Week Seven Newsletter

Yes, I know... it's a bit of a late newsletter this week. Things to do... people to see... you know how it is. These long weekends are killers.

It doesn't seem that anyone knows what to make of the Columbus Blue Jackets. This season's brisk start in the Central Division is somewhat of a mystery to everyone, although they'll always have their critics. Somehow, coach Ken Hitchcock has got all the same pieces, with a few new faces, clicking and winning some games. It could be the real deal... it could be just a phase... but no one in the pool seems to want to throw their two cents in. Ha ha.

This week's question will surround our pool leader. One leader for two pools. Will Chris remain on top of the pool(s)?

Only five teams cracked the 30-point barrier in the Draft in Week Seven, but only Jeff was the team that moved up the standings like a rocket. Jeff started the week in 16th, but ended the week in 11th. His 32 points were only second to the leader of the pool.

He had a pretty big week from Vaclav Prospal, who finished with 8 points, Ray Whitney had 5, Dany Heatley had 4, while Andrew Raycroft's only start was a shutout for 4 points. Those are some pretty big numbers and they are all helpful, as Jeff has been living without quite a few players due to injury and/or suspension (errr... I mean retirement talk). Things are looking up for Jeff in the long run though... Jamie Langenbrunner is on his way back and Scott Niedermayer could be finding his way back to the Ducks line-up sooner rather than later.

On the Selection Sheet, it was Trevor who made a big move in the standings. Trevor notched up the ladder, a whole 7 spots. A great 60-point effort during the week moved him up past seven of his competitors, who all didn't quite get the best week. Trevor had great weeks from Henrik Lundqvist (6 points), Wojtek Wolski (5), Sidney Crosby (5), Evgeni Malkin (5), Scott Gomez (5) and Sean Avery (5).

In the basement this week, Aaron just can't seem to get himself a break. He dropped 4 spots to 14th place with his week-low 13 points. Only five skaters and a goalie were able to pick up points for Aaron in Week Seven, which left a whopping eight zeros on his team page through the week. Not having points from his dynamic duo in St. Louis, Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight, is a certain let-down, as well is the apparent loss of the number one job for Ray Emery. Stranger things have happened than having some of these guys re-gaining their form, so it certainly isn't out of the question.

In the Selection Sheet, the biggest fall came from Greg D., who had fallen 8 positions to drop down to 23rd from 15th. It's a pretty substantial fall. It wasn't as if to say that Greg had a terrible week at all, he did manage to snag 40 points, but the teams around him just seemed to be that much better, hence the drop. He did have 8 players on his team sheet with zero points and his weekly point production was down 5 points from Week Six. Maybe a trade or two could lighten his load.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were a pretty offensive team in Week Seven, scoring 16 goals in 4 games and two players finished in the pool at the top of the class from that scoring binge. But for newsletter purposes, only one will get the nod and since one was already mentioned in the Mover & Shaker part of the newsletter already, the other will receive the honours.

Vincent Lecavalier had points in all four games last week, actually, he had two in each game. A pretty impressive feat, really. Two assists on Monday against the Panthers, a goal and an assist against the Panthers again on Wednesday, then another goal and assist against Carolina on Thursday and finally, two more assists against Washington on Saturday. Quite the busy boy.

It hasn't been the breakout year for Michael Ryder (Benson). Ryder has played in the Habs' 16 games, only registering 6 points. It's a far cry from where they need him to be at this point in the season. Thankfully for the Canadiens, they are still putting wins on the board, so there isn't a giant panic in Montreal to get him going.

Other News and Notes

It looks as though Daymond Langkow (Dale B.) will be out of the line-up for a little while with a concussion. Langkow was hurt in the Flames game against Vancouver and has already missed one game due to the new injury. He'll more than likely sit out for the rest of this week and possibly more.

The injury prognosis isn't good for Simon Gagne (Peter). His concussion symptoms only somewhat disappeared last week and he found them rush back in a harsh way, which has now landed him back on the injured list for the Flyers. He'll probably sit for a fair period of time, possibly enough to have the chute pulled on his season.

And in more concussion news, Bryan Allen (Box 23) is also suffering one after taking a monster punch to the face in one of the games against Tampa Bay. He is now listed as out indefinitely.

The Bruins defense has been hit with some injuries last week as well. Aaron Ward (Box 22) is now out with a concussion and Andrew Ference (Box 23) is out with an upper body injury. The Bruins are a fragile bunch as it is and didn't need any more knocks to their confidence or their line-up as it is.

The Leafs will be without defenseman Pavel Kubina (Box 22) for at least a month after spraining his knee ligaments on the weekend. Only a Selection Sheet defenseman, he won't be missed as much as he would in the Draft, because I don't think he was taken too many times.

Sitting in the press box this past week have been: Duvie Westcott (Box 11) in Columbus, Tom Preissing (Dieter) in Los Angeles, Steve Eminger (Box 22) in Washington and Matt Carle (John P.) in San Jose. Defensemen are getting a pretty rough ride by the looks of things this season. It just doesn't seem to get very easy in this fast skating league. You're either keeping up to the opposition or you're sitting.

A name I've been seeing on some scoring sheets of late has been Chuck Kobasew. He's available for pick-up in the Draft. He's got 10 points in 16 games heading into Week Eight, two weeks away from Waiver Draft Week. I know all you Flames fans know his name and you probably haven't lost any love for the guy, so he'll probably end up on a few lists of desirability.

Selection Sheet Trades
Now we're seeing a few teams sell the farm a bit, now that the season has seen it's bit of separation in the Selection Sheet Pool. Teams are now using up their five trades to have a last gasp shot at the money. Tim L. spent all five of his trades on Saturday, making some very wise decisions. His pick-up of Mike Richards for Jordan Staal in Box 20 should be a big help. There were a grand total of 14 trades done for Week Eight, only one less than the week before. We'll probably see a big influx of trades here again this week, so make sure your team is up-to-date.



With no game for Montreal this weekend, the whole country will get to enjoy a Leafs & Senators game as the early game on Saturday. The Battle of Ontario will heat up again at the ACC. There certainly isn't as many Leafs chosen as there were Senators this season, but especially in the Selection Sheet, there was a lot of interest in Ottawa's offense. With Toronto's defense taking a big hit this past week, we may be in line to see a lot of goals this Saturday.

Following the Battle of Ontario, the Battle of Alberta takes another spotlight on HNIC, as the Flames and Oilers do battle again as the late game.

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