News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Canada names its roster for the 2008 Women's World Championships.
2. Jay Onrait examines Trade Centre '08 a week hence.
3. The recent trading of his rights has refocused Angelo Esposito's attentions.
4. Bryce Salvador, along with Hilary Clinton, is excited to be a Devil.
5. 6 must watch games for this week.
6. Brent Sutter, showing an astute command of the obvious, says that the Devils rely too much on Martin Brodeur.
7. The first entry from Zach Bogosian's blog.
8. Chris Simon just wants to be respected. And he will swing his stick at anyone who doesn't respect him.
9. In a bid to right the listing ship, the Leafs have taken to censoring radio ads.
10. More details emerge from Adam Foote's flight from Columbus.
11. The Prospects hot-list from the Hockey News.
12. The WHL and OHL are considering making neck protection mandatory.
13. In an effort to be more TSN-like, Sportsnet has jumped on the Leafs in the playoffs bandwagon.
14. A Q and A with Tom Poti.
15. Adam Proteau answers your questions.
16. Want more questions answered? Jim Kelley does his best on this 10 query quiz.
17. The Puck Stops Here offers its thought on John Tortorella's coaching style.
18. David Staples with a very interesting post on the first play for pay hockey league.
19. Puck That Hit wonders what the heck happened to Kiprusoff.
20. A little more hockey history for you, this time featuring Noel Picard.
21. A list of potential free agents for this upcoming summer.
22. Bob McKenzie gives his two cents on the Adam Foote saga.
23. Pierre Lebrun updates the race for the Calder Trophy.
24. John Buccigross live blogs the Ducks-Sens game.
25. Dennis Bernstein offers his thoughts on the post-trade deadline landscape.

Fantasy Watch: Goalie Starts

March 3rd - 9th

Anaheim Ducks (4) – With four games on the schedule newly acquired goalie Jean Sebastien
Aubin may make his Ducks debut.

Atlanta Thrashers (3) – If Lehtonen continues to struggle expect to see more of Hedberg in goal.

Boston Bruins (5) – Thomas has been playing great but there's no way he'll be out there for all five games this week.

Buffalo Sabres (3) – Miller should be ready to go for all three games this week.

Carolina Hurricanes (3) – Expect Ward to receive all the starts this week.

Calgary Flames (2) – Kiprusoff has a relatively easy week with only two games on the schedule.

Chicago Blackhawks (4) – Lalime will have to handle the whole load while Khabibulin is day-to-day with back spasms.

Columbus Blue Jackets (3) – Look for Leclaire to be in net for all three games this week.

Colorado Avalanche (4) – Expect Budaj to steal one start this week.

Dallas Stars (3) – Turco doesn't play on back-to-back days so expect Holmqvist to make his Stars debut.

Detroit Red Wings (2) – Osgood should be able to handle the load this week.

Edmonton Oilers (3) – Garon gives Edmonton its best chance at winning and should be in net for all three games this week.

Florida Panthers (3) – Look for Vokoun to start all three games this week.

Los Angeles Kings (3) – With Aubin gone, LaBarbera should receive all three starts this week

Minnesota Wild (4) – Expect Harding to appear in one game with four to play this week.

Montreal Canadiens (4) – Price is now the starter in Montreal, but with four games on the schedule expect Montreal to give Price a break and start Halak for a game.

Nashville Predators (4) – Expect a split between Ellis and Mason.

New Jersey Devils (3) – Brodeur should receive all three starts.

New York Islanders (3) – Look for DiPietro to start all the games this week.

New York Rangers (3) – Lundqvist should be in net for all three games this week.

Ottawa Senators (4) – Look for a split between Gerber and Emery this week.

Philadelphia Flyers (3) – Nittymaki should steal one start from Biron this week.

Phoenix Coyotes (3) – Expect Bryzgalov to be in net for all three games this week.

Pittsburgh Penguins (3) – Expect Sabourin to steal a start from Conklin this week.

San Jose Sharks (4) – Nabokov should be in net for all four games this week.

