1. Ales Hemsky returned yesterday night with an assist in 17:08 of ice time. He played with Smyth and Horcoff while the kid line stayed together. The powerplay was split between Belanger/Gagner/Hemsky/Smyth and Hall/Hopkins/Eberle/Horcoff. Hall played a season low 14:05 while the two other kids played around the same time. The Oilers needed to kill of six penalties but this still doesn't bode well for Eberle/Hall/Nugent-Hopkins owners if they are now in secondary role.

2. Once Sidney Crosby returns, there will be one less spot on the top powerplay in Pittsburgh. With Neal's hot start, it's assured he will be playing the top unit along with Malkin and Letang. Last season while Sid was healthy, Kunitz was the third forward but he was playing in the spot Neal currently occupies. Sullivan is on the point with Letang so Sully owners should expect a steady stream of points from here on out. It'll still be nice to own Kunitz as he has been practicing on Crosby's line while five on five.

3. In 1974-75, Bill Mikkelson set the bar to another level. Simply the best at what he did, he's now in the history books and his record remains untouched. The Isles draftee posted an incredible minus-82 in only 59 games. Here are the hopefuls this season: E. Staal (-16), Hejda (-12), Ballard (-11), Booth (-11), Brassard (-11), Malhotra (-10), Pitkanen (-10). Malhotra's the most efficient doing it with only 11:20 of ES and PP time.

4. Everyone associates Ken Hitchcock with defence. In 05-06, Hitchcock's Flyers had 3 players with 65+ points and a defenseman with 46 points in 58 games. Gagne and Knuble had career highs and Forsberg had the best season in years. Then in 06-07, Hitchcock was fired within the first three weeks. We all see how Columbus has been playing, so maybe it's more so Columbus' lack of talent than Hitchcocks system? The lines were shuffled a bit but mostly had Stewart/D'Agostini/Berglund, Arnott/Langenbrunner/Steen. Backes/Oshie/Sobotka, Grachev/Reaves/forward double-shifted. The PP was Arnott/Oshie/Stewart then Backes/Berglund/D'Agostini/Steen with both lines playing equal time. Stewart picked up a goal which shows promise while under Kenny.

5. This may not be a long-term solution, but while Salo is hurt, Hamhuis is occupying the top spot on the point next to Alex Edler. Dan has four points in three games while Salo has rested his groin. Salo is "day-to-day" according to Coach Vigneault...which means nothing.

6. The injury to Tobias Enstrom should have opened the door for Zach Bogosian, instead, Tim Stapleton started next to Byfuglien on the powerplay. The team plays both powerplay lines about the same which will only hurt guys like Ladd who excelled so strongly last season.

7. Biggest PP Changers: Colorado (+10.7%), Florida (+9.5%), Ottawa (+8%), Washington (+7.5%), Penguins (+5.5%). Chicago (-14.3%), Ducks (-10.3%), St. Louis (9.1%), Montreal (-7%), Minnesota (-5.7%)

8. The 27-year-old rookie Mark Flood is making quite the splash in Winnipeg. He had 40 points in 63 games last season for the Moose and is one of the long-term projects who appear to be working out. The journeyman has been playing consistent second line powerplay time next to Bogo with three points in four games and a plus-two. Could make for a solid pickup in very deep leagues.

9. It's hard to say how long Ilya Kovalchuk will be out, but Danius Zubrus is filling in quite nicely. Three points in three games while playing 23:19 against the Hurricanes last night. He will continue to play with Elias and Sykora when Kovalchuk returns, and the line has been flying ever since the game against Toronto. Elias and Zubrus have combined for nine points, where as Sykora has only had one goal but 14 shots.

10. Former first-rounder Rostislav Olesz finally returned to the Blackhawks lineup after missing nearly a month. He started the game lined up next to Bolland and Brunette while ending the game next to mostly Kruger and Sharp. The team scored zero goals against the Hitchcock Blues but this isn't good news for the twenty-two people who still own Olesz.

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Good stuff.

Recommendation: Can you enter a space between each point to make it easier reading?

Keep up the good work LR!

actually, after the preseason he had (incredible), you would think that the Jets would take a look at Postma

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DobberHockey Rules
14 Team Keeper, points only, best 12 skaters 2 dman 2 G count. Playoffs count.
F - Crosby, C.Smith, Wheeler, Parenteau, Hudler, Clowe, Grabovski, Atkinson, Frolik, S. Kostitsyn, Marchand, Peverley, Tavares, Read, Brouwer, Bickell, Gionta, Setoguchi
G - Anderson, Hiller, Markstrom, Brodeur
D - Letang, Del Zotto, I. White, Kronwall, Brodin, Nikitin

In point 4 you said Columbus when I think you mean STL - this whole Hitchcock to STL thing has been hard to get used to!

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24teams;26players(20roster,6bench)dynasty(full keeper);
NHL cap league based on NHL salaries (not cap hit);
pool points:
F/C: G 4pts; A 4pts; +/- 2pts
D(min5,max9): G 8pts; A 5pts; +/- 4pts
G(min2,max3): W 9pts; OTL 5pts; SO 5pts
extra points for PPP

F:Giroux,H.Sedin,D.Sedin,Kessel,St.Louis,JVR,Selan ne,Jagr,Brouwer,Dupuis,
Johansson,Conacher,Galchenyuk,Brock Nelson,Brett Ritchie
D:Markov,Enstrom,Edler,Leddy,Niskanen,Gardiner,Orl ov,Vatanen,Krug
G:Quick,Lehtonen

"It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever."

I meant that while he coached Columbus he didn't have that much offensive talent. I do not think he will be that bad for the Blues offense contrary to what absolutely everyone is saying lol

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I chuckled at point 3

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1 Year 12 Team H2H Category Wins (Daily Starts)

G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, PIM, SOG, FW, BK, Hits, W, GAA, Saves, SV%, SO

2 C, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4D, 1 Util, 2 G (6 B)

C: Toews, Tavares, Grabovski, Backstrom (IR)
LW: Marleau (C), Benn (C), Paciorrety
RW: Giroux (C), Pavelski (C), Pominville, Havlat, Clutterbuck
D: Doughty, Goligoski, Phaneuf, Bieksa,
G: Lunqvist, Rinne, Hiller

whats to be expected out of kunitz with crosby's return? i was really hopping he'd keep 1st PP

I think he should do the same as last year while Crosby was healthy. He had 25 points in 37 games (55 points over 82 games). He only had 3 PPP in those 37 games so I wouldn't be too worried.

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As did I, Thinking it won't be long till Luke Schenn is on that list!!!

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