Our weekly digest of everything fantasy hockey. Facts don't lie and Power Plays is full of 'em. Projections for the week of Nov. 12-Nov. 18. Stats through Nov. 11:


Tampa Bay Lightning, C
Comment: Lecavalier has only been held pointless once since Oct. 25 and is starting to find his footing. His five game scoring streak has yielded all multipoint games and he's in the hunt for the NHL lead.

Atlanta Thrashers, LW
Comment: Kovie had two hat tricks before coming into last week's play and is starting to score in bunches. He leads the NHL in goals right now and is keeping up in the points race. GM/Coach Don Waddell has seemingly turned this team around and Kovalchuk is leading the pack

Ottawa Senators, RW
Comment: Alfie's continuing to tear things up. He's proving that this team doesn't necessarily need Jason Spezza. The former poofy-haired one has been scorching the league so far and, although they only have two matchups this week, they couldn't ask for two better ones: Toronto (who Alfredsson humiliates) and Buffalo (who are humiliated).

Anaheim Ducks, D
Comment: He has seven points in five games since returning from his ankle injury. The Ducks will begin to benefit even more as Schneider starts meshing with the rest of the defense.

Ottawa Senators, G
Comment: The best goaltender in the NHL right now. He's allowing less than two goals a game, is still facing a considerable amount of shots and he keeps winning (11-1-0). Former starter turned backup Ray Emery isn't playing well and isn't happy. This could turn into a problem for the Sens, meaning Gerber will continue to get the starts and pad his stats.
Anaheim Ducks, C
Comment: He's putting SOME scattered points on the board but is not living up to the bar he set last year. His only multipoint game came back in September in England. Not having Selanne hurts, eh?

Colorado Avalanche, LW
Comment: Brunette has slowed down as of late and even found himself playing with the third line unit. He'll likely be back to playing with either Sakic or Stastny but don't count on games against Dallas and Minnesota to kick-start his scoring again.

Buffalo Sabres, RW
Comment: Afino was dropped to the third line and second powerplay unit. This won't help him find his scoring touch. The poor guy can't even be considered a streaky player yet. He needs to pick up the pace.

Montreal Canadiens, D
Comment: After a nice start and a great streak on the powerplay, Mark Streit is doing what everyone expected: slowing down. Teammates Markov and Hamrlik are starting to take care of the offense from the blueline and so Streit's fantasy value is diminishing fast (along with his plus/minus rating).

Calgary Flames, G
Comment: What's happening here? After signing that big contract Kipper has really fallen off. Kipper is winless in November with five straight losses. He's got a GAA of 3.19 and a SV% of .884. Be very careful as even matchups like Edmonton are not proving to be good ones.


San Jose Sharks, C
Comment: Big Joe is finding his groove and is becoming more consistent. He has a very busy week ahead a helpful home-at-home against lowly Phoenix.

Philadelphia Flyers, C
Comment: Richards is benefiting greatly from playing behind Daniel Briere. Opponents want to smother Philly's top line and so Mike Richard has been getting the best matchups. He's clicking with his line and has turned up his consistency. He's better on the road so far but three straight home games is never a bad thing.

New York Rangers, LW
Comment: A Ranger made it to the START list and it isn't JAGR?! Avery's return has sparked New York's offense. He's heating up with a three game point streak (two multipoint finishes) and a healthy dose of penalty minutes. It might be short lived so ride out this wave and hope that Avery's spark can be enough to ignite what SHOULD be a terrific offense.

Carolina Hurricanes, LW
Comment: Stillman started off the week with a hat trick and is continuing his fine performance alongside Eric Staal. The 'Canes have a busy week ahead and you can bet Stillman will carry this performance with him.

Carolina Hurricanes, RW
Comment: He's been somewhat of a streaky (as usual) but is still putting up respectable numbers. History proves, however, that November is his best month. Expect things to heat up in Carolina. He's also got a solid week against division rivals all week to keep the blood boiling.

Tampa Bay Lightning, RW
Comment: A point streak, the potential for explosive games at any time, a center who is on fire alongside him...what more can you ask for? How about the fact that November is always his best month so be sure to utilize him. The matchups aren't terrific but when he's hot, St. Louis can really embarrass his opponents. When Lecavalier is hot (which he is) St. Louis reaps rewards.

Montreal Canadiens, D
Comment: He's been playing sound defense (keeping an even plus/minus rating) and is almost a point per game (14 points in 16 games). Markov will continue to quarterback Montreal's league-leading powerplay unit and carry this momentum into a terrific week of matchups against teams that are against the ropes (Toronto, Buffalo and Boston).

Toronto Maple Leafs, D
Comment: This smooth-skating Czech is starting to bring his A-game to a defense that is in need of at least ONE talented, appropriately paid defender. He's maintaining a respectable plus-3 rating on a team that coughs up more goals than they score and is settling into a nice scoring rhythm (tied for the lead in defensive scoring with five goals).

