect him to play unless Legace is yanked or gets hurt as well.

Kris Versteeg, the man many (including myself and Dobber) figured was in for a drop off this season, is probably going to play tomorrow. He had 53 points last season and is on pace for 52 this season.

After a slow start, Claude Giroux has seven points in his last seven games. Perhaps I was a bit optimistic expecting/hoping for 70 out of him, but he should end up around 55 or 60 (he currently is on pace for just over 50).

MoDo signed Dan Hinote yesterday. Does he complete the potential Naslund-Forsberg-Hinote line that so many have dreamed of?

Anaheim has recalled MacGregor Sharp (no relation to Patrick). He has a point-per so far with Bakersfield of the ECHL. The Ducks signed him as a college free agent after a monster senior year at UMD (former teammate of Mason Raymond and Matt Niskanen) which saw him light the lamp 26 times in 50 games. Want a great read on Sharo? Check this out. It is a few months old but still something interesting for those of you in deep keeper leagues.

Jarret Stoll is quietly putting together a solid season. He is on pace for 60 points, a number he hasn't reached since 2005-06 when he recorded 68 as an Oiler.

I post my thoughts throughout the day on twitter. Follow me here. Follow Dobber here.

I posted this topic on the message boards yesterday, highlighting a few buy-low candidates for both keeper and one-year leagues. Florida in general is a great team to buy low on right now. They fired six goals past the Sabres last night. They have a brutal PP but there is some talent on that roster. Michael Frolik should be the guy to target in both keeper and one-year formats – he should be much close to a point-per-game than he is now (nine points through 19 games so far).

Rod Brind’Amour is done. Two goals and a Tiger Woods-like -17 through 20 games with the Hurricanes. Brandon Sutter has already pushed him down the depth chart, and once Staal gets back don’t expect Brindy to see much power play time.

Speaking of Sutter – I nabbed him in the Experts League for this week. He is a hell of a player already – strong on the puck, and he has great hockey IQ. Could be a 50 point player as early as next season, and should become a fantastic second fiddle to Eric Staal down the middle.

Another buy-low candidate? Nick Lidstrom. Currently on pace for less than 40 points.

Were the Wings screwed here? You be the judge.

Video evidence of Ron Wilson’s sense of humor. For those of you living under a rock this comment is in regards to Kane “short-changing” a cabbie this past summer in Buffalo.