Power Rankings Week Through 01/09/2010

NHL Power Rankings presented by The Hockey Guys. These rankings will be released every Sunday directly following the show and summarize the thinking of Anthony Curatolo, Brandon Augienello and Dustin Leed.

Legend: Rank – Team – Record – (Last Week) Position Change

1. Chicago Blackhawks 31-10-4 (2) +1 When you are the best you simply are the best.
2. San Jose Sharks 28-10-7 (1) -1 A few losses have shifted gears in the power rankings for the Sharks.
3. New Jersey Devils 31-10-1 (3) N/C Although the lights went out in New Jersey, the Devils haven’t lost a step in their standings.
4. Buffalo Sabres 28-11-5 (6) +2 Good teams prove that winning comes more often then not.
5. Washington Capitals 27-11-6 (9) +4 Captain Ovechking leads the charge and Washington climbs back into the top five.

Injury Updates 01/09/2010

Here are your NHL injury updates for tonight, January 9, 2010:

Tonight’s Injuries

New York Rangers

• Vinny Prospal skating, not expected to play today. [Steve Zipay]

Boston Bruins

• Marc Savard out 3-4 weeks. [The Boston Globe]
• Andrew Ference, Byron Bitz, Mark Stuart and Patrice Bergeron still out.

Florida Panthers

• David Booth, Kenndal McArdle and Dmitry Kulikov out.

Ottawa Senators

• Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson still out.
• Milan Michalek out with an undisclosed injury.

Goalie Starters 01/09/2010

Here are your expected starting goalies for tonight, January 9, 2010:

• Brian Elliot in nets according to Senators.com, via Twitter.
• Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe thinks Tuukka Rask starts today. Henrik Lundqvist should be his opponent, confirmed by Steve Zipay of Newsday.
• Tom Panaccio of CSN Philly writes Michael Leighton will get the nod tonight.
• Johan Hedberg makes another start according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

UPDATED @ 11:41 AM

• Martin Brodeur faces Jaroslav Halak according to Alexandre Lebrun of Corus Sports.
• Tarik El-Bashir of The Washington Post writes Michal Neuvirth gets another nod.

Daily Fantasy 3 Stars 01/06/2010

In this section, I break down the top three fantasy hockey performers every night and cite why I chose them in particular. In addition, I will track the amount of times the players have received this honor and tally them at the end of the season. For the sake of clarity, I will be using Yahoo! standard categories (Forwards – G,A,+/-, PP, PIM, SOG; Goalies – W, GAA, SV%, SHO) and thus exclude player’s salaries.

Not too busy of a night with six games and 12 teams in action.  Complete tie between the offense and defense as six teams scored two or less and six three or more.  Here are our standout fantasy stars for January 6, 2009:

THIRD STAR:  James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia Flyers (0-0-1) –  van Riemsdyk played a large role in the Flyers 6-2 route of the Leafs.  In under 14 minutes of ice time, the 20-year-old scored a powerplay goal and assisted on another. In addition, the former 2nd overall pick fired three shots on goal while finishing the game a modest plus-two.  Even though his scoring pace slowed down from a point-per-game clip at the quarter mark, this top prospect should finish with respectable numbers and eventually break out.

Injury Updates 01/06/2010

Here are your NHL injury updates for tonight, January 6, 2010:

Tonight’s Injuries

Tampa Bay Lightning

• Jeff Halpern, Matt Walker and Todd Fedoruk still out.

Buffalo Sabres

• Patrick Kaleta still day-to-day.  Held out tonight. [Sabres Edge]

Dallas Stars

• No injuries.

Goalie Starters 01/06/2010

Here are your expected starting goalies for tonight, January 6, 2010:

• A couple of teams coming off back-to-back nights.  Marty Turco and Niklas Backstrom should be in nets considering their backups played last night.  I told think the situation is as cut and dry in Calgary or Toronto, so I will keep you posted on those decisions.  In addition, the Rangers, Blues and Flyers play the first of back-to-back games, so it will be interesting to see who they choose to start on which nights. (H/T to Joe English for the Turco decision)
• Michael Leighton confirmed by The Official Twitter Page of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Injury Updates 01/05/2010

Here are your NHL injury updates for today, January 5, 2010:

Tonight’s Injuries

Florida Panthers

• Dmitry Kulikov, David Booth and Kenndal McArdle still out.

Toronto Maple Leafs

• Carl Gunnarson expected back in 7-10 days.  [Jonas Siegel]
• Olympian Mike Komisarek set to miss the next two games. [James Mirtle]
• John Mitchell returns tonight. [Leafs Twitter]
• Mike Van Ryn out for the season.

Goalie Starters 01/05/2010

Here are your expected starting goalies for January 5, 2010:

• Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson starts for the Leafs according to Jonas Siegel of Toronto’s AM 960.
• The Ottawa Senators Official Twitter writes Brian Elliot gets the nod in goal.
• Michal Neuvirth gets another try says Tarik El-Bashir of The Washington Post.
• Dave Stubbs with Habs Inside/Out confirms Carey Price as the Montreal tender.
• Marty Turco in nets writes Mike Heika of The Dallas Morning News. His opponent will be Martin Brodeur according to Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice.
• Seth Rorabaugh’s Empty Netters reports Brent Johnson facing Ondrej Pavelec in Pittsburgh tonight.  Will confirm on the Atlanta side of things.

UPDATED @ 11:51 AM

• Tim Thomas expected back in nets writes Fluto Shinzawa of The Boston Globe. Makes sense considering his counterpart, Tuukka Rask, started last night at Madison Square Garden.

Power Rankings Week Ending 01/03/2010

NHL Power Rankings presented by The Hockey Guys. These rankings will be released every Sunday directly following the show and summarize the thinking of Anthony Curatolo, Brandon Augienello and Dustin Leed.

Legend: Team – Record – Position Change (Last Week)

1. San Jose Sharks – 27-8-7 (4) +3  Winners of 8 straight have propelled the Sharks to the top of the THG Power Rankings. Best team in the league deserves the best.
2. Chicago Blackhawks – 28-10-3 (2) N/C The Hawks will not go away this year and look really strong. Don’t expect a drop out of the top five much at all.
3. New Jersey Devils – 29-10-1 (1) -3 Mr. Brodeur is the best in the game, and his Devils are atop the East. Need we say more?
4. Colorado Avalanche – 24-13-6 (12) +8 The Avalanche have made strides this season and are showing that not only was it a hot start to keep them where they are.
5. Nashville Predators– 25-14-3 (6) +1 The Preds have been coming on strong, more so as of late.  Dark horse in the West? Absolutely.

The Man Behind the Mask: Dwayne Roloson

Welcome to the 1st installment of “The Man Behind the Mask” series. Throughout the course of the year, we will be taking a look at the players who mean the most to the game. The Goalies. Our first article will be on none other then New York Islanders goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

In 27 games played this season the 40 year old netminder for the Islanders has been able to obtain points in all but seven of his starts. He has helped the Islanders, currently, to exceed expectations. Although the season is still closing in on the half way mark, the Islanders have a lot to prove but Roloson has provided more then enough of a boost to have the Islanders squeak into the playoffs.

Plenty of hockey left to play for Roloson and his Islanders this season and at this point anything is possible. Who knew that Roloson would be the veteran piece to have these New York Islanders, projected to be a lottery pick team again, fighting for a playoff spot? Aside from Garth Snow, no one.

Roloson brings a history worth discussing to Long Island.