Hockey Rambling

  Angus here - Merry Christmas (eve). Out doing some Christmas stuff this AM, so the ramblings will be up a bit late. A lot to chew on from a busy Friday night in the NHL. Thanks for your patience!   Dobber's THN column on Radim Vrbata is here.   Weiss left the game with [...]

  Mike Colligan takes a look at the evolution of Malkin.   "As a center in Bylsma’s system, a player needs to be strong defensively and fast enough to join the rush after his teammates gain possession of the puck. In the diagram to the right, the center (yellow dot) and two defensemen position themselves [...]

  Dobber’s fifth annual Midseason Fantasy Guide – out January 6 with a special addendum update for January 13. 17 days!   Right after I say that about Brandon Pirri, the Blackhawks called him up! If he sees more than 10 minutes, it will be itneresting...   Here's a promising Alexander Radulov update from Chesnokov. [...]

  Dobber’s fifth annual Midseason Fantasy Guide – out January 6 with a special addendum update for January 13.   Harling's got today's Studs and Duds HERE   No updates on Sidney Crosby, but Dustin Jeffrey should start skating "soon" and Jordan Staal should be back next game.   In looking at the Dallas/Anaheim results, [...]

  The final week before Christmas, but you have to wait nearly three weeks to get the present you REALLY want. Dobber’s fifth annual Midseason Fantasy Guide – out January 6 with a special addendum update for January 13.   Patrik Elias missed practice today with an illness. How he'll be tomorrow for the game [...]

    The Flyers say that Sean Couturier stayed in a hospital overnight for observation because the docs needed to check for possible skull fractures or internal bleeding. Claude Giroux has been moved to the IR to make room for Ben Holmstrom (not an indicator of anything new being serious if you're a Giroux owner, [...]

  Kyle Turris has been traded to Ottawa for David Rundblad and a draft pick. Analysis coming soon. Great job by Don Maloney to get a big return for a player who obviously didn't want to be there.   With four points Friday, Zach Parise is up to 16 in his last 10 games. A [...]

  Heads up - Saturday's ramblings will be a few hours late. Apologies. Enjoy the great piece on Hamilton in the meantime.   Mike Richards has traveled with his teammates to Detroit, but he isn't going to play. He is getting closer to returning from a concussion, though.   Taylor Hall scored two goals in [...]

  Visnovsky returned for Anaheim last night. He logged over 24 minutes, recording one assist. He had seven shots on goal (and another four that were blocked).   Ottawa managed to get 49 shots against Boston last night. Might have something to do with Chara being out... Unfortunately Thomas was his usual dominant self, stopping [...]

  Jeff Skinner does indeed have a concussion. Ditto for Milan Michalek. So in the past week we have lost the NHL's leader in points, leader in goals and reigning rookie of the year to concussions... on the heels of losing Crosby. I don't believe that concussions are anymore prevalent than they were in the [...]