On The Road Again

Well, my laptop is functioning once again, my van is out of the shop with a new fuel injector, but my ceiling is still leaking when it rains. Two out of three ain't bad, right? My apologies to anyone who was checking for updates while I was out of commission, but I'm back and hopefully I'll get back into the flow of things seamlessly. Let's take a look at what happened last night in the wonderful world of hockey.

Martin St. Louis - Had his first multi-goal game of the season. I was advocating selling him earlier this season but even with the mess in Tampa Bay he hasn't been bad. Not at a point per game like those who drafted him were hoping, but not bad. If the Lightning actually start to win some games he could be a real threat again in the near future. But that's obviously a huge if.

Scott Hartnell - Maybe the greatest moment that happened in hockey while BotI was MIA was Scott Hartnell throwing his glove at Ryan Malone on a breakaway to try and distract him, leading to a Malone penalty shot. Hartnell is a throwback kind of player, with his ridiculous hair, oafy demeanor on the ice, and inexplicable ability to play well enough to be kind of dangerous. He had a hat trick in a stunning come from behind victory for the Flyers last night and when Hartsy is hot, he can get red hot. If he has one more decent game to follow it up he'll definitely be worth a pick up, if available.

Michael Leighton - Don't be fooled by the two solid games he had before this loss, Leighton is a mediocre goalie at best and not worth anyone's time.

Steve Mason - This kid on the other hand looks to be the real deal. He's still available in half of Yahoo leagues surprisingly, so if you can grab him, go for it. I would be a little hesitant to draft him next season though, as goalies this young are prone to falling off after hot debuts.

Derick Brassard - While he cooled off a bit during my time off here, he's contributing some points again lately, and I still like Brassard for the rest of the season as long as he's getting decent ice time. It seems like Ken Hitchcock is hesitant to use him too much, which is understandable, but hopefully for all us Brassard owners he's seeing at least 15 minutes a game from here on out.

Patrice Bergeron - I caved in and dropped Patrice in the league I owned him. Supposedly he has some sort of nagging injury that's hurting him in the faceoff circle, which apparently has also taken away all ability to shoot the puck (3 SOG in his last 5 games). I don't know what the deal with him is this season, but unless you're in a keeper I'd move on for the time being.

Pascal Dupuis - Of course he notches a hat trick in a game where his team would have still won by 4 goals if he hadn't played. Still worthless.

Alex Goligoski - He's cooled off lately and it seems like some owners gave up on him. He's still having a hell of a rookie season and I'd still go after him in most leagues.

Ilya Bryzgalov - Either Yahoo GMs are getting way less reactionary, or the majority of GMs that own Bryzgalov haven't logged in since draft day. Either way, holding onto the Bryz through his struggles was the right move, as he's a much, much better goalie than his perfomances of late would indicate. It seems like the Coyotes have some new found energy with Jokinen back, so start Bryzgalov with confidence again.

Enver Lisin - I have no idea who he is, but he has a funny name and is scoring points lately.

Antti Miettinen - Is heating up again. I'm sure he was dropped in tons of leagues after his red hot start, and while he's still only relevant in deep leagues, if you're in one he's worth picking back up.

Craig Anderson - Believe me, I don't get it either. But Anderson should officially be owned in all leagues. Craig Anderson. What the fuck.

Kyle Quincey - When I mentioned Kyle at the beginning of the season, this is what I had to say: "Kyle is quietly playing 20+ minutes of ice time while putting up damn fine numbers so far this season (1 G, 2 A, +5, 1 PPP). Quincey doesn't have the pedigree of Doughty or Johnson (not a first round pick, hasn't been able to break into the league despite playing his first NHL game back in 2005) but he's still only 23 years old and worth a look in keepers." I'm kicking myself for not listening to my own advice. He's not available in either of my leagues now, and if he's available in yours, he won't be for long.