Ducks Send Smith-Pelly to Montreal

Playoff teams making a hockey deal in the week's lead up to the trade deadline.  Plus, it's pool related, so that's a positive as well!

The Anaheim Ducks sent forward Devante Smith-Pelly to the Montreal Canadiens for rookie forward Jiri Sekac in a straight-up hockey deal.

		2015 Season				Cap Hit
To Montreal	POS	GP	G	A	P	2015	2016
Devante Smith-Pelly	F	54	5	12	17	$800k	1 year, $800k
---
To Anaheim	POS	GP	G	A	P	2015	2016
Jiri Sekac	F	50	7	9	16	$925k	1 year, $925k

On the surface, this looks like a pretty simple deal to wrap our heads around.  Montreal was looking for a little more crash and bang, while the Ducks wanted a little bit more suave and skill in their lineup.  Coming across in numbers, there really isn't a big enough difference to say that one team over-matched the other, cap space in either this year or next isn't necessarily going to make a difference.

Smith-Pelly is the only one of the two players that made it into the pool this year, even after a couple of Waiver Drafts, and he belongs to Ryan this year.  Ryan picked up Smith-Pelly in the Preseason Waiver Draft, when one of his draft picks was injured early in the preseason.

I think this could be a good move for the 22-year old, as he has already had a bunch of NHL experience and a lot of teams have scouted him to see what he can do at this level.  Obviously, the Canadiens can use a little bit more size and strength in their lineup and they really are not sacrificing anything in the speed department either.  I think with a clear goal for his game, he could really excel in Montreal.  It's a shame for Ryan, because he's down in 21st spot today.

Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 24)

The Flyers announced on Monday afternoon that goaltender Ray Emery would not accompany the team on the road to Carolina, as he nurses a lower-body injury. According to the management staff, Emery was injured at practice on Monday morning, he'll be on the list as out day-to-day, but he'll likely miss the next few days with the injury.  On the plus side, Steve Mason appears to be ready to dress again for the Flyers, but the team doesn't want him to start, rather they will be going with Rob Zepp against the Hurricanes.

So, the misery continues for Tony, who is dropping like a stone in the standings, as Emery was one of his more recent pick-ups this season.  If Emery isn't healthy and Mason is on his way back to health, Tony's chances for points from the crease diminish quickly.  Mason coming back will be a big key for Allan, who is still out of the basement and with activation of his goalie today, he'll jump up a bit in the projected games total for the rest of the week..

In what is being described as a head injury, Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg was held out of the lineup on Monday night in Anaheim and Tuesday's game in Los Angeles looks to be on the doubtful side of questionable.  Zetterberg suffered a high hit from Dallas' Jamie Benn on Saturday evening and his ice-time was definitely lessened after the shot.  This led to not being out for the skate on Sunday and a quick turnaround to saying that he was out for the game against the Ducks.  If more surfaces on his condition, a post will go up for it.

Zetterberg has been one of the reasons why Dale B. has been able to slide into the top 10 over the last couple weeks.  In 57 games this season, the 34-year old Swede has picked up 15 goals and 49 points this season, which had him ranked 44th overall, going into this week.  That's a big piece of offense taken out of a pool team, so it might be hard for Dale to stay in the top 10, if there are any long-term diagnoses.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

MCL Injury for Krejci

The undisclosed injury that kept Boston Bruins forward David Krejci out of the lineup on the weekend turned out to be a major knee injury and it will likely keep him out of action for the better part of the schedule.

The news came down that Krejci suffered a partially torn MCL in his knee and it is expected to keep the 28-year old Czech out of the lineup in the neighbourhood of 4-to-6 weeks.  The NHL calendar is now in the 21st week of a 27-week season, meaning there is only about seven weeks left to play.  The Bruins positioning for the playoffs is also a concern, obviously, as they go into the week in the last wild card spot in the East, but are 3-5-2 in their last 10 and the Panthers and Flyers are coming for them.  If the Bruins are to fall out of playoff contention before Krejci gets back, I would have a hard time believing they'll push him back into the lineup at all.

This season could be summed up as a bit of a bust for Krejci, as he'll only have appeared in 38 games, scoring 7 goals and 26 points.  Going into Monday night, he'll be ranked 227th overall in pool scoring, well down from last season, where he finished with 69 points and ended up 34th overall.

The projections for him were going down, I had him around 60 points going into the year, but you cannot really foresee injuries, when you start talking about projections, unless he is on the injury prone list.  Krejci hasn't had a full season worth of games since 2010, so he is inching closer to being on that list now.

