*After opening the season with a home-and-home sweep of the Sabres, the Isles have now lost three of their last four, a span in which they have managed to score just five times.
*Wade Dubielewicz was shelled by the Maple Leafs Wednesday, allowing all eight goals in an 8-1 blowout. The first-year full-time backup received little help from the Isles defensemen, but certainly didn't do anything to rectify the situation. Regardless, he shouldn't have been left in the net for that long. Don't expect Dubie back in goal for the foreseeable future.
*Bad news for fantasy players who were counting on a strong performance in the early-going from Marc-Andre Bergeron. Bergeron was scratched in the Philly game and recent signee Bryan Berard took his place in a pairing with Andy Sutton. Bergeron has been a disaster in his own end this year. But, he's not known for his defense (in fact he is known for his poor defensive ability) and can certainly be useful as a PP specialist. However, dressing seven defensemen causes a short bench for the forward units and confusion ensues.
*Jeff Tambellini had his fleeting opportunity on the second line, but was quickly demoted. Sean Bergenheim was then promoted to his spot, and has filled in nicely.
*Chris Simon returned to game action against the Flyers and picked up where he left off, dropping the gloves with Riley Cote. Simon can be a rewarding pickup in a league that credits PIMs. He's also proven to occasionally chip in on the offense.
*In an effort to jump-start the offense, Ted Nolan has broken up the top line for the first time since camp broke. Bill Guerin will be swapped with Trent Hunter, who has just two points (1-1=2,-3) in six games. Nolan's logic here is questionable. Besides breaking up the only line that gave the Isles any hope so far this season, he is also disassembling the most consistent line from last season. Time will tell if his instincts are warranted.
*The player who really needs to step it up is Miroslav Satan (0-1=1,-3), whose line is the only one that won't be altered for Thursday's game. The Bergenheim-Vasicek-Satan unit was clearly the best the team had to offer in Philly Saturday. Josef Vasicek scored the loan goal that night.
*Shawn Bates is rumored to be making his season debut Thursday. If so, expect Darryl Bootland to be scratched or demoted and a fourth line of Simon-Park-Bates.
Projected lines:
Fedotenko-Comrie-Hunter
Hilbert-Sillinger-Guerin
Bergenheim-Vasicek-Satan
Simon-Park-Bates
Extra: Bootland
Witt-Martinek
Sutton-Berard
Campoli-Gervais
Extras: Bergeron, Johnson
PP1: Berard-Satan-Fedotenko-Comrie-Guerin
PP2: Gervais-Campoli-Hunter-Sillinger-Satan
On the mend:
*F Shawn Bates (groin/hernia) has resumed skating and is expected to return soon.
*F Jon Sim (knee) is out for the season.
Upcoming schedule:
Thu. 10/18 @ Washington
Sat. 10/20 vs. New Jersey
Sat. 10/27 vs. Carolina
Thu. 11/1 vs. Tampa Bay
Sat. 11/3 vs. Pittsburgh
Direct questions and comments to FantasyNYI@hotmail.com
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
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2 comments:
glad to see that the isles are looking good this season. here is a blog by billy jaffe that is really nice to read about. good things said about dipietro, guerin, and isles fans.
jaffe blog
also if you are interested you can ask stan fischler and al trautwig a question and they will answer it on the air. ask the questions here.
Billy Jaffe's an unlistenable idiot.
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