Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 1)

Only two games into his career with the Anaheim Ducks, forward Dany Heatley ended up being a healthy scratch on Friday night. Heatley was a free agency gamble for the Ducks in the off-season, but a preseason injury delayed his return to the NHL and a slow start to the season has only slowed his progress even further, not being able to dress against the Dallas Stars in the Halloween game.

Heatley was also a gamble for Stacey C. in the draft, who took him with his 14th round pick, 310th overall.  This may be a gamble that ends with a Waiver Draft drop in Week Nine, if this pace continues.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are set to welcome back Ryan Callahan back to their line-up, as he has been out for the last week with a lower-body injury.  Callahan has been a good fit for the Bolts, since acquiring him last season in a deal that saw Martin St. Louis head to the Rangers.  In six games this season, Callahan has 3 goals and 2 assists, so there will be some added offense to the Tampa game, as they take on the Capitals at home tonight.

The return of Callahan does add a projected game to Tony's total, going into Saturday's action.  Tony is in the thick of the money hunt, sitting 10 points out in 9th place and has 14 games to be played between Saturday and Sunday.  His point total for the week is among the pool average, sitting with 15 points in Week Four, looking for a big boost on a busy Saturday night.

The St. Louis Blues are hosting the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night and there are some line-up notes to be pointed out before puck drop.  It sounds like Jay Bouwmeester's ironman streak is in jeopardy, as he is the latest player to come down with the bacterial infection that has been tormenting the Blues locker room.  He is listed as questionable for the game tonight.  David Backes, who was thought to have a concussion earlier in the week, must not be dealing with the injury, as there is some talk that he may return to the line-up on Saturday, which would go against league protocol.  If Backes suffered the concussion on Tuesday, he should not be eligible for play until Tuesday, next week.  A very interesting situation there.

Leo is having a rough week in the pool, as his team has dropped out of the top 10 with a possible Basement Dwelling week, having only 8 points in Week Four.  If he loses out on a game from Bouwmeester, then he'll be more likely to earn that infamous spot on the Newsletter.  There has been no confirmation that Backes will draw back in, but Grant S. is certainly hoping for a bit of a miracle.  Grant is in the Mover & Shaker spot, only 5 points out of 1st, and another body in the line-up will be a huge help.

There has been confirmation that defenseman Travis Hamonic will dress for the New York Islanders on Saturday night, as he'll come back to face the Sharks in San Jose.  Hamonic has been out for over a week with an upper-body injury and has missed a handful of games.  In six games this season, the young blueliner has 1 goal for his efforts.

Brenda & Seward get some good news with this return, but it is only a defender coming back, which won't have the biggest impact, trying to help them out of the clutches of the basement, which they have a certain possibility of returning to before the end of the night.  The duo's defense is the worst in the pool, to date, only picking up 7 points in the first four weeks of the season, almost 10 points below the pool average.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.