Fantasy Hockey Scouts: Daily Dosage - Dec 15th, 2009

Dosage Express
Hedberg the #1?... Vrbata starting a streak... Myers amazes... Callahan awoken... Spezza, Wideman & Stoll go down... Simmonds week-to-week... dry ice  

Daily Diarrhea   

Johan Hedberg is making a real push for the #1 job in Atlanta right now (follow along on our Crease Conflicts page for the status of the fight) as he stopped 46 of 48 to beat the Rangers last night.  He's started six of the last nine and posted a 5-1 record with 1.71 & .944 averages.  The Moose is worth an add in his own right and is a necessity if you've been relying on Pavelec.

A hat-trick last night for Stevie Sullivan and that combined with a four pointer two weeks back gives him 4+6=10 and plus-8 in his last seven games.  He's been very productive since starting the season with only 2+3=5 in his first 17 games.

Frankie Beauchemin has 2+4=6 in his last eight games and although he's playing a lot on the PP, he only has one PPP in his last 15 games, so if he can start to chip in there, you'll be laffin.  He's also on pace for over 200 shots.

Radim Vrbata sits seventh in the league with 118 shots on goal (on pace for 293) but until now they hadn't really been going in for him... he scored again last night and now has goals in three straight games.  We're not getting too excited about this yet, but its worth watching as recall that RV went on a crazy run with the Coyotes two years ago where he was 25+22=47 over a 49 game stretch.

Tyler Myers continues to amaze as the rookie is logging around 25 minutes a night these days and has nine assists and a plus-7 in his last 10 games.  We've been a little disappointed that he's not shooting the puck enough (barely over a shot per game) and steering clear of the penalty box (only 10 PIMs this year) but he's making himself very useful in a lot of leagues right now. 

The good times keep rolling for Andrei Kostitsyn as he had a season high three points last night to give him 6+3=9 in his last six games.  This guy doesn't do much other than put up a modest point total... doesn't shoot enough or take many PIMs, so grab him for the short-term before he turns cold again. 

He has a long way to go before he gets back to fantasy-worthiness but Ryan Callahan has 4+1=5 with 17 PIMs and 22 shots in his last eight games.  We really liked him to breakout this year and surprise people by contributing in a lot of categories but he went through an awful stretch with only 1+2=3 in 17 games and is finally starting to come around.  His ice-time has never really declined and he's on pace for 80+ PIMs and 225 shots, so he just needs to keep posting those points and then we'll be in business.

The Caps have loaned Michael Nylander to Grand Rapids of the AHL for the rest of the season... so drop him in your NHL & KHL pools and add him in your AHL pool.

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

Jason Spezza left last night's game with a LBI, he got tangled up in a scrum and then left the ice immediately.  Dude's been awful this year so this might be your chance to drop him.

Dennis Wideman left last night's game after picking up an undisclosed injury... more when we know more.

The Wings Jonathan Ericsson took a big hit from Shane Doan and fell on his knee awkwardly... his status is TBD at the moment.

Jarret Stoll left last night's game with a groin injury, which could be a re-occurrence of the injury that kept him out of a couple of games in late November... no word on the extent yet.

Sorry, we missed this one the other night, Wayne Simmonds has missed the past two games with a knee injury that required a procedure and now he's out week-to-week.

David Booth hasn't been able to do much since he suffered that concussion back in October but he has been back on the ice skating, so that's a step in the right direction.   

MA Bergeron was able to go last night after suffering a facial injury last game... and good thing as he had a point streak on the line, which he was able to extend... he has 2+4=6 during a five game run.  

Returning to action from the injured list last night was: Dominic Moore, Brandon Dubinsky and Jack Hillen.     

Daily Distraction 

What's distracting us today?  Check out this infomercial for this fake ice surface, very cool... This could have huge implications as Zamboni drivers are weeping everywhere and Gary Bettman has visions of expansion to Mexico...