In this year's pool, Benson took him with the 75th pick in the 4th round, which didn't seem to be an outrageous selection, but given his current standing, his season really was a bust.  Benson had been doing well, rocketing up the standings, as he was in last place at the end of Week Twelve and going into Week Twenty-One, he was in 11th, 3 points out of the top 10.

Hard to say if this will break his season, since he hasn't had a lot of time with Krejci anyways, but it certainly won't help his cause any.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

Blackhawks Send Raanta Down

On Sunday night, not long after the drubbing from the Boston Bruins earlier in the day, the Chicago Blackhawks decided to switch around their lineup a little and that included sending down goalie Antti Raanta down to Rockford of the AHL and calling up Scott Darling to take his place.

Raanta came in for some relief play on Sunday, taking over for Corey Crawford, allowing 2 goals on 16 shots and not picking up a decision, but that wasn't enough for the Blackhawks to feel confident moving forward.  Darling is scheduled to make the start on Tuesday night, so this could be translated as a shake-up for the entire roster, including the team's number one.

This season, Raanta hasn't been bad in the back-up position, picking up 7 wins and 2 shutouts in 14 appearances, averaging 1.3 points for every 60 minutes in the net, but I would begin to wonder if this was a move for the morale of the team, maybe they all needed a kick in the pants on the roster.

Raanta was a Week Eighteen Waiver Draft pick-up for Grant K., thinking he could immediately improve his goaltending using a goalie on a top end team, but for the foreseeable future, that won't be the case.  The projected games have been removed from Grant's totals for the week and he won't be collecting any AHL minutes or points this week.

Since the start of Week Nineteen, Raanta has only been in the Chicago net for a total of 93 minutes and has yet to register a point for Grant.

Grant's team starts the week in 18th place, 30 points out of the top 10.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

Week Twenty Newsletter

It was a pretty good week for top performing players in the hockey pool this past week, but it was another Week Nine Waiver Draft stand out that came up big and came up big, he did.

The Minnesota Wild are riding their new number one goalie, Devan Dubnyk, until he's ragged, in an attempt to secure their position in the 2015 playoff race.  The Wild, on the shoulders of Dubnyk, have now made it into the last wild card spot in the West, thanks to a 3-1-0 record from their keeper, who also picked up a shutout and an assist for a 9-point week.

The only blemish on his week came early on, when he lost a decision to the Canucks on Monday, but afterwards, he picked up wins against the Flames, Oilers and Stars.  The game against the Flames is where he picked up his assist and the game against the Oilers was his shutout.

There was a well-documented change in his game after his year of being dealt around the league in 2014 and it has paid off in spades for him and now the Wild, who acquired him from the Coyotes earlier on in the year.

Dubnyk has made 36 appearances between Arizona and Minnesota this year, winning 22 games, picking up 6 shutouts and adding 2 assists, which has given him 58 points this season.  That is good for 24th overall in pool scoring.

Brian has enjoyed the success that Dubnyk has seen, investing in him at the right time, even with a bunch of question marks surrounding him.  Since Week Nine, Brian has picked up 46 of his 58 points this season and has taken them and ran, as you will see below.

There is mentioning there is a chance at moving into the top 10 and then there is watching a team race right up the standings and actually do it.  Now with back-to-back Mover & Shaker nods, Brian is into 7th place and he is gunning for those who are in the money race and he means business.

Brian's team set another season-high in points in the week, picking up 42 points, which I think the 40-point barrier has only been broken by one other team this year and they are currently well in the lead.  With those 42 points, Brian jumped from 11th to 7th and he is now 35 points out of the money.  In the last couple weeks, he has made up 21 points already on Wes, who sits in 3rd place, so at this pace, he should be in the money in no time.

Of course, Brian has the Player of the Week, Devan Dubnyk, to thank for his big week, a 9-point effort will help your team along nicely, while John Tavares was no slouch, with 7 points in Week Twenty.  Tyler Johnson in Tampa and Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado also chipped in with 5 points and a few other players were on the board for him as well.  In contrast, there were three players on his active roster, who were not able to pick up points, but he has likely forgiven them for the time being.

Brian has had one of the healthiest teams all year long, but it wasn't until recently, that all of his skaters were starting to pick up a consistent point or two with the games they were playing.  His real coup has been the goalies he has picked up, as his minutes played were really bad at the start of the year, but picking up Dubnyk in Week Nine and now Cam Talbot in Week Eighteen, he has grown closer and closer to the average number of minutes collected in the pool and with leading the pool in minutes collected in Week Twenty, it is really coming around for him.

He's my team to watch now in this third segment and he'll get plenty of coverage, I'm sure, in the Trophy Talk section, as he has a lead in the third segment already.

