Week Sixteen Newsletter

We Have a Jersey Winner!

Congratulations to Derek Wilton for his 10-point victory over Cindy and Ryan M. in the second segment, which has earned him his choice of one of the remaining three Toronto Maple Leafs Winter Classic jerseys that we have as prizes this year.

As you may have seen on the standings page this weekend, I added the segment race below the regular standings, which will cover the third segment for the last ten weeks, when that gets started tonight.

Second Segment Winners & Losers

Most skater games played... Wes (295).  Least skater games played... Tony (227).  Most goalie minutes... Dale B. (2,497).  Least goalie minutes... Kristy & Don (427).  Best forwards... Cindy (162 points).  Worst forwards... Leo (89).  Best defensemen... Grant (62).  Worst defensemen... Dale B. (21).  Best goalies... Chris (46).  Worst goalies... Derek Wyllie and Grant (9).  Most goals scored... Derek Wilton (83).  Least goals scored... Dale B. (35).

Another Prize Position Shuffle

The top of the standings is all kinds of crazy through 16 weeks, as we have a new overall leader in Stacey M., who's tied with Chris at 389 points, while Derek Wilton sits 3rd with 388 points and Grant was bumped down to 4th with 387 points.  Yes, only 2 points separates 1st to 4th, while Allan jumped back in and sits 2 points from there, Stacey C. is 3 points out and Clayton is 7 points out.

1st to 10th is only 20 points and with some new faces in most of the line-ups in the pool, this race will stay good and tight, right until the bitter end, I'm thinking.

Fresh off not being selected to the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team, Martin St. Louis gave everyone something to debate about, as he posted a pool-best 8 points with his Tampa Bay Lightning in Week Sixteen.  The selection of the Olympic team was always going to spark some debate, but when some players put up big weeks like this, it will definitely get people talking.

The small scoring forward is actually in the midst of an 8-game scoring streak for the Bolts, but he really had made a splash this week, putting up some serious points in a few key games.

Tampa played five games in Week Sixteen, which certainly helped his cause, as St. Louis opened the week with an assist against Columbus on Monday, an assist against the Rangers on Tuesday, a goal against Long Island on Thursday, 4 goals against the Sharks on Saturday and then another assist against the Hurricanes on Sunday.  4 goals and 4 assists in total, bringing his season total up to 25 goals and 25 assists in 50 games.

Those 50 points are good enough for 14th in pool scoring this season, which isn't bad for Ryan M. this season, who took the former league MVP 7th overall in the draft this year.  He is still showing signs that he can play with the best of them, even without Steven Stamkos in the line-up, at the moment.

It was a return to form for Allan's team in Week Sixteen, as his side, that had held the lead from Week Seven through Week Ten, earned its first Mover & Shaker of the season with a 34-point effort.

After Week Ten, Allan's team dropped off significantly, dropping down as low as 10th through Week Fourteen, thanks to injuries and some cold streaks through his roster.  This resurgence his team has had has now lifted his name in the standings, finishing just outside of the top four, right in the thick of the prize race.

Allan can thank Corey Perry, Sergei Bobrovsky and Semyon Varlamov for his big week, as all three players picked up 6 points in the week to lead the way.  Ryan O'Reilly and Mason Raymond were also somewhat notable, as they had 3 points each.  Only two players on Allan's active roster failed to get points, which was healthy all week.

In the second Waiver Draft, Allan looked to improve his forwards for the stretch run, as he picked up Antoine Vermette of the Coyotes and PA Parenteau of the Avalanche, as he replaced his two pick-ups in the first Waiver Draft, hoping that this can get him back into the money in the last 10-week segment.

It was a return to the Basement Dweller status for Tony in Week Sixteen, as it was highlighted above, he did not have a good segment for healthy players, finishing below everyone in skater games.  Despite being among the average in skater games in Week Sixteen, Tony's team only finished with 12 points in total, which was suggesting that his team has just found more rough patches than good times this season.

