November 26, 2009

Jeff Angus

2009-11-26

The Kings signed Brayden Schenn to a one game amateur tryout agreeement, and he is in Vancouver and will make his regular season debut tonight. Interesting situation… I guess they are allowed to do this because of injuries?

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of DobberHockey’s American readers!

 

The Rangers have recalled Bobby Sanguenetti, after Wade Redden left last night’s game with an undisclosed injury. Sanguenetti has 22 points for Hartford and would be in the NHL right now on most other teams, but the Rangers already had two rookies make the defense and didn’t want to be playing three. Thanks to JD for the update! Sanguenetti, with two helpers last night, is fourth overall in AHL scoring. Damn impressive.

 

Sergei Kostitsyn has two points in two games for Montreal since being called up. Probably a good time to buy low on him, but he is definitely still a bit of a wild card.

 

Tough break – Andrei Loktionov injured his shoulder last night making his NHL debut. He is probably out at least a month.

 

Chris Neil is out for about two weeks with a knee injury.

 

Breaking news – David Backes does indeed still play in the NHL. After posting a measly four points in his first 21 games, Backes had a goal and a helper tonight in a shootout win over Dallas. To note – he had only eight points through 22 games last season (currently has six). Maybe just a slow starter…

 

Andrew Ebbett had a great debut for the Wild. This situation is the perfect storm for him – a team lacking offense missing some of its key offensive players (Havlat and Bouchard in particular). Ebbett is one-dimensional but that dimension is NHL quality (see last season in Anaheim).

 

Random stat – the Atlanta Thrashers are currently the only team in the NHL to not lose a game after grabbing the lead.

 

Ondrej Pavelec with another shutout. I didn't catch the game, but any time you shut the Wings out at the Joe, it must have been impressive. Detroit is reeling from the gaping holes in their forward group. No Franzen is the biggest loss, as there are few players around the league that combine size and skill better than 'The Mule.'

 

Semyon Varlamov was splendid – I did get to see some of this game. Jose will be in tough to earn his starting spot back. Varlamov seems committed to correcting his glove side weakness, and his mobility and positioning have been excellent. The Caps play like they have a ton of confidence in him, something that is often lacking with Theodore between the pipes.

 

A new entrant to the 'best name in hockey' contest is Carl Gunnarsson, and the Swede is proving he is more than just a pretty name. He had a good game for the Leafs – he is composed defensively, seems to have a heavy shot, and he plays with a ton of confidence. Confidence is the key for young defensemen – look at the way Michael Del Zotto plays.

 

We'll find out tomorrow if TJ Hensick and/or Ville Koistinen clear waivers. I heard from a few Nashville fans over the summer that were glad to see Ville gone, as they believed he had way too many holes in his game to be a good NHL player. Florida's pro scouts obviously didn't watch many Nashville games, as they signed him to a contract worth over a million bucks.

 

Rumors are circulating that Thomas has a broken hand. However, this link doesn't make it sound too serious…

 

Nicklas Bergfors responded to his promotion to the top line with a goal in just over 18 minutes of ice time. He had slowed down offensively in recent games, but still should be good for 45 points (a very solid number for a rookie, especially one on New Jersey).

 

Two rookie defensemen for the Devils – Matt Corrente and Tyler Eckford both played less then nine minutes. The top four of Mike Mottau, Andy Greene, Bryce Salvador, and Colin White all saw heavy minutes. Where else but New Jersey could a top four with those names thrive?

 

Speaking of Greene – suddenly he is fantasy relevant. Two helpers tonight. Grab him if you can, he is a skilled puck mover who is getting an opportunity to produce with Oduya and Martin both out.

 

Martin Biron had great game against his former team (the Flyers). It is only a matter of when and not if the Islanders trade him, as Ricky has returned to practice and can't be much more than a month away. He won't be rushed though – goaltending is far from the issue on this team.

 

Ovechkin scored and got a game misconduct (15 PIM, I had to double check to make sure that wasn't SOG). I saw that he hit Kaleta, and wasn't surprised to see on the review that Kaleta turned at the last second to make it seem/look worse – kind of player he is. Ovy wont be suspended. It was a horrible misconduct call by the referee to boot – Ovechkin caught him more from the side anyway.

 

Eric Fehr with another goal. Like I have said – grab him in keeper formats.

 

Kyle Okposo is pointless in five games, and has only 3 in last 11 games.

 

The new Atlanta line of Afinogenov with Kozlov and Antropov combined for four points and both of the Thrasher goals. Kovalchuk played with Peverley and Armstrong. This Thrasher team has a ton of depth up front.

 

Detroit is really missing Kronwall – Lidstrom has lost a step offensively, and their lack of talent up front means they need their defense to produce even more. Bertuzzi has been a major flop, and not much was expected out of Eaves or Williams. Leino has been disappointing offensively but is still contributing in other ways.

