Week Eleven Newsletter

Better Late Than Never

Well, the days just haven't been very conducive to the pool for me, so things have been stripped back a little.  Since games have already started on Monday evening, when this Newsletter is being done up, it's gonna go really quickly.

New Outright Leader, Change In the Money

Week Eleven saw some changes in the top four, as Grant took the outright lead with 284 points, his third straight week with the most points, followed by Chris at 281 points, Allan dropped off to 3rd with 273 points and Stacey M. joined the money with 268 points.

Stacey C. jumped Brenda for 5th as well, as they sit with 264 points and 257 points, respectively.

The Race for Steven Stamkos

We have a new basement dweller this week, as Doug moved out and Ryan V. moved in.  Ryan now sits alone in 24th, but only 1 point behind both Doug and Leo, who each have 200 points.  This isn't supposed to be a race, but it looks like it might get good now.

Looks like the Washington Capitals are ready to score some goals again and put the rest of the league on notice.  Nicklas Backstrom had a monster week in the pool, the outright winner of the Player of the Week nod with 9 points in Week Eleven.  He made Scott G. into a really happy camper in the week, I'm sure.

Backstrom only needed to play in three games in the week to earn the honour, picking up 2 goals and 7 assists.

His biggest night of the week came on Tuesday, as he scored a goal and added 4 assists in the 6-5 shootout win for his Capitals.

The big week moved him up to 14th in pool scoring, now sitting with 8 goals and 28 assists in 33 games for the Capitals and Scott G..  Backstrom is Scott's 2nd best player on his team, to date, following Tampa goalie Ben Bishop, who has 41 points.

It has been some time since Ryan M. saw himself in the Mover & Shaker part of the Newsletter.  Week Thirteen of the 2012 season, to be exact.  That week, he had 34 points and moved into 12th place in the standings.

As it so happens, he picked up 37 points this week and again, moved into 12th place in the standings.  Ryan finished 13th (out of 22) in 2012, so he's looking to improve upon that statistic in the 2014 season.

Ryan moved up to 12th from 16th at the end of Week Ten, not too far out of his peak position this season, which was 10th, back in Week Two.

Miller owed his big week to Jonas Hiller (6 points), Marian Hossa (5), Dan Boyle (5), Martin St. Louis (4), Dainius Zubrus (4), Jiri Hudler (3) and Slava Voynov (3).

Two weeks ago, we saw the Tale of Two Dale's and in Week Eleven, we have the Tale of Two Ryan's.  Miller takes the Mover & Shaker and Ryan V. falls into the Basement Dweller.

Vincent only managed 13 points in Week Eleven, which now gives him the key to the basement apartment in the pool.  Granted, he has some close neighbours, so his stay may be temporary, but he is there nonetheless.

Vincent has had a tough time with injuries, now having both goalies (Jimmy Howard & Anton Khudobin) down, not to mention Derek Morris on the shelf with some personal issues.  The rest of the team was just plain cold otherwise, but there is lots of talent there, so he should be able to make his way out.

NEWS AND NOTES

The Detroit Red Wings injury situation got a little bit worse on Sunday afternoon, as Johan Franzen joined the list of injured Red Wings, as he sustained an upper-body injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  The word on Monday is that Franzen is now undergoing the concussion protocol, which means he'll be out at least a week.  Not good news for Chris M., who is in 2nd place.  Franzen joins Justin Abdelkader, who will also undergo the concussion protocol after his high hit earlier in the weekend.  Tony takes another hit to his season, while sitting in 18th.

Edmonton Oilers oft-injured forward Ales Hemsky had to sit out Sunday night's game against the Anaheim Ducks with a rib injury.  Hemsky is listed as out day-to-day with the injury, but there is no word as to whether or not he will be good to go at any time soon.  Brenda, sitting in 6th place, is slipping in the standings and losing bodies is counter-productive.

There was an update from the Penguins on Monday on their two new stars on the shelf, as Kristopher Letang has been placed on the Injured Reserve, as of Friday, with his upper-body injury, which has also forced him out of Monday's game against the Maple Leafs. Evgeni Malkin's status isn't quite as bad, but he also missed Monday's game against the Leafs, out with a lower-body injury, listed as day-to-day.  This signals some basement dwelling alarms for Stuart, I'm thinking, which hurts him, since he is already in 21st, heading into the week.

The young Jonathan Huberdeau was off to a good start in his NHL career, not missing a game since he was called up by the Panthers, but he is expected to be on the shelf this week with a foot injury.  He is currently listed as out day-to-day, with likely a bruise.  Doug is on the way out of the basement these days, but he's hoping an injury to Huberdeau won't slide him back down, as it is a slippery slope down in the 20's.

We get a Monday night update, as the Newsletter finishes... David Backes of the St. Louis Blues exited Monday night's game against the Senators with an upper-body injury, possibly a concussion.  There have been no early confirmations about the injury,  but there is a strong bit of speculation that it is likely that the head injury is likely the reason why he is out.  This could mean Dale C. is holding his breath this week, as he sits in 9th place, still well within striking range of the prizes.

Unable to cash in on the scoring smorgasbord from the Capitals on Sunday was Mikhail Grabovski, who sat out with a bout of the flu.  The flu has seen its share of harsh cases this season, but the odds are that Grabovski will feature back into the line-up before too long.  Kristy & Don have been suffering without any goaltending thus far in the second segment, as they have now fallen to 10th place in the standings and a missed game here doesn't help their cause at all.

Link to the Injury/News Page

HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA

Back to the lah-dee-dah doubleheader this coming Saturday, but it is a Winter Classic preview, as the Detroit Red Wings invade the Air Canada Centre to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs, while in the late game, it will be a visit to Rexall Place for the St. Louis Blues, taking on the Edmonton Oilers.

48 picks from the pool are represented from these four teams, but we'll have our fair share of injuries, back-up goalies and other assorted reasons for players missing from the line-up this coming weekend.

The leading scorers from these four teams... Jaroslav Halak (36 points), Alex Steen (35), and Phil Kessel (32).