Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Jan 22)

Maybe the biggest news of the night came out of Minnesota, when Dale B.'s top goalie was forced from the the Ducks/Wild game.  John Gibson left the game in the 1st period after taking a puck a little high in a soft spot, not to return to the game.  There was no update from the Ducks after the game, but we'll keep an eye on this one, as the Ducks travel to Winnipeg to take on the Jets on Monday.

The 23-year old keeper has been dynamite this season for Anaheim, currently ranking 19th overall in pool scoring with 19 wins and 45 points this season for the current pool leader, Dale B..

The Carolina Hurricanes raised a few eyebrows on Saturday afternoon, when they made a number of surprise changes to their lineup ahead of their game against the Blue Jackets.  Both Teuvo Teravainen and Noah Hanifin were healthy scratches in this one, both have been regulars this season, but a small hiccup in what was a pretty good run of late, had got the coach asking some questions of his team.  We would have to believe that this shake-up was a temporary measure and both players should be back for Monday night's game in Washington.

Both Stacey M. and Benson were likely pretty shocked to see these names on the list yesterday, but there they are.  Stacey is our current leader for the Basement Dweller, with 10 points this week, while Benson's team just continues to plummet, down five more places this week, from 5th to 10th.

The Columbus Blue Jackets had to make some changes of their own against Carolina, in light of an injury to defenseman David Savard.  Savard is currently listed as out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, for what that's worth.  There has been no update from the team over the last couple of days, so you now know what we know.

This certainly doesn't help Stacey C., who could really use that extra point to get to that Mover & Shaker spot this week.  His team is in the running against our new pool leader for the honour, but will have a few more games to play on Sunday to earn it outright.

Another undisclosed injury haunts the news page this morning, as Jay Bouwmeester, a former NHL ironman, was a scratch on Saturday afternoon for St. Louis' game against the Jets.  There's no word on what the injury is or how long the team expects him to be out, but there he is... on the shelf.

Derek B.'s 22nd place team may now have to go great guns on the PIM pool, when we do the second Waiver Draft, which will likely start over the All-Star break.  His team sits just outside of the top five and 66 minutes back of the lead, with a good chance at a top goon early on.  Bouwmeester's absence won't affect his overall goonage right away.

And as if Benson's player luck couldn't get any worse lately, he has also seen Drew Stafford of the Winnipeg Jets fall to injury on Saturday, in the game against the Blues.  He had left the game with a lower-body injury and wasn't able to return.  Stafford has already been a victim of injury this season, having only played 34 games to this point and only registering 12 points.  No word on any updates, but we'll keep you posted.

The addition of Stafford to the list makes six of Benson's players on the news page today, although Anze Kopitar has resumed play, but won't be taken off until Monday.  It's no wonder his team is sinking like a stone.