Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 20

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................493..........28
Langdon River Dogs...........................491..........16
The Shaving Moes.............................490..........19
Team EA......................................475..........33
Team Lowes Racing............................444..........17
THE Team.....................................444..........33
The Slim Pickens.............................428..........19
Sherpa's Yaks................................414..........24
Taffy's Tyrants..............................410..........28
Pull the Goalie..............................404..........21
Team Chevy...................................394..........12
The Late Impact..............................392..........21
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................378..........17
Doug's Deadbeats.............................375..........17

Stats updated through Sunday's games

Well, the Langdon River Dogs had a poor showing on the weekend and dropped down to 2nd place again, leaving the door open for Don's Dinos to step up to 1st once again. The Shaving Moes are still keeping pace and a gap to fourth with a decent show in Week 20.

The week high was shared by Team EA and THE Team... each picking up 33 points.

The Player of the Week was Eric Staal (The Slim Pickens) with a solid 7 points during the week.

The trade deadline in the NHL is this week with the chance that some players in the pool will be moved. We should be able to schedule one more draft session at the Wildfire if anyone is still interested in dropping a player or two. Do leave me an e-mail if this is the case... opiated@telus.net.

Injuries:
Sergei Samsonov (Team Lowes Racing) - Foot; Returned on Wednesday


Daniel Briere (The Late Impact) - Abdominal Surgery; Returned on Wednesday


Roman Hamrlik (The Slim Pickens) - Hand; Indefinitely


Pierre Turgeon (The Late Impact) - Shoulder; Returned on Tuesday
Marek Svatos (Pull the Goalie) - Mouth; Day-to-day

Bryan Berard (Langdon River Dogs) - Back; After the Olympics


Pavol Demitra (The Shaving Moes) - Eye & Nose; Day-to-day
Alex Frolov (Doug's Deadbeats) - Shoulder; Day-to-day

Jose Theodore (The Late Impact) - Foot; Indefinitely


Alex Mogilny (The Slim Pickens) - In the minors


Alexei Zhitnik (Don's Dinos) - Ankle; Returned on Tuesday


Jaromir Jagr (Langdon River Dogs) - Groin; Returned on Wednesday


Dominik Hasek (Doug's Deadbeats) - Groin; Indefinitely


Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) - Groin; Returned on Wednesday
Kim Johnsson (Team Lowes Racing) - Head; After the Olympic Break.
Simon Gagne (Team Chevy) - Knee; Day-to-day
Ladislav Nagy (Pull the Goalie) - Knee; Out for the season
Derek Morris (Doug's Deadbeats) - Ankle; Late February

Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) - Retired
Ziggy Palffy (Pull the Goalie) - Retired

Pavel Kubina (The Slim Pickens) - Head; Returned to action Tuesday


Eric Lindros (Taffy's Tyrants) - Wrist; Out for the season


Dan Cloutier (Sherpa's Yaks) - Knee; Out for the season
Ed Jovanovski (Don's Dinos) - Groin & Abdominal Surgery; Indefinitely
Mattias Ohlund (Team Chevy) - Ribs; Indefinitely
Sami Salo (The Shaving Moes) - Shoulder; Day-to-day
Steve Eminger (Sherpa's Yaks) - Ankle; Day-to-day
Alex Ovechkin (Langdon River Dogs) - Wrist; Played on Tuesday



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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings in the Olympics

Team.......................................Total
The Shaving Moes.............................30
Langdon River Dogs...........................30
Don's Dinos..................................30
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................27
Team Lowes Racing............................26
THE Team.....................................23
The Slim Pickens.............................20
Team EA......................................17
The Late Impact..............................17
Doug's Deadbeats.............................15
Pull the Goalie..............................15
Sherpa's Yaks................................12
Team Chevy...................................12
Taffy's Tyrants..............................8

Well, with Sweden winning Olympic Gold, the Hockey Pool came out with this point total. The tie-breaker for this, just like our pool, is goals scored, which the Shaving Moes edged the Langdon River Dogs and Don's Dinos (16 to 11 & 9, respectively).

The Moes only had 6 players in the tournament where the Dogs had 7 and the Dinos had 8.

There was some injuries to report from the Games that will come over into the play resuming on Tuesday, but they will be reflected in the first update later this week...


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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 19

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Langdon River Dogs...........................475..........37
The Shaving Moes.............................471..........28
Don's Dinos..................................465..........26
Team EA......................................442..........30
Team Lowes Racing............................427..........18
THE Team.....................................411..........31
The Slim Pickens.............................409..........28
Sherpa's Yaks................................390..........19
Pull the Goalie..............................383..........11
Team Chevy...................................382..........30
Taffy's Tyrants..............................382..........27
The Late Impact..............................371..........19
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................361..........19
Doug's Deadbeats.............................358..........18

Stats are updated through to the Olympic games...

