Goalie Announcements (Mar 11)

It's another early start and on a Sunday, no less?  Isn't this a good day to rest, people?  Nah, I'm just kidding... it's a great day for us to put our feet up and watch some afternoon hockey, am I right?

Of course, doing up this post is still a bit of a crap shoot, but with only four games today/tonight, there is only so much I could possibly get wrong in my educated guessing.  I don't think yesterday turned out so well for me in the end, but those are the breaks!

It looks like Stuart's team is very content with running away with both the Mover & Shaker this week and the overall lead, so I don't think there is much to it here.  Somehow, I've got to find a decent reason even to do these four games.  Let me see what kind of a rabbit I can pull out of my hat on these games.

Anton Khudobin (Eric) versus Anton Forsberg (Derek B.)
The early game of the day does have its goalies settled at the time of the post, so that's one game I don't have to guess at.  It's the battle of Antons in Chicago, Khudobin versus Forsberg, as the Bruins and Blackhawks finish and home-and-home series.  Both Eric and Derek B. are right in the middle of the weekly scoring standings and both teams are hovering just below the equator in the overall standings.  A game full of 'meh' in the hockey pool.

Christopher Gibson (N/A) versus Mike Smith (Ryan)
It sounds like Mike Smith is prepared to come back to the Calgary Flames crease tonight for their game against the New York Islanders, while the Islanders playoff hopes are slipping away and they are likely to turn back to Christopher Gibson tonight for his second start in three games.  The return of Smith is big news for Ryan's team, as they are in a tie for the Basement Dweller nod at the start of play today and they could really use the win.

Kari Lehtonen (Brenda & Seward) versus Casey DeSmith (N/A)
With Ben Bishop still on the mend from an injury, that means that Kari Lehtonen should be getting the start again tonight for the Stars, as they are in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins.  The hosts were in Toronto last night, so they will be running with Casey DeSmith, as he sat against the Maple Leafs.  The best position that Brenda & Seward can finish in is 4th place and they start tonight with an 11-point deficit and one start in tonight's game.

Jacob Markstrom (Wes) versus Antti Raanta (Ryan)
Finally, in the desert, the late game on the night, sees the Canucks taking on the Coyotes.  It sounds like it could be Jacob Markstrom (best guess) against Antti Raanta (assumed, but not confirmed) tonight and that would pit the goalie from the 21st place team against the other goalie from the 23rd place team in the hockey pool.  I don't think there is any reason to get excited over here, let's just keep moving on, shall we?

Oh... we're done.  See you tomorrow with the Newsletter then!

Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 11)

It looks like it was Calle Jarnkrok's turn for the press box on Saturday night, as the rotation of players in and out of the Nashville Predators lineup continues and might do so for the next four weeks.  This isn't anything to be alarmed about, as this team continues to rest up for what they hope will be a long playoff run and they are freshening up their legs.

Our pool teams don't really like this idea and it was Dale C.'s team that opposed the move on Saturday night, as his team is in the mix for the Basement Dweller nod, tied for the spot with Ryan's team after night number six of the week.  Dale's hopes of a top 10 finish are now diminishing.

The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that they will be without forward Anthony Duclair for the next week or two, as he deals with a lower-body injury, believed to be something in his knee. Duclair was the victim of another odd and reckless play from Bruins forward Brad Marchand on Saturday afternoon and will start to miss time with the team's second game of the home-and-home series this morning/afternoon. The 22-year old had a pretty slow start to the season with the Coyotes, before being dealt to the Blackhawks, where he has seen an upswing in production before this injury, so it's a real shame that he couldn't keep it going for now.

Wilton's team currently rounds out the top 10 in the pool standings, sitting at 547 points through Saturday night's action.  His team sits 8 points back of 9th and 15 points up on 11th, sitting somewhat comfortably in a bubble.  Duclair hasn't had a great season for him, 23 points in 56 games, but his absence may help the bubble burst.

