Hockey Hearsay

Hockey Hearsay runs weekdays, 12 months a year; mixing NHL stories, quotes and fantasy takes.

The Vancouver Province paints a picture:

You are 32 years old and coming off the greatest year of your life.

You love the city you live in. You love your team, and the teammates you play with. So much so, you have committed the rest of your career to them.

You just pulled off a historic season. You were one win away from a championship, the closest your team has ever been to winning it all. You were a Vezina finalist in a season which included an extraordinary accomplishment. It may, in fact, have been your greatest feat. You were the starting goalie for a run-and-gun, offensively focused team which gave up the fewest goals in the NHL.

You are Roberto Luongo. And you are booed, unforgivingly.

Most believed that going into this season Luongo wouldn't have much margin of error with the fans here. Not after his bi-polar Stanley Cup final performance. Few, however, predicted he'd have none.

"The good thing is that it's happened so many times, that I've gotten used to it," Luongo said. "It really doesn't affect me anymore.

"A fan pays their ticket, they come to the game and they have the right to boo if they want to."

The player who defends Luongo most voraciously is the one who can most relate to him.

"For a guy who has done more for this franchise than any other goalie probably in the history of the team, you'd think he'd get a bit of slack or some more leeway before they really get on him," Cory Schneider said. "He's a top-three, top-five goalie in this league. I know he's not playing like that right now. He knows that.

"But you'd think, two (home) games into the season, it wouldn't be like this."

But, The Province continues, it is like this and it's difficult to believe it's going to improve any time soon, even as Luongo's numbers start to climb from the 3.70 GAA and the .856 save percentage hole he's in now.

"Not a lot of guys face the scrutiny and criticism he does," Schneider said. "I'm sure people look at his contract and point to that. But he earned it. He played hard for ten years to earn that contract. So, he shouldn't feel obligated to answer to that.

"I don't know why they choose to give him such a hard time all the time . . . It's a little disappointing to see."

How does Schneider think Luongo handles it?

"Last year, not that he didn't care, but he let it roll off his back more," Schneider said. "He just sort of deflected the criticism. He just sort of shut it out. Before, he'd get a little more caught up in it.

"Last year, he said 'Screw it, I'm going to do my thing and who cares what anyone else says.'

"And he had arguably the best season of his career.

"I think he's gotten pretty good at (dealing with it). Unfortunately, he's had to."

They were like Winnipeg-born Supermen, slipping from their Bay Street uniforms into Jets jerseys before all of Toronto's very eyes.

Grown men strolled into a downtown watering hole and shrugged out of their Italian suit jackets and pulled their hometown team's hockey sweater out of bags for a quick change from big city businessmen into Jets fans.

"I circled this date on the calendar when the schedule came out and tried to get tickets but they were already sold out. But I was able just recently to scrounge a couple up," said Mike Rosenblat, a Winnipegger living in Toronto for the past four years, standing in the corner of Earls restaurant on King Street among a group of close to 100 Jets fans decked out in jerseys old and new. "I went back to Winnipeg for the season opener, too."

Rosenblat says Toronto has embraced the Jets and all the ex-pats wearing their colours of late.

"When the team got announced, I pulled out some of the jerseys I still had with the old logo and it's actually really supportive here," said Rosenblat. "There's been no negativity and bad comments. It's been fun to be a part of... I have the Free Press app on my iPad and it's the first thing I check every day."

Mark Hladik got his start with Earls as a dishwasher in Winnipeg, but is now heading up the chain's expansion into Ontario. His downtown Toronto location has become a roost for Jets fans.

"This has brought all the ex-pat Winnipeggers out in a fury and they're converging on this bar for big Jets occasions," said Hladik, wearing a new Jets logo T-shirt and beaming with his restaurant bustling and half the lounge reserved for Winnipeggers.

"The first game, it was a Sunday afternoon and the bar is normally dead. We had 300 people in here wearing Jets gear and screaming their heads off. It was incredible."

Hladik sent an email blast out touting Earls as the pre-game meeting place for Winnipeggers heading over to see the Jets take on the Leafs.

