Fantasy Forecast for Monday, November 30

WEEKEND ROUNDUP:

If Maple Leafs defenseman Francois Beauchemin scores 2 goals in Monday's home game against Buffalo, his fantasy owners may want to send a thank you basket to teammate Mikhail Grabovski.

Why? The explanation definitely fits into the wacky world of fantasy where sometimes little makes sense.

According to the Toronto Star, Beauchemin (24 games, 2-7-9, owned in 6 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) and Grabovski got into an altercation at Sunday's practice and had to be separated. The cause of the tempers flaring is unclear, but Grabovski has a history to fighting with teammates in practice because of his "chippy" reputation.

"After (a) day off, everybody wants to play hard because tomorrow is a game; just practicing hard," Grabovski told reporters.

As a rookie last season, Grabovski had more than one practice incident with veteran winger Jason Blake. "Last time, Blake scored twice in the next game," joked Grabovski. "This time Beauchemin will score two, you'll see."

Fantasy owners worldwide wish it was as easy as Grabovski claims. For the record, Beauchemin has 1 assist in three career games against Buffalo.

Not that it has anything to do with fantasy, Leafs coach Ron Wilson injected some humor into the episode with a classic quote.

"They were arguing over the last Curb Your Enthusiasm episode," Wilson told the Toronto Sun. "Grabo did not quite understand of those some of the little idioms, and Francois, who is a master of the English language, was explaining to him."

New line combinations for the Sabres first used in Saturday's win against Carolina are expected to begin Monday's contest at Toronto. According to the Buffalo News, coach Lindy Ruff moved winger Thomas Vanek (21, 8-7-15, 91 percent) from the first to the third line with Mike Grier and Tim Kennedy, while winger Jochen Hecht was promoted to the first line to join Derek Roy and Jason Pominville. The No. 2 line of Tim Connolly centering MacArthur and Drew Stafford remained intact.

"I liked the fact that Kennedy and Grier were real good down low in the first period and felt the Roy line really struggled in the first period," Ruff said after Saturday's 5-1 home win. "So I just flipped wingers on a hunch and those guys did a good job. I thought Kennedy was really good down low and Thomas and Michael were doing a good job finding holes."

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma put together a scary line to begin Saturday’s 8-3 home win against the Rangers. How scary? Try Sidney Crosby centering Evgeni Malkin and Bill Guerin. Though the unit wasn’t used the entire game, Crosby (27, 15-15-30, 99 percent) did record 3 goals and 2 assists.

The Sharks received quite an injection of skill and scoring in Sunday's 4-2 win at Vancouver, welcoming back winger Devin Setoguchi and defenseman Rob Blake to the lineup. Setoguchi (16, 8-2-10, 88 percent) sat out five games with a leg injury, while Blake (17, 1-5-6, 64 percent) missed 11 with an arm injury. The Mercury News reports that coach Todd McLellan wanted to ease Setoguchi, normally a first-liner, back into active duty, so he played on the fourth line with Torrey Mitchell and Frazer McLaren. But by the end of the contest, McLaren was skating on the second line with Joe Pavelski and Manny Malhotra. On some shifts, Malhotra or Ryane Clowe were added to the fourth line. When Setoguchi is back up to speed, expect him to join Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville experimented with his lines in Saturday's 2-1 shootout loss at Los Angeles. He replaced Patrick Kane with Andrew Ladd on a line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa, but later on in the period united Toews, Kane and Patrick Sharp. “I could have done it earlier, too,” Quenneville told the Daily Herald Times. “It’s something you’re always thinking about playing with.”

After a goal-less stretch of 16 games, and 1 in his first 21 contests, Blues winger David Backes (24, 4-5-9, 60 percent) has a three-game goal streak heading into Monday's game at Columbus. Also last weekend, teammate Paul Kariya (24, 5-5-10, 30 percent) ended a 15-game goal drought with his first since Oct. 20.

There may be no hotter goal scorer than Toronto left wing Niklas Hagman (23, 13-4-17, 28 percent) with 6 in his last four games and 7 goals in his last six contests. This streak comes after he went nine straight games without a goal.

The Raleigh News-Observer reports Michael Leighton (6, 1-3-0, 4.51 GAA, 1 percent) gets the start in goal for the Hurricanes on Monday at home against Washington.

Fantasy owners of Oilers winger Ales Hemsky were dealt a terrible setback when the team revealed he will miss the rest of the season because of surgery for his left shoulder. Hemsky (22, 7-15-22, 48 percent) will be sidelined for up to six months. "It's frustrating because it's a big year for a lot of players," Hemsky said. "Especially considering it's an Olympic year, but there is nothing I can do. It's no fun playing with an injury like that. I tried, but it just didn't work out."

Devils winger David Clarkson (23, 7-8-15, 43 percent), who is experiencing a breakout season, will be lost for four to six weeks with a non-displaced fracture of his lower right leg sustained on Friday in a win at Boston. “It’s a non-displaced fracture and at this point will not need casting,” GM Lou Lamoriello told the Bergen Record. "He will be in an air cast and then it's just a question of when that bone heals."

Kings' coach Terry Murray revealed that Ryan Smyth (22, 9-14-23, 88 percent) is expected to skate for the first time on Monday since suffering an upper-body injury on Nov. 16. "He feels good," Murray told lakingsinsider.com. "He's walking around much more relaxed and without any pain. I think, with him, you've got to be careful not to let him do too much and get into a situation where he might injure himself again. But he's going to get on the ice and start to do stuff."

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that injured winger Simon Gagne (abdomen) will skate with the Flyers during Monday's practice. He is said to be ahead of schedule after undergoing hernia and abdominal surgery and could return in three weeks at the earliest. Gagne (9, 1-4-5, 74 percent) has not played since Oct. 25.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski (21, 6-10-16, 71 percent) will not be in the lineup for Monday's game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, according to Pittsburgh's team Web site. There is no word yet in regard to Goligoski's ailment. On Saturday, he played his first game after sitting out six contests with a leg injury. Dan Rosen has more details in this story.

Crosby was named the NHL's First Star for the week ending Nov. 29. He led all scorers with 8 points (5 goals, 3 assists) in four games. Second Star was awarded to Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, who went 3-0-0 record with a 0.97 goals-against average and .963 save percentage. He allowed one goal each of his three starts. Maple Leafs winger Niklas Hagman was named Third Star for tying Crosby for the League goal-scoring lead last week with 5.


MONDAY'S PROJECTED GOALIES:

Buffalo (Ryan Miller) at Toronto (Jonas Gustavsson), 7:00 p.m. ET
Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Fleury) at NY Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist), 7:00 p.m. ET
Washington (Semyon Varlamov) at Carolina (Michael Leighton), 7:00 p.m. ET
Florida (Tomas Vokoun) at Atlanta (Johan Hedberg), 7:00 p.m. ET
St. Louis (Chris Mason) at Columbus (Steve Mason), 7:00 p.m. ET
Colorado (Craig Anderson) at Tampa Bay (Antero Niittymaki), 7:30 p.m. ET
Dallas (Marty Turco) at Detroit (Jimmy Howard), 7:30 p.m. ET
Calgary (Miikka Kiprusoff) at Nashville (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 p.m. ET

RECENT INJURIES:

Kyle Calder, LW, Anaheim: Placed on injured reserve with an eye injury.
David Clarkson, RW, New Jersey: Will be sidelined 4-6 weeks with a non-displaced fracture of his lower right leg.
Milan Hejduk, RW, Colorado: Is day-to-day with a knee injury.
Ales Hemsky, RW, Edmonton: Will miss the rest of the season because of shoulder surgery.
David Jones, RW, Colorado: Is out four to six months with a torn left ACL.
Ed Jovanovski, D, Phoenix: Is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Milan Lucic, LW, Boston: Will miss approximately four weeks with a high ankle sprain.
Joffrey Lupul, LW, Anaheim: Placed on injured reserve with back spasms.
Peter Mueller, RW, Phoenix: Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Joni Pitkanen, D, Carolina: Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Craig Rivet, D, Buffalo: Is day-to-day with a leg injury.
Marek Zidlicky, D, Minnesota: Is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

TRANSACTIONS:

NHL: Suspended forward Patrick Kaleta of the Buffalo Sabres for two games. Suspended forward Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins for two games.
Anaheim Ducks: Recalled LW Matt Beleskey from Toronto (AHL).
Atlanta Thrashers: Recalled D Boris Valabik from Chicago (AHL).
Calgary Flames: Recalled D Staffan Kronwall from Abbotsford (AHL).
Carolina Hurricanes: Reassigned D Bryan Rodney and G Justin Peters to Albany (AHL).
Colorado Avalanche: Activated D Adam Foote and F Matt Hendricks from injured reserve. Placed D Kyle Cumiskey on injured reserve. Placed D Tom Preissing on waivers. Recalled F Chris Durno and D Brain Fahey from Lake Erie (AHL).
Columbus Blue Jackets: Recalled LW Alexandre Picard from Syracuse (AHL). Assigned F Tom Sestito to Syracuse.
Dallas Stars: Assigned D Maxime Fortunus to Texas (AHL). Recalled LW Fabian Brunnstrom from Texas. Activated C Brian Sutherby from injured reserve.
Florida Panthers: Assigned D Ville Koistinen to Rochester (AHL).
Minnesota Wild: Placed RW Martin Havlat and D Brent Burns on injured reserve, retroactive to November 18. Reassigned LW Robbie Earl and D Jaime Sifers to Houston (AHL).
Montreal Canadiens: Reassigned RW James T. Wyman to Hamilton (AHL).
New Jersey Devils: Reassigned C Tim Sesito and D Tyler Eckford to Lowell (AHL). Recalled Fs Ilkka Pikkarainen and Vladimir Zharkov from Lowell.
New York Rangers: Recalled D Bobby Sanguinetti from Hartford (AHL).
Ottawa Senators: Recalled D Erik Karlsson from Binghamton (AHL). Reassigned D Brian Lee to Binghamton.
Philadelphia Flyers: Recalled C Jon Kalinski from Adirondack (AHL). Assigned D Danny Syvrent to Adirondack.
Phoenix Coyotes: Recalled F Mikkel Boedker from San Antonio (AHL). Loaded F Viktor Tikhonov to CSKA Moscow of the KHL for the remainder of the season.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Reassigned D Deryk Engelland and Ben Lovejoy to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
St. Louis Blues: Recalled D Jonas Junland from Peoria (AHL).
San Jose Sharks: Activated F Torrey Mitchell from injured reserve. Reassigned C Steven Zalewski, D Joe Callahan, C Benn Ferriero and D Jason Demers to Worcester (AHL).
Tampa Bay Lightning: Reassigned D Mike Lundin to Norfolk (AHL). Recalled D Matt Smaby from Norfolk.
Vancouver Canucks: Reassigned C Alexandre Bolduc and D Aaron Rome to Manitoba (AHL).
Washington Capitals: Recalled LW Alexandre Giroux from Hershey (AHL).