Philadelphia Flyers, G
Comment: Biron has some solid stats to back up a winning record (9-5-0). More importantly, the Flyers have three home games this week and they are the NHL's only team to remain undefeated on home ice. Something might give but at least Biron will provide you with quality stats.

New York Islanders, G
Comment: DeePee is on a four game winning streak and hasn't allowed more than two goals all November. The Islanders might make it a habit of starting off every month really well and then coasting until the next month begins. Not a bad habit to have.


Tampa Bay Lightning, C
Comment: He's playing well, he's on a four game point streak and is more than a point per game. Why am I telling you to sit him? His only matchups this week are the offensively gifted 'Canes and Caps. Mix that in with Richards' atrocious minus-10 rating and the fact that he has shown no explosiveness thus far (only two multipoint games).

Pittsburgh Penguins, C
Comment: How has this kid not made it onto this list yet? My bad. Want to know how many games Staal has played? 17. Want to know his point total? Two. Oh, yeah...and he has a minus-7. The slump has badly infected this Staal brother.

Toronto Maple Leafs, LW
Comment: There's trouble in Leaf land. Blake has been taken off the top line powerplay unit and hasn't found the scoreboard in four straight games. He doesn't seem happy in Toronto and Toronto doesn't seem happy with him in it.

New Jersey Devils, LW
Comment: At one point in the season Parise was the Devils' best player. Now he is on a four game point slide and has been streaky, at best, the past few weeks. With the Rangers finally heating up, will this be the team to make fun of?

Buffalo Sabres, RW
Comment: Only one point in his last six games. The right wingers on this team are a hurting unit. Montreal and Ottawa are far from good matchups either with both goaltenders playing their best hockey of the season.

Montreal Canadiens, RW
Comment: The matchups are all there for him to finally break out of his slump. He's playing on the top line with Saku Koivu. Why am I telling you to sit him? Because he is garbage right now! He's having trouble scoring on a Montreal top line that is scoring! Ryder has the potential to score in bunches and it's so frustrating to see him do nothing.

Colorado Avalanche, D
Comment: Games against Dallas and Minnie are not great for offensive production and Liles has been streaky at best. Sit him this week but keep an eye out for him soon. He'll be a second half player, for sure.

Dallas Stars, D
Comment: Boucher has gone five games without a point on a team that only seems to score in spurts. At least his plus/minus, although not flattering, isn't terrible (minus-1). Dallas already has one quarterback on defense and it isn't Boucher (see: Sergei Zubov).

Buffalo Sabres, G
Comment: There are some big names on this list. Miller is suffering from whatever Kiprusoff is suffering from. Great goaltenders stinking it up is always hard to watch. He's inching up towards three goals a game and needs to start settling down.

Pittsburgh Penguins, G
Comment: Who's the backup on this team? Is it Fleury or Sabourin? Fleury (the starter) is playing like a backup. A really bad backup, actually. You can blame the offense all you want (even though they ARE scoring goals) but what it comes down to is this: you can't let in nearly four goals every game. It doesn't work. Fleury is struggling badly right now and his four-game slide might keep getting worse.



J.P. Del Monte is UPDATE! National Hockey League Editor.

500 Jeremy Roenick became the third American-born player to reach 500 goals last week.

88 Eric Lindros, #88, has decided to hang up his skates and retire. The Hall of Fame talk began last week and you won't stop hearing it for the next three years. (Let the big jerk in!)

35 Henrik Zetterberg may be on fire but he still has to notch a point in 35 more games to tie Wayne Gretzky's record 51 game point streak from the start of a season.

1 Martin Brodeur is one win away from his 500th career win.


Phoenix Coyotes, C
Comment: Gretzky was talking about this kid all through the preseason and we've been waiting to see if all this hype is for real. Well, the kid notched his first career hat trick last week and is now starting to find a rhythm. With six points in his last three games, the touted prospect might finally be living up to expectation. Keep an eye out on this kid as he may be one to watch in the second half of the season.



Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET, HD NET, CSN-CH, FSN-D (HD)
This has been turning into a great matchup this season. Chicago is finally a team worth watching and they have really turned it up against Detroit. In their first two game against each other Chicago has surprisingly come out on top. With young Chicago players like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews really starting to heat up it should be a high-flying game. Let's see how Chicago's youth-injected offense goes up against Detroit's stonewall defense and consistent top-line offense.


MATS SUNDIN BREAKAWAY

• Power Plays: Nov. 4-Nov. 10, 2007
• Power Plays: Oct. 29-Nov. 4, 2007
• Power Plays: Oct. 22-28, 2007
• Power Plays: Oct. 15-21, 2007
• Power Plays: Oct. 8-14, 2007
• Power Plays: Oct. 1-7, 2007