Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 5)

There is some rumblings in Sabres camp that their number one goalie may not be feeling his best and this could be a huge concern going forward.  Buffalo management has come out on Saturday morning and said that Ryan Miller is nursing a lower-body injury, which isn't believed to be serious, but it will likely be something that keeps him from starting tonight, when the team heads to Pittsburgh.  The Sabres have Matt Hackett in at practice this morning and he has confirmed that he will back-up Jhonas Enroth thonight, which means Miller will be listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

I would think that the Sabres, especially this early in the season, will be trying to keep Miller from getting hurt for the long-term, but if they dress him, he must not be too injured.  This is something to keep an eye on.

Miller belongs to pool newcomer, Tony D., this season, who has yet to pick up any points from his number one goalie, in two appearances.  An injury in this case, would be devastating at the start of the year.  On the other hand, this is good news for Stuart, who is getting an early start from Enroth, something he probably didn't anticipate on right away.

The Columbus Blue Jackets were slightly shorthanded in their season opening game against the Calgary Flames on Friday night, as defenseman Fedor Tyutin was kept out of the line-up with a lower-body injury.  Tyutin suffered the injury at practice during the week and he will be listed as out day-to-day, but the coaching staff would not comment as to how long the Russian will be out of the line-up.  There was some suggestion that he might not travel with the team on this next road trip, but that hasn't been confirmed just yet.

It hasn't been the luckiest of starts for Leo M. this year, as he now has three players on the list with injuries, all of which have jumped up around the start of the regular season.  Leo has jumped up to 17th after a sluggish start and he still has lots of firepower to keep him in the mix.

Early word out of the Montreal Canadiens camp is that for precautionary reasons, forward Max Pacioretty will be held out of the team's game tonight, home to Philadelphia, due to an arm injury.  Pacioretty reportedly suffered the injury against Toronto in the season opener, left the game briefly, returned to play, practiced during the week, but the coaching staff have decided to not take any chances with his health and will sit him.  Pacioretty will be considered out day-to-day.

Pacioretty belongs to Wes M., who goes into Saturday's action in 2nd place, only 2 points out of the lead and missing out on a body won't help him make any ground up.  Pacioretty was Wes' 4th round pick this year, 83rd overall, but was unable to register a point in his first game this year.

In Friday night's action, the Nashville Predators suffered an injury, as defenseman Roman Josi was hit by the Avalanche's Steve Downie, knocking him out of the game with an upper-body injury. There was no early indication on Saturday morning, as to how bad the injury is or what the nature of the injury is, so it's wait and see for right now.

Josi was going to be looked towards to provide some extra offense from the back end, after signing a very rich contract extension in the off-season.

In two games played thus far, Josi has failed to pick up a point for Wilton in the draft and this injury will compound on his team missing Tomas Vokoun to the blood clot.  I'm sure he's hoping for a quick return from this injury, as he currently sits in 22nd place.

This one was missed from Thursday night, as Matt Irwin was not one of those players I was trying to keep an eye on, but I remember now that I should.  Irwin, a depth defender for the San Jose Sharks, was not chosen for the opening night line-up, as they played the Vancouver Canucks and even with some injuries and other roster selections, Irwin didn't quite make it in.  It is hard to say right now what his participation levels are going to be like, all we can do is keep an eye on him.

It was a bit of a curveball from Ryan M. this year, taking Irwin, as he would count as a serious sleeper this year.  If Irwin can get into the line-up and capitalize on this serious Sharks offense, there will be points there.

Week One Hockey Night In Canada Preview in the Draft

Since there isn't a newsletter preview of this week's edition of Hockey Night In Canada, I thought I would offer a quick one. I am feeling awfully generous with my previews this week, just to get everyone in the mood to watch more hockey and see how their draft team is doing. That's nice of me, right?

It's an all-Canadian edition of Hockey Night In Canada, much to the delight of many and I think the pool numbers will jump through the roof with these match-ups as well.  Should be a fun night of hockey ahead.

Note... I am only posting the teams we'll see out West.

The Battle of Ontario will rage on, opening up Hockey Night In Canada, as Atlantic Division rivals, Ottawa and Toronto, will go head-to-head.  The Senators opened up their season last night against the Buffalo Sabres, winning/losing.  The Leafs won their opener in Montreal, 4-3, on Tuesday and then won in Philadelphia on Wednesday, in preparation of their home opener tonight.

The Senators were a popular team in the hockey pool draft, having 13 players taken, including both goaltenders, Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner.  There was one preseason demotion in Mika Zibanejad, which will bring the number of active Senators on the ice down to 11 tonight, but that's still a pretty good number for this game.  The leading point-getter from last night for the Sens was...

