Afternoon Player Notes (Mar 5)

Well, there are some early lineup notes to look at before the action gets started today, so let's kick right into it. The Dallas Stars are expected to scratch Alexander Radulov for tonight's game against the New York Rangers. Obviously, he's drawn the ire of the team's coaching staff and will get a seat up in the press box. The Russian only played a little over 16 minutes in the team's last game and he has been counted on a lot of times for over 20 minutes, so there could be something to it here. We'll see if that gives him the right kick in the pants.

Radulov has 51 points in 54 games this season, which isn't a terrible return in the hockey pool, but it's a team game and the Dallas Stars have been struggling as a team.  This is a problem for Benson's pool team, since his player is the one sitting tonight.

Surprise, surprise... Mike Green is on the shelf once again.  A virus has sidelined the veteran defenseman once again and the team now expects him to miss the next 7-to-10 days, starting with missing tonight's game in Colorado.  The injury prone defender has 26 points in 43 games with the Red Wings this season, already having missed nine games to an illness and another 13 games a lower-body injury this season and he still carries a huge red flag, season over season.

Bad news for Ryan's team, which currently goes into Tuesday night's action in 12th place, 4 points out of 9th place.  Ryan's 15th place defense does take a pretty good hit with this injury over the next week or so, but he does have the tools in place to keep his team strong, so here's hoping for him.

The Montreal Canadiens are guarding against hitting the rookie wall for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, giving him the night off against the Los Angeles Kings, making him a healthy scratch.  It doesn't sound like anything more than an earned night off, so we expect him back in the lineup on Thursday night in San Jose.

Stacey M. has been pretty happy with the return she has had from Montreal's prized rookies, collecting 32 points in 66 games, to date, and her pool team has been very good for her too, starting the night in 2nd place.  Her team is 36 points out of 1st place and 6 points up on 3rd, right in the thick of it.  Her rookie has done her well.

The New Jersey Devils are expecting to be without Nico Hischier tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets, due to an upper-body injury.  He was reportedly hurt on the weekend in Boston and he's currently listed as out day-to-day, there haven't been very many updates on his condition otherwise.  With the Devils sucking wind in the Eastern Conference standings, I don't think they'll be too quick to rush him back into their lineup, as it won't likely do them any good for their dismal playoff hopes.

It's a disappointing turn of events for Kristy & Don, who are chasing down those money teams, starting the night in 4th place, 5 points out of 3rd and they'll now be missing a 44-point player in Hischier tonight and maybe more?