It wasn't a good week for Tony, who hasn't seen many good weeks lately, thanks to some terrible luck.  Tony's team was only good for 12 points in Week Twenty and that saw him drop from 8th down to 15th, a significant loss overall.

Three big injuries to Boone Jenner, Tanner Pearson and Kevin Shattenkirk have devastated his side in recent weeks, as he can't seem to get any traction with games played.  The prognosis doesn't seem all that positive either, as they don't appear to be ready to go any time soon or so the last few reports have said.

His bigger players in the week were on the blueline, Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman and Calgary's Dennis Wideman, each picking up 3 points.

Tony was in a money position, sitting in 3rd last in Week Thirteen, but he has now dropped down to 15th and has no chance of making any sort of recovery, now sitting 54 points out of the money with seven weeks left to play.

TROPHY TALK

This is the third straight week where Kristy & Don have had a 70+ point lead, now sitting at 72 points and with seven weeks to go, that would mean that Grant S. would have to make up 10 or 11 points each week for the remainder of the year.

Grant has his own problems to deal with though, as his place in 2nd is in trouble, as Wes took another chunk out of that gap, which now sits at 23 points.  That is a margin that could be taken down in only a few weeks now.

Wes opened up a bit of lead of his own over 4th place, now sitting 14 points better than Clayton, but all that will take is a cold week to come back down to Earth.

The third segment has been all Brian, through two weeks, as his 79 points is already 13 points better than Benson and 16 points better than Stuart, but at least we have three different names in the Trophy Talk section.

Wyllie goes for back-to-back weeks in the lead for the Olli, the first time that has happened since Week Fifteen.  He sits 4 points back of Allan at the moment and is alone at the bottom of the pool for goals scored with only 103 to his team's name.

The Jordan bobblehead still belongs to Allan right now, but the team really falling into contention, literally, is Tony, who is still 37 games up on Allan for last, but Allan made up 6 games this week and would only need about six out of the seven weeks left to catch him, assuming Allan's team gets healthier before Tony's.

WINNING EVERY WEEK

It was the minimum amount that got both pool duos through Week Twenty in the goalie survivor competition.  Pekka Rinne won one game for Kristy & Don, while Ben Scrivens came back from a hamstring injury to win a game for Brenda & Seward.

Brenda & Seward are in a boatload of trouble this week, as the Oilers only play twice, away to Minnesota on Tuesday and home to St. Louis on Saturday, which likely means that Scrivens will get both games, but that will be the only chances he gets and they are not easy games.  Remember, they are without Henrik Lundqvist, who is dealing with a vascular concern.

ROOKIE SCORING

As expected, Dale B. continues to reel in Wilton and Mike and thanks to an 8-point week from his freshmen, Dale has dropped the gap to 1st place to only 5 points.  Mike Hoffman in Ottawa, Anders Lee on Long Island and John Klingberg in Dallas have been up to the task of earning Dale some honours this season.

LIGHTING THE LAMP

It was a busy week in the NHL, which gave every pool team still in the goal-scoring streak pool to keep going and that they did.  The two teams with 4 goals a week streaks, Kristy & Don and Stacey M., each posted more than enough goals, while the other four teams on 3 goals a week streaks are still good to go as well.

Week Twenty-One will still be busy, 41 games on the schedule, so I would imagine that there should be little problems for these teams again.

CHRIS STEWART VS ERIK COLE

Week Twenty was the week where Erik Cole did the business on Chris Stewart, as the Stars forward outscored the future ex-Sabres forward, 4-0, opening up a 5-point lead, which means a clean, crisp $5 bill on its way from Stuart's hand from Clayton's hand.  That's alright, eh?

ROUND 6 IN THE DRAFT

Pick #	Round	Pool	Player	NHL	POS	Points
117	6	Dale Corley	Vladimir Tarasenko	STL	F	59
136	6	Grant Kanwischer	Rick Nash	NYR	F	58
137	6	Cam Wagner	Bryan Little	WPG	F	49
121	6	Benson Greenley	Pavel Datsyuk	DET	F	47
131	6	Clayton Corley	Jaden Schwartz	STL	F	46
134	6	Troy Berkley	Jeff Carter	LOS	F	46
133	6	Ryan Miller	Bobby Ryan	OTT	F	43
118	6	Derek Wilton	Gustav Nyquist	DET	F	42
119	6	Brenda Farrell	Wayne Simmonds	PHI	F	42
125	6	Grant Saskiw	David Backes	STL	F	40
129	6	Tony Dourado	Dustin Byfuglien	WPG	F	40
127	6	Dale Bradley	Mikko Koivu	MIN	F	38
124	6	Stacey McDonald	Andrei Markov	MTL	D	34
135	6	Brian Towers	Nazem Kadri	TOR	F	34
123	6	Wes Moroz	Adam Henrique	NJD	F	31
116	6	Scott Gilmore	Ryan Suter	MIN	D	30
128	6	Leo Macht	Mike Cammalleri	NJD	F	28
130	6	Kristy & Don	Alex Goligoski	DAL	D	26
126	6	Stacey Campbell	Justin Schultz	EDM	D	22
122	6	Mike Somerville	Tyler Myers	WPG	D	18
132	6	Derek Wyllie	Martin Jones	LOS	G	14
138	6	Stuart Greenley	Eddie Lack	VAN	G	6
120	6	Allan Scott	Jeff Skinner	CAR	F	0

