Dobber’s weekly Puck Daddy piece is here.

The Canucks are reportedly close to signing 2009 second-round draft pick Anton Rodin out of Sweden. He was very impressive at the WJC back in December.

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Dobber's Interactive 2010 Playoff Draft List is now out – this was the first thing I ever bought from Dobber, back in 2005 or 2006, I can't really remember. Essentially it ranks players for you depending on who you see reaching the cup finals. Very easy to use and cuts out a lot of the grunt work. You check off the boxes of the teams you feel will come out of the first rounds and who will meet in the Final. Click “GO” and this MS Excel spreadsheet will auto-sort for you, ready to print, your draft list. It also includes updated injury news, playoff studs and duds, as well as Dobber’s own draft list for you to refer to. This is all you’ll need to win your playoff pool!

Part 1 of my 2009-10 Prime Cuts roster is set to be unveiled in a little over 24 hours. Get excited! I have had an awesome time researching and writing this, and I hope you will enjoy reading it just as much.

We have managed to lock down some seriously awesome prizes for the Playoff Challenge. An Easton S17 composite stick, a jersey (winner chooses team and player), and a copy of DobberHockey's Ultimate Fantasy Pack. The best part? You can enter up to three times per e-mail address. Time to make those picks! Check out today's article for all of the information you need with regards to the Playoff Challenge.

A couple of undersized forwards are leading the way for the Vancouver Giants so far in the postseason. Fourth-year forward Craig Cunningham (the most recent CHL Player of the Week), and 17-year-old Brendan Gallagher are second and third in WHL playoff scoring (trailing Brandon Kozun) respectively. Both players are about 5'9" and 170 pounds, but have the necessary skills to thrive in the physical WHL. Gallagher has earned a few comparisons to Kozun (read the article here). If I had to guess, I'd say he goes in the 4^th or 5^th round of the draft this summer. Gallagher is very small, but he can flat out play the game.

David Desharnais has had a fantastic season for the Bulldogs in the AHL. He has 27 goals and 78 points in only 59 games. His 78 points is a franchise record, breaking the previous mark of 77, set by Jason Chimera way back in 2001-02. A small centre is the last thing Montreal needs, but Desharnais is going to force his way on to that roster if he can keep this high level of play up through the playoffs and training camp in September.

The Leafs played some of the worst team defense against the Rangers last night (especially in the first period) that I have seen in quite some time. It looks like Darryl Sutter knew what he was doing dumping Phaneuf's monster contract. Calgary would be in such good shape if they moved Phaneuf for futures and kept Jokinen (opening up his $5 million in cap space). Committing big money through next year to Staios, Kotalik, and Stajan was idiotic at best.

Luca Caputi has only one helper in his past 10 contests.

Tomas Kana had two helpers for the Jackets last night. Kana was drafted way back in 2006 by the Blues, but failed to progress as they had hoped. He had 15 goals in 49 games with Syracuse this season before being recalled. I wouldn't recommend him as someone to watch unless you are in a very deep league.

Marian Hossa left the game last night – updates coming.

Keith Tkachuk announced his retirement from the NHL – I didn't play fantasy hockey back when he was in his prime, but he definitely was one of the best PIM/points combo guys back in the 90's. It was a tough break that his interview during the game coincided with the Hawks scoring three goals in about a minute though!

Rick Nash missed his second straight game with a sore back/neck. Columbus has been done for a while now.

Niemi started his seventh straight – he's the guy Chicago is going to sink or swim with.

Peter Mueller's concussion is awful, awful news. It is what derailed him over a year ago, and there have been no positive updates from out of Colorado since the hit occurred.

Shane Doan's goal last night was his first in 23 games. The Coyotes clinched the fourth spot in the West. They join the Canucks (third) as the only two teams in the West to have solidified their seeding.

Tom Gilbert has 12 points in his past nine games. Just when you wrote him off as a keeper, too…

Shea Weber's slap shot continues to wreak havoc on opponents and teammates. The victim this time was Patric Hornqvist. The Preds already struggle to score goals – missing their leading goal scorer could spell doom for them if his injury proves to be serious.

