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Angus here – playoff mailbag is open until the end of the day. Ask your questions here.

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My Playoff Draft List is updated completely. Fully customizable, instant download, complete with notes – and even a sheet with my own personal picks if you’d rather go with those. Thanks for supporting the site. If you bought the draft list and can’t figure out how to enable macros or have a question about my list – I explain much right here.  (I’ve been getting the same questions from a few people)

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Need more playoffs tips? Here are my recent articles to help:

Puck Daddy – Pool Primer, Eastern Conference

Puck Daddy – Pool Primer, Western Conference

The Hockey News – Playoff Pool Tips

The Hockey News – Dark Horses – East

The Hockey News – Dark Horses – West

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Per Russo – Jason Pominville will not play in Game 1 for the Wild. The draft list has been updated accordingly. I also sorted my personal picks by team, isntead of by projected points. I think you will appreciate that more. So go ahead and re-download the draft list.

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The Avalanche won the draft lottery and will be picking first overall. It’s obviously going to be Seth Jones, seeing as he’s a Colorado native and is ranked No.1 by most scouts. Will he play right away? Yes. Most first overall picks play right away. He’ll join fellow first overall pick Erik Johnson on the blue line, where he can be reminded that there are no guarantees being top pick.

So the Avs will boast Erik Johnson, Seth Jones, Tyson Barrie, Stefan Elliott and Duncan Siemens. That looked better a year ago, than it does today. I don’t think Jones and a new coach is the quick fix. On the right track, but not the full solution.

Still with the Avs, Adrian Dater looks at his five top candidates to be the next head coach – including Patrick Roy, Lindy Ruff and Guy Boucher.

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Ansar Khan is reporting that the Red Wings will stick to the lineup that’s been winning – so no changes. What does that mean? It means that Gustav Nyquist remains in the lineup. It means that Todd Bertuzzi, who is cleared to play and ready to go, will continue to be a healthy scratch (this is noted in the Playoff Draft List). This also means that Mikael Samuelsson, who has also received clearance to play, will be scratched. And again – Ian White and Carlo Colaiacovo will be scratched.

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NHL players of the month – Alex Ovechkin, Brian Elliott and Derek Stepan. There was bound to come a moment when there would be a changing of the guard – and Stepan surpasses Brad Richards as the better option if you need a goal. That moment was a month ago.

NHL players of the week: Jimmy Howard, Henrik Zetterberg and Nail Yakupov, who was also the rookie of the month.

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So now Martin Brodeur is talking about maybe signing another contract a year from now. Next season is the final year of his contract and he is adamant that he has not made a decision to retire after the contract is over.

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Sidney Crosby update – There is no change in Sidney Crosby‘s status. He will see the doctor Tuesday and will go from there. “Just going for an appointment and see what happens,” Dan Bylsma said. “I don't have any control over it, so there's no point in getting too worked up about it.”

I’m getting concerned about his readiness for Game 1 Wednesday. At this time, I will be adjusting the Draft List so that it shows him missing one game. I can’t see this dragging out, but the risk is there.

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Look at what Nashville coach Barry Trotz had to say about Sergei Kostitsyn and Craig Smith:

"We expected production from Sergei and Craig Smith and we got none," Trotz said. "Both those guys, we were looking at them to be top-six, top-seven forwards and we got no production. Craig Smith and Sergei were on power plays all year. I did it to try to get them going. I tried different things to get those guys going. I knew that we needed them because we score by committee and we had some committee members that didn't get 'er done."

Wow. Not enough openness in today’s sports world, so that was refreshing.

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As suspected, Cam Atkinson was indeed playing hurt, having returned from his high ankle sprain early. Brandon Dubinsky also played hurt, per Aaron Portzline. Bodes well for both players next year, assuming they can stay healthy.

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An injury update from Michael Russo – Jason Pominville was back in practice and is likely going to play in Game 1.

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Per Jeremy Rutherford, TJ Oshie is probably going to be playing in Game 1 tonight. Far sooner than originally anticipated (“week to week”? Not even close!)

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Pekka Rinne played much of the year injured. No further details, other than he is getting it looked at. Good news for his owners – we always like to see a good excuse for when our guy lets us down.

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The DobberHockey smartphone App is now free – and I have details on it here. Just to clarify – this is my own app. The DobberHockey app. If you have another app, created by senior writer Ryan Ma, please note that it has nothing to do with me or DobberHockey. My app must clearly be called “DobberHockey” or it’s not mine. Please don’t confuse the two, as I only want to be held responsible (be it compliments or criticism) for what is mine.

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Must see – TSN Panel Hangover:

Marketing genius.