We're getting into the rounds on the weekly recap, where the number of players being dropped gets less and less.  Only two players were dropped in the end here and maybe one of them could have been saved, since Eddie Lack had been okay after the Week Nine Waiver Draft.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Week Twenty fell short of Week Thirteen's 54-game total in points, but with 645 points collected in the week, it was one of the busiest weeks on the scoreboard.  The pool averaged just under 12 points per NHL game on the calendar, which is still mighty impressive, but the biggest drop-off came from the crease, where the pool didn't collect nearly the same amount of minutes as it has been doing after Waiver Drafts.

In comparison, there were 10 games worth of minutes different between Week Twenty and Thirteen and the pool was 23 points back of the record high, which works out, assuming a few of those games would possibly been shutouts.

Weeks Twenty-One and Twenty-Two go back down to 47-game weeks, which should still provide plenty of scoring, so we're hoping that some bodies get healthy and the points go back up through the roof for the home stretch.

NEWS AND NOTES

The trade deadline is only a week away and a new log was thrown on the fire, as James Wisniewski was made into a healthy scratch, just before the game before the New York Rangers, as the Columbus Blue Jackets may have resigned themselves into being sellers at the deadline, already quite a ways out of the playoff picture.

Scott could use a little bit of a refresher for Wisniewski, as his team could use just a little bit more of a push to join the money race down the stretch.  Scott had a decent week, but still trails by over 30 points, so if Wisniewski could find his way to a contender, there could be some gap-closing scoring from there.

A collision with his own teammate on Sunday night saw Ryan Miller leave the Canucks crease against the Islanders with a lower-body injury and the reports were not positive on Monday morning.  The Canucks have sent their number one keeper back home for tests and as much as they won't know the prognosis for a day or two, they have openly came out and said that they are preparing for the worst.  An update will drop on the blog when it happens publicly.

Grant S. was still able to pick up the 2 points from Miller, as he was the goalie of record in the 4-0 win, but since the shutout was split, there wasn't any more points to be had, as it wasn't an official shutout.  2 points is still better than none, which could have happened, if the Islanders could have just registered one goal.

Link to the Injury/News Page

Kings Win Outside, Not Many Points Had

As Canadians, the warm sunny skies of California doesn't exactly scream hockey to us, but I'm certainly not going to complain when the NHL uses some expert technology to combine that warm temperate climate and the greatest game on Earth in another showcase event like the Stadium Series... hell, I wish I was down there to take it in. Maybe next time.

For the league itself, it probably couldn't have worked out any better for storylines, as the Los Angeles Kings go into Levi's Stadium to take on the host San Jose Sharks, in what ended up being a big game in the Western Conference wild card standings.  One was in, one was out at the start of the night and they were only separated by a matter of two points.

From a hockey pool perspective, a playoff-like game, plus some choppy outdoor California ice... it doesn't really add up to something that would benefit a lot of people in a 23-team hockey pool, does it?  Well, it certainly didn't.

16 pool teams had players playing in this game, so there was plenty of interest to be had throughout the standings, in theory, but when the final buzzer went and the Kings finished the game with a 2-1 win, some of us may thank our lucky stars that it finished in regulation.

In total, there were 3 goals scored, which led to only 3 assists and 1 win for a grand total of 8 available points for the hockey pool.  The opening goal of the game, non-pool forward Kyle Clifford scores from Stacey M.'s Jake Muzzin.  The Sharks tied it up later in the 1st period, when Cam's Brent Burns tallies from a dropped Tommy Wingels.  Cam takes the scoring lead, by virtue of the regular tiebreaker.  Then, early in the 3rd period, Stacey M. retakes the scoring lead, as Marian Gaborik pots the winner on a semi-break, scoring from Troy's Jeff Carter.

Grant S. also picked up the 2 points for the Jonathan Quick win, but with a goal and an assist, Stacey M. takes the Stadium Series nod in the pool, with a whopping 2 points, thanks to the tiebreaker.

