Yesterday's Notable Pre-Season Players (Oct 1)

The Rangers win the Cup! The Rangers win the Cup! That's what New Yorkers would want to hear in June, but not in October. The Victoria Cup was won by the Rangers beatin Russia's Metallurg Magnitogorsk, 4-3. The Rangers had to come back from a 3-0 deficit to rally past the Russian champion. The most notable player in the game for the Rangers was Chris Drury, who was posted in front of the opposition net, scoring a pair of goals. Drury could be a very solid pool pick for your team this year, as he has been a pretty consistent player over the past couple seasons.

The Red Wings overpowered the Thrashers on Wednesday night, beating them 4-1 thanks to big nights from Mikael Samuelsson (2G, 1A) and Henrik Zetterberg (1G, 2A). The game also marked the return of Nicklas Lidstrom to the line-up and he was an immediate impact to the line-up, adding two helpers. Things look to be back to normal in the Motor City.

The Devils welcomed their number one goalie, Martin Brodeur, back to the crease and he gave him 60 solid minutes, making 17 stops for a 3-0 shutout win. Brodeur looks to be in good shape to take the league by storm again, especially with a better team in front of him defensively. Is he your choice for top-rated goaltender in the poll to the left?

The Flyers beat the Capitals, 2-1, on Wednesday and Joffrey Lupul was the big scorer, picking up a goal and an assist in the game. This is the second time Lupul has been named to the Notable Pre-Season Players, so the Flyers are hoping he can carry this sort of momentum into the regular season. It's a good time to be optimistic about Lupul, as his maturity level could have only gotten better with the playoff run last Spring.

The Habs beat up on their divisional & Original Six rival, the Bruins, on Wednesday night, 3-1. Jaroslav Halak got the win for Montreal and Patrice Brisebois made a case for your fantasy blueline with a goal and an assist to lead the team in scoring. Halak will definitely back-up Carey Price, while Brisebois' spot in the top six should be his to lose.

The Blues gave the Maple Leafs something to sing about, as St. Louis demolished the rebuilding team, 7-3 on Wednesday. Lee Stempniak and Andy McDonald continued to have good pre-seasons with three points a piece for the Blues. The improved Central Division could be a much deeper place for fantasy points, unlike the last few years, where it was only as deep as the Red Wings.

It looks like the Avalanche have a healthy Ryan Smyth to play with this season, which will be a big benefit to a Colorado team that comes into the season with plenty of question marks. Smyth scored a goal and an assist in the 3-1 win against Dallas on Wednesday. He seems to have a good connection with rookie, T.J. Hensick, who may have himself a spot on the team in a third line role.

It was a busy night for Vancouver's budding offense, as they put six goals behind Flames' keeper, Miikka Kiprusoff. Pavol Demitra led the way with a goal and two assists, while Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows each had three assists in the game. The line combinations were a bit of a mess, but Kesler and Burrows did see a fair amount of time with Jannik Hansen, who did score a pair of goals in the game as well. If the offense can get a kick start, then Roberto Luongo's numbers could improve as well.

Finally, the Ducks dispatched of the Kings in overtime, 3-2, thanks to Chris Pronger's second goal of the game. Pronger had a sub-par season last year, playing in only 72 games after suffering a jaw injury (2 games) and receiving a suspension (8 games). The lack of playing time hurt his production, scoring only 12 goals and adding 31 assists. It should be a better season for the big defender this year.