Videos Before Bedtime: Injury Edition?

It is just another strange night in the NHL and here are some videos on what has been going on.



Vokoun has a cut left ear and slight concussion.




Gleason back...Ovechkin still hurt and tossed.




Hockey feels like this lately doesn't it?



Have a great night everyone!!!!

Sweden announces roster for the WJC

Today Sweden released their roster for the World Junior Championships. I think I did quite decent from my initial Swedish roster in January.

Goalies

Anders Nilsson
Jacob Markström

Markstrom is your number 1 and is probably the most talented goalie in the tournament. He’s having another outstanding year with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .920 save-percentage. He could make his way to North America next year. Nilsson is having a decent year in the SEL, with a 2.59 gaa and a .903 save-percentage. He’s a third round pick of the Islanders this year.

Defense

Lukas Kilström
Oliver Ekman Larsson
Adam Larsson
David Rundblad
Tim Erixon
Mattias Ekholm

The two big guns are missing in Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson, Karlsson could be released to play in this tournament. Ekman-Larsson was the sixth overall pick by the Coyotes in 2009. David Rundblad and Tim Erixon were both drafted last year. If you are looking for another Hedman, Adam Larsson is getting that hype. The 17-year old won’t be eligible until the 2011 and has three goals and eight assists for Skellefteå AIK in 25 games

Forwards

9. Mattias Tedenby
10. Jacob Josefson
11. Marcus Johansson
12. Dennis Rasmussen
13. Jakob Silfverberg
16. Anton Lander
17. Carl Klingberg
18. Anton Rödin
20. Andre Petersson
21. Magnus Pääjärvi Svensson
24. Marcus Krüger
26. Daniel Brodin
27. Martin Lundberg

A solid forward crop with Pääjärvi Svensson and Kruger leading the way. Kruger has eight goals and 14 assists in 24 games with Djurgårdens. Paajarvi has 7 goals and 9 assists in 25 games with Timra. Johansson, Washington’s first rounder in 2009, is having an outstanding year with Frolunda. He has seven goals and six assists in 22 games Petersson, an Ottawa prospect, has shown the ability to score with six goals with HV71.

KHL's Best Week 11....

Thanks to Shawn for the best of the KHL from Week 11. Do note some of the names may look just a bit familiar.

KHL Tops From Week 11.....

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) recognizes the top goalie, defender, forward and rookie each week. The weekly selections are chosen by the KHL Statistics and Information Bureau and based upon both statistical results and overall performance.

Week 11 honorees are:

• Best goalkeeper: Yuri Klyuchnikov (Sibir Novosibirsk). Klyuchnikov posted wins (including one shutout) in each of the two games he played last week, with a 1.00 GAA and a 96.43 save percentage.
• Best defender: Sergei Zobov (SKA St. Petersburg). In three games, Zubov scored two goals (one a game winner) and added two assists. Zubov also registered a +/- rating of +6, the week’s highest rating for a defenseman.
• Best forward: Albert Leshchev (CSKA Moscow). In four games, Leshchev scored seven points (one goal, six assists), while also registering a +/- rating of +6.
• Best rookie: Nikita Filatov (CSKA Moscow). In four games, the 19-year-old striker had four goals (two of them game winners) and two assists.

For more information about the KHL, including news and results, visit www.khl.ru. Follow the KHL on Twitter - @KHL_hockey.

Pick The Winner....

After the 11-3 mark on Wednesday which put us up at 192-110...we took a few days off to relax and enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday. We even took time to get in some picks to Ryan from the RLD on Saturday from the beach....yes the beach at the Jersey Shore! Tonight there are eight games on a Monday. Ten was nice last week but eight this week is also a bonus. Sadly Matt Cooke has been suspended for two games and that takes some of the fun out of tonight's Rangers-Penguins game as we were going to predict the fights and winners.

However on to the predictions we boldly go. Let's see what happens tonight and hopefully we get lucky.

• Buffalo
• NY Rangers
• Washington
• Atlanta
• Columbus
• Tampa Bay
• Detroit
• Calgary

Calgary has one hell of a road record...sorry Buddy! It should be a fun night of games but we will leave you now from a pick by an expert. Aloha!



Pens-Rangers...etc.

Fantasy Hockey 101 Oh god not again!