I'm all for the outdoor games, but with some fairly low scoring games, it doesn't seem to be one of those things that would generate a lot of interest for any mini-games in the hockey pool.  There will be some consideration for the special events to mean something for another game for a team's money back, but at this point, it does seem unlikely.

Next season, there will be the three outdoor games, one Winter Classic and two Stadium Series games, which will be outlined for shits and giggles on the blog, but it does seem unlikely that they will mean anything.

TSN's Trade Bait in the Draft

The countdown is getting closer and closer, dwindling down to the trade deadline in the NHL and there is a lot of potential for movement, but isn't there always potential each year?  As always, I'll be watching TSN's coverage of the deadline, mostly because I think it is the most thorough and least flamboyant of the two networks, as they just get down to business.

This season, they have their list of the top 10 players they believe are most likely to get dealt at the deadline, their Trade Bait, and I want to see how it stacks up in the draft, since that's why some of us are watching.

First up on the list is Arizona's Antoine Vermette, who fits the bill as the biggest prize for a playoff contending team.  He plays centre, decent in the faceoff circle and in his own zone, has a bit of flair for the offensive side of the game and doesn't carry the biggest cap hit into his new side.  Vermette is definitely the kind of player that a team that picks him up, may want to keep him around past the end of the playoffs, so I fully expect that team to give up a conditional draft pick for his services, beyond the 2015 playoffs.

Vermette also belongs to Cam in the pool this year, a team that has some potential of their own for some prizes at the end of the year, so he is one of the biggest names to move on this blog.  Today, Cam sits in 5th place, only 13 points out of 3rd and the stretch run could see that gap shrink, if Vermette heads to an offensive team.

Teams that fit the bill for Vermette's services, I believe Tampa Bay could really make a big pitch for him.  They have the space, the desire and the young talent in the wings that they could use as bait to get him out of the desert.

The top defenseman on the list is Carolina's Andrej Sekera, who could fetch a club like the Hurricanes some valuable future assets, as the team looks to retool their side in the Eastern Conference.  Sekera broke through with some upside last season and hasn't quite found the same amount of 'wow' that the team needed to really compete, but he at least gave the club a reasonable piece to move, since he is an unrestricted free agent in the Summer.

The 28-year old Slovak doesn't quite have the same pool value that Vermette has, as he belongs to Wyllie, who continues to fight to stay out of last place.  A move for Sekera could definitely help that cause, as any offense would be good offense at the bottom of the table.

There are lots of teams that could bid for Sekera's services, as offensive defensemen are hard to come by and even harder to keep.  With the way the Montreal Canadiens play, I could see them make a push on Sekera, trying to shore up the blueline behind a known injury-prone defender like Andrei Markov.

The Buffalo Sabres continue to be in the market of selling their moveable assets and in there is forward Chris Stewart, who has been hanging on by a thread in the lineup of late, likely more for showcasing than anything else.  His numbers have dwindled of late, but his size certainly hasn't, which still makes him an attractive piece to a team that wants a little bit more size and grit for the dirty games down the stretch and in the playoffs.  Maybe elsewhere, he can also find his scoring touch again.

Stuart decided to pick up the 27-year old forward, in hopes of a big spark from a deal at the deadline, but it has yet to happen.  Stuart doesn't exactly have a line on the prize money at the end of the year, but he does have a side bet, involving his Week Eighteen pick-up, so there is some money involved there.

The Boston Bruins have undoubtedly been the team most associated with Stewart during the deadline rumour chats, but as they continue to fall out of contention, barely hanging on to the last wild card spot, their desire to part with pieces for the future for a Cup run seems more and more unlikely.  Stewart's annual cap hit of over $4 million does make him difficult to move to some contenders and I'm sure Buffalo's asking price will scare off the uncertain as well.  However, I could see Nashville make a play for him, even though they've already made some deals, possibly waiting for the asking price to go down.

Can you tell that Carolina is in a selling mode?  Their second player on the pool list is Jiri Tlusty, who certainly can provide some offensive flair to a team, possibly in a third line role for his new club.  The Czech winger has 13 goals this season and skates pretty well, so he should be attractive to teams that are decent down the middle and just need a bit more help from the boards.

Tlusty has been the least effective player on Kristy & Don's team this season, but that really isn't saying a lot, given that their team is filled with players that have been off-the-charts this year.  If Tlusty can find himself in a spot where he gets more offensive chances, it just makes their pool-winning team that much better.

I don't see Tlusty going anywhere within the division in the East, since there are more teams there that could use him on that side, but I can see him finding a fit with the Winnipeg Jets in the West.  The Jets have assets, they have picks and they have a decent chance at the playoffs.  Adding a little bit more of an offensive punch, especially with the injury to Mathieu Perreault, this move does make a lot of sense.

