Illegal Curve Hockey

Categories: Afternoon DelightBoston BruinsChicago BlackhawksColorado AvalancheColumbus Blue JacketsMontreal CanadiensNew Jersey DevilsNew York RangersTampa Bay Lightning

Late Afternoon Delight

Zdeno Chara returns to the Bruins line-up for the first time this pre-season. He is the most important player for the Bruins, so I’m sure the team is looking forward to observing how his injured shoulder responds.
Saku Koivu didn’t want to be upstaged by Chara, so he is also playing tonight for the first time this pre-season. Good to have the captain back in the groove.
Adrian Dater of the Denver Post thinks the Avs should go after Nikolai Khabibulin. Not a bad idea.
Blue Jackets center Derick Brassard is suffering from a stiff neck, and the team is being cautious about rushing him back into the line-up. No reason to rush with the season only ten days away.
The Devils have sent Fedor Fedorov to look for a spot on another team. This is certainly the biggest non-shocker of training camp. Fedorov and Brent Sutter are about as polar opposite as you can possibly get.
The Rangers beat Jaromir Jagr’s Russian squad 4-3 this afternoon. It is still the pre-season; take it for what it’s worth. That said, it did seem like an exciting hockey game.
The Lightning have acquired defenseman Michel Sersen from the Penguins for a 5th rounder. Considering the Bolts just played against Sersen’s European team, it looks like they were quite impressed with what they saw.
Jeff Klein of the NY Times provides readers with all the European League scoring leaders. Alexei Morozov is once again throwing down overseas.
Eric Duhatschek unveils his top 200 fantasy players for the upcoming 2008/09 season. Duhatschek always provides an interesting list. Speaking of lists, Illegal Curve will be debuting our Top 15 Eastern Conference Fantasy Forwards and Top 15 Western Conference Fantasy Forwards tonight.