"It went viral. It's gone bananas. There are lots of Winnipeggers living in Toronto. Our whole management team is from Winnipeg and we love seeing those jerseys come into the bar," said Hladik.

ESPN Dallas observes that Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk’s signing of Sheldon Souray was seen as a gamble by some, but a couple weeks into the season the move is paying some nice dividends.

Souray’s numbers offer evidence. Through the first six games he’s tied for the team lead in points with five (one goal, four assists) and leads the team with a plus-six rating while playing 20:23 of ice time.

“My feeling is everyone feels like they are coming in with a fresh start. Me for obvious reasons,” said Souray, who spent last season in the American Hockey League. “It seems everyone has come in with a renewed sense of optimism and that’s just made it easier for myself and the other guys to blend in.”

Souray has done more than just blend in with the Stars team first concept. He’s stood out in many ways. His shot, one of the hardest in the game, has made an impact, producing some offense for the Stars. But Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said there’s been more to Souray’s game than just the offensive side of things.

“I can’t say enough about Hammer. He’s been real good here. Offensive production we obviously don’t want to stop now, but if it did we’re fine because his defensive play has been very sound,” said Gulutzan. “He’s given us some bite back there. He’s a very hard to play against guy. He’s given us a good voice in the locker room. There’s no offensive pressure on him. What he gives us is great, but we like the way he defends and plays D and the presence he brings us.”

The article points out that Souray’s shot always gets a lot of attention, but his size (6-4, 237 pounds) and that he plays with an edge also were reasons the Stars signed him to a one-year, $1.65 million contract in July. He’s a been a force in front of the Stars net and in the defensive zone this season.

“He’s mean. He’s mean. He’s a great guy off the ice, but he has an edge when he plays,” said Gulutzan. “Those are the kind of defensemen no one wants to play against, but everyone wants to have. He has an edge. We love that and our guys like it.”

Souray, 35, is coming off two rough seasons. He was slowed by injuries in Edmonton in 2009-10 and when his relationship with the Oilers soured he was shipped off to the AHL, where there were more injuries woes last season. The Oilers bought out his contract in June, opening the door for the Stars to sign him.

While Souray has been a good fit for the Stars, the veteran defenseman said the Stars have been a good fit for him as well.

“There’s no pressure on me,” said Souray. “They haven’t asked anything of me other than to come in, have fun and play my game. The expectations have been kind of low for me. I am not here to save the world, but just help out anyway I can.”

Philly.com reports that despite a red-hot start that has them hovering near the top of the Eastern Conference standings, the Flyers nonetheless made an adjustment to their roster.

Brayden Schenn really gave them no other choice.

"I know he's played very well down there," said team captain Chris Pronger. "At some point, you've got to give guys chances to produce and play . . . it's nice to see him back up."

Schenn, 20, had four goals and four assists with the Phantoms. The sleeper in the trade that sent Mike Richards to Los Angeles in June, Schenn was having a fine training camp for the Flyers until a left shoulder injury knocked him out of the last three exhibition games.

A nuance in the salary cap practically mandated Schenn spend at least the first game in the minors. It took only three more to prove to the Flyers' brass that the shoulder was OK and he was ready to come back to the big club.

"He's a good kid, very skilled," said goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. "He played well in the minors and he deserves to be here. I think he belongs in the NHL. He's got lots of weapons: good shot, good skills, good technique."

With the addition of Schenn and the completion of Jody Shelley's five-game suspension, Harry Zolnierczyk and Zac Rinaldo were sent to Adirondack.

The Flyers saved nearly $1.75 million of cap space by starting Schenn off with the Phantoms. Yesterday's moves have them right up against the salary cap, about $21,000 below.

Now the challenge falls to Flyers coach Peter Laviolette to find a place for Schenn. Presumably, he hasn't been brought up to play 8 minutes per game as a fourth-liner. Laviolette wouldn't reveal his thoughts, but the coach also did not rule out putting Schenn on a line with fellow rookies Sean Couturier and Matt Read. This would drop Scott Hartnell down to the fourth line.

"The 'ice time' word will come up a lot," Laviolette said, "but I think the most important thing is at the end that we are getting contributions from guys and winning games."

