Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 7)

It was such a promising combination, as Damien Brunner joined the New Jersey Devils in the off-season as a free agent and it looked like it was going to be a very positive pool selection, after a fairly hot start, but it has all cooled down and it was a return to the press box for the Swiss forward on Friday night.  In 26 games played this season, Brunner has only 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points, not the season that everyone was hoping for after the Summer signing.

Brunner is Doug's 10th round pick this season and despite Brunner's lack of offense this week, Doug is still having an okay week with 18 points through Friday's action.  The gap that was before him has closed up a bit, now only 8 and 9 points behind the two immediate teams ahead of him.

Some personal family matters have arisen for Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris, which kept him out of the line-up for the 3-2 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night. It appears that the Coyotes have placed him on the Injured Reserve, which means he'll likely be away from the team for about a week.  It isn't exactly what you'd see a player go on the IR for,  but the same rules should apply.

Morris was a Waiver Draft pick-up for Ryan V. and turned out to be an okay pick to start the first couple weeks of service.  In five games played, Morris has picked up 2 assists for his new team.

There was another body out of the Phoenix line-up on Friday night, as their captain, Shane Doan, was out of the line-up, due to a bout of the flu.  Phoenix doesn't play again until Tuesday next week, away to Colorado, so the captain should be expected back for that game, with more than enough time to get some chicken noodle soup in him.

Doan has been one of Dale B.'s best forwards this year, scoring 12 goals and 11 assists in 27 games for Phoenix this year, also picking up 3 points this week.  Dale's team currently sits in 11th place, 3 points out of the top 10, heading into Saturday and is in the middle of the pack with 15 projected games to be played this weekend.

It appears that the Tampa Bay Lightning are feeling the infestation of the injury bug in their locker room, as a couple of defensemen are feeling the effects and is slated to miss some time. Victor Hedman is the defenseman that carries the most weight in the pool, as the other is non-pool player Keith Aulie, but Hedman is now scheduled to miss at least a week with a lower-body injury.  The details are very limited on the injury to Hedman, but this is what I've found so far.

Hedman belongs to Mike S. this season, who has a team that has been hovering in the bottom half of the standings, currently sitting in 18th.  Mike's defense has been good this year, but it has been one of the few bright spots for him and they are certainly not enough to carry him further up the standings.