The Edmonton Oilers are now winding down the season as best they can and a win over the Wild on Saturday night is just about as good of a way to do so or start to do so now.  But with only four weeks left to play and an insurmountable amount of points to recover and teams to jump over, it's time to start working towards getting healthy again and that's why defenseman Oscar Klefbom had undergone a shoulder procedure over the weekend, something minor, but likely something to help him moving forward.  He's currently listed as day-to-day, only expected to miss a couple of games, but I'm sure they won't rush him back, just because there isn't much left to play for.

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev was a late scratch ahead of the Hockey Night in Canada main bill game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, due to a bout of the flu.  It doesn't sound like anything major, as he may have been close enough to play, but the player and the team took the cautious route on this one.  Certainly not a bad idea and it wasn't like they missed him too much, beating the Penguins, 5-2, on the night.

It's too bad that the idea of the draft order being determined by a random number generator, aided by the weight of last year's finishes, didn't take  Stacey C. would be in a pretty good spot this year, as his team has struggled and there would be some value in it for next season.  Not having both Klefbom and Zaitsev would have been a positive in that regard, most definitely.

Noon Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 10)

It appears that the Buffalo Sabres may just limp towards the finish line this season, as the injuries just continue to hamper their side. It was confirmed here at the end of the week, that the upper-body injury that Kyle Okposo had suffered is indeed a concussion and he is now listed as out indefinitely. Okposo's 2017 campaign was also prematurely ended to a concussion, but there is no confirmation about how much time the rugged forward will indeed miss. Okposo currently has 11 goals and 38 points in 65 games this season, which had him ranked in the top 200 in pool scoring.

Wes' only real hope in the scoring department was that he started Saturday in the mix for the Mover & Shaker nod of the week, but with Okposo on the shelf, his chances were diminished slightly.  If the power forward misses more time, it wasn't really going to have an effect on his season overall.

The Chicago Blackhawks granted forward Vinnie Hinostroza a leave of absence for Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins, as he was off attending to a family matter.  His absence is considered to be a day-to-day thing, but there is no word on his immediate return, as of yet.  The Blackhawks are playing the Bruins on Saturday afternoon and will finish a home-and-home series tomorrow in Chicago.

Jeremy's team had some good days this season, but definitely had more bad days than good days, as his team has fallen down to 20th place and isn't in any position to make up any of that ground any time soon.  Hinostroza's absence is only a drop in the big bucket, that is the regular season.

More concussion news, as the Pittsburgh Penguins are now preparing for life without forward Bryan Rust for an indefinite period of time, as the team has announced that he has suffered the head injury as well.  Rust has 10 goals and 33 points in 57 games this year, already having missed some time to injury, but overall, it has been a pretty decent year for him.  The goal will to get healthy again, ahead of the playoffs, so he can be a productive member of the team's title defense.

This loss of a body is really bad news for Mike's team, which opened up Saturday's action as the leading contender for the Basement Dweller this week.  Mike's team was only trailing Stacey C.'s team by a point at the bottom, but could certainly use more help, I'm sure.

Goalie Announcements (Mar 10)

I was thinking about doing this post yesterday, but there were only four games on the docket and only three of them had pool goalies, so it wasn't all that interesting to drum up.  Our Mover & Shaker leader had his goalies play the night before, so there wasn't much in that part of the story either.

Now it's Saturday, it's a new day and a busy one on the schedule.  We've got 11 games on the slate today, seven of which are in the morning/afternoon, possibly preparing for Daylight Savings to hit overnight, where we'll all lose that hour of sleep, but the days feel a bit longer.

Chris' team still holds the Mover & Shaker lead into Saturday, with 24 points to his 7th place team's name and if we're looking at 5 points difference for this post, there are six teams chasing his down for the weekly title.  Stuart, Neil, Cam, Wes, Derek B. and Eric, in that order, are all trying to get at the weekly honour.  Let's see who has what playing today.

