Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 25)

The Calgary Flames finished their road trip in Dallas on Thursday night and a new face was up in the press box, as the team took on the Stars. Sven Baertschi spent a night looking down on the team, as he has reportedly been struggling with his play in all three zones of the ice, something the new coaching staff has been preaching to him since training camp.  Baertschi's defensive play may have slipped to a point where his offensive help has not covered up his blemishes, as he only has 1 goal and 3 assists in the first nine games this season.

I'm not sure if Wyllie would have scratched Baertschi, since he needs the games played to get the chance of points in his line-up.  Wyllie isn't having a bad week, 13 points heading into Friday, which now has him up to 19th place in the standings and I would imagine he'll get his young Swiss forward back for Saturday's game.

Reports from Thursday night's game between the Hurricanes and Wild are saying that Carolina forward Jeff Skinner left last night's game with an upper-body injury.  There are no immediate details first thing on Friday morning about the injury, except that it looks like he suffered one.  If this is the case, he will be listed as out day-to-day with an upper-body injury and we'll wait for further updates.

Skinner has been one of Clayton's best forwards to start the season, scoring 3 goals and 6 assists in his first 10 games this season, ranking 63rd in pool scoring to date.  This could be a tough loss, if he is out for the long-term.

The Dallas Stars also haven't been too happy with one of their players, but it seems like it is somewhat of the complete opposite.  Alex Goligoski has not been able to produce offensively for the Stars yet this season and for that, he was scratched from the line-up, as the Stars took on the Flames.  Goligoski's loss of offense is a real head-scratcher, as there really hasn't been any mention of attitude or injury problems.  It may just be a bit of puck luck, mixed together with gripping the stick too hard through frustration.  Either way, I figure he'll be back in before too long.

Goligoski was taken by Doug in the draft this year, taken in the 7th round, 156th overall.  With zero points to his name, the blueliner is ranked a way down in the 600's, thanks to playing most of his games.  Goligoski is one of five players, taken in the 7th round, that still have no points to their name.  The other names include Martin Brodeur, Ray Emery, Tomas Vokoun and Michael Del Zotto.