Here are some roster notes heading into tonight’s games:
- Lost amongst the Chris Pronger facing his old team headlines, Joffrey Lupul returns to Philadelphia tonight. Lupul is not the flashiest player but he can contribute 20-25 goals and every team can use that type of secondary scorer.
- It looks like Dwayne Roloson will start tonight for the Islanders. Nice to see excitement on the Island this season. Sure Tavares is the main reason for that, but the Islanders’ other youngsters have a hand in that as well.
- No Joni Pitkanen for the Hurricanes tonight. He’s closing in on a return.
- Mike Smith is not playing tonight for Tampa Bay, but he says he could if Rick Tocchet asked him to. That was a heavy collision on Thursday, so that’s good news for Bolts fans.
- Todd Richards, the Sharks’ former assistant coach, returns to town tonight as coach of the Minnesota Wild. I like what they are doing in Minnesota. It will take some time to make headway, but they have some nice pieces there.
- Patrik Berglund is a healthy scratch for the Blues tonight. This is what you label as a wake-up call.
- Jose Theodore starts tonight for Washington. With the Datsyuk-Holmstrom-Zetterberg line being reunited, this could spell trouble for Washington.