Friday's News:
Sergei Samsonov (Team Lowes Racing) - Foot; Day-to-day


Bryan Berard (Langdon River Dogs) - Back; After the Olympics


Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks) - Head; Returned.



Thursday's News:
Daniel Briere (The Late Impact) - Abdominal Surgery; After the Olympics


Alexei Zhitnik (Don's Dinos) - Ankle; After the Olympics.


Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks) - Head; left last night's game.


Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) - Groin; Day-to-day
Kim Johnsson (Team Lowes Racing) - Head; After the Olympic Break.
Simon Gagne (Team Chevy) - Flu; Day-to-day

Tuesday's News:
There isn't any new injury news today... everything sort of stands as is... so, I'll try and recap who's out at the moment.
Daniel Briere (The Late Impact) - Abdominal Surgery; Late February


Roman Hamrlik (The Slim Pickens) - Hand; Indefinitely


Pierre Turgeon (The Late Impact) - Shoulder; Indefinitely


Bryan Berard (Langdon River Dogs) - Back; Day-to-day


Alex Mogilny (The Slim Pickens) - In the minors


Alexei Zhitnik (Don's Dinos) - Ankle; Day-to-day


Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) - Groin; Day-to-day
Kim Johnsson (Team Lowes Racing) - Head; After the Olympic Break.

Ladislav Nagy (Pull the Goalie) - Knee; Out for the season
Derek Morris (Doug's Deadbeats) - Ankle; Late February

Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) - Retired
Ziggy Palffy (Pull the Goalie) - Retired

Eric Lindros (Taffy's Tyrants) - Writst; Indefinitely


Dan Cloutier (Sherpa's Yaks) - Knee; Out for the season
Ed Jovanovski (Don's Dinos) - Groin & Abdominal Surgery; Indefinitely

Steve Eminger (Sherpa's Yaks) - Ankle; Day-to-day


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Update Coming Soon...

Since we're in the Olympic Break, I haven't been in any rush to update the site yet... saying that, I haven't had any time to do so either.

Once everything has died down at work... which could be tomorrow... I should be able to have an update for the last week!!

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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 18

Team.......................................Total...This Week
The Shaving Moes.............................443..........16
Don's Dinos..................................439..........23
Langdon River Dogs...........................438..........23
Team EA......................................412..........24
Team Lowes Racing............................409..........20
The Slim Pickens.............................381..........25
THE Team.....................................380..........24
Pull the Goalie..............................372..........14
Sherpa's Yaks................................371..........26
Taffy's Tyrants..............................355..........21
Team Chevy...................................352..........24
The Late Impact..............................352..........7
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................342..........18
Doug's Deadbeats.............................340..........16

Stats are updated through Sunday's games...

The race for first is tightening up after the Langdon River Dogs & Don's Dinos reeled in The Shaving Moes during the week. The stretch run will prove to be interesting in the money spots.

The bottom of the table keeps shaking up... both Doug's Deadbeats & Thanx For Comin' Out can't decide between the two teams which one should take the bottom spot. With the injury situation, Doug's Deadbeats may have the inside track on the bottom.

The best team of the week last week was the Sherpa's Yaks... led by Henrik Sedin (7 points) had 26 points in the week and made the middle section of the pool a little more interesting.

Manny Legace (Team Chevy) was the Player of the Week for Week 18... having a great week with 8 points.

Monday's News
Returns to the line-up: Cory Stillman (The Shaving Moes) returned to the 'Canes line-up on Sunday and tallied a couple of assists. Marek Zidlicky (The Shaving Moes) also returned to the Predators line-up after missing 3 games with a hand injury. Both players are welcomed back by the Moes with open arms. Andrei Markov (The Late Impact) returned after missing 8 games with a shoulder injury.

Friday's News
TRADE - In the trade of the week on Wednesday, we had a pool player move from one team to another. The Calgary Flames dealt Steve Reinprecht (Thanx For Comin' Out) with back-up goalie Phil Sauve to the Phoenix Coyotes for goalie Brian Boucher and forward Mike Leclerc.
Long-term injuries - Ed Jovanovski (Don's Dinos) has now been listed as out indefintiely with an abdominal injury. He'll definitely be out until after the Olympics and possibly a few weeks after that.
Day-to-day injuries - Alexei Zhitnik (Don's Dinos) will miss another game or two with an ankle injury. Sidney Crosby (Doug's Deadbeats) missed last night's game with the flu, unsure how he'll be come the weekend.
Returns to the line-up - Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) returned AGAIN to the Blues line-up after missing 22 games with a broken hand. Glen Murray (Team Lowes Racing) returned to the Bruins line-up after missing 10 games with a foot injury.


