Answer: eight points. Contest closed! Last week, Brent Lemon did a column on Martin Brodeur, using some of the work found in the book "HockeyNomics" by Darcy Norman. The column created quite a buzz and there was a lot of interest in this book. The good people at OverTime Books are giving away one of these books per day from today until Friday. The first person who can create a thread in the forum in The Lounge called "Tuesday's Answer" and can tell me, using the Frozen Pool "Game Planner" tool (click “Today”), how many points Erik Johnson has versus the Blackhawks over the last three years, will get a copy free. If you have won something from me this year, you are ineligible – sorry!

Pierre-Marc Bouchard will finally return for the Wild… tomorrow.

Will my 50,000+ member message boards become to close to being HF Boards if I start banning things, specifically racy Avatars? Read this and vote – and voice your opinion!

Tim Sassone reports that Marian Hossa, who left practice yesterday, will be on the shelf for 2-3 weeks.

Something has given – multiple sources report that Washington has traded Tomas Fleischmann to Colorado in exchange for Scott Hannan. I will have analysis on that one up later this afternoon, but now the Avs acquiring Hunwick makes a little more sense. Kudos to Dmitri Chesnokov for reporting yesterday that the Caps were going to trade a center for a defenseman – and speculating that it would be Flash. I thought Nashville, but that organization is far too conservative and they love to sit on their hands. Colorado is a little more aggressive, which is why they have a better chance of winning the Cup in the next decade.

So M.A. Fleury is 8-0-1 in his last nine starts and he has started nine of the last 10. Like I said after the first win – the Pens will ride the hell out of their Golden Boy now going forward. You chance at acquiring him cheap has long passed. I see 38 wins (so another 29).

Other than Marian Gaborik, no Ranger forward saw more PP time than the rookie Derek Stepan. They hold him in very high regard, which is a great sign for his owners.

Alex Frolov has just one point in his last nine games and for the second time in that span had his ice time cut to less than 10 minutes. KHL next year.

Ryan Callahan has just two points in his last seven contests, which pushes his pace down to about 60 points. If healthy, I think he’ll get in that 55-60 range.

Martin Gerber now has two wins in two starts for the Oilers. He is playing well enough to effectively take any momentum Devan Dubnyk had away – the team will ride the hot goalie, and Gerber is hotter right now. I like him as a short-term pickup, but as soon as he stumbles, they’ll turn to DD.

Gilbert Brule has half of his six points in the last three games. It’s a good sign.

Speaking of turnarounds, Tom Gilbert – and again, I have to take full credit for this one, since I bashed him so badly and recommended you drop him – he’s been on fire since that particular rant. He has five points in his last five games and is slowly crawling out of the hole he dug himself with such a brutal slump. His plus/minus is inching along properly as well.

Ian White is pointless and minus-4 in the last two games for Carolina. This really isn’t his season, it looks like the beginnings of another slump.

Teemu Selanne returned to the Anaheim lineup, effectively knocking Dan Sexton back off the power play.

Toronto prospect Greg McKegg was the OHL player of the week. McKegg is ranked 151 on my prospects list. I don’t see him on the team next year or the year after, but continued strong play and a bit of luck and you never know for 2012. He had nine points in three games last week.

Be forewarned Nik Zherdev owners – Daniel Carcillo (sprained knee) has returned to practice. Look for a rotation of healthy scratches, one that may include JVR as well. I think Andreas Nodl has been playing too well, but he is a candidate as well. Motivation for these guys, but that doesn’t help fantasy owners any.

AHL’s player of the week honors went to TB prospect Johan Harju. He is getting better with every game. He had seven points in five AHL contests (and plus-5). Weird that he beat Tomas Tatar, who had that many points in a single game.

Dustin Jeffrey is ninth in AHL scoring with 24 points in 21 games. He is the best player the Pens have in the pipeline in terms of offensive forwards. It’s not even close. Eric Tangradi needs another year and a half in the minors at least.

Here are the players invited to Team Canada’s Junior camp. The US is announcing theirs on December 7.

I mistakenly said that Adrian Dater says 3-4 weeks for Chris Stewart. It was actually 4-6.

Teddy Purcell has quietly put up 10 points in his last 10 games. He’s now up around 18 minutes per game too. All he needed was a coach’s patience.

Fantastic trade by the Bruins – they acquired Colby Cohen from the Avalanche for Matt Hunwick. They weren’t really using Hunwick anyway, so why not get a great young defenseman with upside who is on the cusp? They already know what Hunwick can do (not much, in my opinion). The Avs, on the other hand, didn’t do BADLY. They are struggling with injuries on the blueline and this will help that, but to listen to Adrian Dater talk they already have a quality defenseman in Jonas Holos that the team for some reason is not using.

With Seidenberg floundering offensively, Cohen could be an under the radar rearguard to pick up – after he gets rolling in Providence. I know he’s had a rotten time of things in the AHL so far, but he’s still getting used to the pro game. Let’s see how he does with Chara on the PP! (I know – won’t happen this calendar year)

I don’t see Hunwick doing anything offensively for the Avs – Shattenkirk and Liles are the 1-2 punch.

Both Jack Hillen and Andrew McDonald are close to returning to the NYI lineup. This further helps their odds of getting the season rolling.

Ales Kotalik is hoping to return Friday for Calgary. Kotalik was having a strong camp when he injured his knee.

Interesting look at Nashville’s need for a center by On the Forecheck. Lombardi isn’t coming back soon, and Cal O’Reilly can’t produce well if he’s the only offensive center. Legwand can never be trusted to be healthy… They need to acquire a center and with the Tomas Fleischmann rumors swirling and the abundance of defensemen in the Preds system…

‘Flash’ owners are praying that he doesn’t go to Nashville…