It's important to note upfront that there is still absolutely no timetable for perennially-injured goaltender Rick DiPietro, but Newsday reports that the sounds of progress for the Islanders include the one-syllable epithet DiPietro let loose when a puck finally got by him Tuesday. Before Jeff Tambellini put one in on the top shelf, the goalie had stopped everything in the first high-speed shooting drill of his knee rehab. DiPietro still is far from thinking about playing in a game, but he was feeling good enough to think about perfection.
"It's your job as a professional athlete, when you're coming off an injury, to do as much as possible without setting yourself back, giving yourself the best opportunity to come back better than when you went down," he said after practice. "I personally am not going to be satisfied if, when I come back, I'm not playing at the level I'm accustomed to be playing at."
How did his coach describe the franchise goalie's most strenuous workout to date?
"Vocal," coach Scott Gordon grinned. Then he added, "It's not going to happen overnight for him, but given the fact he's slowly working his way into it, his concentration was good."
DiPietro said, "I'm sticking with the protocol, increasing the workload when they let me and we'll see how it responds."
There's really no reason to have the goalie on your fantasy radar for this season at this point, but it's still nice to see he's making some sort of progress. It's been a long, tough road and as poorly as you may have thought of the Isles' long-term contract for him at the time... the guy just wants to play hockey. This team has a reason to be excited with John Tavares on board, in addition to the other young talent, so hopefully DiPietro can be a part of the team's future success.
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"We know that we have a lot of doubters out there, people who think we're going to be terrible," said Avs center Matt Duchene to the Denver Post. "But we're not taking no for an answer right now. I don't think there's one guy in here who thinks we're going to lose games. We have so many young guys that have played on winning teams and know what it takes to win, and who are almost too naive to think we can lose."
KUNITZ SAFE... FOR NOW
Never say never, but right now Chris Kunitz owners do not need to be worried about his lack of production costing him his spot alongside Sidney Crosby and Bill Guerin on the first line.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette points out that Kunitz has one goal in his last 35 games, dating back through the playoffs and the end of last year's regular season. He is currently on a three-game assist streak though and he also has 14 PIM for his standard league owners with a safe +2 rating.
"We're winning, and we have some scoring coming from all over the place," said Guerin. "So it's not important [for Kunitz to score] right now. He's doing other things that Sid and I don't."
Indeed, points out the PPG, Kunitz is an aggressive and effective forechecker, plays bigger than his 6-foot, 193-pound body and doesn't balk at absorbing punishment to hover near the opponent's net.
If scoring goals was his sole, or even primary, duty on that line, Kunitz likely would have been replaced long ago. But because he does so much, and because his scoring problems are not costing the Penguins points, he apparently will get more time to start scoring again.
"He does a lot of other things that help," Crosby said. "Around the net, he's a guy who's willing to pay the price to give guys like me space.
"Everyone contributes and, obviously, it's great to score goals and he's a guy who has to score goals, for sure. But just because he goes a few games [without a goal] doesn't mean he's not contributing, because he does contribute a lot."
Kunitz had some torridly hot streaks while with the Anaheim Ducks, but he also had these sorts of arctic cold spells too. He'll eventually snap out of it and start potting some goals, but whether or not you'll want to leave him in your line-up for now depends on how strong your bench LWs are now.
BENN DRAWS PRAISE
Brenden Morrow tells the Dallas Morning News that Morrow his line with Mike Ribeiro and rookie Jamie Benn would be even more impressive if Benn, 20, would start using his shooting talent a little more.
"It's not easy," Benn said. "You just don't think you should come in and start shooting. They've talked to me about it, so I know I have to do it more. They're so good at getting me the puck, so I need to be ready to shoot it."
Benn scored 79 goals over 107 GP in the WHL with Kelowna and he also tallied 33 points in 19 starts during last spring's playoff run. After his first four NHL starts, Benn has scored and set up two others with 11 shots on net.
"For a young guy, he's got a lot of poise with the puck," Morrow said. "He's strong in the corners and I don't know if I've seen a better release. Obviously, (Brett Hull) had one of the all-time greatest, but Jamie Benn has got a pretty quick release and a pretty heavy shot.
"He's not really comfortable enough to use it as much as we'd like, but when he gets a little selfish and starts throwing pucks at the net, I think we're going to see a lot more go in for him."
The line's centre was also complimentary.
"He understands the game, he's got good hands, he just knows how to play," Ribeiro said. "Now it's just a matter of time for us to come together as a line."
Benn still has fairly average value in single-season leagues, but there are a number of formats that include some sort of rookie designation on fantasy rosters and guys like Benn - who exceed expectations to make the team out of camp - can be a godsend of sorts for those who weren't able to snag the higher-profile first year players.
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"Everybody is talking about (Ryan Miller), but their team is giving up 22 shots and they're getting more shots on goal than any other team," Detroit coach Mike Babcock told The Detroit News. The Sabres pounded the Red Wings 6-2 last night. "They're doing a lot of things well without the puck so that they are ending up with the puck all the time.
"If you are going to give Miller 22 shots all year long, he will be the best goalie in the league."
TROTZ'S CHOICE
The Nashville Tennessean notes that when it comes to deciding on a starting goaltender, Predators coach Barry Trotz's formula is actually a mishmash of statistics, trends and gut feelings.
"I wish I could explain it," Trotz said.
Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne are splitting starts now, with Ellis going tonight. Rinne will play Thursday and Ellis will be back in on Saturday.
From a fantasy perspective, it's been clear since the start of the season that for now you're going to want to own both goaltenders if you want Nashville's stats. Generally Ellis was readily available since most poolies were counting on Rinne based on last year's outstanding performance. Since the starter has generally been known ahead of time, it also hasn't been that hard to manage the tandem from a fantasy league manager's perspective.
But what about the goalies themselves? How do they approach something like this?
"When you do try to figure things out, you never really can," Ellis said. "As soon as you think you've got it figured out, they throw a curve ball at you. The easiest thing to do is just relax, let them make the decisions and when you do get to play, just play your best."
Poolies will need to be as patient for the time being, but eventually the odds are that a starter will emerge from the pair.
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"We're aware of how good they are. We had a first-hand seat for that," Carolina coach Paul Maurice told the Raleigh News & Observer of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who swept his Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals last spring and who they will meet again tonight. "But if you can find a way to beat 'em, it'll make yourself feel pretty good and keep moving. Everybody says it's early in the season, but it's only early if you're moving in the right direction, and we hope we are."
DEVILS SHIFT SLIGHTLY
Fire & Ice has the latest line tweaks from New Jersey coach Jacques Lemaire after today's practice. Brian Rolston is back on left wing on the second line with Dainius Zubrus and Niclas Bergfors. David Clarkson has moved back to the third line with Jay Pandolfo and Rob Niedermayer.
Zach Parise Travis Zajac Jamie Langenbrunner
Brian Rolston Dainius Zubrus Niclas Bergfors
Jay Pandolfo Rob Niedermayer David Clarkson
Andrew Peters Rod Pelley Matt Halischuk
Clarkson has been a real treat for standard league poolies thus far and is currently riding a four-game point streak with goals in each of his past two outings. He has a few power play points in that run, has been getting decent time with the man advantage and he also has five shots in each of his past two starts. He also has racked up 11 PIM, which is the one stat we've certainly come to expect from the rugged winger.
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"It was like, God help us," Blue Jackets assistant coach Claude Noel admitted to the Columbus Dispatch when asked what it was like sometimes to hear the public address announcer say "Jackets on the power play!" at times last season. "I'd want to get the rosary out every time I heard him say it."
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