Jake Allen (Cam) versus Jonathan Quick (Chris)
No confirmation, at the time of the post, about the afternoon game in Los Angeles, but it is expected that we'll see Jonathan Quick give Chris the first of two starts today and it's an all-Mover & Shaker game there, as it is also expected that we'll see Jake Allen for the Blues, giving Cam's team, which starts 4 points back of Chris' team, a big start.  Allen hasn't been sharp this season, but an injury has given him back the number one title.

Philipp Grubauer (Grant) versus Martin Jones (Chris)
The San Jose Sharks haven't announced their starting goalie for the day and there is an equal argument for either of their goalies, but this is a possible start for Chris as well with the Capitals invading the tank.  It could be Martin Jones today, which would be good for Chris, but it could also be Aaron Dell today, given that it's an afternoon game, which isn't quite so good for Chris.

Henrik Lundqvist (Brian) versus Roberto Luongo (Stuart)
Out of two possible starts for Stuart's team on Saturday, the first confirmation came fairly early, as the Florida Panthers will indeed go with the red-hot Roberto Luongo, who has found the fountain of youth, of sorts, after coming back from injury in the last week.  I'm not sure Stuart's team really needed the help, but he's got just a little bit more with a regular start from the Panthers again.  Stuart's team starts only 1 point behind Chris' squad, so it'll be a close race to the finish.

Connor Hellebuyck (Neil) versus Petr Mrazek (Mike)
The first of the goalies of note to be confirmed on the day was Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets, as he and his team will be in Philadelphia this afternoon for a date against the Flyers.  This is the first of two possible starts for Neil's team, which was opening the day's action only 3 points out of the Mover & Shaker nod, so his team was certainly in good shape at the start of the day.

Darcy Kuemper (Neil) versus Jonathan Bernier (Scott)
Neil's second goalie start was also confirmed fairly early, as the Coyotes open up back-to-back days with action.  In their first game on Saturday, they will go with Darcy Kuemper again, who has been great in recent starts, already picking up a win this week for Neil's side and then looking for another to help guide the pool team to weekly greatness.

Alex Stalock (N/A) versus Cam Talbot (Wes)
The Edmonton Oilers are getting the road-weary Mininesota Wild tonight in the late game of Hockey Night in Canada and Wes is expected to get another start from Cam Talbot tonight.  Wes' team starts the day only 4 points back of Chris' leading team and he's hoping that the Wild don't have anything left in the tank after beating the Canucks on Friday night.

Cory Schneider (Jeremy) versus Juuse Saros (Eric)
This was beginning to look like a game where neither Stuart or Eric would get a start out of it, but the Predators have announced that Juuse Saros would get the nod against the Devils this evening and that means Eric isn't out of luck today.  Eric's team starts the day 5 points out of the Mover & Shaker and gets a tough start, but anything can happen at this point.  Those Predators are a really good team.

J-F Berube (N/A) versus Tuukka Rask (Clayton)
Disappointing news for Derek B., as his goalie for the Blackhawks, Anton Forsberg, doesn't get the nod on Saturday morning against the Bruins.  Derek's team has moved back into 13th place this week, but he will need his skaters to get the job done today, in order to keep his team at the equator.

Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 10)

Dallas Stars forward Mattias Janmark missed his first game of the season, held out of the game against the Ducks on Friday, due to a bout of the flu.  It didn't sound like it was anything too serious and I would think there's a pretty good chance that he will feature back into the team, when they go to visit the Penguins on Sunday.  The Stars are occupying the first wild card spot in the Western Conference and it is going to be quite the slugfest, if they want to come out of it and into the Spring Dance.

Neil's team is among the group vying for the Mover & Shaker nod for the week, sitting with 21 points through Friday night's action, only 3 points behind the weekly leader, which this week is Chris.  A big weekend could be a bright spot in what has been a disappointing season for Neil... except for his Olympic pool win.