Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 11)

There was only one game on Friday night and there were no injuries or scratches to mention, so that makes for a pretty quiet morning on the blog.

On Saturday evening, it will be a jam-packed schedule, with all 30 teams playing, Sunday's notes post might be a tad huge.  I am going to see if I can curb some of that, trying to find some of the early notes of the day, add them to the news page and then it might not be so bad tomorrow morning.

Reports are rampant that the Calgary dressing room, which is now traveling on the road, is dealing with the flu bug and it sounds like the team will be without Jiri Hudler tonight, as he wasn't at the skate on Saturday morning.  The Flames are in St. Louis for a game tonight, so it will be interesting to see what their energy levels are like, with the flu bug going around.

Hudler belongs to Mike this season and Mike's team is off to an okay start, sitting in 13th, only 4 points out of the money spots early on.  His 10 points to start the season are keeping him in the mix, but he may be in need of Hudler, as his goaltending may end up being a pair of back-ups.

It sounds like Mike Green will have only missed one game to start the regular season, as he is slated to be on the Caps' blueline in the third pairing tonight, playing with Nate Schmidt.  By the sound of things, his 5-on-5 minutes may be limited, but you would have to assume that he will see some power play time, but which unit would be the real question.

Good news for one of the pool newcomers, Troy, who is sitting just behind Mike in the tie-breakers, with 10 points in 14th place.  Troy's team has been average in appearances for his players this week, comparing against the other teams and with Green's return, that should improve those numbers as well.

It sounds like Cody Franson will get his wish as well, as he claimed he was going to be ready for Saturday night and by the line rushes in the pregame skate on Saturday morning, he should be replacing Stuart Percy in the line-up for the Leafs game against Pittsburgh.  Franson had been out since early in the preseason with a bruised knee, which he suffered in game action, but he and the team took their time to make sure he was absolutely ready to return.

Another newcomer, Cam, is also in good shape to start the season, three nights in, as he sits above both Mike and Troy in 10th spot, only 1 point up.  Cam hasn't quite had the same participation levels to start the season, on the lower end of skater games played and goalie minutes, but that's where tonight will change some fortunes.

How about a quick look at some of the goaltending decisions that are going to affect the pool today?  For Anaheim in Pittsburgh, it looks like it will be Fredrik Andersen instead of John Gibson, which means Kristy & Don's goalie, instead of Ryan's... Ryan could use the start, since he is in the basement.  Fortunately for him, Anton Khudobin will get the start for Carolina, instead of Cam Ward on Long Island, which puts Troy's keeper to the side.  Brian Elliott gets the nod for the Blues against Calgary, instead of Jake Allen, which means Clayton gets a start, where Mike doesn't.  For Philadelphia, Ray Emery will give Dale C. a start for the first time this year, as Allan's Steve Mason takes a seat against Montreal.  Jhonas Enroth will get another start for Buffalo in Chicago, as Michal Neuvirth waits.  Enroth belongs to Wilton, Neuvirth is Wyllie's in a Derek goalie battle.  Sounds like Viktor Fasth will start for Edmonton against Vancouver, good for Stacey C., bad for Brenda & Seward.  A surprise start for Anders Lindback for the Stars against the Predators in Nashville, giving Brian a start right away.

Those are a number of pool match-ups anyways, at the time of the post's publication.  I'll see if I can refine this part of the post throughout the year, maybe making it more for the surprise starts.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.