Finally, the Calgary Flames are in the mix for the playoffs, but they are still a young team, where expectation isn't very high and the need to win in these playoffs, hasn't been deemed as necessary.  The team could still potentially make the playoffs, even with selling off some assets and the top player that comes to the forefront is Curtis Glencross, a potential UFA in July, and a versatile player that can give any contending team a boost.  Glencross has reportedly given his list to the Flames, so it sounds like just a matter of time before the deal gets done.

In the pool, Glencross has only been a marginal player for Mike, accounting for only 6.7% of his total points at 27 tallies to the good in 50 games.  Mike is in the bottom half of the standings and doesn't stand to make much out of a deal for Glencross at this time.

Where does he go?  Well, he's the perfect compliment to a Chicago Blackhawks team, both in grit and in skill.  His fairly low cap hit could definitely fit in at the Madhouse on Madison and the Blackhawks have plenty of future assets to move.  The Flames don't have to move him, but they likely will, the combination suggesting that they could get quite a bit for him in the end.

Other pool players were watching at the deadline include: Erik Cole of the Stars, Jaromir Jagr of the Devils, Karri Ramo of the Flames and Marek Zidlicky of the Devils.

More Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 21)

A total of 11 games in the NHL this morning/afternoon/evening, including the NHL Stadium Series game, which is the only late game of the night from Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.  The early games today start at 10:30am MT, so we'll have an early update with a lot of probables and not a lot of confirmed starters.

The 10:30am game, we'll have the Islanders taking on the Capitals in Washington and in this one, we'll see Braden Holtby for the Caps, taking on Chad Johnson and the Isles.  Both are confirmed this morning and getting started here right away.  It'll be Stacey C. versus Mike, respectively, in this one, which is a bottom half battle in the pool standings.

At 11am, the Flyers will play host to the Predators and we know that Philadelphia will send Rob Zepp out against one of the best teams in the league, taking minutes away from the pool, while the Predators...

Other confirmed match-ups this evening... Michael Hutchinson in net for Cam and the Jets, taking on Jonathan Bernier for Troy and the Leafs, which is a good battle in the top half of the standings; while Carey Price and the Habs host Curtis McElhinney and the Blue Jackets in a Wes versus Stuart crease battle.

There is one goalie match-up that sees pool goalie versus pool goalie on the same team, as Brian Elliott is the confirmed starter for the Blues, projected to go up against pool teammate Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins, in a battle of Clayton's goalies.  A shutout either way would be a good result, right?

Non pool goalies expected to go tonight... Andrew Hammond for the Senators, Anton Khudobin for the Hurricanes, Keith Kinkaid for the Devils and anyone the Ducks throw out there against the Oilers.

In the late game, we'll see Antti Niemi as a confirmed starter for the home side, which is the Sharks, while it is expected that he'll see the Kings' number one goalie, Jonathan Quick on the other side.  If we were relying on the pool teams to decide this game, Grant S.'s keeper, Quick, would have a cake walk through Allan's keeper, Niemi.  Thankfully, it isn't and that's why we play the game... to see how all the if's and but's play out.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 21)

Despite taking the pregame skate, Canucks forward Alex Burrows was a late scratch from Friday night's game against the Devils, due to what the team called a lower-body injury. Burrows played the night before and helped in the shootout against the Rangers, but something obviously wasn't quite right the next night, so he was held out. His status for Sunday's game on Long Island is questionable.

I'm guessing that both the Canucks and Clayton could have used Burrows in the lineup last night, as the NHL team dropped a 4-2 decision to the Devils, while the pool team still sits 4 points and a tie-breaker out of 3rd place.

The reports from the Bruins' 6th straight loss was that they also lost the services of forward David Krejci, to an undisclosed injury after missing a check and falling hard into the boards against the St. Louis Blues.  The team hasn't given any indication of the pivot's status for the team's next game, Sunday afternoon in Chicago, but they did say that he did fly with the team, giving him a chance at possibly playing, rather than being sent home for further evaluation.

Krejci belongs to one of the top three teams in the early part of the third segment, as Benson's team has been hot of late.  Thanks to injuries throughout the season, Krejci has been a disappointment for the now 14th place team in the standings, but his hot streak has only put him 8 points out of the top 10.

The Detroit Red Wings have done well this season, despite some of their injury problems this season. On Friday, the team had to recall defenseman Jakub Kindl from his conditioning stint in the AHL, because Kyle Quincey was hurt in practice earlier in the day.  It's hard to say exactly what the injury or playing status is for either player, but it is worth mentioning at this point.  The Red Wings are in Dallas to take on the Stars on Saturday night.