In each of their first four games, The Ottawa Citizen points out the Senators scored at least one power-play goal, giving the team one of the league’s better power plays.

In the past two games, though, they haven’t scored one. They were unsuccessful on their lone chance against the Washington Capitals and unsuccessful in five against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Could it be that being without Sergei Gonchar for most of the Washington game and all of the Philadelphia game hurt the power play?

“That would be a pretty easy leap to say that,” said coach Paul MacLean. “When he wasn’t on it, it was 0-5. We did create some scoring chances … but Sergei’s an important part of our power play.”

Gonchar may only have one assist on the season, but the Senators will be happy to get him back tonight against the Winnipeg Jets.

On Wednesday, Gonchar skated on his tender right foot, bruised by a slap shot in Washington, and said he’s OK to return.

“There was some pain, but I can handle it,” he said. “My plan is to see what happens overnight. I hoping it’s not going to swell and that it behaves.”

A target of the boo birds this season, Gonchar said it does bother him, but his only recourse is to play better.

“I don’t think any human being likes it, to be booed,” he said. “At the same time, it’s their opinion and what can you do? The only thing I can do is improve my game and hopefully when I turn it around, it stops.”

The Calgary Herald writes that when Calgary Flames coach Brent Sutter indicated that he’d appreciate seeing the opposition’s top players punished, Curtis Glencross needed no extra encouragement.

Being ornery comes naturally to the Flames winger.

So there was Jordan Eberle, crushed two minutes into Tuesday’s contest against the Edmonton Oilers. And the 21-year-old had had it easy, relatively speaking.

Pity Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

The 18-year-old spent the entire evening in Glencross’s sights, wincing and dodging checks and peeking over his shoulder. At one point, the Flames veteran leaped on the young centre’s back, pancaking him to the ice.

Glencross happily recaps.

“First shift, I hit Eberle pretty hard,” the left-winger says after Wednesday’s practice at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “And every time Hopkins had the puck — or was around the puck — I made sure I had a stick on him. At faceoffs, I always made sure I gave him a little shot or something . . . just a welcome-to-the-league kind of thing. He’d played four games and had been untouched pretty much.

“But them young guys, they’re not very big, they’re not very strong. So if you play them hard, it’s the best thing for us, right?”

The Herald notes Glencross gets a fresh assignment Thursday when the New York Rangers drop in to the Scotiabank Saddledome. Meaning Marian Gaborik can bank on a couple of visits from No. 20.

“That’s the way I grew up playing,” says the Provost, Alta., native. “Playing in a small town, I cared more about a big bodycheck than scoring a goal or anything like that. It’s how I was brought up. You have to have it in you. If you don’t like playing that style . . . it tough’s to transfer it over, to flip a switch.

“But hard-nosed guys . . . that’s how they grew up.”

The Buffalo News details how Drew Stafford understands the fascination with Jhonas Enroth. He knows why folks are intrigued by the Sabres' rookie goaltender, a rising prospect who is 10-2-2 since the start of last season.

Still, as Stafford watched Ryan Miller absolutely steal Tuesday's 3-1 victory in Montreal with a 40-save performance, the right winger had no doubt who remains Buffalo's No. 1 netminder.

"You guys are going to get the story with Jhonas, the new story," Stafford said with a knowing smile. "You need new stuff, and he's playing great. It's hard to say Millsie is old news, but it is.

"You know in games like [Tuesday] he's going to bail us out when we need him. That's just the kind of goalie that he is. That's the kind of player he is. He's the backbone of this team, and when he's going we can feed off that."

Miller is expected to key the Sabres' attempt to improve to 5-1 tonight when they visit the Florida Panthers in BankAtlantic Center. He is 3-1 with a 2.01 goals-against average and .942 save percentage, dynamic early numbers that have him back on pace with his Vezina Trophy season of 2009-10.

He actually gives some of the credit for his most impressive victory to his backup. Enroth started Saturday in Pittsburgh and backstopped a 3-2 victory over the Penguins. The night off gave Miller more time to practice, and the extra work carried over into Tuesday's larceny in Montreal.

