Daily Dosage - Jan. 8, 2009

Daily Diarrhea

Robert Lang is one of those guys that's good but never really great, which doesn't make him a favourite of fantasy hockey GMs.  If you're team is deep enough that this guy is on your roster then you are loving the streak he's on recently... a hat-trick last night gives him 7+6=13 in his last 13 games.  This puts him on pace for around 60 points which is right about where he usually is.

Another goal last night for Erik Cole gives him 5 goals and 8 points in his last 9 games and he's worked his way back onto the 1st line with Horcoff and Penner. 

Deserving All-star nod for Sheldon Souray as the dman is having a big fantasy season... currently on pace for 60 points, 100+ PIMs and 250+ shots.

Uneventful debut for Mats Sundin last night, looked a step slow to our eye and was definitely very cognisant of keeping the shifts short (he changed on the fly during his first shift after only 30 seconds).  Mats lined-up with Mason Raymond and Kyle Wellwood but that line couldn't get anything going.

Nigel Dawes has officially awoken from his nap that lasted the first two months of the season and he's started to produce as we expected he would... 4+5=9 & +6 in his last 9 games.  In other Ranger news, still no goals for Brandon Dubinsky in his last 18 games and Michal Rozsival must have decided that he's tired of waiting for Wade Redden to bring the noise, so he'll do it instead... he's 5+2=7 in his last 7 games.

Brian Burke's first splash as Leafs' GM was to trade for a 37 year old (Brad May) and demote a 22 year old (Nikolai Kulemin).  Haven't Leafs fans seen this all before?  I thought this was supposed to be different this time?  If his next trade is to bring Wendel Clark back then it's over, I'll become an Islanders fan (wait, that's a little drastic) a Coyotes fan.

Mikael Backlund is not going back to Sweden for the rest of the year as he'll stay in North America and join Kelowna in the WHL.  Calgary was not happy with his playing time in Sweden and we've been suggesting for a while that his progress looks to have stalled.  He's always shown well at international tournaments against his peers but has never been able to produce against men.  Perhaps some time in the WHL will help but name a Swedish star who spent time in the WHL... there are none, so Backlund would be the first to follow that path to stardom. 

Nikita Filatov has been called up to due to his fine play at the WJHC and also to fill in for Rick Nash and Kristian Huselius, who are both sidelined with injuries.  This should mean a few games with some decent opportunities, unlike his last game for Hitchcock where he only played 2:54.  Both Nash and Huselius are expected back soon, so his chance to impress probably won't last long but if he makes a quick impression then he could stick for a while.

Took down our old poll, you guys like Phil Kessel to have a bigger breakout than Setoguchi, Krejci and Hudler.  Interesting.  Our new poll wants to know which of the WJHC stars will have the biggest impact in the NHL next year... very tough call but we're showing some love for James van Riemsdyk as we think he'll get some experience with the Flyers at the end of this season and playoffs and then be ready to rock next season... but we're very intrigued to see what you think.

Injury Updates (see our Injury Updates page for a consolidated list of injuries):

Ales Hemsky is still suffering from the effects of the concussion he suffered at the end of December, he's still foggy and hasn't been skating so its time to start worrying Hemsky owners.

Milan Lucic picked up an undisclosed injury on Tuesday night and is listed as day-to-day.

Distraction of the Day      

What's distracting us today?  We've been meaning to show you a few bizarre hockey videos for a few days but our World Juniors Fever was a bit too much. 

First up.  Ladies and Gentlemen...Mark Stuart on vocals, Milan Lucic on guitar, Blake Wheeler on drums and Matt Lashoff on bass performing 'Alive':

Remember last summer when Tiger Woods said this quote?

"I don't think anyone really watches hockey anymore."

We didn't actually hear him say it since we don't watch a sport as dull as golf but Puck Daddy reported and he doesn't seem like a guy that would lie.

Well in our research we've actually found that at least two people watch hockey:

That's right Tiger Woods (and Mark O'Meara) are closet hockey fans!  First the Winter Classic, now this.  Hockey is taking over the world!