Week Nine Newsletter

There isn't a more obvious headline than the Waiver Draft. All 17 teams in the Draft will have the opportunity to swap two players for their team to hopefully improve their status in the standings starting in Week Eleven.

A goaltender is projected to go number one in the Waiver Draft, as Dale C. has first pick due to his team's poor showing in the first nine weeks. Now which goalie is it going to be? Pascal Leclaire in Columbus? Chris Osgood in Detroit? Or maybe, just maybe... Ilya Bryzgalov now in Phoenix?

There has been a lot of coverage in regards to the Waiver Draft, so hopefully everyone is well-versed in who's available and who isn't. The Draft is scheduled to happen through the week, if need be, but hopefully everyone is on the ball so it all happens really smoothly during the week.

The Sherpa is curious to see if Chris can improve his team any further or whether or not he'll even try. His lead grew during the week and he has a lot of players who are on major hot streaks, so he'll be closely watched during Week Ten.

I wanted to have a couple more options in this week's poll question... because there was a few more "I'm not picking" options I would have loved to have seen on there. It looks like they would have been useful as there was only two votes on the poll this past week. Talk about a failure... yikes! I suppose I should get a little bit more of a universal poll question for Week Ten.

The Sherpa is considering having a keeper league, which would be pretty substantial and possibly a little more fun for a longer period of time. You would renew your team's membership for a year-end prize payout and it would likely consider the playoffs as well as the regular season. Would you be interested in something like that? There would be entry drafts in the summer... expansion drafts, if we were to add people... dispersal drafts, if people were to leave... stuff like that. Interested?

I find it hard to shy away from a major point week like Chris had in Week Nine. He had 20+ points in the week before most everyone else got out of the starting blocks, which kind of gave me a nautious feeling... I don't know about anyone else. He finished the week with 42 points in the end, 1 shy of his best week of the season, but still his second 40+ point week. His lead has now been stretched to 12 points, but Week Eleven will see our Waiver Draft moves come into effect, so it may dwindle a bit.

Having big weeks for Chris were Jason Spezza (8 points), Michael Nylander (5), Ed Jovanovski (5), Thomas Vanek (4) and Wade Redden (4). How good is that, when you get two defensemen as your top scorers for the week? It's a great big help when you get that sort of production from your back end. His goaltending tandem of Martin Biron and Martin Gerber only had 3 and 2 points each... and they're his bread & butter this season. It'll be hard for him to find anyone to drop... if he can.

Hitting a new peak position in the Selection Sheet Pool this past week was Ryan. Ryan moved up 11 spots to reach 13th position in the pool after a week of 65 points. That's a pretty substantial jump in the standings. His big players for Week Nine were Jason Spezza (8), Daniel Alfredsson (5), Sergei Gonchar (5), Nicklas Backstrom (5) and five players with 4 points. Ryan has used up all five of his trades this season, so if something drastic happens, he'll be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

Dropping from 9th to 12th in the Draft in Week Nine was Peter. Peter's team only managed to snag a week-low 17 points during the week, which wasn't near good enough to keep him in the Top 10 for the time being. The team suffered many injuries over the last week or so. Kevin Bieksa, John-Michael Liles, Travis Zajac, Simon Gagne and Eric Brewer all missed at least one game during the week, which could be filed under "worst case scenario." He did manage to capitalize on the hot streak of Ilya Kovalchuk (6 points), but that was the only bright spot on his team this season.

Dropping a whopping 8 spots in the Selection Sheet Pool, Trevor S. found himself out of the Top 20, with what could only be described as a piss-poor performance all around. Only 35 points were tallied for Trevor in Week Nine, having five zeros on his team page and eight players with only 1 point on the team. Maybe it's time for a trade... he does have all five of them left.

Does big money bring production? That was probably the biggest off-season question as players moved from team to team in Unrestricted Free Agency for some large salaries. One of the biggest moves did what he was supposed to in Week Nine and has actually had himself a good start to the season.

In Philly, Daniel Briere (Don) managed 8 points, which is exactly the production you want to get out of a player who is in the first year of a majorly front-loaded contract. Briere is now sitting at 28 points in 22 games this season for the Flyers, which puts him on pace for 104 points this season. He's making a strong case for his $10 million this season. Briere managed a hat-trick and an assist on Wednesday versus the Hurricanes, just a goal against the Capitals on Friday and then a goal and two assists against the Senators on Saturday. That's 5 goals and 3 assists for his big 8-point week. There were two other players with 8 points this past week, but his 5 goals were the clincher.

There was a lack of scoring this week from David Legwand (John P.) which didn't help John keep pace with the leaders in the Draft this past week. Even just one or two points would have helped, but they weren't there. So for that, he gets the Cold Player of the week designation.

