Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Player Notes in the Draft (Nov 12)

After only two weeks on the shelf, Calgary Flames forward Lee Stempniak has been deemed good-to-go from his broken foot, likely with some extra foot protection on his skate going forward.  Stempniak remarkably only missed out on seven games with the injury and he'll return to a line-up, desperately in need of his offense.  In the first 10 games this year, Stempniak picked up 4 goals and 5 assists.

Big news for Leo M., who now has a completely healthy line-up for the first time this season.  His team isn't without problems, with a couple healthy scratches here and there, but if his team can get some traction now, he can move up from 17th place a little quicker.

The Dallas Stars reportedly put forward Ray Whitney on the Injured Reserve on Tuesday with a lower-body injury, which means he'll be out of the line-up for at least a week, which means he'll miss at least the next two weeks.

Whitney has not been his scoring self this season, picking up only 1 goal and 7 assists in 17 games for the Stars, but it isn't all bad.  As of Tuesday afternoon, Whitney is ranked 213th in pool scoring.

Wes M. picked Whitney up in the 5th round, 110th overall, this season, which is well above where he's ranked at the moment.  A couple games off may be what the doctor ordered for the aging veteran.

All signs are pointing to a return to the line-up for Montreal's Daniel Briere on Tuesday, as the Canadiens take on the Stamkos-less Tampa Bay Lightning.  Briere has missed the last four weeks with a concussion, but has been given the green light to go again after passing all his tests on the weekend.

In the first eight games of the season, Briere has only 1 goal and 2 assists and he'll likely have some rust to shake off as well.

This is good news for John S., who now has a completely healthy team and everyone is up and playing for the big club, so he can carry on somewhat of a hot streak he's started last week.  John jumped up to 20th last week, but is still 25 points out of the top 10.  A healthy team will go a long ways for playing catch-up though.

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