"I'd like to think so," Miller said. "I did work on a few things I tried to key on all night and I'm trying to hinge my early part of the season [on being technically sound]. The more work I can get and the more focus I can get on things I feel like I need to do, I feel I'll be better served in games."

For the sculptors, The Chicago Tribune notices the key to capturing Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita was the eyes.

"When I reviewed old photos of Bobby, he had a spark in his eyes when he was happy," Omri Amrany said. "And when Bobby came to our studio the first time he was like a kid in a candy shop and you could see that spark, and you try to pick up on that feeling and bring it into the sculpture."

On Saturday, the Blackhawks will unveil statues of Hull and Mikita outside the United Center before a game against the Avalanche.

To Hawks fans of all ages, the two are already larger-than-life figures and that will become a reality as the 7-foot-tall statues sitting atop 5-foot granite pedestals will take their permanent spots in the northeast corner outside the arena near Madison Street.

Like the Michael Jordan shrine that has likely posed for more pictures than the man himself, the statues of Hull and Mikita are the work of husband-and-wife sculptors Julie Rotblatt Amrany and Omri Amrany. The artists, who ply their trade in a spacious studio in Highwood, have spent the last 10 months visualizing, creating, molding, welding and putting the finishing touches on the 1,500-pound works made of white bronze with zinc and nickel to give them a silvery appearance and also to feature colors on the players' sweaters.

"I grew up in Highland Park and moved away for many years and then coming back, and being able to sculpt these icons, it gives me goose bumps a little bit," said Rotblatt Amrany, who sculpted Mikita while Amrany created Hull. "It really takes me back to when I was a kid and my father and my brother used to sit and watch the hockey games in black and white on a little TV screen. You could hardly follow the puck moving across the screen but those guys were household names. It's mostly wonderful for them that they are now immortalized."

Hull and Mikita were involved in the process from the beginning and each made multiple visits to the studio to not only check on the progress, but to allow the artists to look into the eyes and study the mannerisms of the men who are depicted in action poses.

"It was absolutely fascinating with the detail involved," said Stan's wife, Jill Mikita, who accompanied her husband when they went to the studio. "The pains that they took to make everything absolutely perfect. They measured his ears, his nose, his forehead and face. They wanted to make sure the uniform was right and they wanted to make sure his skates were laced the way he laced them — which was different than everyone else — so he brought his skates down and showed them how he laced his skates. It was absolutely perfect."

The Edmonton Journal details how Corey Potter is one of those heavy players, to use the coaching parlance these days, a guy who can lean on people with his size.

But Potter’s wait is more interesting than his weight. How did this guy, who looks completely comfortable at the point on the power play with a bomb for a shot and seems to be more than adequate in his own end, get buried in the minors?

Some players only get a cup of coffee at the NHL level. Potter, who turns 28 in early January, didn’t get the cup or the saucer, never mind the cream and sugar. He’s had only nine NHL games plus another 364 games in the minors coming into this season.

Admittedly, Potter has played only three games on the Edmonton Oilers’ blue-line. That’s a pretty small sample. But why has the six-foot-three, 206-pound Potter been a career minor leaguer?

“I’ve been asking myself that question for seven years,” said Oilers coach Tom Renney. “You’re in one organization (New York Rangers) for a long time and you get smothered. You know how things are with the collective bargaining agreement, (one-way) contracts prevent a guy from stepping in. I’ve felt for a long time that Corey will be an NHL player.”

He’s solidly in the Oilers’ top six defenceman for now, and somebody else will be coming out of the lineup. Peckham likely will be in the top six.

“I’ve been waiting five or six years for this to put a stretch of games together and feel confident. I’m really happy for this opportunity,” said Potter.

The Journal says Renney knew all about him when he was the Rangers coach and before that when he was in player development. Potter played eight games for Renney in New York, but just couldn’t break through.

“I fully expected Corey to make our team. I know Corey. I expected he’d make things interesting on the blueline,” said Renney, who felt Potter got boxed out in New York.

“The Rangers had Dan Girardi come in as a free agent and, all of sudden, Corey was behind him. That hurt him. Then Marc Staal got drafted (in the first round) and people thought he’d be going back to junior but he made the team right away (at 18 years old),” said Renney. “(Potter) was the odd man out, plus they had contracted players who weren’t going anywhere unless there was a a deal. But he was so good for them in Hartford (on the American Hockey League farm team). So reliable, eager.

“He’s a calm guy, he’s an older rookie. He has a certain maturity level that allows him to feel good about things, whatever the circumstance. He seems to have good vision, he doesn’t get outmuscled too often, and seems to know what to do with the puck when there is really no play there, and that makes a big difference. That’s huge (for a defender).”

In just about one month, The New York Post points out that Wojtek Wolski has gone from getting the first opportunity to play left wing on the first line with Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik to becoming an unmistakable object of derision by coach John Tortorella.

Wolski has missed the last three games with a groin issue he first developed midway through Rangers training camp. Tortorella was asked following yesterday's practice in Vancouver whether the winger might be available for tonight's match against the Flames.

"We can't get him out of the tub," the coach said, despite the fact Wolski practiced yesterday after taking part in the morning skate on Tuesday. see more videos

Asked whether that meant Wolski was getting hot-tub treatment for the groin, Tortorella said: "I guess."

Wolski, who likely would replace either Erik Christensen or Kris Newbury on the fourth line when he returns, is in the final year of his contract under which he carries a $3.8 million cap hit.

Presumably there are hot tubs in Hartford, too.

The Boston Globe passes along that even with a Jack Adams Trophy and a Stanley Cup ring in his possession, Claude Julien isn’t wise enough to know whether the changes he made in practice yesterday will create the results he wants in tonight’s game.

Nathan Horton, usually the first-line right wing, was wearing the gold practice jersey of the No. 2 line along with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron.

Chris Kelly, the third-line center, was in the white jersey that usually belongs to first-liner David Krejci. Kelly was flanked by Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin.

Rich Peverley, who had been Bergeron’s right wing for the first six games, alternated shifts with Krejci on the third line between Jordan Caron and Benoit Pouliot. Only the fourth line of Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell, and Shawn Thornton was untouched.

A 2-4-0 start, a shameful absence of cool in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Carolina, and an 11th-place berth in the Eastern Conference will lead to such alterations.

“I wish I could stand here and pretend I’m a genius,’’ Julien said. “But you know what? I don’t know what I’m going to get. What I know is that what I was getting before wasn’t enough.’’

From the start of the season, the Bruins have been preaching patience. They acknowledged that the Stanley Cup hangover was real. It could show up early - as it seemingly has - or manifest itself later in the year.

But the latest loss highlighted too many ills that could torpedo the season if not corrected. Aside from Marchand and Bergeron, the Bruins are getting little from their go-to players.

“I don’t think there’s anybody in that room that can put their arm up and say, ‘Listen, I’m at my best right now,’ ’’ Julien said. “So we’re fighting through it together.’’

The Columbus Dispatch believes that it’s rather early to be handing out votes of confidence to those charged with turning around the Blue Jackets. Then again, it’s getting awfully deep into the season — six games, two weeks and counting — for the Blue Jackets to still be looking for their first win.

Yesterday, Blue Jackets president Mike Priest watched most of an hour-long practice, with general manager Scott Howson seated to his right. In separate interviews, Priest and Howson acknowledged it’s “getting late early” this season, that the 0-5-1 start has been frustrating and disappointing.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed with the start,” Priest said. “I’m very frustrated by everything the team has had to endure that’s been somewhat outside the norm of what you’d expect.

“The (James) Wisniewski suspension. The injuries to players who make an impact, in their own way. You have to overcome those issues, but at the same time it still seems like all of the excitement felt by the fan base has … we’ve kind of let the air out of the balloon.”

Wisniewski, an offensive defenseman, has two more games to serve on his eight-game suspension. Winger Kristian Huselius (torn chest muscle) is out for at least another month or two, and winger/enforcer Jared Boll (broken thumb) is a month or so away.

Now, No. 1 center Jeff Carter (broken foot) is out indefinitely.

