April 27, 2007
Dobber Sports
2007-04-26
Tomas Holmstrom told the Swedish press that he will not play before Game 4 at the earliest.
The Red Wings shuffled their lines in practice. You could see the following combos, if Babcock goes with them in game action: Lang with Samuelsson (why hasn't he been scratched yet?) and Hudler. Filpulla with Bertuzzi and Franzen.
Henrik Zetterberg did not practice (again). They keep saying it is the flu, but we all know that the symptoms of this particular flu are as follows: a clear head, clear congestion, normal temperature, and a whole lotta pain in the back. A kind of spasming pain, if you will.
The Vancouver Sun is reporting that rookie Jannik Hansen will draw back into the linup Friday because the club is in need of his speed and hustle against the Ducks. He holds little fantasy value.
The Sun is also reporting that Kevin Bieksa is suffering ribs/back injury, which is a change from the flu that has caused him to miss Game 1. He is doubtful for tonight's contest. Sami Salo is doubtful for the next three contests.
Brian Campbell, Toni Lydman, Tim Connolly and Drew Stafford all took practice off yesterday for Buffalo. Marek Malik and Michal Roszival missed practice for the Rangers. Of the six, only Rozsival is expected to miss tonight's game.
Steve Bernier played under seven minutes last night, missing most of the third period.
Speculation in the New York media is that the Rangers will try and sign Chris Drury in the summer.
Hannu Toivonen signed a one-way contract for next season, similar to his current contract. He will once again have the opportunity to seize the No.1 role in camp and will likely lose out to Tim Thomas. If so, it will be like this past season – up and down the AHL in order to get his games in.
Ryan Whitney underwent surgery on his wrist yesterday. He will need 6-8 weeks of rehab, but will be fine for training camp. After a 59-point year, I would expect, health permitting, 70+ points next year as Crosby and Malkin improve their production.
The Devils were 3500 shy of a sellout. Huh? What a joke. How can they continue to believe that winning is more important than entertaining? What's the point of going two rounds (which is all this team will do from now on) if you only sell enough tickets to cover off one round? Open it up! Entertain! Get the fans back! Who cares if you lose for the first few years, at least you show fans a good time. They'll fill up the arena when you start to win again – in a more exciting fashion. That's my non-fantasy rant for the day.
The Leafs signed Boyd Devereaux to a two-year deal. On this team, I think he could get 45 points. He produced at that rate this year.
Colin White was back in the Devils lineup, but Andy Greene remained in as well as New Jersey went with seven blueliners. Greene scored a goal in the contest.
Paul Martin was a minus-3 last night. Jamie Langenbrunner was a plus-3.
The dynamic duo of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov were each a minus-3. Speaking of great first round performers who performed poorly in Game 1 of Round 2, Mike Comrie was a minus-2 and played just 11 minutes.
The people have spoken. Here is the design for the new dobberhockey shirt:
Also available in black & white logo, in a kid's T, and a BBQ Apron – because Dobber likes his meat. Starting at $15.99 CDN. PLUS – for the next five weeks there is a coupon for $5.83 off of this price. So now we're talkin' like 10 bucks! Check out all the shirts here .