Daily Fantasy 3 Stars 01/09/2010

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.

Big, big night in hockey with 13 games and 26 teams in action.  We witnessed a blow out and even a laser pointer fiasco out west.  Cheap plug but our goalie starters went 26/26.  Here are our standout fantasy stars for January 9, 2010:

THIRD STAR:  Tom Poti, Washington Capitals (0-0-1) –Poti helped the Capitals make short work of their division rivals, with a 8-1 route of the Thrashers.  The 32-year-old veteran defenseman scored a powerplay goal and assisted on two more giving him three points on the evening.  In a little under 22 minutes of ice time he also fired three shots on net while finishing the game with a perfect plus-two rating.

Injury Updates 12/30/2009

This thread will be updated all day, so keep refreshing it as the day goes along. Just a quick note, if I omitted a source it is due to a previous report with no recent updates. Here are your injury updates for tonight:

Injuries Tonight

Montreal Canadiens

• Roman Hamrlik back in, Max Pacioretty a healthy scratch.  [Habs Inside/Out]
• Paul Mara remains out.

Tampa Bay Lightning

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

Philadelphia Flyers

• Ray Emery, Ryan Parent and Brian Boucher still recovering.

Injury Updates 12/28/2009

This thread will be updated all day, so keep refreshing it as the day goes along. Just a quick note, if I omitted a source it is due to a previous report with no recent updates. Here are your injury updates for tonight:

Injuries Tonight

Detroit Red Wings

• Henrik Zetterberg could return as soon as Saturday. [Mlive.com]
• Jonathan Ericsson, Dan Cleary, Niklas Kronwall, Andrea Lilja, Jason Williams and Johan Franzen remain out.

Columbus Blue Jackets

• Rostislav Klesla, Marc Methot and Derek Dorsett remain out.

Carolina Hurricanes

• Joe Corvo, Eric Cole and Chad LaRose still out.

Washington Capitals

• Tom Poti, Brian Pothier and Semyon Varlamov still out.
• Boyd Gordon returns tonight. [Tarik El-Bashir]

Injury Updates 12/26/2009

This thread will be updated all day, so keep refreshing it as the day goes along. Just a quick note, if I omitted a source it is due to a previous report with no recent updates. Here are your injury updates for tonight:

Injuries Tonight

Ottawa Senators

• Daniel Alfredsson out a few weeks.
• Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno remain out.

Buffalo Sabres

• Thomas Vanek back.  Chris Butler and Patrick Kaleta still out of the lineup. [Sabres Edge]
• Nathan Gerbe not on any lines. [Sabres Edge]

Columbus Blue Jackets

• Marc Methot out one to two weeks. [Tom Reed]
• Rostislav Klesla and Derek Dorsett remain out.
• Anton Stralman and Kristian Huselius amongst others seem to have recovered from the flu.

Final Destination: Scott Niedermayer

Some players around the League find themselves at a career crossroad.  A crossroad with tough decisions to make regarding ongoing speculation of their final season.  Speculation whether to stay on a sinking ship and finish at the bottom of the sea or leaving one’s comfort zone in an attempt to stay on top.  Certainly no easy decision for any player

While Scott Niedermayer ponders his future in hockey he continues another solid year in his famed career.  The same cannot be said for the Anaheim Ducks, who sit 13th in the Western Conference despite coming off a come from behind victory against the Colorado Avalanche.  The team finds themselves as of this writing a mere five points behind the eighth seed.

The asking price for the captain should be reasonable, as he would strictly be a playoff rental.  However, GM Brian Murray can  acquire a potential piece or pieces to build for a brighter future in sunny Anaheim.

A quick look around the league shows there are a few teams in need of Niedermayer’s services. At 37, he still is one of the best defensemen in the game and a huge piece for a few teams looking for that extra push into serious cup contention.

Lets take a closer look at which teams could trade for Niedermayer in order to bring home Lord Stanley’s Cup.  Even though he already carries four Stanley Cup rings to his credit, every player in this league starts the season with one goal in mind.