NHL.COM EXPERTS LEAGUE:

Week 8 final results
Rocky Trottier 5 vs. Out on a Dan Hinote 5 (1 tie)
Skoula Hard Knocks 4 vs. Ovi's Heroes 4 (3 ties)
Clown Shoes 6 vs. Philly Cheesestakes 4 (1 tie)
Hempstead Slowpokes 5 vs. Big Skillets O'BKLYN 4 (2 ties)
The Birdcage 6 vs. Hammerhead United 4 (1 tie)
Code Monkeys 9 vs. No Shanahan-igans 1 (1 tie)

Week 9 schedule
Rocky Trottier (39-35-14) vs. The Birdcage (34-42-12)
Skoula Hard Knocks (48-29-11) vs. Hammerhead United (42-36-10)
Clown Shoes (37-43-8) vs. Hempstead Slowpokes (39-35-14)
Big Skillets O'BKLYN (40-36-12) vs. Out on a Dan Hinote (49-25-14)
Code Monkeys (47-29-12) vs. Ovi's Heroes (29-42-17)
Philly Cheesestakes (25-51-12) vs. No Shanahan-igans (25-51-12)

EMAIL OF THE DAY:

Hey,
I am in a seasonal league with head-to-head scoring and am in desperate need of help. Despite a good collection of forwards and defensemen, I am 0-7-0. My roster consists of:

Starting -- Wings: Rick Nash, J.P. Dumont; Centers: Ryan Getzlaf, Marc Savard, Brad Richards, Antoine Vermette; Defensemen: Mark Streit, Tomas Kaberle, Sheldon Souray, Kyle Quincey;

Goalies: Craig Anderson, Tomas Vokoun

Reserve -- Patrice Bergeron, Martin Havlat, Kevin Bieksa, and Nikolai Khabibulin.

I was luck to snipe Streit, Kaberle and Dumont when their owners cut them and they've been a huge help, but Havlat and Khabibulin have been major disappointments so far. I am hesitant to get rid of them just in case they swing around but I guess since they don't have to worry about their next contract they don't feel like playing to their full potential. I am almost ready to drop both and hit the free agents.

The best wings available are Alexander Frolov, Andrew Brunette and Wojtek Wolski. The best goalies available are Antti Niemi, Mathieu Garon and Brian Elliott.
Should I hang on to Havlat and Khabibulin or dump them?
-- Tim

The goalie part of this question is like shooting at an open net -- if you want to dump Khabibulin, I would only do so for Elliott (10 games, 5-2-3, 2.59 GAA), who is the starter for Ottawa while Pascal Leclaire is out for up to a month with fractured cheekbone. But again, I would not cut Khabibulin for Niemi (6, 4-1-1, 1.85 GAA), who now hardly ever plays, and Garon (10, 4-3-0, 3.03 GAA), who plays one out of every three games at best in place of Steve Mason. And I disagree with you -- I don't feel Khabibulin (18, 7-9-2, 3.03 GAA) has been a disappointment, and I expect him to finish the season with a winning record, though he’s not there right now. I think Edmonton as a whole has been a disappointment, but not the goalie.

It’s officially time to part ways with Havlat (19, 2-6-8), as he’s now on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. The low point total is one thing, but that horrific minus-14 rating is the pits. My first recommendation is to add Wolski (27, 9-13-22), who usually is centered by Paul Stastny. He plays over 18 minutes a game, gets nearly three minutes of power play time per contest, and is the only one of the three choices with a plus rating (plus-4). Second choice is Frolov (26, 6-12-18), a streaky but capable scorer who doesn’t pass up a shot. Brunette (25, 9-10-19) is an underrated fantasy player but not a scorer in the class of Wolski and Frolov.

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