Five years ago, on this date, I registered dobberhockey.com, moved the files over from a rather feeble webpage, and launched what would eventually be the site you see before you! Lots of prizes will continue to be won and I will have more announcements as well. I’ll be dragging out the hype on this longer than the WWE drags out the hype of an upcoming headlining PPV match.

Still have room for six more questions – I set up the thread right here.

nebnebneb21 is the winner of the Contest #3!

Ilya Kovalchuk has played 42 games and here is his record with the Devils, along with their record in 42 games prior to his arrival. Interesting stuff.

Martin Biron will get the start for the Rangers today.

Contest closed – Contest #3 – winner will receive this beanie and this jacket from Easton Hockey: What’s the score of the hockey game in the top picture in my funny DobberHockey pics section? Winner must start a new thread entitled “Contest 3” in the Lounge section of the forum.

I’m opening up a section in Dobber’s Take where I’ll be taking questions today – I’ll answer the first 10, so get on it!

Congratz to bazbierk, who wins a copy of the book He Shoots, He Skewers!. More contests to come…

Tim Arnold, a former writer with fantasyhockey.com and who can be followed on Twitter here, has joined the DobberHockey writing team. I’ve been following his Tweets for quite some time and they were not only pretty insightful, but I found them to be both funny and edgy. He reminded me a lot of Chris Burns, so it’s only appropriate that his debut column follow up the Burns guest column. Watch for his debut later today. Yep, that’s just another of many announcements this anniversary weekend. Check back in for more later on.

Pekka Rinne has given up 13 goals in his last three starts, and he got the hook last night after giving up four goals by the midpoint. Anders Lindback came on in relief and stopped all seven shots. Perhaps it’s time to sneak Mr. Lindback into your active roster, as Rinne continues to struggle.

After a rather disappointing AHL season last year, Chet Pickard has managed to do even worse this year. The Nashville goaltending prospect was demoted to the ECHL and is absolutely blowing it there. Winless in four games and sporting a 0.833 SP

If Brian Boyle could pick up some assists, he’d be an okay aquisition right now. He has five goals in his last 11 games and is now seeing over 17 minutes of ice time thanks to all the injuries in New York.

David Perron didn’t play yesterday thanks to that hit to the head from Joe Thornton (Thornton was suspended for two games for that one, and it’s been the subject of contraversy ever since). No word on how long he’s out for.

This contest is now closed. Contest #2 – For a copy of the book – He Shoots, He Skewers! – the first person to, using the Frozen Pools area, post in the forum in the “Lounge” section who Manny Malhotra’s linemates were for the last three games (Use the three-game quick reports tool for “Vancouver”) for both even strength AND power play. (samples here)

Still to come, on Tuesday – the grand prize. From the good people at Musty Putters, win a custom engraved (designed by YOU) putter worth nearly $300. That prize will be given away on Tuesday.

David Krejci was injured last night in overtime. It appears to be a head injury and I think we’ll hear the word “concussion” within a couple of days.

Derek Brassard is on a seven-game points streak.

According to Rick Chere of the Star-Ledger, Martin Brodeur did not take part in practice today. Jamie Langenbrunner also missed, and Brian Rolston was actually back on the ice.

Kevin Shattenkirk has averaged over 20 minutes in each of his first two NHL games. He is a plus-1 with four shots. Future star who will completely unseat Kyle Quincey from the power play in no time.

One player to keep an eye on for the short-term is Sergei Kostitsyn. He has a point in each of his last two games and three in his last five. We all know his skill level, but if he has a “compete” level right now, then the numbers will continue.

Columbus D-man Marc Methot has quietly put up seven assists and a plus-7.If this is a breakout year for him, then 30 points and a plus-15 could be in the cards. He’s also a potential 60-PIM guy.

Of the Top 18 players in penalty minutes, only Scott Hartnell has more than eight points. Steve Downie has eight.

Michael Leighton is about two weeks away from returning to the Philadelphia lineup, but with Sergei Bobrovsky now starting and winning six games in a row, what kind of hope does Leighton have? What a nice free agent signing Bobrovsky was, and on this team – where winning is almost a given – he’s fantasy gold.

Jeremy Morin played his first career NHL game last night and saw just under 10 minutes of action. He played with Brouwer and Sharp.

Winner of Contest #1 – GM Gates. Ales Hemsky is the player I highlighted in red in the Band-Aid Boys section. You can access this via the “Other Features” link on the left. More contests to come…

You would think that putting Mike Richards on a line with Eric “Kyle’s brother” Wellwood and Andreas Nodl, that his production would suffer. Instead, that line scored the only two goals for the Flyers. This has to open our eyes to Wellwood. He’s only 20 and was a point-per-game player for the Spits last year. He’ll never be a first liner, but with the offensive depth this team has, he’s bound to get looks with big players (i.e. last night). We already know about Nodl – I still have him almost written off as a future top sixer. It’s Wellwood who has really come out of nowhere. It was his first NHL point last night. I don’t expect him to stick this year, but I now care about him as a fantasy prospect, which I didn’t a week ago.

The solid offensive depth on the Flyers is clearly taking away from the numbers of the defense. At this point it is looking as though Pronger and Timonen will be stuck int he low 40s, Carle in the high 30s and Coburn in the 20s. Giroux, Richards and Carter, meanwhile, should all top 75 points, while Leino and Briere are in the high 60s and Hartnell in the high 50s. That’s just how it’s shaping out. The Flyers strength is that they have eight players who a lot of teams would stick on their first line.

