Player Notes in the Draft & Playoffs (Apr 11)

It's the final day of the regular season and where will I be?  In Banff.

Don't expect any updates until I return on Sunday, where it will be the big reveal and the year-end Newsletter will drop at the same time.  Nevertheless, I have a post prepared us all for the end of the year, so here we go.

There was one more note from Thursday night, which was missed on Friday, as the Nashville Predators went ahead against the Wild without forward Mike Fisher, as he was dealing with a lower-body injury. There wasn't a lot of indication, as to whether or not the injury was really enough to keep him from playing in a somewhat meaningless game or whether or not he was rested for it.  Nevertheless, it opened up a spot for Mike Santorelli, who had missed the two games previous with an illness, to slot back into the lineup, as warm-up for the playoffs.  Fisher is day-to-day and likely questionable for Saturday's tilt, away to Dallas.

If this is to have any impact on the final day of the season, it will be in the race for the Olli bobblehead, as Allan takes another hit (or maybe two), with Fisher being out.  Fisher has been okay for him since the Week Eighteen Waiver Draft, picking up 14 points in 27 games.  If he can't go, the 9-point gap between 22nd and 23rd will have one less man defending it on the ice.

Since the severity of the injury isn't quite known yet, it's unclear what his availability is for the playoffs, but being hurt this close to the Spring Dance isn't going to help his cause any, nor will it help the number of selections he may get in Box 5 of the Selection Sheet.

Leading up to the playoffs, the last thing you want to hear about is an injury, especially to your team's blueline.  Travis Hamonic was on the wrong end of a hip check against the Penguins on Friday night and it forced him from the game with a bit of a limp in the 1st period.  With the Islanders already in a playoff spot going into Saturday's action, it seems rather unlikely that he'll play against the Blue Jackets at home, just for precautionary measures.

It wasn't a bad year for Hamonic, if he doesn't play on Saturday, he leaves the regular season with 5 goals and 33 points to the good, in 71 games played.  It isn't really optimal numbers for a defenseman in the hockey pool, but it still is an okay year.

Brenda & Seward have had a down, then up, then down year in the pool and their team will likely finish in the 17th spot, where they'll start the day, 14 points back of 16th and only 4 points up on 18th.  No extra races to speak of here.

If you're looking at the Playoff Pool sheet, you'll find Hamonic in Box 22, but beware of his lower-body injury.  If you're going to look towards Long Island for some late pool defense, you may want to get an update on Hamonic's condition.

It's a pretty early start for the blog, on this fine Saturday, so there isn't a lot of goalies already confirmed for action on the last day, but we'll make do with what we have.

Wes opens the day in 3rd place, 12 points up on both Benson and Clayton to start the day, which should be safe, especially given that Carey Price will start for the Canadiens in Toronto and it is expected that Mike Smith will get Arizona's last game, home to Anaheim.

Benson has one confirmed starter at this point, as Semyon Varlamov is expected to go for the Avalanche against the Blackhawks, while Kari Lehtonen may be on the bench for the Stars versus Predators.

Clayton has one confirmed goalie, as Brian Elliott is getting the nod for the Blues, home to the Wild, while it is expected that Marc-Andre Fleury starts in the make-it or break-it game between the Penguins and Sabres.

It's more of a 3-team race now and these teams have their goalies ready, which will make for a good finish to the seaosn.

In the Olli department, Wyllie will unlikely close that 9-point gap, even if he gets the expected start from Michal Neuvirth, as the Islanders will play host to the Blue Jackets tonight.  A solid performance would make things interesting though.  The Kings, already eliminated, seem unlikely to dress Martin Jones, which would give him two goalies today.

Despite neither team having anything to play for on the final day, it does appear that both Philadelphia and San Jose will go with their number one guys, Steve Mason and Antti Niemi, which should pad the chances of Allan not finishing last this year.  It's truly a wonder, given the amount of bad luck he's seen.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.