 

Brad Richards is currently on pace for close to 100 points. Team Canada is definitely paying attention.

 

Karl Alzner looked VERY good last night. He is much more polished compared to John Carlson at this point, but playing steady, quiet hockey is what Alzner is all about. It is a crime he is still in the AHL – he should be a full-time player and would probably be one of the Caps best d-men right now.

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Sid had his second dominant game in a row. His pass to Gonchar was a thing of beauty (check it out if you can).

 

Skoula had another helper, but with Letang slated to return soon, don't expect his offensive run to continue. Hopefully you were able to squeeze a few points out of him.

 

 

TJ Oshie had his best game of the season (not much competition). He played 20 minutes, scored a goal, and fired three shots on goal.

 

On the other hand, Kariya still remains pointless. He had four shots and saw a ton of ice time – this is absolutely bizarre to me. I expected big things as he was finally healthy (first time in a long time).

 

Bob McKenzie is reporting that Lucic won't miss any time with his knee injury.

 

Scott Hartnell is a very steady, quiet player. I read this analogy somewhere. (Pretty sure it was on the boards here, let me know if it was you that said it!) Hartnell is like the cute girl who has supermodel friends, and then they all leave and you realize how good-looking she was all along. He is a damn good player – on pace for close to 30 goals again and over 60 points. Only 80 PIM but that should change with a misconduct or two.

 

Nashville won their seventh straight.

 

Ales Hemsky left game with upper body injury and didn't return. Pat Quinn on the injury "it doesn't look real positive right now." Ouch.

 

Ales Kotalik missed the game with a minor shoulder injury – shouldn't keep him out long

 

Edmonton needs something – anything – from O'Sullivan. With Hemsky out this may be his chance… he is shooting the puck a lot but just doesn't seem to have his head in the game. He was ripped into on CBC this past weekend for bailing out of a hit against Chicago.

 

JDD posted another strong game: 32 saves, 34 shots. Khabi is old and injury prone – JDD has value in all pool formats.

 

Wayne Simmonds had a goal and a helper in 14 minutes of ice time. After going pointless in five, he finally found the score sheet. He also had five shots on goal, which he hadn't had since November 11th (in a game that also saw him score a goal). Simmonds has more offensive upside than I thought – could develop into a solid second line role/energy guy capable of 20-25 goals.

 

Stop the Olympic talk for Duncan Keith – he is a lock. How about the Norris?

 

David Jones saw another game on the top line, playing over 23 minutes and adding a helper.

 

Brandon Sutter's ice time is way down (he saw 13 minutes last night) with Staal back, but he still scored.

 

Chicago's first three goals were of the short-handed variety, including Hossa and Sharp scoring on the SAME penalty kill! This team is scary, scary good. They are still missing Bolland too! Hossa had two goals in his return.

 

Can't get enough fantasy hockey advice? Follow Dobber and myself on twitter. I usually pop on during the day and post some quick thoughts on fantasy hockey-relevant stuff. Dobber does the same. Check me out here, and Dobber here.

 

Great story on Washington's Mathieu Perreault here – in particular it focuses on the impact he has had on some of Washington's depth wingers. Perreault has big time upside and is providing a ton of energy and spark to the Capitals lineup right now.

 

Absolutely hilarious story – Dion Phaneuf's younger brother (Dane) got into a bit of a dust-up with hockey legend Hailey Wickenheiser during a non-contact exhibition game between the women's national team and a junior team in Edmonton. Phaneuf's brother is 15. Check the video out here.

 

Ovy’s hit on Kaleta:

 

 

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UPCOMING GAMES

Nov 21 - 19:11 WSH vs COL
Nov 21 - 19:11 CBJ vs T.B
Nov 21 - 19:11 OTT vs VGK
Nov 21 - 19:11 DET vs NYI
Nov 21 - 19:11 BOS vs UTA
Nov 21 - 19:11 N.J vs CAR
Nov 21 - 20:11 STL vs S.J
Nov 21 - 20:11 CHI vs FLA
Nov 21 - 21:11 CGY vs NYR
Nov 21 - 21:11 EDM vs MIN

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
JASON ROBERTSON DAL
WYATT JOHNSTON DAL
DECLAN CHISHOLM MIN
JAKE WALMAN S.J
WILLIAM EKLUND S.J

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
SEBASTIAN COSSA DET
DUSTIN WOLF CGY
MACKENZIE BLACKWOOD S.J
IVAN FEDOTOV PHI
YAROSLAV ASKAROV S.J

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency WPG Players
26.2 GABRIEL VILARDI MARK SCHEIFELE KYLE CONNOR
21.7 COLE PERFETTI VLADISLAV NAMESTNIKOV NIKOLAJ EHLERS
20.3 NINO NIEDERREITER ADAM LOWRY MASON APPLETON

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