Every hour or so I will be announcing a dozen names drawn for an invite into the Entry League of my Three-Tiered Invitational. I’ll draw 53 winners and lucky 12 reserve names. Last year I think we needed to use 10 or 12 reserve names thanks to conflicts, etc. So if you are chosen as a reserve – chances are you’ll get in. Not guaranteed, but the odds are you will. Names will be posted at the bottom of the ramblings. When I have them all, I’ll send an email to you with details.

FINAL batch is up, including reserves – congrats to the winners…

Roberto Luongo has relinquished his captaincy today, as expected.

Jim Rutherford on Jeff Skinner: “If he plays the way we expect him to, he'll probably get one of those spots. … I would suspect, with his determination and the way he plays the game, he's going to figure out how to make it right in his first year."

Fantasy hockey is back. The season is upon us. Drafts start coming fast and furious beginning later this week – and the DobberHockey Fantasy Guide is updated through Saturday. I’ll be updating it every three or four days going forward. The Draft List will be updated by Tuesday.

Chris Vivlamore is reporting that the Thrashers are very close to agreeing to a contract with Niclas Bergfors worth $900,000 for one year.

Nick Bonino scored Anaheim’s only goal in a 4-1 loss to the Sharks yesterday. I have him penciled in to make the team and is a decent dark horse for modest production. San Jose’s Benn Ferreiro had three assists.

Here is some great insight on how the Oilers rookies performed, according to Copper and Blue.

Dustin Jeffrey has three of Pittsburgh’s seven goals in the tournament. He’ll be in tough to make this team, but I would love to see him win a spot. From a fantasy standpoint, which includes looking at a player’s health, I like Jeffrey better than Tangradi.

MPS scored two goals in the first prospects game for the Oilers. Jordan Eberle, my Calder pick, also scored in the 4-1 win – and it was assisted by Hall.

Give Casey Wellman two more points in the Prospects Tourney. The Wild rookie is doing everything right – he’ll make the team.

Igor Makarov scored one of Chicago’s goals in their 7-3 loss to the Sens. He’s a long shot, but I’m curious to see how well he plays…and if he’s cut, I’d like to see him stay in the AHL. If so, he’s an excellent player to keep for 2011-12.

Carolina GM Jim Rutherford has so far been impressed with Jeff Skinner, Zac Dalpe, Riley Nash and Jared Staal. So far so good for those guys, as the GM is obviously the one you need to impress.

Entry League – First 12 Invites:

Second 12 Invites:

Third 12 Invites:

Fourth 12 Invites:

Final Five – Plus the Reserves (last year we needed to use eight or nine reserves – the reserves are listed in order of them “getting the call”)