Before scoring twice last night, Erik Christensen was pointless in four. He has great hands and a deadly shot, but lacks the consistency and intensity to be a regular scoring line player in the NHL. Perhaps he can make it work in New York? John Tortorella appears to be a fan of his.

Barrie and Windsor are on a collision course to face each other in the OHL Finals. Windsor completed the sweep of Tyler Seguin and the Plymouth Whalers last night, while the Colts dispatched Cody Hodgson and the Brampton Battalion in four straight as well. Barrie is led by CHL regular season goal scoring champ Bryan Cameron (a Kings draft pick from 2007) up front, and mid-season acquisition Alex Pietrangelo on the back end. The Spitfires have a dynamic duo of young talent with Taylor Hall and Cam Fowler, who are both expected to go in the top three at the Entry Draft this summer. Both teams boast impressive depth at forward and defense with names like Della Rovere, Ellis, Kassian, and Nemisz. It is not a sure thing that they will advance to face each other, but if it happens, expect nothing less than a classic of a series.

Speaking of Cody Hodgson, even though he is playing through a foot injury, he is still expected to report to the AHL's Manitoba Moose and join them in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if he skates on a line with Jordan Schroeder – perhaps a sneak peak at Vancouver's second line in a few years?

I don't watch a ton of junior hockey, but one player who has really impressed me is Barrie forward Kyle Clifford. The Kings took him in the 2^nd round this past summer. His production jumped from 28 points last season to 57 this season (including 28 goals). He has good size and plays with an edge. It will be interesting to see if he makes the leap to the pro ranks next year.

Nazem Kadri has 25 points in only nine games for the Knights so far in the playoffs. Taylor Hall is second in league scoring with 16 points. Unless he has a horrible camp, Kadri will be on the Maple Leafs next season – he's been ripping it up in the playoffs.

Worchester Sharks defenseman Danny Groulx beat out PK Subban for the Eddie Shore Award (the AHL equivalent of the Norris Trophy). Groulx is 28, and is a classic "tweener" player (excellent in the AHL, but doesn't have the skills to transfer his game to the NHL level). Past winners of the award are very hit (Kronwall in 2005) and miss (Sheldon Brookbank in 2007, and Andrew Hutchinson in 2008) at the NHL level.

Here is a nice read on the NHL-bound Subban.

Congratulations to the Toronto Maple Leafs Boston Bruins for locking up the second best shot at the #1 overall selection in June. The Bruins have an 18.4% shot at landing the pick. Even if Kessel continues to progress into a 40 goal guy, this trade is going to look bad for a long time in Toronto. Beating a dead horse, I know.

Christian Ehrhoff is going to play on Saturday against the Flames. He sustained a very minor knee injury against Minnesota last Sunday night, but will return for Vancouver's final game. The game will have some significance for Ehrhoff, who is one point away from tying Uwe Krupp for the most points in a single season by a German-born defenseman (Krupp recorded 44 points in 1990-91 with the Sabres). Ehrhoff has 14 goals this season, which is the record for goals in a single season by a German-born defenseman, but he still trails Krupp by one point.

With this being the last week, I'd like to give a HUGE thanks to Crazynuck (also known as Marcus Schalle) for supplying us with the 'Looking Ahead' column each week. I used it often and it helped me set my line-ups for my various leagues very quickly and efficiently.

Awesome, awesome read here. Talks about the famous Red Wings draft from 1989, where they ended up with Fedorov and Lidstrom (as well has a few others who stuck around for a while – Konstantinov, Mike Sillinger, Dallas Drake, and Bob Boughner). They were planning on taking a risk with Pavel Bure later on in the draft (Bure was only 17, so he was ineligible to be drafted that year, but the Wings and Canucks "found" documents that proved he had played the required number of games to qualitfy), only to have the Canucks swoop in and steal Bure only a few picks before. Imagine Fedorov, Lidstrom, and Bure in the same draft? Vancouver did a similar thing in 2004, when they jumped in front of the Wings in the 3^rd round to steal Alexander Edler from them. However, Detroit had a decent backup plan to Edler… Johan Franzen.

Get over to DobberBaseball! The guide is now out, and will be updated regularly throughout April.

A nice hit by Patrick Eaves leads to a fight with Kris Russell: