Our weekly digest of everything fantasy hockey. Facts don't lie and Power Plays is full of 'em. Projections for the week of Nov. 5-Nov. 11. Stats through Nov. 3:


Pittsburgh Penguins, C
Comment: Everyone said he was cold because he was only in the middle of the pack in scoring to start the season. Now, Crosby is on fire. After only scoring two goals in his first eight games, Crosby has seven goals to go along 12 assists. He has been held pointless in only one game (the season opener) this season!

Detroit Red Wings, LW
Comment: He is by far the best player in the NHL at this moment, dominating the play with a league-leading 24 points. He provides a balanced dose of offense with 12 goals and 12 assists and continues his stretch of 14 games with at least a point (eight multipoint games!)...but watch out for Crosby, Henrik!

Ottawa Senators, RW
Comment: Alfie showed no rust after nearly an entire week off, adding to his with five-game point streak, including a great four point effort (two goals, two assists) against Atlanta on Nov. 1.

Detroit Red Wings, D
Comment: The current King of Defense is as hot a fantasy commodity as any NHL skater these days. He's been on a tear with a six game point streak and an enviable plus-11 rating. He has 12 points in 14 games with the Wings this season.

Detroit Red Wings, G
Comment: Let’s stick with the Hockeytown theme this week. There can be no argument against Osgood right now: the veteran has stepped in to fill the void after Hasek went down. Osgood is still undefeated and hasn't allowed more than two goals in any contest so far. Peace River, Alberta's Living Legend is making a statement that the Red Wings management might have to consider when the Dominator gets back.
Buffalo Sabres, C
Comment: Two assists in five games? Remember when everyone said they wouldn't miss Chris Drury AND Daniel Briere? Do you think they're STILL saying it?

New Jersey Devils, LW
Comment: The Devils have started to find the net. Too bad Elias didn't get the memo. Head Coach Brent Sutter has been ripping into his star player in hopes of providing him with a spark to up his play but it hasn't been working. Elias is still a minus-4 overall with just two points in his last seven games.

Philadelphia Flyers, RW
Comment: Three points in his last 10 games. How can he not scoring alongside Daniel Briere? The aging bruiser had better start producing soon, especially with the young crop of players the Flyers have nipping at his heels.

Philadelphia Flyers, D
Comment: He's gathered the occasional assists (six thus far) but has also logged a minus-2 rating. He's not living up to expectations and we'll see how he copes with Hatcher out of the lineup with an injury. This COULD be beneficial for Timonen.

Vancouver Canucks, G
Comment: The numbers don't lie. He's not having a great run right now. Robbie's lost five of his last nine and only managed to stop 12 of 15 shots against Nashville last Thursday. Things will get better and at least his stats won't suffer too greatly. Just don't expect a lot of wins, as usual.


Colorado Avalanche, C
Comment: Ageless Joe is starting to heat up and it's just in time for fantasy owners as he has a busy week ahead. When Joe faces both Edmonton and Calgary in the same week it usually leads to a big jump in points. He owns Calgary with an impressive 100 points in 74 career games, and that's a great way to start off a busy week of four games.

Washington Capitals, C
Comment: He won't give you a great plus/minus rating but Nylander is taking his consistency into a busy week ahead. Games against Atlanta and Tampa should help his stats and you can expect him to see even more added time on the powerplay, hopefully leading to his eventual pairing with Ovechkin.

Colorado Avalanche, LW
Comment: Wolski is benefiting from his promotion to the second line. Playing along Paul Stastny will beef up anyone’s fantasy value. Wolski snapped a seven-game point streak on Saturday night but, like Sakic, has every opportunity to get you some points this week with four games and two solid matchups.

Dallas Stars, LW
Comment: Someone's got to put points on the board for the Stars and recently it's been Morrow. Just like Wolski, Morrow had a seven-game point streak snapped to wind down the week but he has some great matchups to pad his stats. After a slow start, Morrow has become a reliant fantasy option. His penalty minutes have winded down a bit but they will come in big batches (whether that is good or bad depends on your type of fantasy league).

Florida Panthers, RW
Comment: I love this kid! Alright, so I might be swayed by the fact that I love watching this guy play but he really is a good fantasy option right now. He's a guy who still might be a Free Agent in your league and if so, snatch him up. He's got some great divisional matchups this week against some suspect goaltending and has been moved to Florida's top line alongside the sizzling Ollie Jokinen.

Ottawa Senators, RW
Comment: Oh, the return of Dany Heatley to our list. There's not much to say here other than you'd be a fool to sit this guy. He'll be carrying some momentum into a great week for matchups (Toronto, Washington and Montreal). He'll crack double-digits for goals for sure.

Anaheim Ducks, D
Comment: Pronger finally crawled out of his four-game slide with three assists in his final game of last week. The return of Mathieu Schneider can only be a good thing for Pronger. They might be split up for the first while but you can expect them to both be manning the point on the powerplay.

Anaheim Ducks, D
Comment: First game back: scoreless. Second game back: a goal and two assists. Can you ask for any more from your prized off-season acquisition? He dominated Phoenix last Saturday and should carry that over into this week (where the Ducks face the 'Yotes again).

Philadelphia Flyers, G
Comment: There's no reason to think Biron is slowing down thus far. Philly has a busy week ahead and Biron should get all of the good matchups. The Rangers and the Devils are either finally getting their act together or are still stumbling but I'd put my money on the fact that they haven’t hit their stride yet. Biron should get at least one night off against a hot Penguins team which should be good for Fantasy owners.

Calgary Flames, G
Comment: He hasn't been stellar but he's starting to settle into place. Hopefully his new contract and job security will help with that. His four games this week are all spread out so he may get a start in all of them, which is good because his defense is beginning to settle down and gel together just in time.


Los Angeles Kings, C
Comment: The kid is hot, that's for sure, but there's a rule I follow here and it's to not put all your eggs into one basket. Camm only has one game (Dallas) this week and it isn't a great scoring matchup.

Nashville Predators, C
Comment: Arnott continues his streaky play, playing well in his last two games after going quite a stretch without any points. I highly doubt this week will break his good-for-a-few-brutal-for-a-lot trend; he's facing two of the hottest goaltenders in the league in Detroit's Chris Osgood and Columbus' Pascal Leclaire.

Los Angeles Kings, LW
Comment: Just like his teammate, think this one through. He's heating up but has only one game to shine and it isn't a safe matchup.

St. Louis Blues, LW
Comment: He's making up for last season and has found a groove with new teammates Boyes and Kariya but a hot streak doesn't mean you can ignore the schedule. A lone game against Chicago doesn't make for a great option this week.

New Jersey Devils, RW
Comment: To say Gionta is cold is an understatement. To start him over a more capable player is travesty. I really do hope Gionta starts picking it up but don’t look for this week the week it happens. Look for Biron and DiPietro to close the door on Gionta and the Devils as a whole this week.

Boston Bruins, RW
Comment: One assist in his last five games? Only one goal all season? What the hell happened here? Things shouldn't be getting any easier for Murray with Bergeron out of the lineup.

Anaheim Ducks, D
Comment: He's not producing anything on offense and his play isn't suggesting he will any time soon. Couple this in with the return of Mathieu Schneider and Beauchemin's fantasy value is hitting rock bottom.

Vancouver Canucks, D
Comment: Don't fool yourself: Sami Salo's absence will not help Ohlund's offensive production. It didn't at the beginning of the year and shouldn't now. The matchups this week are not great and we could see Ohlund's plus/minus dip well below his minus-1 by the week's end.

Edmonton Oilers, G
Comment: Please don't torment yourself. Unless you are FORCED to start Roloson, please don't. His brutal slide is picking up steam and it would be a bad idea to hope for the best. He's facing a ton of shots, making some great saves, but is still walking away with some poor statistics and few wins.

Tampa Bay Lightning, G
Comment: Three straight losses usually mean bad things for a goaltender on "The Goalie Eater" John Tortorella's squad. Even if Johan gets the majority of starts this week, don't look for him to be brilliant. Tampa faces the sizzling Panthers twice and catch the Hurricanes and Caps by the end of the week.



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

1,500 Al Arbour returned to his legendary spot behind the Islanders bench last Saturday to coach his 1500th game and won.

400 Ilya Kovalchuk is only two points shy of his 400th career point in 401 games played.

11 Mike Richards is already only three goals away from reaching his single-season record of 11 goals.

10 Jonathan Toews snapped his 10 game scoring streak Saturday night. The streak was the second longest for a rookie in NHL history.


Philadelphia Flyers, C
Comment: This young Flyer and former Kitchener Ranger has been tearing it up as of late. Richards is finally hitting his stride and feeling comfortable in the NHL, potting eight goals in his last 10 games. Richards has usurped another one of the Flyers prized young pivots, Jeff Carter, to take over the team's second line unit. He's been fighting, playing a physical game and is putting up more points than expected already.



Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. ET, TSN, CN8, FSN-P (HD)
Both teams are on fire as of late and this divisional matchup should be one of the best we've seen all year. Briere versus Crosby, Biron versus Fleury. Expect both teams to come out gunning as this will be a high-tempo, very physical game.


MATS SUNDIN BREAKAWAY

• 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