Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 14)

It just hasn't been my week for updates, has it? No, I have been constantly playing catch-up and this morning is no different. I'll rattle off all the new additions to the injury/news page here this morning, wishing I could a little bit more effort into some individual blog posts, but that's just the way she goes sometimes.

A lower-body injury was the reason Buffalo Sabres forward Cody Hodgson was not in the line-up on Thursday night against the Ottawa Senators and it is currently listing him as questionable for Saturday afternoon's tilt against the Calgary Flames. There was no specific word on what the injury is, but the words, "general soreness," has come up once or twice.  He is currently listed as out day-to-day.

Hodgson belongs to the 7th place team in the pool, which belongs to Clayton.  Despite the injury, his team has managed to stay in the top half of scoring this week, amassing 18 points heading into Saturday.

A bit of a double hit here... with the news that the Calgary Flames did some restructuring with the team's management, they exercised some of their desired roster moves, as they sent forward Sven Baertschi down to the AHL to make room for Curtis Glencross for Thursday night's game against the Carolina Hurricanes.  Baertschi has long been a focal point for some criticism from the team's brass, while Glencross has fully recovered from a knee sprain.  There likely won't be any rush to get Baertschi back into the line-up, as he likely will go down for some more seasoning as a young player.

This is a loss for Derek Wyllie in the standings, who has seen some great improvements in his previous efforts in the hockey pool, going into Saturday in 14th place.  The demotion may hurt, but Baertschi hasn't been producing much, so the effect may be minimal.  Dale B., who sits in 12th this morning, gets Glencross back, which will help him move for the top 10.

Looks like the carousel on the Philadelphia Flyers blueline continues to spin round and round.  Veteran defender Andrej Meszaros, who had avoided the press box for a little while, found his way back up there on Thursday night, as the team took on the Montreal Canadiens.  There is no word as to whether or not he'll figure back into the line-up on Sunday afternoon in Washington.

It hasn't been a good season for Meszaros on Wes' defense crew, as Wes could use all the help he can get.  Wes goes into Saturday in 20th place, rocking a below-average Week Eleven with only 13 points through Friday night.

The Detroit Red Wings' injury woes are still upon them and they are not getting any easier. Reports on Friday said that number one goaltender Jimmy Howard underwent an MRI on his injured knee and the results were not good. Howard is now expected to miss up to four weeks with a sprained MCL in his knee and that could cost him a trip to Russia for the Olympics as well.  Howard hasn't exactly been great in the 2014 season, to this point, having lost some starts to Jonas Gustavsson already and now will miss a month.

It has not been a lucky year for pool newcomer, Ryan V., who has seen his players fall to injury way too many times this year.  Already below-average in skater games played and goalie minutes played, the loss of Howard, his 2nd round pick, is devastating.

More goaltending injury troubles, as the Florida Panthers were without Tim Thomas on Friday night against the Washington Capitals with what is now being described as a groin problem.  There is some belief that Thomas should be able to go on Sunday, as the Panthers take on the Canadiens in Montreal.  The Panthers are in desperate need of some wins, if they want to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, so they will likely take that risk of pushing Thomas into that role to get them there.

Both Ryan's in the pool are having goalie troubles, as Thomas belongs to Ryan M., who sits in 16th place this week.  Ryan is 13 points from the top half of the pool and will need some more goaltending to give him that push.

On Saturday morning, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Toronto Maple Leafs forward David Clarkson has been suspended for another two games for his high hit on St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Sobotka.  This will be Clarkson's second suspension in the 2014 season, already missing 10 games to an automatic suspension for leaving the bench for an altercation.  The Maple Leafs will welcome the return of defenseman Dion Phaneuf on Saturday night, as he is returning from his 2-game suspension from earlier in the week.

I don't think Wes thought there was going to be any more risk of suspension, when he picked up Clarkson in the Waiver Draft a few weeks ago.  But there it is.  On the other side, Cindy will get Phaneuf back in her line-up tonight, which she'll need to also help climb into the top half of the standings.