Ice Fishing: Tending Your Goal

I was just like 6 weeks early on David Booth! Booth potted goals 5, 6, and 7 of the year last night against the Anaheim Ducks. Heh. It was a busy weekend in the NHL and, as is often the case when many games are played, a lot of interesting storylines.

Booth was one of two hat tricks this weekend, the other came off the stick of the freshly signed Mark Parrish in his Dallas Stars debut. Goals 1, 2 and 3 in game 1... not bad Mark.

From momentous "goals" to momentous "goal" Sunday marked the return of Jonathan Toews to the "G" category as he scored his first goal of the season in game number 13. Those of you who have remained faithful to Mr. Toews through this slump should be relatively pleased with all the follows. Its not like he hasn't contributed in other ways as he has 9 points through 13 games.

Roberto Luongo stretched his shutout streak to three straight games. That's bound to end soon enough but consider this: This is the second time Luongo has had three consecutive shutouts while a member of the Vancouver Canucks and Luongo already has 16 shutouts in Van-city, 4 shy of the franchise record. All that for Todd Bertuzzi and some lint. Deal of the century.

Boston is tied with Buffalo for the top seed in that division... granted they've both played two more games then Montreal but wow... I mean who saw that coming.

Kevin Weekes is exactly the goalie I remember him being from his time as the Rangers starter. He will give you competent enough goaltending to ensure that you don't get blown out in any game. Devils fans we are in for a series of frustrating 1 or 2 goal losses. On the plus side, Parise owners expect him to be let off of his chain, so to speak, offensively.

In injury news, Paul Kariya's MRI was negative and he should return Wednesday, Brian Boucher is filling in for Nabakov for the foreseeable future, and Danny Briere returned to the Flyers over the weekend and scored their lone goal in a 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay. More on all of these situations in the BTT Injury Report tomorrow.

Speaking of Philly they traded Steve Downie and a bag of chips for Matt Carle over the weekend. Carle has looked... less then spectacular defensively this season which makes this trade a curious one to me. What Philly needs are some shutdown d-men as they are already loaded offensively speaking with Coburn and Timonen. I think this move effectively buries Carle, fantasy wise as he is now third on the depth chart for powerplay point time

All right, enough posturing, you want your adds and drops for the week, well here you go.

Keep 'Em

Bryan Little
C, Atlanta

You know that a center has to be performing spectacularly for me to suggest his addition to your team. Bryan Little is on fire (8 goals and 7 assists through 15 games) and is a former 12th overall pick... so this is the sort of thing that's expected of him. He's a plus 7 on an abysmal team. He doesn't shoot much but he is otherwise a good add to your fantasy team. I like him so much I'm not even going to make a "little" joke.

Martin Erat
RW, Nashville

Ownership sent a message over the summer by making Martin Erat the highest paid player on this team. The message was that this was now his team and he was expected to carry it with nearly every other familiar face, Arnott and the stellar D excepted, departing Erat was expected to raise his game to another level. So far he has done just that. Again, shots on goal are an issue but he seems to be raising his game in every other respect.

Mike Smith
G, Tampa Bay

Love him or hate him, Smith is the only reason Tampa has won any games this season, and they are starting to get some good gritty wins. Smith is a tough start, as on a given night he can either let up 1 goal on 52 shots or 5 goals on 26, but he balances himself out in the long run. If you are confident in your ability to play "Spot Start Roulette" then Smith is a spectacular addition as a third goalie.


Weigh 'Em

Manny Legace
G, St. Louis

Legace is a good goalie. It doesn't look that way right now because he's still rusty after returning from the "lower body" injury he suffered after face-planting on Sarah Pallin's carpet (100% dirty but also 100% factual) but I think it will bear out over time; particularly once Kariya returns to the lineup.

Niklas Hagman
LW, Toronto

I still say this has to stop eventually but you might want to consider picking him up until this streak does eventually conclude.

Alex Auld
G, Ottawa

There are and will be very few sure things on waiver as it relates to goaltenders (my recommendation of Mike Smith above should sort of prove that point). Auld might still be available in your league. He has thus far put up stellar numbers (5-2-1, 1.85 GAA and 2.36 SV %) and has looked good doing it. The only reason I'm not giving him my highest recommendation is that he probably has the lowest job security in the NHL right now. He's a roll of the dice, but a good one.

Vaclav Prospal
LW, Tampa Bay

Tampa is streaking right now and that means that that top line is coming alive. Prospal is the only member of the top line that should still be out there. He might be worth a speculative add if you've got the roster space.

Bill Guerin
RW, New York Islanders

Billy G. is one of my all time favorite hockey players. He can skate, won the fastest skater competition at the All star game, shoot, pass and score, but he also plays the gritty side of the game and isn't afraid to go into the corner with anyone. I don't think he has enough left in the tank to put together a full season of fantasy roster-worthy play but Bill still has enough in the tank to put together a streak every so often. December and January were Guerin's months last year. This season its looking like the addition of Doug Weight has brought those months early. Guerin, when he is scoring hurts you nowhere but in the plus-minus column, unlike Weight who will give you two shots a game at most. As long as the streak lasts he's worth having, but you have to be ready to let go when its done.


Toss 'Em

Vesa Toskala
G, Toronto

Despite Toronto's recent success Toskala's number remain abysmal, 6 wins 3.08 GAA and .884 SV %. Its not his fault, but that doesn't change the fact that he's barely a candidate for spot starts at this point.

Ed Jovonovski
D, Phoenix

I'm not sure but I think it might be time to panic. He's still taking shots but the PIM points and plus minus aren't there yet this season. Ballard and Boynton's departure seems to be putting a lot of the defensive pressure back on Jovo-cop. I don't know that I drop him yet but I certainly bench him.

Jose Theodore
G, Washington

I hate to say I told you so... Brent Johnson has now gotten the last 3 starts for Washington. Theodore is having trouble even getting time on the bench as the backup. I'm not saying he won't have some incredible streak at some point this season but is that really what you want out of a number 2 goalie? Bench him or drop him. There's better out there... including Brent Johnson.