Wednesday's News:
Long-term injuries - Roman Hamrlik (The Slim Pickens) is out indefinitely with a broken hand
Day-to-day injuries - Kim Johnsson (Team Lowes Racing), dizziness; Alex Ovechkin (Langdon River Dogs), groin; Ladislav Nagy (Pull the Goalie), knee; Mike Modano (Doug's Deadbeats), foot
Returns to the line-up - Bryan McCabe (Taffy's Tyrants), missed 9 games, groin.

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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 17

Team.......................................Total...This Week
The Shaving Moes.............................427..........29
Don's Dinos..................................416..........26
Langdon River Dogs...........................415..........28
Team Lowes Racing............................389..........17
Team EA......................................388..........22
Pull the Goalie..............................358..........26
The Slim Pickens.............................356..........26
THE Team.....................................356..........23
Sherpa's Yaks................................345..........20
The Late Impact..............................345..........23
Taffy's Tyrants..............................334..........26
Team Chevy...................................328..........23
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................324..........24
Doug's Deadbeats.............................324..........31

Statistics updated through Sunday's games...

Team of the Week: Doug's Deadbeats... still in last, but made some big moves to keep the rest of the bottom within striking distance.

Player of the Week: Mark Recchi (The Shaving Moes) registered a week-high 8 points this week... helping to keep the Moes on top.

News from the remainder of the week:
Markus Naslund (Sherpa's Yaks) was rested on the weekend, but should be back Tuesday. He was rested because of a nagging hip/groin injury. Marek Zidlicky (The Shaving Moes) is listed as out day-to-day with a hand injury. Kim Johnsson (Team Lowes Racing) returned to action on Saturday, but then left again with the same dizziness he was out with. Bryan Berard (Langdon River Dogs) has been listed as out day-to-day with a back injury.

Pavol Demitra (The Shaving Moes) returned to the Kings line-up on Saturday night.

News so far this week (up until Thursday):
Despite having the highest week point total thus far, Doug's Deadbeats lost Mario Lemieux to retirement this week... he had already been out for a few weeks up to this point, but made it official this week. If it wasn't for guys like Sidney Crosby, Dominik Hasek or John-Michel Liles, you'd think the Deadbeats would miss him.

If the Canucks and/or Don's Dinos weren't having enough bad luck, Ed Jovanovski re-aggrevated his groin injury and will probably face a long lay-off from action, which may or may not include his Olympic tenure. The Dinos haven't been as dominant as they were at the beginning of the season, losing yet another place to the Langdon River Dogs.

Also on the re-aggrevating front, Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) will also miss the weekend games for the Flyers after pulling his groin again. Pull the Goalie is in need of their top forward as they're still in the midst of the middle of the pack battle with The Slim Pickens and Sherpa's Yaks.

Added to the day-to-day injury list... Teppo Numminen (THE Team) with a hamstring injury and Mike Comrie (Pull the Goalie) with a knee injury.

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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 16

Team.......................................Total...This Week
The Shaving Moes.............................398..........14
Don's Dinos..................................390..........15
Langdon River Dogs...........................387..........27
Team Lowes Racing............................372..........23
Team EA......................................366..........18
THE Team.....................................333..........27
Pull the Goalie..............................332..........16
The Slim Pickens.............................330..........20
Sherpa's Yaks................................325..........21
The Late Impact..............................322..........13
Taffy's Tyrants..............................308..........16
Team Chevy...................................305..........24
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................300..........23
Doug's Deadbeats.............................293..........16

Points updated through Sunday's games...

Team of the Week this week was THE Team... they weren't the only team to score 27 points, but they were the team to climb the most places with their points. For that, THE Team gets the nod of being the best team of the pool for Week 16. Led by Martin Brodeur and Daniel Alfredsson, they amassed enough points to climb about 4 places in the Standings.

Player of the Week for Week 16 is Alexander Ovechkin (Langdon River Dogs). He led the River Dogs, who were the other team to amass 27 points this week, with a week-dominating 7 points. The River Dogs are now nearing the top of the table with consistent performances from guys like Ovechkin.

Monday's News:
Kim Johnsson (Team Lowes Racing) has been listed day-to-day with a concussion. Sergei Samsonov (Team Lowes Racing) is also listed day-to-day with a leg injury. Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) should dress for the Flyers tonight against Pittsburgh. Cory Stillman (The Shaving Moes) is a game-time decision against Montreal with a chest injury. Ed Jovanovski (Don's Dinos) is scheduled to return this week... vague, I know. Pierre Turgeon (The Late Impact) is still 7-to-10 days away with his shoulder injury. Alexander Frolov (Doug's Deadbeats) should be good to go tonight after missing last week with the flu.

