November 01, 2011
Dobber Sports
2011-11-01
Some later news (or rather – early news that I’m getting to late) – Matt Read will miss the next two games with an UBI… Simon Gagne practiced today for the first time in a few days… Sean Avery has cleared re-entry waivers… Andy Sutton gets suspended for five games… Leafs send Matt Frattin to the Marlies and recall Joey Crabb…
The Read news is unfortunate, as he is still getting a foothold on a scoring line of a very deep team. Timing is everything…
Avery could be playing angry hockey – big PIM?
Halak owners – glass half full?
Final day! LIKE the Dobber Sports Facebook page. Why? Because on November 2nd I will draw 12 names. The first name drawn from the list of “likes” will receive an EASTON Stealth RS hockey stick. The one I have is a left shot, so if you shoot right and your name is drawn I have a Synergy EQ50 I can send you instead. The second name drawn will receive – courtesy of forum buddy Sin Bin – an autographed Sergei Gonchar picture. The next 10 names drawn will receive 10 free premium memberships at Pick’em First, which is a tool that helps you find and read info on players of interest quickly and easily. The app itself is free, but the premium features are not – but I have 10 memberships I can give away. So get on it!
Here is my Puck Daddy column from yesterday. Ignore my Kris Newbury recommendation – the guy was sent down a few hours before I wrote the column, and I missed it. As often as I look brilliant for pushing a player who later gets a hat trick, I get egg on my face for pushing another player.
My THN column from yesterday, pumping Kris Versteeg, who added an assist last night (the aforementioned making me look good later thing).
Brendan Ross gives us his Top 30 for next year's draft right here.
Did the media create the Raffi Torres thing? All I'm seeing is this media source says "everyone is up in arms" and that media source says "Twitter blew up" and this other media source says "some people called it racism" etc. etc. But never once did I see anyone actually call it racism or be upset with it in any way shape or form. Did three people out of Bissonette's 200,000 followers make a "troll" statement and the rest of the media jumped on it and thus created a big issue?
The earliest that Sidney Crosby will return to the lineup will be November 11. That misses my guess from a month ago by four days. But it does, I believe, put him at 67 games on the year – my Guide prediction.
Patric Hornqvist is starting to heat up. Once that guy finds the net, he can't miss for the next couple of weeks. He's starting to make his pitch to join the Windex Wonder club. That's goals in three straight games, and four in all. After going zero for seven.
Big relief for Craig Smith owners – he still scored despite the upheaval on his line. He's back at center now with Bergfors and Erat. He played 15:42. Bergfors played just six minutes.
Michael Frolik has four points in his last five games.
The Red Wings will get their first look at Gustav Nyquist, who has been recalled. Let's see him force the issue with some timely scoring – I don't see a lot of ice time for him, so he'll need to get on the board with minimal opportunity. But he's good enough that he could do just that. If not, no big deal – he's still a blue chipper. Fabian Brunnstrom has cleared waivers.
The last time I saw Kyle Wellwood make a huge, consistent offensive impact on a team like this it was in Toronto when he had 42 points in 48 games – and it was cut short by an injury. Now, for Winnipeg, he has eight points in 11 contests and doors are opening wider. His ice time the last few games, in order: 10 minutes, 11, 13 and then 16 last night. My feeling is that he will make a nice producer for the next few weeks at the very least and you could have him for a song (or even a waiver claim).
Artem Anisimov, surprisingly, was right back into the lineup for the Rangers last night.
Ryan Callahan is back on his horse – 15 shots in the last three games and a three-point contest last night.
Dan Girardi has five points in his last four games.
Marty Brodeur has been taken off the IR.
Here is an update on the condition of Travis Zajac. Seems like he is recovering well, but I don't see him back before December.
Brett Bulmer was cut by the Wild after his nine-game stint. The winger who was drafted 39th overall in 2010 had three points and was plus-1 and six PIM. He'll have fantasy value in a few years, to the tune of posting 45 points and 100-plus PIM.
What will get Ville Leino going? Put him with two of the hottest players in the league – Vanek and Pominville. Thy wish be granted. Either he gets going, or he drags those two down with him!
Mike Green didn't skate again yesterday. That's seven days for a "twisted ankle". He is out for tonight.
Ryan Malone has a new upper body injury that could cost him Tuesday's game against Carolina. Not related to his shoulder, they say.
Update on Jeff Carter and Mark Dekanich: Carter will probably not play this week. Neither will Dekanich, and Dekanich is looking at a couple of AHL starts next week before maybe getting into an NHL game two weeks from now (my words).
Kuznetsov goal yesterday: