He would have loved to go head to head with Bishop in training camp this year but the lockout squashed that possibility. With his great start though he could beat Bishop out for the Anderson-backup gig all the way from the AHL. Barring that, it would take an injury to get him up to the big club. The Sens are big on internal competition as a motivator and it seems to be doing the trick so far with Lehner. He's been dynamite at all levels he's played at since they signed Bishop in the new year.

__________________
NHL 12 Team Full Keeper, Roto
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, GWG, SOG, W, GAA, SV%, SHO

C - Crosby,Getzlaf,Granlund
LW - Pacioretty,E.Kane,Hartnell
RW - Backes,Simmonds,SamGagne
D - Letang,Byfuglien,Subban,Hamilton
G - Lundqvist,Fleury,Schneider,Bryz
IR - Kovy

MLB 9 Team Full Keeper, Roto
R, H, HR, RBI, SB, BB, K, AVG, W, L, SV, BB, K, ERA

C - Lucroy
1B - Butler
2B - Kinsler
3B - Middlebrooks
SS - Andrus
OF - Trout,McCutchen,Kemp
Util - Altuve,McLouth
BN - Gyorko,Profar
SP - Price,Gio,Moore,Harvey,Miller,Bailey
RP - Chapman,Frieri,K.Jansen,Bell,Tazawa
DL - Beachy,Pineda

I got one name to answer:

Ben Bishop !

I don't know how this usually turns out with hockey players, but in baseball whenever somebody comes into camp in "the best shape of their life" it's almost always meaningless and they often have a terrible year. It's a running joke, actually. I'ts great that he's devoted to making an effort but I don't know how much the physical changes will affect him, if at all. Bottom line is that I wouldn't let it affect the way you think about him.

Completely different sports. In baseball you can be 50 lbs overweight and be an all star (Prince Fielder). In hockey, with the exception of Buff, you have to be in tip top shape. In baseball, aside from the pitchers, you can physically play 3 games in a day and not break a sweat (or barely sweat). Some hockey players (goalies included) can lose more than 10 lbs of water from sweat in a single game. Can't compare the two sports whatsoever, other than a correlation in hand-eye coordination, which is also applicable to golf and lacrosse.

__________________

" You said you don't give a f*ck about hockey. I've never heard anyone say that before."

The physical change already has affected him. He dropped a significant amount of weight. You can see how fit he is, and it shows in his game. The team specifically told him to get in shape, they gave him an exact program to follow. He did, and now he's playing like he did in the 2011 Calder Cup run. The team is really happy with his work ethic, attitude, and most of all, his ability.

If he's in the AHL the whole year, he'll be in the running for whatever goalie award they hand out.

What's the question?

Haha, with all of the good that Holtby and Lehner have been doing in the past year or so it's hard for me to reconsider my decision to take Markstrom ahead of both of them in my prospect draft last year.

November Lehner update: 6-2, 1.77, .945, 1 SO

Getting closer to say he's ready for a greater challenge.

Proud owner of both Lehner and Holtby in my new dynasty keeper league. Jumped on both of those guys early, took somewhat of a risk where I picked them up but I believe it'll be very worth it in the long run.

__________________
Stamkos was asked today in Tampa how he can top last season:
"Well, get into the playoffs. That's the big key and that's our goal here."

Follow me on Twitter @thehockeyhitman

Can't wait til this guy is a full-time NHLer - going to be a stud. Thanks for the updates, Big Ev.

__________________
16 Tm Dynasty,DailyH2H
3C,6W,4D,1G;G,A,PIM,+/-,STP,SOG,Hits,FOW,W,SO,GA,S
C-Kopitar,Carter,Zajac,Bailey
W-Perry,Parise,Neal,Oshie,JvR,Clarkson,M.Foligno,Sil vferberg,Chiasson
D-Yandle,J.Johnson,Carlson,Nikitin,Dillon,Barrie
G-Ward,Bernier
Fm-Holland,Shore,Pulkkinen,Teravainen,Jensen,Rundblad,Morrow,Barber io,Krug

10 Tm-8F,4D,2G Weekly
F-Stamkos,MSL,E.Staal,Toews,Seguin,Duchene,E.Kane,St epan,J.Staal,Brown,Silfverberg,Johansen
D-Keith,Seabrook,Voynov,Bogo,Wideman,Fowler
G-Price,Rask,Dubnyk
Fm-Tarasenko,Scheifele,Atkinson,Faksa,Smith,Orlov,Rie lly,Trouba,Markstrom