Friday's News
The only Blackhawk left in the pool, Brent Seabrook (Taffy's Tyrants), returned to the line-up last night. Seabrook missed 13 games with a sprained knee, that he suffered just after being picked in the waiver draft. He didn't register any points, but the Hawks did beat the Avalanche last night... but the offensive upside is there for the young Seabrook... just be patient.

Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks) returned after missing 7 games with a chest muscle injury. He didn't skate on the big line and didn't register any points in the Senators loss to Anaheim. He may return to the big line come the weekend when the Sens host the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada.

Thursday's News:
Well, doesn't this just suck... Ziggy Palffy (Pull the Goalie) retired this week. That won't register many points for Pull the Goalie... actually, that means no more points from his 2nd round pick; A guy that you expect to score quite a few points with. This is what you'd call... unlucky! It's a pretty crappy time to come too... while Pull the Goalie is in the midst of a good middle of the pack battle.

Pavol Demitra (The Shaving Moes) may be sitting out a considerable time longer than expected due to the discovery of nerve damage in his injured leg. The Kings (and Moes) leading scorer this season will be a HUGE loss for the coming weeks. Could this mean a fall from first place??

Bryan McCabe (Taffy's Tyrants) is looking more and more like he'll be out until after the Olympic Break. That means about a month... with about 3 weeks worth of play missed, including his spot on the Canadian team jeopardized. The Tyrants have been desperate to keep themselves out of the bottom three, but with the services of the best offensive defenseman in the league, their fate looks awfully low.

Day-to-day injuries include: Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie), groin pull; Eric Lindros (Taffy's Tyrants), wrist upgraded; Henrik Zetterberg (Don's Dinos), hip injury; Marty Turco (Don's Dinos), lower body injury; Alex Frolov (Doug's Deabeats), flu; Steve Eminger (Sherpa's Yaks), ankle; Lubomir Visnovsky (Slim Pickens), cervical strain; Teemu Selanne (Slim Pickens), groin; Glen Murray (Team Lowes Racing), foot; Roman Hamrlik (Slim Pickens), knee.

Returns: Adam Foote (Team EA), missed 9 games with a hip injury; Jiri Slegr (Thanx For Comin' Out), missed 5 games with a back injury; Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks), scheduled to return tonight after missing 10+ games with chest injury.

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Saturday, January 21

We'll be meeting in the Wildfire for a pool get together... no trading of players this month, more than likely that it'll happen in February.

Let's see if we can get some prizes out of Greg, eh!!


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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 15

Team.......................................Total...This Week
The Shaving Moes.............................384..........18
Don's Dinos..................................375..........25
Langdon River Dogs...........................360..........31
Team Lowes Racing............................349..........21
Team EA......................................348..........22
Pull the Goalie..............................316..........23
The Slim Pickens.............................310..........19
The Late Impact..............................309..........19
THE Team.....................................306..........25
Sherpa's Yaks................................304..........11
Taffy's Tyrants..............................292..........19
Team Chevy...................................281..........19
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................277..........25
Doug's Deadbeats.............................277..........23

Stats updated through Sunday's games...

Wednesday News:
Both Roman Hamrlik (The Slim Pickens) and Daniel Alfredsson (THE Team) returned to action last night in their team's respective games. Lubomir Visnovsky (The Slim Pickens) has been listed as day-to-day with a concussion.

Tuesday's Injury News:
Leading defenseman, Bryan McCabe (Taffy's Tyrants) will sit out against Vancouver tonight with a groin injury. Sergei Gonchar (Taffy's Tyrants) may sit out against Edmonton tonight with a gastrointestinal ailment... he's sort of 50/50 as of this morning. Roman Hamrlik (The Slim Pickens) may return to the Flames' line-up after missing several games with a knee injury. He has flown to New York for the game against the Rangers. Pierre Turgeon (The Late Impact) will miss the next few weeks with a shoulder separation.

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A Player Move

Petr Sykora (Taffy's Tyrants) is getting another shot with another team. On the weekend, he moved from the Mighty Ducks in Anaheim to the Big Apple to play with Jaromir Jagr (Langdon River Dogs).

I would have to assume that this is actually a pretty big step-up for the Czech winger... his production has been lacking this season. Sykora is known as a pretty decent goal scorer when he has help... and Jagr is just lighting it up this season for the Rangers and it's quite likely that they will be paired together in their first game against Calgary.

The Tyrants may be on to something here... stay tuned!!


