Fantasy Hockey Scouts: Daily Dosage - Dec 3rd, 2009

Dosage Express
An Avalanche of impressiveness... Slats on the wire... getting Jimmy with it... Colborne snubbed... Ballard takes out another tender... discovery of 'The League' 

Daily Diarrhea   

Big game last night for rookie Matt Duchene as he was 2+1=3 with seven sog in a season high 24:30 of ice-time.  This scout had doubted how much this kid would be able to produce this year but he was everywhere last night and we were damn impressed.  He's put together a nice run lately with 6+4=10 in his last eight games and might be making himself useful in one-year leagues.

Duchene's linemate, Chris Stewart, was also impressive with 1+2=3 & dropped the motherload 19 PIMs for his owners as he stood up to Bryan Allen after he tried to hit Duchene.  Stewart's ice-time has ramped up lately and he's responded with 2+7=9 in his last six games.

Paul Stastny had a four point game for the Avs last night and he's been his usual productive self with 3+7=10 in his last six games.

Steve Weiss notched the hat-trick for the Panthers last night and he's been seeing a ton of ice-time lately, typically around 21 minutes a night, so Coach DeBoer is really leaning on Weiss to lead this team... and he's responded with 7+7=14 in his last 11 games.

Another 3-pointer last night for Alex Edler and he's been on a tear lately with 2+8=10 and a plus-6 in his last seven games.  Grab the kid if he's available in your league as he's a great long-term add.

2+1=3 for Jason Arnott last night gives him 6+4=10 in his last eight games and we've been talking him up lately as he's a good add, even in shallow leagues, as he's consistently productive when he's healthy.

Glen Sather is working the wire... he plucked Erik Christensen off waivers from the Ducks, Christensen's a guy we were pretty big on last year with Atlanta as he has the offensive skills and we just thought he needed the opportunity but now he's on his fourth team in the past four years and we don't really see him going on a Rich Peverley-like post-waiver run in New York.  Slats also put back-up goalie Steve Valiquette on waivers so they could send him to the AHL to work on his game.  This also has the added benefit of allowing them to call up prospect Chad Johnson to get a closer look at him.  Johnson probably won't see much action, if any, but the rookie pro has impressed in the AHL this year (10-6-1, 2.10, .926).

Jimmy Howard gets his third start tonight for the Wings (per FantasyHockey911).  We're watching this situation closely as this scout gambled on Jimmy in a few leagues this year hoping that Osgood would stink it up again and allow Jimmy to have a few stretches as the #1... I love it when a plan comes together.

The Habs traded Kyle Chipchura to the Ducks for a 4th round draft pick... no fantasy relevance here, you're more likely to get more production out of the 4th rounder... even this season.

Canada announced their selection camp roster for the WJC and there were a few things to note... Bruins 2008 1st round pick Joe Colborne and Sabres 2009 1st round pick Zach Kassian were the biggest names omitted, in our opinion.  Kassian is still eligible to play next year whereas Colborne is already 19 and this was his last chance.  We're a little down on Colborne as his numbers at the UofDenver haven't blown us away so far and this news doesn't help.  Also of note is that the Blues have given permission for Alex Pietrangelo to attend the selection camp and, most likely, play in the tournament... so if you're holding on to him, then be aware that he'll be away for about a month.

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

The goalie-assassin, Keith Ballard, struck again last night... this time, he at least took out the goalie from the other team... Ballard ran into Avs goalie Craig Anderson and knocked him into the post.  Anderson left the game with a minor head injury but it sounds like he's ok... he may sit for a game or two.

Shawn Horcoff has been back for eight games from a shoulder injury that kept him out for four but he's apparently still struggling with it and while he did rhyme off a five game point streak when he returned, he's had no points, a minus-6 and only one shot in his last three games, so it seems like it could be affecting his game.   

Returning to action from the injured list last night was: Marty Havlat and Marek Zidlicky.     

Daily Distraction 

What's distracting us today?  So while watching the Avs game or something last night we caught a US commercial for a show on FX called 'The League'... you heard about this?  Apparently its a new show that's based on a bunch of guys in a fantasy football league.  Now I can't think of anything cooler than not only obsessing about fantasy sports but also watching a show about dudes obsessing about fantasy sports... but we'll give it a shot anyway... here's a little vignette (earmuffs for the kids on this one)...