Seven of Tony's active 14 players failed to register points in the week, as he has seen some injuries in the week, some of which returned midway through the week, but were still unable to make good on their appearances.

Dustin Byfuglien was Tony's best player, as he picked up 3 points in the week, as the listed defenseman in the pool, moved back to the forward for the Winnipeg Jets, which has meant some better points.

Tony also looked to improve his forwards at the second Waiver Draft, picking up Brad Boyes of the Panthers and Nick Foligno of the Blue Jackets, trying to get some more games played and even more so, some points on the board.

NEWS AND NOTES

Three notable scratches for the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, as Teemu Selanne, Mathieu Perreault and defenseman Sami Vatanen for their game against the St. Louis Blues. Selanne was on the second half of a back-to-back, games that he has sat all season long, while Perreault and Vatanen were new scratches. Vatanen was picked in the Waiver Draft this week by Derek Wilton, which is why he gets a mention today.  I would believe that all three players will get back into the Anaheim line-up for the team's next game, keeping the line-up fresh.

Swiss Olympian-to-be, Rafael Diaz, was a healthy scratch for a third time this season on Saturday night, as the Canadiens took on the Maple Leafs for Hockey Day In Canada, as he was dealing with a bout of the flu, according to some reports.  Diaz is listed as out day-to-day and the Canadiens do not play again until Wednesday, away to Pittsburgh, so I would imagine that he should be good to return for then.

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman blocked a shot against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday afternoon, which forced him from the game with an ankle injury. X-rays didn't reveal a break of any kind and didn't play against the Hurricanes on Sunday evening, the team listing him as day-to-day with an ankle bruise.  Tampa doesn't play again until Thursday, home to their expansion cousins, the Ottawa Senators, so there is a good chance that Hedman will be given time to recover and return by then.

Before their bruising game against the Calgary Flames, the Vancouver Canucks placed forward Mike Santorelli on the Injured Reserve, as he was hurt in the game against the Phoenix Coyotes, suffering a sprained shoulder. With his placement on the IR, Santorelli will be out of the line-up for about a week, likely to miss the bulk of Week Seventeen and possibly some more.  Also leading up to the game, Henrik Sedin was questionable to play with a rib injury, ended up playing to keep his iron man streak alive, but left the game early with an undisclosed injury, which puts his next start, Tuesday in Edmonton, in question as well.

Link to the Injury/News Page

HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA

It is a bit of a unique weekend on the CBC, as Hockey Night In Canada will be all over the Stadium Series games over the weekend, which makes it into an unofficial triple-header, as the coverage will extend from the normal start time on Saturday evening and will broadcast the second outdoor game on Sunday afternoon.

Out here in the West, we'll likely get the Toronto Maple Leafs visiting the Winnipeg Jets to start the Hockey Night Coverage, instead of the Washington/Montreal game.  The late game, across the country, will be the first outdoor game in California, as the Anaheim Ducks will visit the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium, which has all kinds of intrigue associated to it.  Finally, on Sunday morning/afternoon, the Rangers will play their first of two outdoor games at the new Yankee Stadium, playing against the New Jersey Devils.

So, what do we have for players after the new picks and drops occur today?  Well, let me tell you.

Between all six teams being covered by the CBC on the weekend, the pool has 71 picks accounted for.  There is only one injury left, Evander Kane of the Jets, who should be back for the weekend, by the sound of things and we have one player in the minors to start the week, Tyler Toffoli of the Kings.  10 out of 12 goalies on the rosters are picked in the pool, so we'll have four of them on the bench when the puck drops for all three games.

The Anaheim Ducks dominate the scoring race between these six teams, as Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Jonas Hiller are the top three players in pool scoring, heading into this week.  It would appear that the Kings will have their hands full on the outdoor ice.

As for picks, Chris and Cindy each have six players active in the CBC broadcasts, while Brenda has five, but it looks like just about everyone will have players active, which will keep the pool interest high.