Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 21)

I hope no one has been missing the regularity of the blog posts of late, it's just been a time that lacks motivation and all that nonsense, keeping busy in other places and such. You know.  We'll get some notes in here today and update the news and injury page on the website, as scoring has gone in for the past couple nights on Saturday morning.  Being the holidays, updates may get a little more sporadic, likely until the New Year.  Hopefully, we'll all get a little bit more refreshed over the holiday.

With that being said, the notes will be sorted by date from the news page, just in case you were wondering about the lack of rhyme... there is reason!

The Minnesota Wild placed their new number one goalie, Josh Harding, on the Injured Reserve on Wednesday afternoon, as the red hot goalie has needed to go some crucial treatments for his multiple sclerosis.  Harding was diagnosed with the illness over a year ago and has to undergo these treatments from time-to-time and this is one of those times.  The team expects him to miss the week, the minimum for the IR, and then be back.

Harding was the top pick in the first Waiver Draft this year for Doug, but even with his new big goalie on the shelf, his team is doing okay, picking up 18 points already this week.

The Buffalo Sabres have lost centre Cody Hodgson to an upper-body injury and it could be for a few weeks. Hodgson reportedly blocked a shot with his wrist on Wednesday night and the coaching staff is beginning to believe that this could cost Hodgson about three weeks on the shelf.  With the holidays coming, it might not be the biggest loss, but it will certainly be a big hole in a Sabres team that struggles as it is.

Hodgson belongs to Clayton this year and his team has been able to keep afloat in the top 10, but with Hodgson being so streaky this year, Clayton may not suffer too much from this one injury.

The Calgary Flames were without key veteran forward Mike Cammalleri for one game this week, as he was unable to go with a bout of the flu. Cammalleri did play on Thursday night against the Red Wings, picking up a pair of assists in the game, but his name did appear as out for one game, Tuesday's game against the Bruins.

Cammalleri is Leo's second-best forward this season with 17 points, which isn't good news on the scoring front, nor on the injury front.  It is hard to say he is a disappointment this year, as the team around him hasn't been good enough to keep him going.

The Montreal Canadiens and their fan base were all over the fact that Daniel Briere had signed on, bringing some of that home province flavour to a team longing for some of their previous identity of being predominantly French. Well, this experiment hasn't gone very well, as Briere was scratched on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues.  Briere only has 10 points in 26 games this season and needs a kick in the rear end and the team is hoping that the scratch will work.

John is working his way up the standings, now sitting in 16th place, nine weeks after spending a couple weeks in last place, with a sub-par Briere in his line-up.

Already having lost a brief stint as the Nashville Predators starting goalie, Marek Mazanec spent Wednesday night's game on the shelf with a bout of the flu as well. Much like Cammalleri above, Mazanec was back the next game and was actually used in the back-up role, as Carter Hutton was pulled against the Lightning on Thursday night. There may be another start Mazanec's future, as Hutton has gone into a cold streak as well, so you never know.

Clayton also has Mazanec on this blog post and could really use some more goalie minutes, as his goalies are among the worst again in the second segment, picking up only 6 points since the start of Week Nine.

Thursday night in Ottawa, the Florida Panthers were in town and coach Paul MacLean continued to work the shuffle in his line-up, trying to get some traction in the win column. Out came forward Cory Conacher and defenseman Patrick Weircioch (again), trying to get a spark in the team, but it fell short, as the Sens fell 4-2 at home to the visiting team from the Sunshine State.  There are not very many innocent bodies in the Ottawa line-up these days, but the coach has to single out someone and it was Conacher and Weircioch's turn.

Conacher has been sub-par for Leo this year and Weircioch belongs to Doug, both teams in the pool are suffering greatly and their Senators are guilty of being worse than expected.  They are not the main reason for the lack of pool success, but it certainly doesn't help.

This isn't the first time that Jason Demers was a healthy scratch this season for the San Jose Sharks, rather, he has been in the press box about three times now. The blueliner doesn't have terrible scoring numbers for the Sharks this year, but I would have to guess that the coaching staff isn't all that pleased with his entire game, especially in a time of some struggles in the schedule.  I would expect to see Demers back int he line-up before too long.

The pool leader in goals scored this season, Brenda, has seen her team fall out of the money again in the last couple of weeks, as her forwards have been a real problem, scoring-wise.  Losing a defenseman for a game isn't going to help either, as her team needs to make up points somewhere.

Even more bad news for the San Jose Sharks, as they have had to place rookie sensation Tomas Hertl on the Injured Reserve this week, as he suffered a knee injury on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings, taking a hit from Dustin Brown.  On Friday afternoon, the news dropped that Hertl will be expected to be on the shelf for about a month, possibly a little bit less, but it wasn't welcome news in the San Jose dressing room.

Hertl belongs to one of the hot teams in the pool in Week Twelve, as Benson has 21 points this week, heading into Saturday's action.  This is his 1st round Waiver Draft pick, who has helped a bit, since coming on.

The Winnipeg Jets haven't exactly been the hottest team in the NHL either of late, so some roster shuffles have been done there this week, as Grant Clitsome sat on Friday night against the Florida Panthers.  Clitsome has 12 points in 32 games for the Jets this year and has been streaky, at best, so that is likely the reason he has found his way back to the press box.  The Jets did beat the Panthers, so it is hard to say what that means exactly for Clitsome.

Stacey C. shouldn't be too disappointed with Clitsome, as his defensemen, as a whole, have been hovering around the same amount of points.  The whole group may get the wrath of Stacey, more than just one guy.  Stacey sits nestled in 5th place to start Saturday, with 13 projected games on Saturday and Sunday, including one for Clitsome.

A big injury for the New Jersey Devils, as they begin to find some regularity in the win column these days.  Forward Damien Brunner suffered a knee injury on Friday night against the Anaheim Ducks, colliding with defenseman Mark Fistric, and it could cost the Swiss forward about four weeks on the shelf, much like Hertl above.  A tough break for Brunner, who has seen some improvement in his own game, which has helped lift the Devils in a number of games already in this rebound from a tough start.

Brunner has 2 points this week for Doug, helping him to his 18 points in the week, but that's where it will cease for a little while.  That's a tough break, as Doug has seen some real improvements in his team and there was hope that he could make a respectable finish after six weeks finishing in 24th.

Finally, the Washington Capitals are awaiting word on forward Marcus Johansson, who left Friday night's game against the Carolina Hurricanes with a lower-body injury.  As of Saturday morning, there was no real update on his condition, but the note is in, just as a place-marker for more.

More bad news for Wes M., who's team is trying to recover from dropping down to 20th place in Week Ten, his team's worst placement this season.  Injuries have been a huge problem for his skaters, as his team still ranks well-below average in games played, thanks to a rough first segment.