Injury Updates 12/05/2009

This thread will be updated all day, so keep refreshing it as the day goes along. Here are your wounded bodies for tonight:

Injuries Tonight

Vancouver Canucks

• Michael Grabner expected back around New Year. [Jason Botchford]

Carolina Hurricanes

• Jussi Jokinen and Chad LaRose playing today. [Canes Now]

Edmonton Oilers

• Nikolai Khabibulin still not working out. [Dan Tencer]

St. Louis Blues

• Eric Brewer out 2-4 weeks. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Los Angeles Kings

• Rob Scuderi returns Monday. [LA Kings Insider]

Toronto Maple Leafs

• Vesa Toskala is healthy but will not start. [Eat, Sleep, Leafs]

Injury Updates 12/03/2009

This thread will be updated all day, so keep refreshing it as the day goes along.

Here are your wounded bodies for tonight:

Injuries Tonight

Montreal Canadiens

• Hal Gill a scratch tonight. [Habs Inside/Out]
• Andrei Kostitsyn returns to the lineup. [Dave Stubbs]

Buffalo Sabres

• Craig Rivet a game time decision. [Audio]

New York Islanders

• Frans Nielson skating with the team while Richard Park is not.  Both will play [Katie Strang]

Atlanta Thrashers

• Boris Valabik still not ready. [Blueland Blog]

Washington Capitals

• Shaone Morrisonn skating with the team. [Corey Masisak]
• Tom Poti ready Saturday, Morrisonn next week. [Bruce Boudreau via Corey Masisak]
• Alexander Semin back in the lineup tonight. [On Frozen Blog]
• Alexander Ovechkin will play Monday. [Tarik El-Bashir]
• Quintin Laing needs two weeks of conditioning. [Corey Masisak]

Toronto Maple Leafs

• Jonas Gustavsson visiting a heart specialist, not traveling with the team.  [Calgary Sun]
• Gustavsson scheduled to undergo heart procedure tomorrow.  [Bob MacKenzie]
• Carl Gunnarson will miss six weeks. [Jonas Siegler]

Columbus Blue Jackets

• Raffi Torres may miss this game due to the birth of his son. [Tom Reed]

Injury Updates 12/01/2009

This thread will be updated all day, so keep refreshing it as the day goes along.  Here are your wounded bodies for tonight:

Injuries Tonight

Toronto Maple Leafs

• Jeff Finger in for the injured Carl Gunnarson. [Jonas Siegel]

Montreal Canadiens

• Andrei Kostitsyn skated with the team yesterday but his still out indefinitely.  AK46 has been out since blocking a shot last Tuesday against the Blue Jackets.  [Habs Inside/Out]
• Scott Gomez and Matt D’Agostini will return tonight while Hal Gill and Andrei Kostitsyn practiced with the team.  [Habs Inside/Out]

Columbus Blue Jackets

• Rotislav Klesla tore his groin last night.  Ouch. [The Columbus Dispatch]

Chicago Blackhawks

• Only injured players are Adam Burish and Dave Bolland, both of which not close to returning.

Ottawa Senators

• Anton Volchenkov set to return tonight.  [Senators.com]

San Jose Sharks

• No lineup changes

Los Angeles Kings

• Rob Scuderi remains out of the lineup. [LA Kings Insider]

Anaheim Ducks

• Coming Soon
  

Last Night’s Wounded

Florida Panthers

• Tomas Vokoun set to meet back with the team, he should dress in Wednesday’s game.  If you missed what happenned last night, click here. [Sun Sentinel]

Carolina Hurricanes

• Joe Corvo suffered a laceration behind  his knee. [Canes Country]
• Corvo out 2 -3 months. [Canes Now]
• Tim Gleason toughed it out and returned to last night’s game after a certain kneeing incident.

Washington Capitals

• Still awaiting word on the status of Alexander Ovechkin. [Washington Post]
• No official release, but Ovechkin did about five minutes of light skating this AM. [Corey Masisak]
• Tom Poti and Alexander Semin practicing. [Washington Post]
• Not practicing are Shaone Morrisonn, Quintin Laing and Boyd Gordon [Corey Masisak]
• Mike Knuble practicing and shooting with the team. [Washington Capitals]
• Ovechkin day-to-day. [Washington Times]

Around the League

New Jersey Devils

• Johnny Oduya practicing with the team.  Rob Niedermayer expected to play on Wednesday.  Jamie Langenbrunner not at practice.  [Fire & Ice]
• Oduya won’t play, Langenbrunner questionable [NJ.com]

Edmonton Oilers

• Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Nikolai Khabibulin not practicing.  Ryan Stone and Robert Nilsson cleared to practice and play. [Oilers Country]

Boston Bruins

• Matt Hunwick and Patrice Bergeron practicing with the team. [John Bishop]

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-Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Founder
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