These two defensemen belong to struggling teams in the pool right now, as Tony's season gets progressively worse through injury, Dale C.'s season has just gone cold for the most part.  Tony loses Quincey to injury, compounding a week where he only has 8 points through Friday night and possibly loses a skater game.  Dale, however, possibly sees the return of a defenseman, who hasn't provided him much since being acquired at the Waiver Draft.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 20)

The flu bug reared its ugly head again this season, scratching Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk from the game against the Panthers on Thursday night.  He's on the shelf on a day-to-day basis and he should be expected back for Saturday's game, when Columbus comes to town.

The 21-year old forward has been coming around nicely for Dale C. this season, picking up 16 goals and 36 points in 57 games with the Habs, which ranks him 114th overall in pool scoring.  Dale could have used him last night, however, as his team is currently flirting with the Basement Dweller of the Week designation, with only 8 points through Thursday night.

Seven moer games on the NHL schedule on Friday night and it might not be as pool-friendly in the crease, as it has been in recent days. Through Thursday night, we were in the realm of reaching some of the high points in minutes collected in a week, but it sounds like we may see a number of teams go with some non-pool goalies.

The Rangers and Sabres will go head-to-head with non-pool goalies, as Mackenzie Skapski will make his first NHL start against Anders Lindback.  Eddie Lack is the scheduled goalie to go for the Canucks in New Jersey on back-to-back nights.  John Gibson is also scheduled to go for the Ducks in Calgary tonight, due to injury.  Malcolm Subban is definitely going to get his first NHL start tonight, I know I teased it before, but now all signs are pointing to it actually happening against the Blues.  That might be something to watch for future pools.  Finally, James Reimer appears to be going for the Maple Leafs against the Hurricanes tonight, yet another dropped goalie getting a start.

We have a good race in the Mover & Shaker department this week, as Brian and Mike are racing neck-in-neck through Thursday night, both with 22 points.  Brian  has Devan Dubnyk back in the Wild net, as they take on the Oilers, while Mike has Jake Allen going for the Blues, as they host the Bruins.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

Concussion Train Rolls Through Ottawa

The collision between Ottawa teammates, forward Clarke MacArthur and goalie Robin Lehner, has proven costly, as both players have been diagnosed with concussions and we're placed on the Injured Reserve this week, retroactive to their injury date, which was Monday night.  Both will be eligible to come off next week, but with the tests taking as long as they did, this could be more of a longer-term issue.

The Senators have already done some call-ups this week, bringing up Chris Driedger to back-up Andrew Hammond in net, having dressed on Wednesday night.  At the forward position, they have called up Matt Puempel, who will try and earn a spot in the morning skates.

MacArthur is the more valuable member of the hockey pool circles, as he has scored 13 goals and 26 points in 53 games, scoring at a shade under half a point-per-game.  He is currently ranked in 209th overall in pool scoring.

At the time of the injury, Lehner was filling in for the injured Craig Anderson, picking up some valuable minutes, but his numbers hadn't really improved a great deal.  Lehner has 9 wins and 1 assist for 19 points this year, averaging 0.77 points for every 60 minutes he plays.  Through Thursday's action, he ranks 317th in pool scoring.

This could be a significant blow to Grant S.'s team, as it has been fairly healthy all year, ranking 8th in skater games played, his lead over 3rd place is now down to 27 points, shrinking slowly with seven weeks to go in the season.  MacArthur may not have been a big scorer for his side, but taking half a point away from every game he misses could add up before too long.

The race to not be last place has been somewhat interesting and it gets a little bit more interesting, as Ryan loses one of his goalies, compounding the unlucky season he has been having.  As of Friday morning, his team is 11 points clear of last place, but the competition in the injury department is fierce and it has been tit-for-tat of late.  Who knows how it will finish.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

Grabovski Believed to be Concussed

On Friday morning, the New York Islanders announced that forward Mikhail Grabovski was placed on the Injured Reserve, but they didn't mention the exact injury that he suffered. There was plenty of reason to think that the 31-year old Belorussian suffered a concussion after getting leveled by Nashville's Eric Nystrom with a clean open-ice hit.

Grabovski was on the ice for a little while after the hit, but there was footage of him leaving on his own power, which was a good sign.  The IR designation means that he will miss at least a week's worth of action, which is the minimum amount of time that he'll miss under the concussion protocol as well, but there was really nothing there to suggest that he would be faster than a week.

In 51 games, the free agent signing from the Summer has 9 goals and 19 points with the club, which ranks him 308th overall in pool scoring, after Thursday night.