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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 14

Team.......................................Total...This Week
The Shaving Moes.............................366..........30
Don's Dinos..................................350..........26
Langdon River Dogs...........................329..........35
Team Lowes Racing............................328..........28
Team EA......................................326..........27
Sherpa's Yaks................................293..........18
Pull the Goalie..............................293..........20
The Slim Pickens.............................291..........22
The Late Impact..............................290..........20
THE Team.....................................281..........28
Taffy's Tyrants..............................273..........27
Doug's Deadbeats.............................254..........23
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................252..........24
Team Chevy...................................242..........24

After 11 points on Sunday night... the Langdon River Dogs took the week total win with 35 points. Miikka Kiprusoff (Taffy's Tyrants) took the Player of the Week honours with 12 points.

Sunday's Player News:
Day-to-day: Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks), chest muscle. Pavol Demitra (The Shaving Moes), leg injury. Pierre Turgeon (The Late Impact), shoulder injury.
Waived: Alexander Mogilny (The Slim Pickens) cleared waivers, unsure if he'll report to the minors.
Returnees: Bryan Berard (Langdon River Dogs) missed 7 games with a back injury. Jason Allison (The Slim Pickens) missed 4 games with a finger injury. Tony Amonte (Team Chevy) missed 2 games with a rib injury.

Tuesday's Player News:
Day to day injuries include: Ed Jovanovski (Don's Dinos) with a foot injury, Jiri Slegr (Thanx For Comin' Out) has back problems and Tony Amonte (Team Chevy) has a rib injury.
Returning to the line-up, Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks) who missed 5 games with a chest injury


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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 13

Team.......................................Total...This Week
The Shaving Moes.............................336..........37
Don's Dinos..................................324..........33
Team Lowes Racing............................300..........22
Team EA......................................299..........34
Langdon River Dogs...........................294..........29
Sherpa's Yaks................................275..........27
Pull the Goalie..............................273..........31
The Late Impact..............................270..........30
The Slim Pickens.............................269..........22
THE Team.....................................253..........24
Taffy's Tyrants..............................246..........21
Doug's Deadbeats.............................231..........27
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................228..........30
Team Chevy...................................218..........19

At the End of Week 13 (Sunday), The Shaving Moes decided to extend their lead by 4 points over Don's Dinos, since they were the best team of the week yet again. They had four players who had 5 points or better during the week.

Alexander Ovechkin (Langdon River Dogs), Ladislav Nagy (Pull the Goalie) and Scott Gomez (The Slim Pickens) all shared Player of the Week honours with 8 points last week.

Player news on Saturday morning:
Daniel Briere (The Late Impact) is now scheduled to be out until April after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia. He'll be sorely missed. Jason Allison (The Slim Pickens) should return next week sometime from a broken or fractured finger tip. He was injured on Monday night. Derek Morris (Doug's Deadbeats) will be lost indefinitely with a sprained ankle.

Last night, both Daniel Alfredsson (THE Team) and Alexei Zhitnik (Don's Dinos) left their respective games with injuries... the extent of which won't be figured out until next week, I'd imagine.


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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 12

Team.......................................Total...This Week
The Shaving Moes.............................299..........28
Don's Dinos..................................291..........15
Team Lowes Racing............................278..........30
Langdon River Dogs...........................265..........21
Team EA......................................265..........18
Sherpa's Yaks................................248..........14
The Slim Pickens.............................247..........17
The Late Impact..............................240..........20
Pull the Goalie..............................232..........17
THE Team.....................................229..........21
Taffy's Tyrants..............................225..........11
Doug's Deadbeats.............................204..........16
Team Chevy...................................199..........13
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................198..........17

We have ourselves a new leader heading into Christmas... The Shaving Moes finally reached the top of the pile after weeks of hard work. Their 28 points eclipsed Don's Dinos this past week.

The biggest week, however, came from Team Lowes Racing. Their 30 points put a little space between them and the Langdon River Dogs and Team EA, who are tied for fourth (the River Dogs are ahead on goals).

Waiver draft pick-up, Shawn Horcoff (The Shaving Moes) was the best player of the week, picking up 7 points during the week. He was better than four other players picking up 6 points each during the week.

Key Injuries:
Bryan Berard (Langdon River Dogs) placed on IR with a back injury.
Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks) out day-to-day with a chest injury.
Saku Koivu (Don's Dinos) out day-to-day with a groin injury.

Key Returns:
Robert Lang (Langdon River Dogs) missed 8 games with a groin injury.
Alexei Kovalev (Team EA) missed 13 games with a knee injury.
Simon Gagne (Team Chevy) missed 5 games with a groin injury.
John LeClair (The Late Impact) missed 5 games with a groin injury.
Adam Foote (Team EA) missed 4 games with a groin injury.