“We are missing important players from our lineup,” Howson said, “but we haven’t responded properly to the missing pieces. If you look at a team like Pittsburgh, who is missing a lot of their players … they’ve still found a way to get wins. We haven’t done that.”

The Dispatch says Priest gave Howson and coach Scott Arniel votes of confidence, saying they can’t be judged until the full club is given time to play together.

“I absolutely feel (that we can win),” he said. “Time will tell, but we are absolutely committed to winning. We demonstrated that this summer, and we’re not going to rest until we win. We hoped we wouldn’t be where we are. We have to keep pushing through this, but we also need to see our team. We don’t have our team.

“When we have our whole team assembled, and we have time to digest it, then we’ll be able to really take a hard look and evaluate it.”

Howson said he’s firmly behind Arniel, even though the Blue Jackets have one regulation win in their past 28 games dating to last season. They are 3-17-8 overall in that span.

“Three wins overall … that’s an alarming statistic,” Howson said. “But it’s hard to connect the end of one season with the beginning of another. I think we have a great coaching staff and we’re going to find our way out of this.”

LA Kings Insider writes that so far, this is the Simon Gagne the Kings hoped to see, as Gagne has started the season with three goals and four assists in five games while playing a first-line role alongside center Anze Kopitar and right winger Justin Williams.

The Kings’ signing of Gagne didn’t get as much attention as their trade for Mike Richards, and somewhat understandably so. Gagne had spent his entire 11-year NHL career on the East Coast and, in three of the previous four seasons, he had battled injuries.

Williams, though, knew all about Gagne. The wingers were teammates in Philadelphia and, when Williams learned that the Kings were interested in Gagne this summer, he encouraged Gagne to come to Los Angeles. Los Angeles fans are now getting to see what made Williams so excited…

WILLIAMS: “Playing on the East Coast, there’s a handful of players on our team that you didn’t know much about. Rob Scuderi, myself, Simon, we regularly played out East and never came West very much, so nobody knows much about them but I’m certainly familiar with Simon and I know Kopi is getting a little bit more too. He’s so easy to play with out there. He makes little possession plays that allow us to hold onto the puck. He has great offensive instincts. I played my first 4 1/2 years with him, and forgot how much I missed playing with him, so I’m glad he’s back.’’

Question: You can certainly relate to his situation a bit, as a guy who had to battle through some injuries. Do you see him coming out the other side of that now?

WILLIAMS: “We’re both kind of in the same boat, very similar, with various injuries. It’s still early and I know he’s just looking for an 82-game season, just like I am and just like most guys are, but especially us. We’re hoping to play the majority of the games, and hopefully all 82, and be productive doing it. I know that’s what Simon wants to do.’’

The New York Post relays it was like Jack Capuano knew it was coming, and if there were any silent contemplation before his answer, it was indiscernible.

"There's no question our secondary scoring, we're going to need it," the Islanders' coach said yesterday.

Through four games of the season, the Islanders (3-1-0) have 11 goals. Eight have come from the three forwards on the top line: John Tavares (five), Matt Moulson (two) and P.A. Parenteau (one).

The six forwards who make up the next two lines have combined for two goals, two assists and a minus-3 rating.

"I'm not going to blow the lines up right now or start to dismantle anything," Capuano said, looking ahead to tonight's game at Tampa Bay, followed by Saturday's game at the Panthers.

"If they were getting chances that would be one thing," Capuano said, "but right now they're not getting too many chances in the games that we've played."

The third line got a wake-up call before Saturday's 4-2 win over the Rangers. Capuano scratched left wing Blake Comeau in favor of enforcer Trevor Gillies, who played 2:47. That line is centered by Josh Bailey, with veteran Brian Rolston on the right wing.

"Basically, what he decided to do with Blake doesn't really concern me; it's out of my control," Bailey said. "I just wanted to focus on my game. You try to just prepare yourself mentally and physically, and I think we did that."

The second line of Kyle Okposo - Frans Nielsen - Michael Grabner has managed the group's two goals but hasn't exactly made the lines roll.

