Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 13)

Still pretty quiet on the injury front these days, which has been evident in the number of games we've been collecting in the first week of having new players from the Week Eighteen Waiver Draft. Heading into the weekend, the pool has been averaging well over 17 skater games in each one, numbers we haven't seen since Week One and Two.  The more guys we have active every night, the more fun it is for us to watch, right?

Five games on tap for this Friday night and it begins with an all Week Eighteen Waiver Draft match-up, as Ray Emery goes for the Flyers, visiting the Columbus Blue Jackets and their starter, Curtis McElhinney.  This is a goalie battle between Tony and Stuart, who are 25 points apart, between 7th and 17th.

In the first 6pm MT game, the Devils roll into Chicago to take on the Blackhawks, where it will be Cory Schneider taking on Corey Crawford, seen as familiar foes.  Schneider belongs to Grant K., while Crawford belongs to Dale C., but these two teams are pretty far away to make a match-up out of it.  Dale is 25 points out of 3rd spot and could use a big game from his number one keeper tonight.

The Dallas Stars will play host to the Florida Panthers in the other 6pm game tonight and this should be a pretty good goalie match-up, both on the ice and in the pool.  Benson's Kari Lehtonen will go for the hosts and it is expected that Stuart's Roberto Luongo will go for the visitors, as they continue to climb over top of one another in 16th and 17th spot, respectively.  A battle royale in the Greenley house on Friday night.

The San Jose Sharks are off to the desert tonight to take on division rivals, the Coyotes, and it is a match-up between friend's goalies, as Allan's Antti Niemi takes on Wes' Mike Smith, in what is a key game for either NHL team.  Allan is in need of a big night from Niemi to help him get out of the basement, while Wes needs a win to help him reclaim 3rd place in the standings.

The last game of the night sees the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals match up on the West Coast, as the Boston Bruins go in to visit the Vancouver Canucks.  Dale B. is 30 points behind 3rd place, going into Friday and Tuukka Rask is expected to dress for him and the Bruins, while Grant S., sitting in 2nd place, will have Ryan Miller go for the Canucks tonight.