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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 11

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................276..........20
The Shaving Moes.............................271..........20
Team Lowes Racing............................248..........11
Team EA......................................247..........22
Langdon River Dogs...........................243..........25
Sherpa's Yaks................................234..........21
The Slim Pickens.............................230..........19
The Late Impact..............................220..........20
Pull the Goalie..............................215..........15
Taffy's Tyrants..............................214..........25
THE Team.....................................208..........28
Doug's Deadbeats.............................188..........19
Team Chevy...................................186..........12
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................181..........19

The end of the first week with new players has come and gone... and THE Team has come out firing. A week-high of 28 points closed the gap towards Taffy's Tyrants... a good battle indeed.

Brendan Shanahan (Taffy's Tyrants) was the week's best player... definitely the best pick up of the waiver draft, thus far. He had a huge 9 points this past week... which helped Detroit pick up a few wins.

Monday's News:
Robert Esche (The Slim Pickens) will be lost to the Flyers for the last few games of the month of December. His groin injury is a little more serious than once thought. Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) has suffered a broken hand and will be out of the Blues line-up for 4-to-6 weeks. Not good news for the battling team. Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) will be sidelined indefinitely with his heart problem. Jose Theodore (The Late Impact) has suffered a knee injury, it is unknown at the moment how long he'll be out. Mathieu Schneider (The Shaving Moes) left Saturday's game with a charley horse... it is unlikely, though possible, he'll miss any games this week. Daniel Briere (The Late Impact) has been lost on a day-to-day abdominal injury.

An oops at the draft... the Sherpa's Yaks should have dropped goalie, Dan Cloutier, but instead thought he'd be back... only to find out on Monday that he's done for the year. D'oh! Robert Esche (The Slim Pickens) is having groin troubles... he's listed as out day-to-day. Adam Foote (Team EA)... same problem.

News for Saturday's games... Jason Spezza and Wade Redden (Sherpa's Yaks) both returned to the Senators line-up today. Spezza missed one game, Redden missed 10. Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) returned to the Blue Jackets line-up today to play only his fourth game of the season. He's still looking for his first point of the year. Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) did not play Saturday against Buffalo... his heart problems have flared up again. Finally, Tomas Vokoun (Team Lowes Racing) returned to the line-up after missing a few games with a knee problem.


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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 10

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................256..........26
The Shaving Moes.............................251..........26
Team Lowes Racing............................237..........16
Team EA......................................225..........25
Langdon River Dogs...........................219..........23
Sherpa's Yaks................................213..........12
The Slim Pickens.............................211..........17
Pull the Goalie..............................200..........14
The Late Impact..............................200..........10
Team Chevy...................................190..........15
Taffy's Tyrants..............................188..........12
THE Team.....................................180..........17
Doug's Deadbeats.............................169..........8
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................162..........9

Another lacklustre week for points throughout the pool... but the top teams are still getting enough to pull away from the bottom. Only a total of 230 points from all 14 teams last week, which is about 100 less than our best weeks. With the implementation of the newly picked-up players, there should be a drastic increase in points... not to mention 10 more games being played through the league this week will also help.

Don's Dinos & the Shaving Moes both ran away last week potting 26 points each... while the 4th place Team EA look to move up even further after a 25 point week.

Last week, two players came up with huge numbers... one's a Czech and one's a chunk. Both Jaromir Jagr (Langdon River Dogs) and Keith Tkachuk (THE Team) each picked up 9 points a piece.

Tuesday's News:
Monday night saw day-to-day injuries to both Jason Spezza (Sherpa's Yaks) with a hip pointer and Ed Belfour (The Shaving Moes) with a groin injury. Sunday saw Paul Mara (The Late Impact) and Glen Murray (Team Lowes Racing) down with the flu for a couple days


Saturday's news:
Long-term losses: Both Joni Pitkanen & Martin Havlat were lost to the Sherpa's Yaks for extended periods of time. Pitkanen 4 to 6 weeks, Havlat, possibly the season. Guess who's getting dropped today... Tomas Vokoun (Team Lowes Racing) has been sidelined indefinitely with a groin injury. Mario Lemieux (Doug's Deadbeats) will be sidelined for a week or two after checking himself into the hospital for an irregular heartbeat. Roman Hamrlik (The Slim Pickens) was lost indefinitely with a strained knee... he'll probably miss up to a month with his injury... the Pickens made no comment as to whether or not he'd be dropped. Simon Gagne (Team Chevy) was also shelved for a couple weeks after straining his groin. A pretty big hit to Team Chevy's point total, for sure.

WARNING: Try to avoid taking Peter Bondra... he's out for a month. His points look good, but he won't be playing for a little while.