Allan took Grabovski (of course he did!) in the 13th round, 295th overall and was getting relatively the right amount of production out of him, comparing ranking to draft position.  Unfortunately, not everyone on his team has been running at the same capacity and his team is now mired 5 points below 22nd and dropping skater games like it's nobody's business.

Allan is the current leader for both non-pool winning bobbleheads, as his skater games gap is now 19 games, and it will only get worse, now that Grabovski won't be giving him any help in the near future.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

Pool Preview of Saturday's Stadium Series Game

You didn't think we were done with the special events already, did you?  No, we have one more outdoor game to speak of this season and since the Stadium Series game was a hit at Dodger Stadium last year, the State of California earned themselves another one, this time at Levi's Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers.

In this year's game, we'll see the San Jose Sharks play host to the Los Angeles Kings and we should be in for a treat this weekend.

The forecast for the marquee game on Saturday night is still rather warm, but it sounds like the NHL is all over working extra hard to make sure that the game is being played.  The warmer weather didn't hurt the game last year, so they certainly have some precedent to work from.

16 teams in the pool have players playing in this year's Stadium Series game and there is a total of 23 players being represented in the pool as well.  Stacey M. leads all pool teams with three players going, while Cam, Troy, Brenda & Seward, Brian and Allan all have a couple of players each.

Player Name	Team	P	Draft
Antti Niemi	SAN	57	Allan Scott
Joe Pavelski	SAN	53	Cam Wagner
Logan Couture	SAN	51	Ryan Miller
Joe Thornton	SAN	51	Stuart Greenley
Jonathan Quick	LOS	51	Grant Saskiw
Brent Burns	SAN	44	Cam Wagner
Jeff Carter	LOS	43	Troy Berkley
Anze Kopitar	LOS	42	Brenda Farrell
Patrick Marleau	SAN	42	Dale Bradley
Tyler Toffoli	LOS	36	Grant K.
Drew Doughty	LOS	33	Clayton Corley
Marian Gaborik	LOS	32	Stacey McDonald
Justin Williams	LOS	28	Mike Somerville
Jake Muzzin	LOS	26	Stacey McDonald
Tomas Hertl	SAN	22	Stacey McDonald
Justin Braun	SAN	19	Brian Towers
Marc-Edouard Vlasic	SAN	17	Benson Greenley
Alec Martinez	LOS	17	Brenda Farrell
Brayden McNabb	LOS	17	Brian Towers
Tanner Pearson	LOS	16	Tony Dourado
Melker Karlsson	SAN	16	Troy Berkley
Mike Richards	LOS	15	Allan Scott
Martin Jones	LOS	14	Derek Wyllie

Scoring in the table above is from Wednesday morning, so it may not be the most accurate, but it will still give you an idea of where the pool points have come from between these two teams.  

The two teams are pretty close in the standings, heading into the weekend, with the Sharks carrying a narrow lead in and the pool points give a pretty solid indication that it should be the case too, especially given the numbers from the starting goalies and the rest of the pool points out there.

We'll likely have a quick recap of the game on Sunday morning, with pool points and everything!

Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 19)

A minor ankle tweak was enough to keep Anaheim defenseman Hampus Lindholm out of the lineup for the game against the Lightning on Wednesday night. Lindholm was a game-time decision for the Ducks, which suggests that the injury isn't too serious and that his day-to-day status will stay just that.

The 21-year old Swede belongs to Stuart in the draft this year, but Stuart's team hasn't been doing quite so well.  His team finished Wednesday night in 17th position, already 9 points behind his brother, Benson, who zipped past him earlier in the year.

Another defenseman injured on Wednesday night, as Minnesota's Jared Spurgeon left the game in Calgary after taking a puck to the face in the 1st period.  He was unable to return to the game and now his status for Friday's game in Edmonton is now questionable.  There hasn't been many more updates on his situation, but there is a good likelihood that he has to go through a battery of tests, before he can play again.

Spurgeon's injury just adds to the woes of Allan, who moved back into 23rd place after Wednesday night's action.  Allan is only 1 point out of 22nd, but now sits 10 points back of 21st.  What an awful season for Allan and his team.

Seven NHL games on Thursday night, which means there are 14 goalies going, all of which appear to be in the pool, so there are lots of points to be had.

Out of the 23 pool teams, 12 teams have goalies going, while Stuart and Tony have both of their goalies on the go tonight.

The notable projected starters tonight are more injury replacements, as Curtis McElhinney (Stuart) will be in the net for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Cam Talbot (Brian) will get the start for the New York Rangers and Ray Emery (Tony) will go for the Philadelphia Flyers.  All three goalies were Week Eighteen Waiver Draft picks and for good reason, I'd think is fair to say.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.