Week Two Newsletter

Marty Turco outlasted J-S Giguere and the Ducks to win the only game on Sunday in a shootout and that was the end of Week Two. We've got ourselves a new leader, we're watchin' some pretty good hockey, people are making trades and for the most part, people are enjoyin' the pool. That's what I'm getting anyways.

Let's see what happened in Week 2...




An overtime win on Saturday night brought Kari Lehtonen's weekly total up to 8 points. Wild goaltender, Manny Fernandez, also had 8 points, but no one took Fernandez, so he won't win the Player of the Week award. Lehtonen has been taken twice and is showing why he should be taken. A shutout against Tampa on Monday and another win against Boston on Wednesday accounted for Lehtonen's wins this week.

Lehtonen still leads all players in the pool with 12 points, but there are some other players nipping at his heels. Marty Turco has banked 11 points, Fernandez has 10 points, Jaromir Jagr has 10 and so does Martin Havlat. Lehtonen will probably lose his lead this week as the Thrashers only play twice next week... the first game not until Thursday.

The most points during the week meant a pool-high jump in the Standings. The pool-high 64 points meant a 19 place jump since last Sunday. Suzanne was a middle of the pack 26th before the big week. Riding the backs of Jaromir Jagr, Olli Jokinen, Brendan Shanahan and a whole bunch of 4 point players... Suzanne almost got herself into the money places. Scoring is definitely not down and as long as teams are playing games 7-6 or 5-4, everyone will have a shot at this illustrious pool award.

Well, the first full week had ended... we have a another week to base our comparisions from. After Week Two, some teams may want to consider looking at who's hot (the ones not on their team) and drop the one's who are not hot (how do you think they got down there?). Mike Rioux is still waiting for the big break out of the Flames and some injury concerns to be rectified... but until that happens... it doesn't look too rosy beyond another 25 point week. When teams are now breaking the 60+ point barrier during the week, you gotta know that there are players in every box picking up points. It's only a matter of time.

Long-term Injuries and Pool Trades
The injured Carolina Hurricanes, Frank Kaberle and Cory Stillman are still being unloaded here in the pool going into Week Three. Both Derek Bell & Don unloaded Hurricanes during the week to pick up some more healthy bodies. The Hurricanes have been struggling to find form and it would lead to some ideas to maybe even unload some of the healthy bodies, especially since none of them are scoring at the moment. But it's still early!

The first healthy trade was made going into Week Three. Benson unloaded Vincent Lecavalier for a recent hat-trick scorer, Chris Drury. The Sabres have been scoring at an unbelievable pace, while the Lightning... are not.



Tonight, the Oilers will face-off against the Canucks on Sportsnet West, starting at 8pm. Division rivals and big pool teams will get it on in Vancouver. What a treat it will be to see this one, I reckon. If that wasn't enough... they'll do it all again tomorrow night, again on Sportsnet West, here in Calgary, for the end of a home & home set. Roberto Luongo versus Dwayne Roloson... Luongo taken four times... Roloson... none.


On Wednesday, the Avalanche head into Toronto to face the Maple Leafs. This game will be on TSN, puck drop at 5:30pm. Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle will host Joe Sakic and Jose Theodore on national television.


Thursday night hockey will have the Flyers taking on the Lightning in Tampa. TSN will also cover this game nationally, again with the puck drop at 5:30pm. Vincent Lecavalier will try and do it all for his 11 picks (11 of 17 combined Lightning picks) against the much less preferred Flyers (only a total of 13 picks). This is considered a no-nothing game to most poolies this year, I guess.



Hockey Night In Canada's double-bill will have the Jaromir Jagr and his high flying Rangers in Toronto to face Andrew Raycroft and the Leafs. This should be a big game for a lot of you poolies. The second game will have the Red Wings and their awoken power play in the Chuck to face Ryan Smyth, Ales Hemsky and the rest of the Oiler crew for a much-anticipated second half of the doubleheader. These two games are part of a 13-game slate on Saturday.

That's what you have to look forward to... if you don't have NHL Centre Ice on your satellite service.

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