Returns to the line-up: Oleg Tverdovsky (Team Chevy) returned to the 'Canes line-up on Tuesday after missing 5 games with a concussion. Adam Foote (Team EA) came back after missing 4 games with a strained groin. Both John LeClair (The Late Impact) and Ziggy Palffy (Pull the Goalie) returned to the Pens line-up after missing a game a piece this week. Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) played again this week for the Sharks after being on and off the injury list this week. Hopefully, he'll be back to normal playing time. Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) returned to the Flyers line-up today... and scored a goal in the first period against the Wild as I was writing this.

And that's the news.




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Waiver Draft Results

Starting tonight, the players that were picked begin amassing points for their respective pool teams... which is good for a few teams as players they had dropped picked points up for them last night. Points begin tonight for the new guys... but you won't be able to see updated standings from last week until tomorrow morning... I left my USB key with the hockey pool at work.

D'oh!

Nevertheless... we'll review the drops and pick-ups from Saturday, just so you know who everyone has.

Round 1

Team - Drop - Pick-Up
Thanx For Comin' Out Darren McCarty Ilya Kovalchuk, ATL
Doug's Deadbeats Mike Peca Alex Frolov, LOS
THE Team Corey Perry Jason Williams, DET
Taffy's Tyrants Ryan Getzlaf Brian Gionta, NJD
Team Chevy Evgeni Nabokov Manny Legace, DET
Pull the Goalie Jocelyn Thibault Curtis Joseph, PHO
The Late Impact Alexei Zhamnov Craig Conroy, LOS
The Slim Pickens Jay Bouwmeester Lubomir Visnovsky, LOS
Sherpa's Yaks Martin Havlat Henrik Sedin, VAN
Langdon River Dogs Adrain Aucoin Tomas Kaberle, TOR
Team EA Janne Niinimaa Brent Sopel, NYI
The Shaving Moes Scott Niedermayer Sami Salo, VAN
Don's Dinos Eric Brewer Alexei Zhitnik, BUF

Round 2

Thanx For Comin' Out Manny Fernandez Henrik Lundqvist, NYR
Doug's Deadbeats Kenny Jonsson John-Michel Liles, COL
THE Team Brian Leetch Teppo Numminen, BUF
Taffy's Tyrants Chris Simon Brendan Shanahan, DET
Team Chevy Darryl Sydor Greg de Vries, ATL
Pull the Goalie Sergei Fedorov Marek Svatos, COL
The Slim Pickens Chris Drury Jason Allison, TOR
Sherpa's Yaks Joni Pitkanen Steve Eminger, WAS
Langdon River Dogs Andrew Raycroft John Grahame, TAM
Team EA Roberto Luongo Martin Gerber, CAR
The Shaving Moes Doug Weight Shawn Horcoff, EDM

Round 3

Thanx For Comin' Out Denis Gauthier Jiri Slegr, BOS
Doug's Deadbeats Sandis Ozolinsh Frantisek Kaberle, CAR
THE Team Tuomo Ruutu Jarret Stoll, EDM
Taffy's Tyrants Jordan Leopold Brent Seabrook, CHI
Team Chevy Oleg Tverdovsky Richard Jackman, PIT
Pull the Goalie Dick Tarnstrom Brian Campbell, BUF
The Slim Pickens Tyler Arnason Slava Kozlov, ATL
Langdon River Dogs Robert Lang Tomas Holmstrom, DET

Teams who had taken three players in the draft, obviously needed them. There were quite a few players that hadn't even hit double-digits in points yet this season, so pretty much every team improved themselves... hence the reason for this draft. Hopefully the injuries don't hit too hard again too soon.

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Top 10 Available Players by Position

Forwards
1. Ilya Kovalchuk - ATL - 35 points
2. Alex Frolov - LOS - 32 points
3. Jason Williams - DET - 30 points
4. Brian Gionta - NJD - 28 points
Peter Bondra - ATL
Jason Allison - TOR
7. Craig Conroy - LOS - 27 points
Shawn Horcoff - EDM
9. Jason Arnott - DAL - 26 points
10. Marek Svatos - COL - 25 points

Defensemen
1. Lubomir Visnovsky - LOS - 26 points
2. Sami Salo - VAN - 21 points
Tomas Kaberle - TOR
4. Alexei Zhitnik - BUF - 20 points
5. John-Michel Liles - COL - 19 points
6. Richard Jackman - STL - 18 points
Teppo Numminen - BUF - 18 points
8. Greg de Vries - ATL - 17 points
9. Phillipe Boucher - DAL - 16 points
Frantisek Kaberle - ATL
Steve Eminger - WAS

