News and Notes

SITE NEWS

For those of you coming here for the weekly two minute minor I have some bad news. Nick, our intrepid columnist, is out on assignment this week and will not be delivering a two minute minor for you avid trap-o-philes. The good news... he'll be back next week with a HUGE HUGE update. Trust me... it will be worth the wait.

BET UPDATE:

Last night, in what shall from this point forward be referred to as The Futility Bowl, the Tampa Bay Lightning met up with the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto and something resembling a hockey game broke out. The Lightning dominated the play for much of the game, that is until the third period when the Maple Leafs brought it hard. The Leafs and Lightning both play an "attack first" strategy so it was an entertaining game to watch but the Leafs were outmatched by the Lightning's ability to field NHL caliber players on more then one line. What's that? Yes... I watched a large portion of this game (What I didn't watch I missed because I was watching other games). That's how seriously I take my obligation to you people.

Some fantasy notes from the game:

-Mike Smith made 37 saves giving him .942 Sv% on a team that is just now hitting its stride. Thats pretty solid. If Tampa Bay can start winning Smith will really gain some value in fantasy leagues.

- Stamkos got his first point... on the powerplay no less. It wasn't MUCH of an assist but later on he very nearly scored his first goal on a nasty wraparound. For some odd reason Melrose is still only giving Stamkos about 13 minutes a night (can his defense possibly be that bad) but he's showing signs of being able to spin whats being handed to him into gold. If you aren't already watching Stamkos... its time to start.

- Lecavalier woke up last night. Both of his goals were gorgeous. I'd say that shoulder is at about 72%.

- Hey... so... uh... Mike Van Ryn... scored his second powerplay goal last night. Someone has to fill in for McCabe. I just assumed it would be Kaberle or Kubina but maybe its Mike. Van Ryn has 4 points in the last 4 games.

Some Other Notes:

- Good gutsy win for Calgary last night. Hard hitting game, hard fought win. Calgary has to win those games if they are going to be a contender this year.

- The Sharks are off to an unbelievable start but you want proof that they are for real? They held the Pittsburgh Penguins to 11 shots last night. Crosby had 1 shot. Malkin had 2. Scary right?

- Tim Thomas has two consecutive shutouts. NEVER BET AGAINST TIM THOMAS. Take that everyone that thought Manny Fernandez was going to unseat him this year.

- Did you listen to me about Jofrey Lupul? Of course you didn't and as a result you missed 2 goals. Yes it was Atlanta. Yes they are terrible but Philly took full advantage of it. Philly is now wide awake.