NHL Blog Breakdown

October 24, 2009 5:20am CDT

FlamingPuck.com: Flames Undress Jackets

James Duplacey, our Calgary Flames correspondent, discusses some of the key numbers behind Calgary's victory over Columbus.

"Jay Bouwmeester and Fredrik Sjostrom both scored their first goals of the season and first goals as members of the Flames. Seventeen of the 22 skaters that have played at least one game for the Flames this season have scored at least one goal. Johnson and Jason Jaffray - who have only one game of their 2009-10 resume - are the only players without a point.

Jarome Iginla, who registered his first three-point performance of the season, was named First Star of the game. Columbus's Derrick Brassard was given the nod as the second star while Fredrik Sjostrom earned the third laurel. Calgary was out-shot 30-20 by the Jackets, the eighth time in nine games they have been on the negative side of that ledger."

Impact:After recording just four points in the team's first eight games, Jarome Iginla finally made his fantasy debut this season against Columbus, scoring a goal and two assists. Nothing to worry about here, as it took Iginla six games last year to start piling up the points for fantasy owners. On a more somber note, despite holding a 6-1-1 record, Miikka Kiprusoff has struggled and it is showing to the tune of a 3.23 GAA. Some of the blame should rest on his teammates as they have allowed an average of 33 shots per game from their opponents. If this number doesn't decrease, you can expect to see some negative returns from the Flames netminder sooner than later.


PaintItBlackhawks.com: Three Stars: Hawks Fall to Canucks, Lose Tazer and Seabs

Jim Neveau, from our Chicago Blackhawks blog, dissects the injuries and sloppy play from Chicago's loss against the Canucks.

"Jonathan Toews left the ice after a violent third period hit by Vancouver D Willie Mitchell as Willie came out of the penalty box. Replay clearly showed that the hit was clean (i.e. elbow tucked, no jump involved), and Toews did not return. Judging by the dazed look on his face, the Hawks could be looking at losing their captain to anything from a concussion to a neck injury.

Another injury of note for the Hawks was that of Brent Seabrook, who left the game after being kicked in the face by a Vancouver skate.

There wasn't a lot of good to dwell on in this game. Patrick Sharp had a spotty game, missing a lot of passes and illustrating how bad he is at playing the point on the power play. Brian Campbell and Patrick Kane made a key turnover that led to Mikael Samuelsson's game winning goal in the third period, with their pass being picked off and Campbell inexplicably giving him a wide open lane to work with toward the net. At least Antti Niemi looked relatively decent, making some spectacular saves to keep the team in the game, but in the end, the power play stunk, the defense stunk, and the team lost the game."

Impact: While neither the injury to Toews or Seabrook appears to be serious, any time these two miss is costly to fantasy rosters. Keep an eye on their injury status as currently they are listed as day-to-day (Toews may be out for longer after missing another practice on Friday). Between the pipes, Antti Niemi turned in a solid performance against Vancouver despite being on the losing end of the affair, further adding speculation as to who should be the starter in Chicago. Niemi is 3-1-0 with a 2.07 GAA through the four appearances he has made this season which are drastically different numbers than Cristobal Huet's 2-2-1 record and ugly 3.25 GAA and .844 save percentage. Huet is slated to start Saturday, but we have clearly not heard the last of the goaltending controversy in Chicago.


BloggingForOil.com: Wins are wins, true, but still…

The man behind our Edmonton Oilers blog, Dan Thompson, voices concerns over Edmonton's early season victories.

"The Oilers' foes this year possess a combined 26 wins (that's counting Calgary twice), and 15 of those belong to Calgary and Chicago - the two teams that have beaten Edmonton so far. Otherwise, the best victory posted by the Oilers so far is Monday's squeaker against Vancouver, and that was in Edmonton. There is something to be said for beating the teams you should beat, and that Edmonton is doing. But at some point, if the Oilers are going to make a run at the playoffs - it's much to early to talk about the division title - they need to beat a good team, preferably on the road. They have a few such opportunities coming up: Saturday at Calgary, Oct. 29 hosting Detroit and two days after that at Boston.

If Edmonton can reel in a win there, bravo. Extra kudos if they do so without defencemen Steve Staios or Sheldon Souray. The rest of the month will offer a much better indication of what the Oilers truly are, but at least so far they've given their fans some optimism even if it is a bit early for such a distinction."

Impact: Fantasy hockey once again mimics real life as fantasy owners must attempt to exploit weaker teams and collect all the points they can for the long haul that is the fantasy hockey season. Sheldon Souray's concussion has been a blow to both the Oilers and fantasy teams alike as the defenseman put up 53 points last year, but he has only skated in three contests in 2009-10. Fortunately, the offensive gifted blue liner has returned to exercising but still will miss more time as he recovers from his concussion.


PucksGoneWild.com: Benny the Beast

Our Minnesota Wild correspondent, Roy Mahlberg, discusses a Minnesota Wild player that may be on the verge of cracking fantasy relevance.

"I attended Wednesday's shootout victory over the Colorado Avalanche and came away impressed with the play of Wild forward Benoit Pouliot. Outside of players named Mikko Koivu and Brent Burns, #67 was the best Wild player on the ice. He was a presence in the offensive zone and often seemed to make the correct decision with the puck. If his play keeps up like this, he should be a regular on the 2nd line and get some serious power play minutes too."

Impact: Benoit Pouliot only has two points on the young season, but his play and a flurry of injuries in Minnesota may place the left winger on the fantasy radar for the first time in his young career. While Pouliot has barely contributed offensively this season, his skills that don't show up in the box score may earn him additional time with the man-advantage and cement his spot on the second line. If he is able to retain a spot on the second line you can expect some fantasy returns, but a flier should only be used on Pouliot in the deepest of leagues.


IcyCoyotes.com: First Star of the Week and First in Our Hearts
John Earnhart, from our Phoenix Coyotes blog IcyCoyotes.com, offers his insight on the outstanding play of Ilya Bryzgalov "As far as the season is concerned, Bryzgalov is 5-1-0. The recent leader of the pack ranks first among all starting goaltenders in GAA (1.14), save percentage (.953) and shutouts (two).

He has been the catalyst to the Coyotes' surprising start, 5-2-0 record and first place title in the Pacific Division. Sadly, the next time we'll see Bryzgalov in action is Thursday night when the Detroit Red Wings come to town. For fantasy owners, don't kick yourselves too hard for not going after Bryzgalov. Granted, he is outplaying fellow fantasy goaltending studs like Roberto Luongo and Evgeni Nabokov but if there's one thing Brizzy is known for in Phoenix its his streakiness. Last year, he played his best in the months of November and December. So, this could easily be a hot streak or the beginning of a career year."

Impact: While Phoenix has been one of the main stories of the young season, the terrific play of Ilya Bryzgalov has still gone vastly underappreciated. Marc-Andre Fleury owners are likely not to disappointed with their goaltender's play (and eight victories) so far, he was expected to be amongst the elite netminders while Bryzgalov's category leading play has certainly been a huge surprise. As John mentioned, fantasy owners are likely holding their breath in hopes that the usually streaky Bryzgalov doesn't come crashing back to earth anytime soon. Unfortunately we feel it is just a matter of time before the number one in Phoenix sees his numbers come back in line with his career averages of a 2.59 GAA and a .913 save percentage.


David Rogers is an Associate Editor for Fanball.com Owner's Edge and Rototimes.com. You can follow also follow the happenings of the game of hockey on our Twitter Page: FanballNHL.