"Obviously you can't expect those guys [first line] to carry us all season," Bailey said. "We need to take some pressure on them and put some pucks in, as well."

Mike: Hi Chris, been following you since your Canoe.ca days and you've been my biggest source of fantasy info. I'm been so impressed these past few years at the time+effort you put into the live recaps and Hockey Hearsay editions. Incredible!

Ok, my situation. Standard 13team Roto league. G,A,P,+/-,PIM,PP,SHP,GWG,SOG,W,GAA,SV,SV%,SHO.

Unfortunately, it was auto-drafted and here is the team I got.

C-Spezza,DRoy,BDubi LW-AO RW-Parise W-Kovy,Selanne D-Letang,Subban,Kaberle,EJohnson, Util-Horton,Kane Bench-Zidlicky G-Smith,Anderson,Greiss

I actually like my team, save for the goalie situation. I dropped Kane for Ekman-Larsson and thinking of dropping Zidlicky for another goalie. Have a waiver claim for Garon, dropping Greiss.

No notable FA goalies aside from Conklin, Bjohnson, Emery, SergBob, Markstrom, Enroth and the like.

Tried to put some feelers out there but people are not willing to trade at the moment. Although someone just accepted Iginla for Ward in my league. Any advice, thoughts?"

Chris: Thanks for reading all of this time Mike, I appreciate it.

What you may end up needing to do for your goaltending situation for awhile, at least until Anderson starts producing better stats and we see how Smith pans out in Phoenix, is to add the Conklin, Johnson, Bob and Enroths on nights where they're slated to start. They're all in pretty good situations to produce good stats (hopefully Emery too) in their limited action.

I'll assume that's Evander Kane dropped for OEL. Honestly though, in a roto situation with the four solid D you already have I don't really even see a need for OEL. Maybe there's a better option than Kane in Util for now (I still think Kane's blend of points/ PIM/ SOG will come around and be quite useful), but I doubt OEL will be worth having as an extra D. You don't really need Zidlicky either, as you mentioned, so if one of the starting goalies of the teams I mentioned for those backups goes down... there's an extra spot for goalie help.

Otherwise, yeah... I agree with you. The rest of the team looks nice. Really nice. If you manage the goalie situation well (And Smith/ Anderson may, in themselves, do just enough to get by) and get lucky with someone else's starter getting injured and you add more back-up starts... boom. That could do it.

John in Chitown: "Hi Chris. I'm in five one-year roto leagues, and my goalie tandems range from Miller/Price (!) to Halak/Roloson (ugh).

For a third goalie, do you prefer playing a clear-cut starter on a bad team in decent matchups or a pedigreed backup on a good team in all matchups? The latter should do less damage to ratios, but wins and shutouts can be left on the table if games played aren't maxed.

My leagues all have the standard goalie cats: GAA, save%, W's and shutouts, so counting stats and ratios matter equally. I went youth movement for backup goalies in my drafts but am having second thoughts. Neuvirth is injured, and Rask and Bernier have been less than stellar in very limited starts, while the goalies ahead of them have been very good. Meanwhile, Anderson, Dubnyk, Pavelec and Smith have either hit the wire or weren't drafted. Thanks."

Chris: Excellent question.

In general, I'd much prefer to have a third goalie who is the pedigreed back-up on a good team. Easily. That's why some of them rated so highly in the rankings in September. I understand what you're saying about GP maxes, but in roto the back-up should more or less perfectly fill the GP hole left after your two No. 1 guys. Worst case, you grab a Ty Conklin a few times in March and April to make up the difference. If you use a starter like Steve Mason, as an example, then you're left with the unenviable task of trying to hand-pick starts against middle-of-the-road competition and hoping for the best stats-wise. Dicey game.

Present stats aside, someone like Anderson should really be counted as a No. 2 goalie because he'll have heavy starts and a helpful SV%.

Love what I've seen from Dubnyk so far as an Oilers fan, but I still can't say with any certainty that these formerly last place Oilers are going to put up these low goals against totals night after night. I'd have a hard time chancing it as a poolie owner at this point. Maybe it's just reverse homerism kicking in.

Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.