Draft Player Scratches (Dec 24)

A couple of undisclosed injuries sidelined both Nik Antropov and Zach Bogosian for the Thrashers game against the Bruins. The word is that these injuries are all that severe, Antropov took the pregame skate against the Bruins, but decided against playing, while Bogosian has been banged up and bruised, so an early break was given to their top young defenseman. Both are considered day-to-day and should be good to go when the Thrashers take to the ice again on Sunday, when they take on the Lightning.

Antropov belongs to the 20th place team of Derek's, while Bogosian is a part of the 18th place team of Dale C.'s. A game away wasn't likely what either team wanted, but it seems to be par for the course for both teams this season.

In the Big Apple, a minor groin strain was enough to keep Marian Gaborik out of the line-up just before the small holiday break. Gaborik's injury is not thought to be serious, rather it was a precautionary measure to sit him down for a game.  I believe the word is that Gaborik will be ready to go when the break ends and the Rangers hit the ice against the Islanders on Monday.

Gaborik belongs to Stuart's draft team, which currently sits in 6th place in the standings.  Stuart only sits 10 points out of the money, so the return of Gaborik is paramount to reaching the prize spots.  Stuart also leads the second segment of the season in scoring, which brings a prize of its own.

Surprisingly, with Gaborik out of the Rangers line-up, it was kind of surprising to see Michael Del Zotto as a healthy scratch for the game against the Lightning.  Nevertheless, Del Zotto hasn't quite been the same player that he was as a rookie in 2010, scoring 9 points in 34 games.  He has also been a scratch a few times already this season, but it doesn't seem to be working very well.

Del Zotto belongs to Larry's draft team this season, who currently sits 31 points out of the money in 8th place.  

The Coyotes once again scratched scoring forward Wojtek Wolski from their line-up on Thursday night, as they took on the Sharks in San Jose.  Wolski didn't appear on any injury lists on Friday morning, so it appears he was a scratch.  Wolski only has 16 points in 29 games for the Coyotes this season, far from his scoring expectations.

Wolski plays for the 8th place team in the draft, which belongs to Neil.  Neil only sits 24 points out of the money and ranks 11th in the second segment, 19 points out of 1st.

A groin issue has now sidelined Penguins back-up goalie Brent Johnson.  The injury is not considered to be too serious, but he is still listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Senators.  It's hard to say whether or not Johnson would actually get the start with Marc-Andre Fleury returning to his previous form.

Larry had picked Johnson in the waiver draft a few weeks ago, since Johnson had such a good run when Fleury wasn't playing his best.  Unfortunately, Johnson has only figured into a couple games since the waiver draft and has only registered 1 win and 1 assist.

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