The Leafs, I profiled before opening night on Tuesday, haven't seen any changes, as John-Michael Liles and T.J. Brennan are still in the minors and it looks like James Reimer/Jonathan Bernier will get the start tonight, leaving the other starter on the bench, leaving 12 active Leafs players on the ice in the draft tonight.  The Leafs' have seen some scoring by committee in their first two games, as eight pool players lead the team with 2 points each.

Brenda leads the pool with five active players in this game, two Senators and three Leafs players, while Stuart has three active players for this game, two Senators and one Leaf.  14 of 24 teams have active players in this game tonight, so there'll be a lot of action in this one.

In the late game, Pacific Division rivals, the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, will go at Rogers Arena on the West Coast, which should shape up to be a pretty good game.  The Oilers opened up their campaign with a 5-4 loss to Winnipeg on Tuesday night, which was their only game in the week, while the Canucks lost, 4-1, in San Jose on Thursday to open up their season.

The Oilers were also highlighted in the opening night preview and as we saw, they were a pretty popular team, with 13 selections in the pool.  Nothing has changed from opening night, as they are still sitting with two injuries (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Sam Gagner) and I would imagine, thanks to the break in between games, it will be Devan Dubnyk in net again tonight.  Ales Hemsky had a goal and an assist against the Jets on Tuesday night and will go into tonight's game as the team's leading point-getter in the pool.

As for the Canucks, they were not as popular this season as they have been in previous years, seeing only 11 selections in the draft.  The Canucks are going into this game healthy and without any key demotions to the minors and with only Roberto Luongo being taken in the draft, no one is left with a goalie sitting on the bench, so I expect all 11 players to be active in tonight's game.  Coming out of the loss against the Sharks, it was Jason Garrison (1 goal) to lead the Canucks in pool scoring.

In this game, it is Tony who leads all pool teams with active players in this game, as he has three Canucks and one Oiler for four players, which is one active player better than both Stacey C. and Brenda, who have three each.  12 of 24 teams have players playing in this one tonight.

Neal Now Out Indefinitely

Awaiting further notice on James Neal? Well, the news isn't good.

After practice this morning, the coaching staff have said that Neal is now considered to be "week-to-week" instead of day-to-day with his upper-body injury, which is a huge downgrade in his condition.  There was no word as to the nature of the injury, but for something that can take a player from questionable for playing, playing in a game and then out indefinitely after a few shifts, which leads me to guess that it's a shoulder problem and one that may have some consideration for surgery.  That's only a guess though.

Indefinitely does not serve Dale C. very well, who already has Brandon Pirri of the Blackhawks in the minors and Ryan Wilson of the Avalanche on the Injured Reserve to start the season.  In the final three days of the week, Dale only has 13 player games scheduled, when you take away these three players, which is the lowest total in the standings today.

Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 4)

On Thursday, it was reported that Gabriel Landeskog was seeing the team doctor and the early suggestions were that he was suffering from a leg injury.  The details were limited, but with the Avalanche playing at home against the Predators on Friday night, there should be some word before too long.

Landeskog failed to pick up any points in the Avalanche's 6-1 victory over Anaheim to open the season on Wednesday night, which didn't help Clayton out at all, who picked the Colorado captain in the 5th round, 114th overall.  Clayton goes into Friday night down in 18th place, having only 8 skater games played to this point.

Things were looking rather rosy for James Neal and his fantasy owners, as he did indeed dress for the Penguins on Thursday night, but it was all too good to be true, as he only lasted a few shifts, ice-time of only 3:49, before pulling himself out for fears of re-aggravating his upper-body injury.

On Friday morning, it was reported that Neal was not practicing with the club and now his status for the weekend is now up in the air.  He will be listed as day-to-day for right now.

Dale C. didn't capitalize on Neal's limited ice-time, but he isn't in bad shape heading into the weekend, sitting in 10th place, only 8 points out of 1st place.  He doesn't have the same amount of games pending that other teams do and this injury likely won't help much either.

A surprise upper-body injury was the cause of Sami Salo's absence from the season opener for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. Salo had reportedly been healthy through camp, some preseason action and even took the morning skate on Thursday morning, but it was an injury that has sidelined him. There is no other news for Salo at the moment, so he will be listed as out day-to-day for the time being.

Salo belongs to Leo M. this year, who received him in the 13th round, 308th overall.  Leo has had a tough time getting some games played in this first week of the season and Salo's injury hasn't helped.  Through three nights, Leo has only had 6 games played, but his team will ramp up here soon.

Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 3)

The Detroit Red Wings welcomed both Daniel Alfredsson and Stephen Weiss to the fold officially on Wednesday night, as they debuted in the red and white jerseys against the Buffalo Sabres. Both were hindered by injuries through the preseason, but were deemed good to go for opening night and with their presence, they pulled out a 2-1 win.

Neither player registered a point, but just having them in the line-up should be good enough (for now) for Dale C. and Stuart, who has Alfie and Weiss, respectively.

The New Jersey Devils have activated their captain, Patrik Elias, from the Injured Reserve on Thursday and he is expected to be in the line-up tonight, when the team takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins to start their 2014 regular season.  Elias has been dealing with a mystery ailment, which kept him out of the last couple weeks of preseason action, but he has been given the green light to play and that is exactly what he'll do.

Good news for Chris M., who picked Elias in the 4th round of the draft, 80th overall.  If Elias has a healthy year, he could be a bargain pick-up, even from the 4th round.

The word from Pittsburgh Penguins camp is that James Neal is unlikely to go tonight in the season opener against the Devils, as he is dealing with an upper-body injury.  There were some rumblings about the injury on Wednesday and now that it is game day, it appears more and more likely that he'll be out for tonight's match-up.  So far, there is no word as to the nature or the severity of the injury, but we'll have him listed as out day-to-day, until further notice.

Neal was Dale C.'s 2nd round pick, 26th overall, this year, which is a pretty high pick to be missing games from.  Here's hoping that he'll be able to jump back in the line-up before too long.  Dale is off to a slow start, with only 2 points out of the first two nights worth of action.

Player Notes in the Draft (Oct 2)

As expected, the Carolina Hurricanes did recall rookie defenseman Ryan Murphy on Tuesday, a few days ahead of the team's opening game, home to the Red Wings on Friday.  The move to send down the youngster was primarily cap-related, as some movement up and down through the minors and a top end entry-level contract was necessary, as the Hurricanes are saving as much cap room as possible through the year.

Murphy should have a solid spot on the team and should be a good pick through the year.  Murphy was the second-to-last pick in the draft, by Allan S., so there was very little risk to take a rookie defenseman in this spot.

The New York Islanders were without speedy forward Michael Grabner at practice on Tuesday, as he was sitting out with a bout of the flu.  The Islanders do not kick off their season until Friday as well, so there should be plenty of time to get himself recovered and ready to go.  Grabner was back at practice on Wednesday morning, so this update is just for reference sake.

Grabner is Dale C.'s 11th round pick, 263rd overall, looking to be a pretty good sleeper pick this year.

Much like Ryan Murphy above, Beau Bennett was recalled from the minors on Wednesday morning, a day ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins' opening game, tomorrow at home to the Devils.  The Penguins are one of ten teams that are already employing the Long Term Injury Reserve cap relief on this season, saving some cap hits on players that are injured for 10 game or more, so cap space is at a premium.  Bennett should be figuring into the Pittsburgh top six, so he should be a good pick-up.

Bennett was Scott's 12th round pick, 276th overall, and his stock is on the rise.  There was little concern for Scott, who got off to a good start on Tuesday night, picking up 3 points, and should really be looking forward to the Penguins/Devils game.

The Washington Capitals opened their season on Tuesday night against the Blackhawks, a 6-4 loss, and they were able to do so with forward Brooks Laich in their line-up, who was battling a hip injury in the preseason. Laich played over 17 minutes in the opening game and had a shot on goal, a couple of hits and had a -2 rating in the game.

Just being in the line-up should be good for Allan S., who had picked Laich in the 11th round (242nd overall), but with six players going on Tuesday night and only 1 point to show for it, Allan may have been asking for a little bit more from his guy.

The Winnipeg Jets spoiled the home opener for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, 5-4, and did so with defenseman Zach Bogosian in the line-up.  Bogosian opened up his season with 1 assist in the win, which isn't a bad start for the defender.  Bogosian was on the ice for over 22 minutes, had a shot on net and was a +2 in the game, which can only mean good things for the Jets going forward.

Bogosian was Stacey C.'s 7th round pick, 159th overall, so there is some higher expectations for the Winnipeg blueliner.  Having that early point was good, especially since Stacey had the second-most players playing in the night.

Welcome to Opening Night of the 2013-2014 NHL Season

It's finally here! October is finally here! Drop the puck already!

I don't know how the rest of you feel, but that pretty much sums up my anxiousness, waiting for this NHL season to start.  I think we're in for a doozy this year, especially with all the changes in place... realignment, salary cap shrinking and so on and so forth.

We've got a pool record, 24 teams competing this year for the whole she-bang!  I'm still working on prizing, but I hope to have that sorted out before too long.