Other News and Notes

Playing behind the minute leader in the NHL can get awfully painful on the ass for any back-up goalie, so the Sharks were good enough to send Dimitri Patzold (Box 12) down to the minors for some game time. It would be hard to believe that he is having a good time down there, as this would be his first game action for some time now. If you're looking at dropping your Western Conference back-up, don't pick Patzold. Probably not a good idea.

The Sabres have lost one of their young wingers indefinitely due to a shoulder injury. Drew Stafford (Box 21) injured his shoulder during the week and still doesn't have a clear picture as to when he'll return. You may want to skip his name during the Waiver Draft, despite his 8 points.

Just in case you were wondering, David Aebischer (Marcus) will not be returning to the NHL this season. The deep crease in Phoenix has now allowed the Swiss goalie to return home to play in Europe for the remainder of the season. Guess who's getting dumped in the first round...

Reluctantly, Kari Lehtonen (Jeff) accepted his assignment to the minors for some conditioning this weekend, which will hopefully have him back in the Thrashers' line-up by next weekend. His injured groin needs to be tested before the team pulls one of the goalies who have been playing well in his absence.

Defenseman, Mike Commodore (Box 16) injured his finger this weekend and will be on the sidelines on a day-to-day basis. He's a big tough guy, so he shouldn't be too long out of the line-up. He only has 4 assists, so you're probably not looking towards him in the Waiver Draft this coming week.

As far as I can find, it looks like back-up keeper, Josh Harding (Box 12) is finding himself in the press box after a few lacklustre performances. Harding has 8 points as a back-up, but his minutes are dwindling now that Niklas Backstrom (Peter) is now healthy and ready for the number one role again.

On the injury front, defenseman Kurtis Foster (Box 5) will sit out about a week with a facial fracture, suffered on the weekend. Fortunately, the Wild will be getting Pavol Demitra (Ryan) back on Wednesday.

The Predators have not had the easiest of seasons so far... and the loss of Marek Zidlicky (Clayton) didn't seem to help the squad either as they lost on Saturday night to the Wild in a close one. Zidlicky missed the game with a strained back and is only listed as day-to-day for the time being.

The Devils have missed a couple important role players in the last couple games. Patrik Elias (Clayton) has missed the last couple games with the flu and Karel Rachunek (Box 16) has been away tending to his family, as he welcomed in a new child. By next week, both players should be back in the line-up.

Also sitting out, Daniel Alfredsson (Clayton) missed Saturday's game with a groin injury. The Sens missed their leading scorer against the Flyers on Saturday, maybe more for his defensive capability rather than his offense... they still scored three that game.

It looks as though Mark Recchi (Don) is out of gas... or so the Penguins coaching staff thinks. Recchi has been a healthy scratch for the gist of the past week, which doesn't bode well for the veteran. His revival in Carolina seems to have been spent now at the quarter-pole of this season, as he only has 2 goals in his first 19 games.

The flu ran rampant through the Blackhawks' dressing room this weekend. Saturday, Patrick Sharp (available) and Tuomo Ruutu (Aaron) sat out against the Flames with the illness. On Sunday versus the Canucks, only Ruutu managed to climb back into the line-up, but I would imagine that if Sharp was picked up in the Waiver Draft this week, he'd be more than healthy enough to be in your line-up full time.

The Dallas Stars have now been hit with some injury problems. Jere Lehtinen (Box 7) is now out with an abdominal injury and there have been some conflicting reports as to how long he'll be out. The Stars have responded by recalling Joel Lundqvist (Box 9) from the minors.

The Kings have missed their top scorer over the weekend. Alexander Frolov (Dieter) have been out with a groin injury, but should be ready to return during the week for the below .500 Kings.

Eric Brewer (Peter) missed Friday's game against Vancouver, but was in the line-up for the Blues on Sunday against the Flames. He had missed the game with back spasms.

The Canucks are getting healthy again on the blueline. Sami Salo (John B.) returned from his broken nose on Friday night and Mattias Ohlund (Dale B.) finished his suspension on Friday and was in the line-up against Chicago on Sunday. That means that Luc Bourdon (Box 11) was the odd man out and sent down to Manitoba on Saturday night.

Selection Sheet Pool Trades
Not very many trades for Week Ten. Martin Brodeur (Box 18) was dropped yet again for Henrik Lundqvist (Box 18). This has been a very popular move so far this season... this happening again when Brodeur gets 8 points with a shutout and 3 wins during the week. A trade reversal before puck drop today?


Sidney Crosby (Benson) will mark his return to the Hockey Night in Canada line-up as his Penguins take on the Leafs in the cross-country telecast. Crosby, one of the most popular picks in Box 13 of the Selection Sheet Pool will bring his electric style to the ACC and the Leafs, who are struggling yet again this season will have their hands full trying to stop the young phenom.

In the second game of the evening, HNIC will get it's first look at the Columbus Blue Jackets and their scoring sensation, Rick Nash (Wes), as they take on the Flames here in Calgary. The Flames, who struggled through Week Nine, will have to start trying to right their season with one of the strongest teams in the West this week.

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