Dwayne Roloson: 2-5-0, 2.44, 0.914
Rick DiPietro:  2-3-2, 4.21, 0.854
The Isles are bringing DP in nice and slow, the important thing for poolies should be his health. He needs to get through the season intact. Worry about the skills and the numbers next year. And for it’s worth, I think the coach should go with a 2-3-2-3 rotation – giving Rolo the three in a row and DP the two in a row. It’s better for timing development and rhythm, but at the same time doesn’t overwork either. Just a thought.

Matt Moulson is second on the team in scoring – last year he was flying at a similar pace. I think his slowdown will start much later this campaign and I believe he’s worth 5-10 more points this year than he had last year.

The entire Islander roster is a minus. Each player. Except McDonald, who is hurt right now. But the Top 5 scorers on the Isles are a combined minus-49

I warned you about three things with the Leafs – 1. Bozak was the real deal and could get 70. 2. Don’t underrate Clarke MacArthur. Not that he’s a superstar, but I thought 55 points was in the cards. 3. Nikolai Kulemin was a different player in the second half last season, one worthy of the top six. Looks like I nailed two of those – Kulemin looks like a gem out there, on pace for 56 points and I think he’ll get there. Twenty-five goals, too. MacArthur is on pace for 69. I think he’ll get in the high 50s. His 44-goal pace is obviously unreasonable, but 25 is doable.

As for Bozak, I thought he was too good and too ready for the sophomore jinx to impact him, but I should have listened to my own advice. In my Hockey News column in the Ultimate Pool Guide (inside back cover) I identified Bozak as in the “high risk” group for this jinx.

Manny Malhotra has 10 points in 13 games. He has eight points in his last six games and has been playing 17 minutes a game. Only one of his points came on the power play though, so getting to 55 points won’t happen. But a career high is in the cards for thsi guy, perhaps even 17-20 goals and 45-plus points. Throw in what could eventually become a plus-25 and you have a pretty good depth roto-player.

Whoops – Fleury got the hook after giving up two goals in the first seven minutes last night. Brent Johnson came in and stopped 19 of 20 for the win. How long can this last? All I can do is guess. I have Johnson in the Expert League (I’m getting my ass kicked – my 2 and 3 goalies are Leighton and Niemi, and my first round pick is Kovalchuk. Um, I have no chance at this rate), so I hope he keeps going – he and Rinne are my hopes right now. One thing I will say though – Johnson was a starter before, but obviously St. Louis pushed it on him too early. Now he’s 33 (surprised me, I thought he was older) and some goalies hit their prime at that age.

So who is in for the big DobberHockey Event in Vancouver on December 9 announced by Angus yesterday? I’m interested to see who I’ll get to meet. Yes – I’m flying in and joining Angus for some pops and talk some fantasy hockey with all of you! Still looking for suggestions on where a good watering hole to meet is. Comment below

Right about now you can start looking at the standings and see the games played by teams and try to play the system in your trade talk. Right now, Edmonton, Boston and St. Louis have played just 11 games, while Chicago has played 16. Trade a Blackhawk for an Oiler and you bought yourself five free games.

Did you notice Blues’ forward Matt D’Agostini his one of just four Blues to tally seven points? He has the skills to be a second/third liner, I had just given up on him. But I spoke too soon. He’s only 24, so maybe there’s something there. Worth watching as his ice time was up to a season high 16:54 last night.

Nathan Horton has just two points in his last five games.

Since Jeff Skinner was put on Eric Staal’s line, they each have four points in three games.

More on Skinner in yesterday’s THN column.

I don’t care if Kovalev has six points in his last six games, I’ll never pick him up.

Note: Contest now over! Contest #1 – The first person to Tweet me (@DobberHockey) the name of the player in my Band-Aid Boys section who is in a red font wins your choice of something out of the DobberHockey T-shirt Shop. Incidentally, you HAVE to check out some of the funny trash talk I put on these shirts, if you haven’t checked recently.

Just a quick note to those who are anti-twitter and are little resentful that we are using this tool for a contest or two each day – my responsibility is to help you in fantasy hockey. It is obviously important to me that you use this tool – so important that I know that being on Twitter will cause you to rely on the Ramblings less often and cost me page views. But if you follow a good insider on each NHL team, plus myself and @angus_j and the rest of the DobberHockey staff – you’ll have an edge. You’ll get information faster than you would anywhere else and you can react to it. That’s why I’m doing it. I’m taking you by the hand and dragging you into 2010-style fantasy hockey knowledge. This gives you an edge and I’m all about giving you edges – so of course I’m doing this.

Viktor Stalberg has seven points in the nine games since his healthy scratch

In the meantime, as some of you may (or may not) have noticed, DobberHockey has partnered up with CoolHockey to bring you custom hockey jerseys for a low price. Dobber took a smaller cut of sales in order to get the price down even further. And to celebrate DobberHockey’s fifth anniversary – until Tuesday – we will be offering an ADDITIONAL 15% off all hockey jerseys. Christmas is eight weeks away, so now is the time to buy – and this is the place! Browse the merchandise HERE and use coupon code: Dobber15.

Thanks to our sponsors for setting us up with some sweet stuff to give away!

More Ramblings still to come later this morning…as well as our next giveaway of the day…and the introduction of a NEW DobberHockey writer…