Well, as if Aaron wasn't having any less luck with his pool team, it seems as one goaltender becomes healthy, the other one falls to an injury. If this sort of thing persists, it will make for a long season in the pool.
On Thursday, the Florida Panthers announced that Tomas Vokoun (Aaron) had injured his ankle when teammate Mike Van Ryn (Dale C.) fell on it during the game against Montreal. Vokoun managed to stay in the game and get the win through the shootout, but that seems to be where all the good news ends. Vokoun is currently listed as day-to-day and will have an MRI done on it on Thursday. Tonight, the Panthers are in Toronto and they'll put Craig Anderson (Box 24) between the pipes.Technorati Tags
NHL, Hockey, Hockey Pool, Injury, Florida Panthers, Tomas Vokoun
In Columbus, Pascal Leclaire is looking to take back what was rightfully his when Marc Denis (Dale C.) went to Tampa Bay. Leclaire has opened the season with a couple shutout wins for a glorious 8 points and the growing confidence of Head Coach, Ken Hitchcock. He could, before long, have the bulk of the work for the Blue Jackets.
In a platoon situation, much like last season, Chris Osgood is making the best of his starts, winning 2 games so far this season. While Dominik Hasek is the preferred number one, Osgood will take his starts when they come and being a Red Wing, there's always a good chance for a win.
Even with J-S Giguere's (Dale C.) injury at the beginning of the year, I found it suprising that no one had Ilya Bryzgalov on their list. Now, with his two wins, he might be an interesting commodity, especially if Giguere's back doesn't hold up for all that long. There are no guarantees in the crease, but the next few weeks could give a good idea of whether or not Bryzgalov is a worthy pick-up.
In the back-up sense, the numbers show that there are very few who compare to the Wild's Josh Harding. Harding has 3 career shutouts in 8 career starts... including a 37-save effort in his season debut against the Ducks on the 14th. Niklas Backstrom (Peter) is the number one in Minnesota, but Harding should be a good back-up through the year, one who will give Backstrom a few extra days off before the playoffs start.
Now, there are several goalies who only have 1 win and 2 points on the season so far, but I thought I would point towards Carey Price, who will get his second start against Ottawa tonight (Thursday). The rookie stayed up with the team after training camp and played well in his first career start against Pittsburgh. Now, Cristobel Huet (Stuart) hasn't played badly, but the Habs are not getting the results. Will this open the door for Price to play a bit more? Maybe if he's getting the wins.
Leading the pack for available defenders is Jaroslav Spacek of the Buffalo Sabres. Spacek has already tallied 4 goals this season and is 2nd in defensemen scoring with 6 points. With no Teppo Numminen in the line-up for the early part of the season, Spacek has really been able to open up his offensive play.
Brought back to North America from Europe, Cory Murphy has done some good for the Florida Panthers already this season. Murphy has a goal and 5 assists for the Panthers and has given the team an anchor from which they can create a little bit more up front.
Losses in Nashville have given Dan Hamhuis more opportunity and ice-time and he's rewarded the team with a goal and 5 assists. The Predators are known for their good young defenders and Hamhuis now finally looks to be coming into his own... just in time.
A picture-less Randy Jones is a benefactor of a revived Flyers team this season. The Flyers have been able to score a lot of goals and just about everyone has been able to touch the puck before it's gone in, so there's ample opportunity for some good point production from just about anyone. Jones has a goal and 4 assists so far this year.
Last season, the Sharks acquired Craig Rivet from Montreal for their playoff run and he's managed to stick around in the Shark Tank, recording 5 assists for his team this season.
Believe it or not (I certainly don't), but Nik Antropov is the top forward for the Week Ten Waiver Draft. His 5 goals and 9 points rank him 7th in league scoring and give him a leg up on the competition. He's slowly becoming a hero, rather than his annual position as goat, in Toronto. Will he last another five weeks to be the first pick in the Waiver Draft?
Also with five goals in this early part of the season, Niklas Hagman of the Stars is sitting with 7 points and ranking 21st in league scoring. He's turned out to be an early surprise for the Stars, one which they'll take since they had plenty of trouble scoring goals last season. Will he keep up this pace?
Available in the Selection Sheet pool, Ruslan Fedotenko has had a reasonable start to the season and could be someone to look towards when the Waiver Draft hits. 2 goals and 5 assists is what he's tallied in 6 games so far this season. He's in the Top 40 of players and could be a good sparkplug for your pool team.
Also available on the Selection Sheet, Brad Boyes of the Blues has quietly racked up 6 points in 5 games. Boyes has scored 4 goals so far this season and could be the most promising of the players so far available on this short list.
Known as more of a defensive forward, the Devils have really enjoyed the emergence of John Madden as player who's generating offense. Madden has 4 goals and 6 points for New Jersey so far this season and with the lack of Scott Gomez in the swamp, Madden's offensive role may have increased and possibly rightly so.
Well, in a fight in the game on Saturday, Sheldon Souray (Marcus, Box 4) separated his shoulder and now is listed as out indefinitely. A monster blow to a team who is in need of some good news. The team started a 3-game road trip on Saturday in Vancouver and still have stops in Phoenix (Thursday) and Calgary (Saturday, HNIC) to go. Depending on the severity of the injury, Souray is looking at a layoff which could reach a month long. Is this worth a trade?
