It's not that they're old. They're experienced. Yeah, that's it.

Let's take a look at a few of the senior members in fantasy circles.

SHANNY'S TRIUMPHANT RETURN

Brendan Shanahan not only played in his first game of '08-9 last night, but he also scored a goal in that tilt.

"Shanny played very well in his first game and obviously that was a big goal for us," Devils coach Brent Sutter told the Star-Ledger. "You could see his experience. He's played in a lot of key situations throughout his career and he handled himself very well on his first night."

The veteran winger turns 40 on Friday, in case you're keeping track. 40. But he actually looked pretty decent, had six shots on net and was out there late in the game helping to preserve the win.

But 40?

Seriously?

And he still has game?

"I think from what I've read and what I've heard, I genuinely believe I'm better than other people do," Shanahan said in that same S-L article with a chuckle. "That's kind of a funny way of saying, in spite of some things I've heard, I believe I can still play. But sometimes if you're not seen for a while, you're just forgotten about.

"I don't think you would do what I did, not today, but since July to the day Lou (Lamoriello) signed me if you didn't believe you could contribute. Because it really (stunk). You know, driving to the rink every night and getting offered jobs in other areas of life and telling people with surprised looks I was still intending on playing. Might be false confidence, but it's useful."

So what's the bottom line for poolies?

We've covered this in the blog before and you got the low-down right after the game last night in the live blogging.

Does one goal in one game change anything?

Not really, actually.

Shanny can still play. Of that there is little doubt.

Temper your expectations though.

He's not likely the same guy that can (or should) rack up huge PIM totals anymore, which is what made him such a standard league favourite. He'll spend some time in the sin bin though and it wouldn't be surprising to see him pick a fight or two to stand up for a teammate and make a demonstration of sorts to the boys.

It also seems unlikely he'll tally a point-per-game pace, which diminishes his value in points-only pools.

But lest your enthusiasm for Shan the Man be totally tempered, keep in mind that he's going to be a power play regular because he knows how to get things done with the man advantage. His goal last night came via a five-on-three.

He's going to use that great shot of his to continue to create scoring chances for himself and to send out rebounds to teammates. SOG isn't the easiest category in which to gain via most poolie free agents and that does count for something.

FOPPA FOLLIES

So 35-year stud forward Peter Forsberg spoke to the media.

And we really don't know much more than we did before. Again.

But Forsberg is Forsberg and any little tidbit is at least worth mentioning.

From today's Denver Post:

"The foot didn't feel as good as (I) hoped," Forsberg told the website of his former Swedish team, Modo. "But I will be training here for two, three weeks and see how I feel."

Forsberg has been skating informally the last two or three weeks in Sweden, but participated in a full practice for the first time with Modo today.

"I can't say anything (about playing in the NHL) right now. I don't even know if I'm going to play," Forsberg said. "But I'm glad that the trade deadline is (March 4). I have some time to decide." Forsberg was on the ice for 95 minutes today and video of his skating was posted to the Modo website.

Others who saw and talked to Forsberg today said his mood was more upbeat than the seemingly disappointing words about his foot would warrant, and that he may be just trying to tamp down expectations of everybody that he'll soon be back to his old self in the NHL.

The bottom line in pools has not changed with today's quotes, including those from Swedish tabloid Expressen where he said, "If it doesn't work now I'm forced to give it up for good."

In the vast majority of cases he will not be worth using up a spot on your roster right now, with so much uncertainty in the air.

Specifically, you can only afford to use a slot for him in H2H if you have a stacked roster with a playoff spot sewn up already. If you want to gamble on him being in the NHL for the last six weeks of the season, cool. Just know it is a gamble.

If you're in the vast majority of H2H situations where you're scrapping for every point possible then you'll likely need the extra points you can get from a currently active player.

In roto you have a lot more leeway to invest a spot or two in any sort of risk. That's really what bench spots are for anyway, aside from dealing with day-to-day injuries. Having Forsberg would also be like having a built-in GP pace monitor to make sure you don't go too far over.

SUNDIN SLOWLY HEATING UP

37-year old centre Mats Sundin has now played six games for his Vancouver Canucks.

Two goals, an assist, a minus three rating and one power play point may not look that impressive, but the big Swede is getting there in terms of reaching his star form. With a few multi-point efforts he'll quickly reach that point-per-game plateau and he'll be chugging along for his fantasy owners.

He's actually been involved in several power play goals where he didn't get a point. His three points have come in his past four games, which shows progress. He had no shots in his first two starts, but 11 over his next four with four in two separate outings.

He's had a number of different linemates, as you'd expect with a team trying to find the right chemistry mix for its scoring lines with a key new member coming aboard.

Give him time if he's occupying a centre slot for you - the Sundin poolies have been expecting is on the way.

CLAUDE'S COMEBACK

43-year old Claude Lemieux is going to make his return to the NHL tonight for the San Jose Sharks when they face Sundin's Canucks.

"This is something my 12-year-old talked about every time we watched a hockey game," Lemieux told the San Jose Mercury News. "He'd ask, 'Daddy, could you still play? Are you still a free agent?' And I would say, 'Yeah, once you retire, you're a free agent for life.' My 12-year-old and my daughter don't remember much from my career. This is a big deal for them."

For poolies though? Probably not so much.

Never say never though. Who would have thought a 43-year old would make it this far?

Lemieux did actually have a lot of really poolie-worthy campaigns because not only did he have offensive skills, but he also racked up big PIM. He also had 11 points and 24 PIM in 23 GP during his AHL stint, so were he to somehow end up in the top six because of injuries or experimentation by Todd McLellan... but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

Chances are he'll have little to no poolie value and we really don't even know if he'll even last with the Sharks.

He's on the roster now though for his grit, his playoff/ Cup-specific experience and for the fact that, as he described it, he's "kind of a pain in the rear to play against".

When he wasn't using his stick to garner points during his NHL playing days though, he was using it for things that you just can't get away with in today's game.

Is that going to be a problem?

"There's definitely less holding, grabbing, interference, but I think there's more hits than there were way back when," he said. "You have a better opportunity to get to your player if you want to make contact, and they have a better opportunity to get to you."

Lemieux's comeback will be one of many storylines with eight games on tap for the live blogging, so stay tuned.