Week Five Newsletter

The poll still hasn't been utilized to it's full potential, but I'll still write about it. I mean, what more do I have to do?!? It sure looks like there's a little bit of concern about everyone's team about who they're going drop and possibly who they are going to pick-up. 80% of 5 votes are patiently awaiting to see who's available, while the other 20% are desperately awaiting Week Ten to arrive.

This week's question will revolve around who you would consider to pick up in the Draft. Pascal Leclaire, Nikolai Antropov, Matt Cullen, Chris Osgood and Mike Comrie head the list of available players in the Draft and they'll be the one's up for consideration.

Well, there was a lead change in the Draft this past week, but I think the real Mover & Shaker was Dennis. His 33 points moved him up 5 spots, from 16th to 11th. There is still quite a bit of flexibility in the Standings through five weeks, so a good week could make all the difference in the world for your position, if you find yourself in a bit of a pickle.

Dennis got his remarkable run this past week from 12 of his 14 players, having two down with injuries all week wasn't enough to keep the guy down. Paul Kariya led his team with 6 points, while Shawn Horcoff did his part with 5 and Ales Hemsky & Marc-Andre Fleury each contributed 4. Dennis also has 33 man games, minus his day-to-day players, to be played this week and his goalies (which are not included in any game count) are both healthy and ready to go.

Moving and Shaking in the Selection Sheet pool were two teams who had the same amount of points and moved up the same amount of positions in the pool. Both Ryan and Derek each had 43-point weeks and each moved up 8 positions in the pool. Ryan moved up to 19th position and Derek moved up to 25th in Week Five. We'll see if these guys remain hot and make a push for the Top 10 soon.

Well, it's a really unlucky start to the season for Dale C.. Already last in the Draft, the team has yet to blossom into the team that was expected of it and it really showed in Week Five. Only four players managed to get points and Dale only ended up with a Draft-low 14 points. Only Brad Richards (6) and Cory Stillman (5) showed up for Dale's team throughout the week, while Wojtek Wolski (2) and Brian Campbell (1) through their two cents into his team.

On the Sheet, it was an 8 spot drop for John P.. It was a Sheet-low 24 points for John that dropped him from 22nd to 30th. A big drop when it comes to 39 teams. John didn't get point from 14 players, which is the biggest reason for the Basement award.

The Carolina Hurricanes are the biggest scoring team in the NHL so far this season and they really flexed their scoring muscles in Week Five. They had a few candidates for the storied Player of the Week award, but it was Rod Brind'Amour (Marcus) who stepped up to the forefront to take the business.

Brind'Amour finished the week with a great big 9 points. He earned a couple assists on Monday against the Canucks; a goal and an assist against the Sabres on Wednesday; a goal against Montreal in a losing effort on Friday; and finally, a hat-trick plus an assist on Saturday against the Islanders. It was a big week for the veteran winger and he kept Marcus' head above last place.

Patrice Bergeron (Clayton) should be out of the line-up for a little while after suffering a concussion and a broken nose on Saturday when his head was driven into the boards by Flyers' defenseman, Randy Jones.

Simon Gagne (Peter) has been missing time with a possible concussion, as he's been suffering from dizziness over the last couple games. Gagne has somewhat been missed already, but he should be back barring any bad news in any follow-up medical news.

Chris Clark (Box 19) took a shot from Alexander Ovechkin in the head over the weekend and had a piece of his ear severed off. He has had reconstructive surgery to repair his ear, but will miss some more time as he may have suffered a concussion as well.

Dominik Hasek (John B.) will be out of the Red Wings' line-up indefinitely as his hip has been bothering him and will receive some rest over the next couple weeks. The guy certainly isn't young anymore.

Jordan Leopold (Aaron) underwent some surgery on his wrist and will miss another 2 months worth of ice-time for the Avalanche. Leopold missed a considerable amount of time last season and it doesn't look too promising this season for the blueliner.

Bryan McCabe (Benson) has been missing some time with a nagging groin injury. He'll be out of the Leafs' line-up on a day-to-day basis. He's already sorely missed for his offensive ability on the power play.

Marian Gaborik (Clayton) and Niklas Backstrom (Peter) are both suffering from groin injuries as well, which doesn't bode well for the Wild, as they are now missing their three best players, including Pavol Demitra (Ryan) with a hip injury.



Well, unless you're on satellite or digital here in Calgary, you won't really get a chance to see the Senators host the Bruins, but it'll be the game I'm watching, I'll tell ya that for sure. The Sens haven't been playing all that often in the last couple weeks and frankly, they're probably chomping at the bit to keep their offense going. There are plenty of players chosen from the Senators, both in the Draft and off of the Selection Sheet... it's a real shame that the pool players can't watch their players... instead having to watch the Habs and Leafs go at it once again.

Technorati Tags
NHL, Hockey, Hockey Pool