Have you ever had the undeniable feeling that no matter what you do with your fantasy team on a given week that you are going to lose or take a drop in the standings? When you have this feeling....is it a part of paranoia or is it really something that is well found like a hunch perhaps?

It really is a good question. People that have played fantasy hockey for years have said that they can pretty much gauge their team's performance after about 8 weeks or two months. Well since we are at this juncture, I guess it may be time to take a look at one of my teams and see where this thing maps out....hopefully.

One of the big ouches that came from the weekend was the news about first Ales Hemsky and then David Jones. Hemsky is out for the year after basically tearing up his entire shoulder or it seemed that way while Jones is out for the year with a torn ACL. Yes I know these things happen but for fantasy teams right now...who can really say that they have a healthy lineup at this point?

The precise thing above illustrates that you can expect another few major injuries to happen to your fantasy team at some point during the season. Though you cannot anticipate the actual moment because no one can...you can slowly prepare for these stretches especially if you have an open slot maybe even two. Sure that means a shorter bench but what if the unthinkable happens....then at least if your IR slots are full...you can still pick up a player for however long you need.

Another thing that needs to be watched on some fantasy teams is get this....suspensions! There have been 14 overall this regular season to the tune of 30 games total. Now usually your superstars do not get suspended (see double standard HERE) but it can still effect teams enough. Keep on the guard otherwise that bad stretch could come faster than you think.

So the reality is things are going to go bump in the night and you do get that feeling that your team is going to suffer at some point but you can at least ease the pain just a little bit. Now to show the illustration of what kind of a bad week you can see coming if you play Darryl Houston Smith. It makes you wonder if his name alone wins him a few categories. Okay Black Moses...you really won big this week. Here is that breakdown.....

NAME		G	A		PIM		ATOI	SOG		W	SO				SCORE
Team patota (50-41-8)		9	24		25		19:29	110		1	0				0-11-0
Rotowire Rangers (51-36-12)		12	27		28		19:49	111		2	1				11-0-0

I saw this and almost screamed holy crap! Talk about vaulting yourself up the standings and quick then vice versa. Mike did not have that bad of a week aside from his goaltending and yet 7 of the 11 categories were razor thin close. Upon a deeper inspection some of Mike's players just did not produce when counted on. We took out the categories that were close for the safety of the innocent children. The bottom line is any move could have saved Mike a whitewashing but sometimes maybe it cannot. This was one of those cases of the latter versus the former.

Mike kept telling me he had a bad feeling about this week and he was right. So is that bad feeling apart of paranoia? Maybe not. Some fantasy owners really do have that ability to gauge their team. Just like this week I see a very hard matchup between me and the Moose Jaw Marauders (Curtis Lanton)....Curtis is a tough guy to go up against. This will not be easy.

Next week we will take a peak at what is going on with those players that had hot starts then cooled off faster than Haley's Comet. See you then.


Sincerely,

Chris Wassel

Director Of The Program

Monday Ice Water Cooler

It is time for the Monday Ice Water Cooler and really we could not be happier. Sure it is getting closer to Christmas and December is just about here but it is all good. OH SNAP! (Damn now Rick has me saying it). Last night we had an entertaining show on The Program full of indictments of the NHL as a whole. Sure there are good things about it but everyone remembers the bad stuff...don't they?

We also talked about the ever mounting injuries and really at some point...it comes down to players being too well conditioned. That is right! You never heard in the old days of this many players breaking down all at the same time. Today athletes work out year round and do not stop. If your team got all the way to the Finals let's say, you had to play competitive hockey for oh 9 months. That does not give your body as much time to recover and breakdowns happen. Add in the Olympic Break this year and you have the perfect recipe for more injuries because the schedule is more condensed than New York City traffic around the holidays.

If you think I am kidding....consider this! Last year at this time there were only 63 injuries in the NHL. There were 121 as of this morning...and that 121 is not a misprint. Those are pretty glaring and scary numbers if you ask me. It is an indictment on several things and people -- the schedule, Gary Bettman, Colin Campbell, and many others. There is more than enough blame to go around on this issue alone.

Look at it this way...at least the NHL does not have logos like the Olympics. Just be thankful but imagine the scrutiny they would receive if they did. It would be much worse than anyone could comprehend. I think it might be 100 times worse and receive much more exposure than the current situation with the 2012 Olympics.

Lastly on this shortened edition...I wanted to thank Anaheim for pushing that last goal across in regulation even though they lost (another bad Giguere goal). How do you give up 2 goals to Jim Vandemeer but that is for another time. I would like also to thank the fact that the Devils do not play until Wednesday which gives me more time to think about that Luongo and Brodeur tilt.

For now this is goodbye but remember its always cooler on the other side and enjoy the eight games tonight.


Sincerely,

Chris Wassel

Director Of The Program

Morning Video Fix.....

Well if you missed last night's two games...more than likely you were not the only one since the Ducks-Yotes game was not televised but was online if you really really looked for it.




Its like picturepages with picks!




Highlights from last night's Sharks-Nucks game....




Not even the NHL can come up with a logo this bad....



Onward and upward this Monday!!!!

Classic Posts: New Years Day Past

Today is the last day of our Classic Posts series for now....it will go on hiatus until after the New Year. So why not have a post about a New Years Day from 2008. Enjoy.






So yes everyone watched the Ice Bowl with baited breath just to see Sidney Crosby score the game winner in the shootout. Well I have a bit of a confession to make, I turned it off after the first period. I figured after that point, this game would be likely decided by Crosby, especially considering the great fawning the NBC folks were doing over him. I will admit that I am more of a purist than I lead on to be. The snow made the game very nice and yes, later on I did watch the rest of the game as I did Tivo it. Pretty much what I expected, though I did think I was going to see a few more goals but that didn't materialize. Thanks to Erin for providing a concise and thoughtful writeup and to Derek from Battle of New York for the great liveblog.

The games that intrigued me more happened later in the evening. The Washington Capitals are on a roll. Today's 6-3 win got them to 3 under .500 and don't look now but that does get you in the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference. Mike Green delivered with 2 goals and an assist. Brooks Laich added the GWG and an assist and Olaf Kolzig stopped 31 shots despite a shaky first 5:00 in which Ottawa went up 2-0 and nearly 3-0....but Washington struck 3 times in 139 seconds to take a lead they would never give up. Bruce Boudreau has this team playing very well and they may just make some noise yet. Southeast Division look out below!!

The Toronto Maple Leafs managed to avoid certain embarrassment by yanking out a 4-3 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hey if you're a Tampa fan at least it is a point and maybe that will keep Tampa radio from wanting Tortorella and Feaster's heads on a platter for at least a night...ok, maybe not! Toronto was headed for a sure win...when with :41 left Paul Ranger found the back of the net past Scott Clemmensen in a battle with Karri Romo which felt like an AHL duel rather than an NHL game but still had a raw excitement that made me want to watch this but alas it was only available via radio as it was not on Center Ice for contractual reasons. Once it got to the shootout, Mats Sundin scored the game winner while Clemmensen stopped Martin St. Louis cold...too bad he could never do that in Jersey....go figure!

The final game of the night still has me shocked...and it ended about 40 or 45 minutes ago. With 8:59 left in the first period...the Chicago Blackhawks went up 2-1 on a pretty goal by Patrick Sharp on the Power Play....and then it went down like an Amtrak train wreck....as the Kings proceeded to score eight unanswered goals in a 9-2 rout of the Hawks. This included going an astonishing 5 for 7 on the man advantage. Ladislav Nagy had a hat trick with 2 assists and Alexander Frolov chipped in with 2 goals and 3 assists. After the third goal in a little less than 4:30, Khabibulin was yanked for Patrick Lalime who really fared worse...especially in the third period where he only stopped 1 shot out of 4. In baseball, that isn't bad...in hockey, that is disaster. It is also a recipe for ugliness and sure enough that transpired in this game.

At 6:30 of the final period...there was a major fracas in which a couple misconducts and a game misconducts were handed out but all seemed to be calm. Then with under a minute left, Patrick Sullivan got a match penalty for an attempt to injure Andrei Zyuzin. I am guessing a meeting with Colin Campbell is in his future after that one...it looked bad. Honestly I am expecting a suspension of more than 1 game here. However, at least for one night the Kings looked every bit the team they envisioned during the free agency frenzy. Certainly it was an unexpected day and night...just wait until what tomorrow brings.