There are three games tonight and in honour of opening night, I thought I'd open up a quick preview of the three, in terms of the pool... my gift to you to celebrate the new season.

One of the best things about opening night is that there is generally some Hockey Night In Canada to be had and there is... a doubleheader, no less!  Opening up the double-bill is the old rivalry, Toronto at Montreal.  This should prove to be a hell of a game, as both teams are out to prove to each other that they've gotten better over the off-season and are ready to exercise their dominance over one another.

In the pool this year, there were 13 Canadiens taken and 15 Leafs taken... lots of expectation from the pool this year.  Further to the point, two Leafs were demoted on Monday, so that brings us to 13 & 13 active for tonight's game and it sounds like James Reimer will get the start for Toronto, which means Jonathan Bernier will be on the bench to start.  That still leaves us with 25 pool players on the ice for this game, so we shouldn't really complain.

Allan leads the way with four players in this game, two Habs and two Leafs, while Brenda has three active players, as does Ryan V. and Stacey M..  If this is a high scoring game, then there are going to be lot of happy teams in the pool to start the year.  15 out of 24 teams have at least one player playing in this game to start the year.

The Stanley Cup champions get to start the season with a banner raising on opening night and on that night, they'll welcome Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, which has the potential for some real fireworks to start the year, wouldn't you say?

This game has its fair share of players in the pool this year, which should come as no surprise.  These are two teams with high octane offenses and some high expectations.  We have 13 Blackhawks on the one side and 12 Capitals taken on the other side.  Brandon Pirri and Dimitri Orlov were demoted, one from each side, in the days leading up to the season, which brings the totals down a little, but they're still in good shape.  On the Washington side, we also have both goalies being taken, so I would assume that it will be Michal Neuvirth sitting on the bench to start, while Braden Holtby starts the year as the number one.

Heading into this game, it is a tie between Wyllie and Scott, as they each have three players in this game.  Both have a pair of Blackhawks and a Capitals player in this one, so they'll be pro-Chicago for the end result, I'm sure.  16 out of 24 pool teams have active players in this game, while Chris M.'s only player is down in the minors or else it would have been 17 teams.  That's still a pretty good attendance ratio.

The late game of the Hockey Night In Canada doubleheader will see another all-Canadian match-up, as the Winnipeg Jets will play their first game in the Western Conference, taking on the Oilers in Edmonton.  They are not division rivals, like the old days, but they will see each other enough times this year to resemble some of the old Smythe Division rivalry most of us grew up with.

13 Oilers were taken this year, two of which are injured to start the year (Sam Gagner and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins), so 11 will be active and Devan Dubnyk is the projected starter tonight, leaving Jason LaBarbera on the bench tonight.  That leaves 10 Oilers on the ice tonight.

12 Jets were taken this year and one of them will start on the Injured Reserve (Grant Clitsome), leaving 11 active Winnipeg players to start the year.  Only Ondrej Pavelec was taken from their crease, so there should be no benched players, in theory.

I'm sure Stacey C. is hoping that these two teams shoot out the lights at Rexall Place, because he has five active players playing, not to mention the two injured players that will be in the press box.  Stacey has three Oilers and two Jets going and they are all of reasonable talent, so a 2-1 shootout win for the Jets wouldn't be in his best interest.  Brenda isn't too far behind, as she has four players in this game, three Oilers and Pavelec.  All told, there are 12 teams with interest in this game.

On the plus side, everyone has at least one player going on opening night, with four teams only having one player going. They may not be having the best night, but that's okay, there are many more nights to come.

Brenda leads the pool with active players with eight going tonight, while Allan and Stacey C. each have six active players going and John S. has five.  There are a few fours, a few more threes and plenty of pairs, so we should be in for a heck of a start.

Kessel Signs His Life to the Leafs

The rumbles started fairly early on Tuesday morning and it wasn't long before all that smoke turned into a raging fire. The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they had signed their superstar, Phil Kessel, to a new 8-year, $64 million extension.

Kessel was set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2014 season, so the Leafs were becoming proactive on getting their main man locked up for the long term, making him forego free agency and likely saved themselves from finding out what his actual market value is.

In the shortened 2013 season, Kessel scored 20 goals and 32 assists in 48 games, finishing 13th in pool scoring, 8th among forwards and now he's poised to build on that season, which saw the Leafs make the playoffs in forever.

If this deal was to have any implication on the pool, it would most likely be that Kessel is no-longer playing for a contract. You can now question his heart, now that he has the cash guaranteed and now it will test his overall commitment to the team. John S. took Kessel in the 2nd round, 41st overall, which could be a huge bargain, if he continues to score at his torrid pace or it could be about right, if he drops to more complacent levels.