Goalies
1. Manny Legace - DET - 30 points
2. Curtis Joseph - PHO - 28 points
3. John Grahame - TAM - 26 points
4. David Aebischer - COL - 24 points
Martin Gerber - CAR
6. Henrik Lundqvist - NYR - 22 points
7. Jussi Markkanen - EDM - 20 points
Martin Biron - BUF
9. Rick DiPietro - NYI - 18 points
Alex Auld - VAN

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Wildfire Hockey Pool Standings - End of Week 9

Team.......................................Total...This Week
Don's Dinos..................................230..........20
The Shaving Moes.............................225..........22
Team Lowes Racing............................221..........18
Sherpa's Yaks................................201..........13
Team EA......................................200..........21
Langdon River Dogs...........................196..........12
The Slim Pickens.............................194..........19
The Late Impact..............................190..........7
Pull the Goalie..............................186..........15
Taffy's Tyrants..............................176..........13
Team Chevy...................................175..........18
THE Team.....................................163..........21
Doug's Deadbeats.............................161..........13
Thanx For Comin' Out.........................153..........13

The Shaving Moes are on a mission to be on top... taking top spot in the week making it impossible to be passed and it makes it much easier to catch the leader when they're not getting as many points as your team. It was a pretty weak week for scoring... only 225 points were tallied in Week 9, 50 points less than the first week of the season.

Tomas Vokoun (Team Lowes Racing) was the clear winner for Player of the Week... he chalked up 8 points, two clear of his nearest rivals.

Sunday's News:
Wade Redden (Sherpa's Yaks) should be ready to go when the Senators face the Canucks next week. Adrian Aucoin (Langdon River Dogs) is back on the shelf with groin problems. Kimmo Timonen (Team Lowes Racing) has caught himself a bout of the flu of late... he missed yesterday's game with it. John LeClair (The Late Impact) and Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) are both also listed as out day-to-day with groin injuries.

Derek Morris (Doug's Deadbeats) returned to the Coyotes line-up yesterday after missing 3 games with a rib injury. Petr Sykora (Team Chevy) also returned to the Ducks line-up after missing 5 games with his own groin injury.

Saturday's News:
The Satellite Hotstove has said that Rick Nash (Langdon River Dogs) should be back next week. The Blue Jackets don't play again until Thursday... so, it's not like he's missing any games in the next week or so. Ziggy Palffy (Pull the Goalie) missed tonight's game against the Flames... he's day-to-day with a groin injury. Robert Esche (The Slim Pickens) will miss the next week's worth of games with a groin injury of his own. Evgeni Nabokov (Team Chevy) left Friday night's game against the Sabres with a groin injury as well... it's unclear how long he'll be out of the Sharks line-up. Robert Lang (Langdon River Dogs) is now listed as day-to-day with a groin injury... that's a whole load of sore groins in the news this weekend, eh?? Saku Koivu (Don's Dinos) is out indefinitely with... you guessed it... groin problems. Sheldon Souray (Team EA) has come back from his groin injury now... a big lift to the Habs and EA's point chances. Zdeno Chara (Pull the Goalie) will miss the Senators next game after being handed a one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the last 5 minutes of a game.

Friday's News:
Sandis Ozolinsh (Doug's Deadbeats) has been offically placed on the Injured Reserve... he'll probably be missing a few more games at least with his sprained knee. Pierre Turgeon (The Late Impact) is expected to play this weekend for the Avalanche after recovering from his minor groin pull. Peter Forsberg (Pull the Goalie) is still a game or two away from returning... he won't be playing against Nashville this week.

Another HUGE Trade...
The Boston Bruins have sent Joe Thornton (Don's Dinos) to San Jose for three players; Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart... none of the former Sharks were pool picks. Thornton should be with the Sharks for the Friday & Saturday matchups, but this all comes as a big shock to the hockey system. The Bruins have been quoted as saying that they needed a big shake-up and the Sharks weren't gonna pass up an opportunity to get one of the game's best players. Thornton has 33 points already this season, which puts him tied for 10th in pool scoring. Oh my.

Thursdays OTHER News:
Sandis Ozolinsh (Doug's Deadbeats) has found himself injured again. He's listed as day-to-day with a knee injury. On Tuesday, Jocelyn Thibault (Pull the Goalie) was waived by the Penguins, which probably spells the end of his tenure in Pittsburgh. He also cleared waivers, meaning that he probably won't see a lot of playing time any time soon. A pretty obvious drop come the 10th. Chris Pronger (Pull the Goalie) returned from his one game away from the line-up with a knee injury this week. He should be good to go this weekend. Martin Havlat (Sherpa's Yaks) has been lost again... this time upwards of two months. He suffered a dislocated shoulder this week and will more than likely be dropped on the 10th. Doug Weight (The Shaving Moes) is back on the shelf day-to-day with a hip injury... that's what you get for getting old, eh Doug??


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