Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 29)

Believed to be one of those European diamonds in the rough rookies this season, Sergei Plotnikov still hasn't quite found his stride yet with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but to be fair, neither has the whole Penguins team.  The 25-year old Russian was going to be a mature rookie scorer, lined up alongside one of the big centres in the top six and score like the dickens.  Well, that hasn't quite happened yet and on Wednesday night, he was a healthy scratch for the game against the Washington Capitals.  Nevertheless, it's still early on in the season and fortunes can change just as quickly.

John R. took the Russian winger with the third-to-last pick in the draft, hoping to hit a home run with this rookie pick.  In seven games played, he has only managed to collect 1 assist, but like I said earlier, it's still early.  Sidney Crosby only has 3 points, if that makes you feel any better.

In the Flames/Senators game last night, Calgary starter Jonas Hiller was knocked out of the game in the 3rd period, after a collision with Ottawa forward Bobby Ryan.  Hiller had to leave the game with a lower-body injury.  After the game, it was mentioned that Hiller would be re-evaluated on Thursday and that's where it was left.  Joni Ortio came into the game and finished it off, as it went into the shootout and Calgary lost the game 5-4 in the skills competition.

This result kept Grant from possibly earning his win to stay in the goalie survivor pool on Wednesday night and if the injury is serious, it could put serious strain on his team staying in during Week Four.  Grant's team is also struggling to score goals, which has them down in 18th after Wednesday night, 25 points out of 1st place.

Early notes from Thursday morning practice in Brooklyn, as Jarolslav Halak will get the night off, due to feeling under the weather today. Halak did not practice this morning, which will leave Thomas Greiss to start the game and J-F Berube will be the back-up against the Hurricanes.  Of course, this should be a day-to-day issue and we'll probably see Halak back in the starters net before too long.

Fortunately for Dale B., his team has already qualified for Week Five in the goalie survivor pool, so he can breathe easier about that, but now trailing 1st place by 1 point after Wednesday night, he could have really used those easy 2 points from a win against Carolina tonight.  He'll have to source those points out somewhere else on his roster.

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