Finally, I am asking any of the bloggers that read The NHL Arena Program to send me an email if they want to be on the next Hockey Around The Horn. This will be a special bloggers edition as without the bloggers I wouldn't have this little show. Good night everyone!!

This Day In Hockey History (11/30)

It is Monday so we salute a milestone of sorts. Here is the moment and hopefully a video. No one is sure who found the video however.



Bobby Smith ladies and gentlemen......

November 30, 1991

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Minnesota North Stars veteran Bobby Smith scored his 1,000th career NHL point with an assist, and also added a goal in a 4-3 win at Toronto.

Morning Skate (11/30)

Ryan gets us into the Monday with the Morning Skate. Read on!



The Morning After:
Last night’s scores:
Coyotes 3, Ducks 2 (OT)
Sharks 4, Canucks 2
Predictions record: 1-0-1

My 3 stars from last night:
1. Jim Vandermeer, PHX (2 Goals)
2. Dan Boyle, SJ (1 Goal)
3. Robert Lang, PHX (2 Assists)
---

Tonight’s Slate:
Penguins @ Rangers, 7:00 ET
Sabres @ Maple Leafs, 7:00
Panthers @ Thrashers, 7:00
Capitals @ Hurricanes, 7:00
Blues @ Blue Jackets, 7:00
Avalanche @ Lightning, 7:30
Stars @ Red Wings, 7:30
Flames @ Predators, 8:00

Games of the Night:
Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Rangers
7:00 ET… TV: Local Networks

Records:
Overall: Penguins (18-9-0) … Rangers (13-12-1)
Last Ten: Penguins (6-4-0) … Rangers (4-6-0)
Away/Home: Penguins (9-5-0) … Rangers (7-5-0)
Season Series: 2-0 Penguins

Players to watch:
PIT- Evgeni Malkin
All ‘Geno has done since returning is rack up a lot of points.
NYR- Michael Del Zotto
The rookie d-man was a -5 on Saturday, and hasn’t been the same since his hot start.

Projected Goaltenders:
PIT- Marc-Andre Fleury (09/10 stats: 15-7-0, 2.54 GAA)
NYR- Henrik Lundqvist (09/10 stats: 11-9-1, 2.68 GAA)

Injury Report:
PIT- Chris Kunitz (lower body, out), Jay McKee (finger, out)
NYR- Brandon Dubinsky (hand, out), Wade Redden (shoulder, out)

Game Thoughts:
Pittsburgh throttled the Blueshirts on Saturday at the Igloo by a score of 8-3. It was ugly for John Tortorella’s club as Crosby notched a hat trick and 5 points. ‘Torts’ surely can’t be happy with his team right now, and it’s going to be interesting to see how they respond. Rangers fans are assuming they’ll win tonight, but I don’t think that’ll be the case. Pittsburgh beats ‘em again.
Prediction: Penguins 4, Rangers 3
---
Calgary Flames @ Nashville Predators
8:00 ET… TV: Local Networks

Records:
Overall: Flames (16-6-3) … Predators (15-9-1)
Last Ten: Flames (6-2-2) … Predators (8-2-0)
Away/Home: Flames (9-1-3) … Predators (9-4-0)
Season Series: First meeting

Players to watch:
CGY- Jarome Iginla
‘Iggy’ is red-hot right now, and he has dominant career numbers vs. Nashville.
NSH- David Legwand
‘Leggy’ has played very well during the Preds’ hot streak, and is on a 5-game point streak.

Projected Goaltenders:
CGY- Miikka Kiprusoff (09/10 stats: 14-5-3, 2.38 GAA)
NSH- Pekka Rinne (09/10 stats: 11-5-0, 2.37 GAA)

Injury Report:
CGY- Rene Bourque (undisclosed, out)
NSH- None

Game Thoughts:
The Predators have another tough task ahead of them here tonight. Calgary is better on the road than they are at home, and have won 3 of their last 4 meetings in Nashville. Barry Trotz and company will have to play another sound, disciplined game to come out on top. I think it’ll be a close game, but I like the Flames to pull out the ‘W’.
Prediction: Flames 3, Predators 2

The rest of tonight’s predictions:
Sabres over Maple Leafs
Thrashers over Panthers
Capitals over Hurricanes
Blue Jackets over Blues
Lightning over Avalanche
Red Wings over Stars

You can follow the Red Light District on Twitter @RLDhockey!