Fantasy Hockey Scouts: Daily Dosage - Nov 13th, 2009

Dosage Express
Bergfors is a top liner... Bergeron good, Kariya bad...The Reverend joins the Penguins...  Kovy is back with a bang... Chicago's sexiest athlete

Daily Diarrhea  

It's looks like Jamie Langenbrunner has been bumped off the top line in favour of Nicklas Bergfors.  Bergfors went 1+2=3 while Travis Zajac had three assists for the Devils last night. Bergfors is a former 1st round pick so he has some talent but was looking like a bust after four pretty ordinary AHL seasons.  Pick him up in deeper leagues.

One of our scouts was pretty high on MA Bergeron after he signed with the Habs.  After only three points in 11 games we've been been quick to point out his crapitude.  With a 1+2=3 & plus-2 night we think we'll keep our jeers to ourselves today.   

We know Paul Kariya owners are well aware of this fact but just so the rest of you know: Kariya hasn't had a point in nine games!  Before his injury last season, he had 15 points in 11 games... so we were expecting a big season out of him in 2009-10.  We wouldn't drop him yet but he should definitely be on your bench.

The Pens have recalled d-man Ben Lovejoy from the AHL to fill in for the injured Kris Letang.  He's not an offensive powerhouse (31 points in 76 AHL games last year) but he did lead the AHL in plus-minus with a plus-42.  We're not really recommending him as an add... we just wanted to put a picture of the the Lovejoys up.

Rookie Tom Pyatt was moved up to the 2nd line with Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn.  Even if Pyatt shows some chemistry with these two he won't have any long term value for fantasy owners.  Last year, he put up only 37 points in 73 AHL games.

An exciting 1-0 shootout games last night as Tim Thomas (23 saves) and Tomas Vokoun (40 saves!) hogged all the attention.  Both of these guys have been improving since their early season slumps... so start them with confidence.

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

Ilya Kovalchuk did end up playing last night and he made an impression right away with a 1+2=3 night.  He's coming back sooner than expected so hopefully this isn't going to result in a future injury.  We'll assume the Thrashers know what they are doing (a big assumption) and he'll be okay for the rest of the season.

Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk both returned for the Flyers last night.  Danny potted two in 17 minutes of work and JVR pick up one goal in 16 minutes of play.  Get these two in your lineup asap.

JP Dumont also returned last night.  No points in 18 minutes of action.  But still, he's the best the Preds have to offer.

We're loving all these guys coming back from injuries... one more: Victor Hedman returns.  The Bolts said they were going to be very careful with him and since he played over 24 minutes last night we'll take that as a good sign and assume he's ready to roll.

Chris Osgood and Kirk Maltby missed last night's game with the flu.  That means Jimmy Howard got his second straight start and Drew Miller made his Red Wing debut.  Howard (who had his 2nd great start in a row) is a guy you might was to pick off the FA heap or trade in a buy-low deal.  Looks like the Red Wings are over their early season struggles.

Raffi Torres will be out 1-2 weeks after getting hit in the mouth with a puck. 

First reports had Brandon Dubinsky out three weeks... sounds like he'll be gone six weeks now.  Only the deepest of leagues should hang onto Dubie now.  Look elsewhere for help.

Mike Komisarek is out three weeks with a pulled quadricep muscle.  Unless your league rewards truculence you shouldn't have him on your team anyway.

Daily Distraction 

What's distracting us today?  Saw this video from NHL.com on Puck Daddy.  Patrick Sharp has been nominated as the sexiest Chicago athlete.  What do the rest of the Hawks think of that? 

What's a bit of trash talking between teammates?