St. Louis Blues (3) – Legace has struggled lately but will get a chance to rebound this week.

Tampa Bay Lightining (4) – Mike Smith will make his Lightining debut, but expect to see Ramo start a game this week.

Toronto Maple Leafs (3) – Toskala will command all three starts this week.

Vancouver Canucks (3) – Look for Luongo in net for all three games this week.

Washington Capitals (4) – It's unknown how the Caps plan to use both Huet and Kolzig but expect them to split the starts.


For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis

Fantasy Watch: Avoiding the Hot Seat

Drafting a goaltender stuck on the hot seat can be one of the most stressful things about fantasy hockey. Not knowing who's going to start and who's going to sit can kill your fantasy team. Hoping to avoid that scenario, here are seven goaltenders that should post league leading stats and be free of controversy for this upcoming season


Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Brodeur was a fantasy monster last year, collecting career highs in wins (48) and shutouts (12). Ranking third in the league in both goals against average and save percentage, Brodeur was hands down the top fantasy goaltender last season. Losing Scott Gomez's play making ability may hurt his win totals, but don't expect Brodeur's numbers to drop that significantly.

Mikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames
Last season, Kiprusoff's numbers were down from his 2005/06 statistics , but he was still among the leaders in most statistical categories including wins (40) and save percentage (.917). Although Calgary lost two key defenseman in Roman Hamrlik and Brad Stuart, the signings of Adrian Aucion and Cory Sarich should help shore up Calgary's defense for this upcoming season. The only thing holding Kiprusoff back from becoming the league's best goalie is his inability to win on the road.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
It only took Fleury three years to vault into the class of some of the top goaltenders in the NHL. Having a career year last season, Fleury's 40 wins placed him third in the league. Fleury still needs to improve on his goals against average, as well as his save percentage but at 22 there's plenty of time for improvement. Newcomer Darryl Sydor strengthens Pittsburgh's defense, which should allow Fleury to lower his GAA. Look for Fleury to continue to pile up wins as Pittsburgh boasts one of the league's best offenses this year.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Anaheim Ducks
Giguere has battled injuries for the past few seasons making his latest setback no surprise. Out for the the season opener, Giguere is not expected to miss a lot of time as he recovers from a sports hernia. The goaltending situation in Anaheim is much different from a year ago; This season Gigeure enters as the sure number one netminder. While his role as number one goalie is cemented, Giguere will be without defenseman Scott Neidermayer, who has yet to decide whether to stick around for one more season or not. To add insult to injury, the former Conn Smythe winner will also be missing newly acquired defenseman Matthieu Schneider for the first couple weeks of the season. As a result, the Ducks will be a little thin on defense but are still deep enough to make Giguere a sure bet for 40 wins.

Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
Finally escaping Florida, Luongo put up a career high in wins with 47 and a .921 save percentage, good for fourth best in the league. The only question mark surrounding Luongo is not his ability, but his team's offensive support (or lack thereof); the Canucks were ranked near the bottom of the NHL in goals-for last season. As evidenced by last year's playoffs, Luongo can only take the team so far, without any feared goal scorers in front of him, Luongo may miss out on a few extra victories.

Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks
Splitting time with Vesa Toskala last season, Nabokov only appeared in 50 games, collecting 25 wins on the season. Although his 25 wins weren't as high as projected, Nabokov's goals against average was among the top 10 in the league. With Toskala gone to Toronto, the starting job is now Nabokov's. Expect the Russian netminder to revert back into a top goaltender which means at least 35 wins for this upcoming season.

Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabers
Improving his win total by 10 from the previous year, Miller led Buffalo to the best record in the Eastern Conference, but failed to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, as they were defeated by Ottawa in last year's Conference Finals. Although Miller's stats aren't atop the leader board, he still manages to post a ton of wins, which makes him a top fantasy goaltender. Expect Miller's numbers to take a slight hit this season with the loss of Briere and Drury; however, Miller should still post more than respectable numbers.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis.