Our weekly digest of everything fantasy hockey. Facts don't lie and Power Plays is full of 'em. Projections for the week of Oct. 1-7. Stats through Sept. 28:


Colorado Avalanche, C
Comment: Stastny made a big splash last season and is already scoffing at the notion of a mediocre follow-up performance. He led the preseason with 5 goals, 8 points and a plus-3 rating in 4 games played and should carry that moment into the season. Stastny has Joe Sakic in front of him to attract most opponents' top defensive lines and so he'll be free to roam the ice with Milan Hejduk and any other number of talented, complimentary wingers on this deep Colorado team.

Minnesota Wild, LW
Comment: Rolston was a consistent and balanced scorer last season posting 31 goals and 33 assists. He hasn't lost his offensive flair as he's showing off this preseason with 5 goals and a helper in only 3 games. He'll most likely start on the Wild's second line but with both Gaborik and Demitra's tendencies to get injured he may find more ice time on top as the season moves on.

Detroit Red Wings, RW
Comment: Holmstrom will most likely be paired with Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen, forming a line that been very dominant this preseason. Holmstrom has 6 points and a plus-7 rating in only 3 games this preseason. He is a must start this season.

Colorado Avalanche, D
Comment: Liles is shaping up to be the Avs franchise D-man and is turning into one of the best powerplay quarterbacks in the league. His preseason numbers were terrific with 2 goals and 6 points and you can expect his +/- rating to reach some very high levels with an even more offensively gifted squad in front of him.

Philadelphia Flyers, G
Comment: Biron is ready to silence all skeptics this season. He fully expects to be able to play 60 games or more and will be doing so in style. He posted very impressive numbers in the preseason in his first attempt to warn everyone that he's arrived: a .90 GAA and a .962 save percentage, allowing only 3 goals in 4 games and facing 71 shots. His backup, Antero Nittymaki, is looking pretty bad right now and so, barring injury, Biron should see the vast majority of starts.


New York Rangers, C
Comment: The breakup between Gomez and Jagr hurts but it could possibly be a temporary split. Gomez is very talented but has had a rocky preseason with only 1 points and a terrible minus-3 rating in only 2 games. He needs to be paired with Jagr in order for his value to rise.

New York Rangers, LW
Comment: Don't let his time on a line with Jagr fool you. There's a chance he'll take after his brother but his history of disappointment is just too strong. He's had a very poor preseason with only 1 point and a minus-4 rating in 3 games played. There is an updside to mini-Marian and it's that he's young and entering his best years. Tom Renney will be giving Marcel his best opportunity this year but he will likely disappoint as usual.

Columbus Blue Jackets, RW
Comment: The underachieving Zherdev saw his fantasy value drop very quickly as he lost his bid at starting between Rick Nash and David Vyborny. He went scoreless in four exhibition games and so Hitch sent him back to the No. 2 winger position. There are many rumors that he will be traded, which could potentially be a good thing for fantasy teams with this frustrating player.

Montreal Canadiens, D
Comment: He isn't considered for his offensive flair but without Sheldon Souray this Canadiens team will need some scoring from the back and Andrei Markov won't be enough. Hamrlik has only managed 1 assist and is a minus-2 in 3 preseason games. The plus- 22 rating he had in Calgary will be a distant, fading memory this year.

St. Louis Blues, G
Comment: Legace is not playing like a goalie fighting for the starting job and he should be! Young and talented Hannu Toivonen will be vying for the starting position as the season moves on and Legace's preseason performance has been mediocre. No, mediocre is too kind; he's been down right abysmal. His 3 losses could be accepted because of the team he plays on but the 5.95 GAA and .797 save percentage is just too bad to ignore. We could see Legace retain the title of "best backup in the NHL" before December rolls around.


Tampa Bay Lightning, C
Comment: Vinnie is coming off a career year and is entering his prime. There's no reason to think that he won't be able to repeat (or better) his performance, especially with Martin St. Louis skating alongside him. Last season he played consistently well against Jersey and had an amazing 11 points in 8 games with a plus-3 rating against an Atlanta team who hasn't improved defensively. He's not known for slow starts so expect these numbers to continue this week.

Ottawa Senators, C
Comment: If this preseason was any indication, Spezza should be in for a wild year. He plays three times this fantasy week and twice against the Leafs, a team that Spezza loves to torment. He scored 11 points in 8 games against them last year and this year's battle of Ontario should continue to be high scoring affairs. Spezza has scored 32 points in 21 games over the past two Octobers so a strong start should be in the cards again this year.

Carolina Hurricanes, LW
Comment: Even though he's known to start the season slowly, Cole is still a legitimate starter for this week. First line winger Ray Whitney might get more ice time but Cole has the added bonus of eating up PIMs. He's going up against teams he plays well against this week, especially the Capitals where he scored 7 goals and 12 points last season. Three games in the first week make Cole a very interesting starting choice.

Washington Capitals, LW
Comment: A new center, a new year, and a strong desire to score goals will lead to great things for Ovechkin. He'll be hunting for that 50 goal mark and will probably exceed it now that he has a legitimate setup man in Michael Nylander. Ovechkin was a monster against Atlanta last year posting 14 points in 8 games with nobody to pass the puck to him. Imagine what he could be like this year.

New York Rangers, RW
Comment: Jagr had 18 points last October and tends to come out of the gate strong. He's got a new center in either Scott Gomez or Chris Drury and has great chemistry with Martin Straka. The two could become a very dangerous tandem this year. He plays at a point per game pace against Florida and Ottawa.

Philadelphia Flyers, RW
Comment: The 35-year-old Knuble might be getting older but he's still more than able to compete. Now he has a consistent linemate in Daniel Briere and has great chemistry with Simon Gagne. Knuble is showing no wear and tear from his shoulder injury and has been leading the team in the preseason. He'll also be going up against an Edmonton defense that's still very weak in its own end. Knuble's grit coupled with Briere and Gagne's offensive flair could bode good things.

Anaheim Ducks, D
Comment: Beauchemin had a great season last year and should continue the trend going into 2007-08. The young D-man will be the team's No. 2 defenseman until Matthieu Schneider returns from an ankle injury, guaranteeing him plenty of ice and powerplay time. The Cup Champs also have 4 games in the league's first week of action so he'll have plenty of opportunity to rack up points.

Toronto Maple Leafs, D
Comment: Kaberle might not have had a stellar preseason but that means very little when looking at the big picture. He is one of the league's best passers and is a terrific powerplay quarterback on a team that has a surprisingly explosive first powerplay unit. Kaberle will chew up lots of icetime and has three games to rack up points in this week, most notably against a Montreal team that allowed him to score 12 points in 7 games last season.

Ottawa Senators, G
Comment: The goalie debate in Ottawa has finally ended (at least, for this week). Ray Emery is nursing his wrist and is still not game ready and so Gerber will get Ottawa's first start and possibly even all three games this week. Gerber wants desperately to prove that he's being paid starting-goalie money for a reason. He has been the best goaltender in the preseason thus far with 3 wins, a 1.97 GAA and a .947 save percentage, all while facing a league high 131 shots. Also, this Ottawa team packs a serious offensive punch so he has that insurance in front of him.

Calgary Flames, G
Comment: Since 2004, Kipper has consistently been one of the Top 3 goalies in the league and that stat should continue on this season. He is going up against an offensively starved Vancouver team and a Philly team that hasn't proven anything yet. The Flames' first two games of the season are at home which is exactly what you want to hear if you have Kiprusoff on your team; he had an amazing 28 wins and 9 losses at home last year. "If you want to win, you need a Fin."


New York Islanders, C
Comment: Sure, he's finally going to be top dog on a team but the team is still the Islanders. They aren't exactly an offensive juggernaut. More importantly, however, Comrie is squaring off against the Buffalo Sabres, a team in which he managed only 2 points and an appalling minus-5 rating last season. Even more importantly, he's playing these Sabres twice this week. Let's let Comrie show us what he can do before we start him just yet.

Florida Panthers, C
Comment: Jokinen will be a sure-bet for almost all fantasy weeks but in a week where he faces two teams in which he was only able to conjur 3 points in 8 games last season (Rangers and the Devils) it'd be a safe bet to sit this talented player on a miserable team. If you are deep enough, sit this one out.

Chicago Blackhawks, LW
Comment: When Havlat is healthy he is incredibly talented and is a must-start — just not against the Wild or the Red Wings. In the games against Minnesota he managed only 4 points and in four against Detroit he managed a measly 1 point and an the dreaded minus-5 rating. Give him this week to get his legs (and get out of Hockey Town).

Carolina Hurricanes, LW
Comment: Whitney will get more time and put up better offensive numbers than his teammate (and Start 'Em choice) Erik Cole throughout the season but there are safer bets in the first week of the season. A shoulder injury limited his preseason games to just one so far. More telling, however, are last year's stats against this week's opponents: 3 points and a minus-4 rating in 4 games against the Canadiens and 3 points against the Penguins. The only bright spot is the matchup against the Capitals in which he managed 9 points and a plus-3 rating.

Boston Bruins, RW
Comment: Murray is questionable for Boston's opener against Dallas on the 5th and that could be a blessing in disguise for Murray owners out there, making it easier to decide to go with another winger for this opening week. Injuries are a problem for this talented vet and will be all season. He's coming off a mediocre season and could very well be off to two slow starts in a row. The safe bet would be to start another winger until Boston's offensive picture becomes clearer.

Pittsburgh Penguins, RW
Comment: He might turn out to be the comeback player of the year playing alongside either Crosby or Malkin but don't start him this week. A preseason injury shouldn't keep him out of the lineup but it may still affect his play and icetime. Also, Sid the Kid isn't his prolific self against their opponents this week (the Hurricanes and the Ducks) and so, even though a point per game is good it still isn't good enough to HOPE those points go towards Sykora.

Edmonton Oilers, D
Comment: He'll probably pile on the points this year and will amass a good amount of powerplay points as well but his +/- will be laughable. The Oilers aren't much better than they were last year and they have a terrible +/- against both the Sharks and the Coyotes. If you have the defensive depth on your team to sit someone, give Souray a hard look this week. Edmonton could turn out to be much better than everyone anticipates — but that's a big could.

Atlanta Thrashers, D
Comment: It will be hard for Zhitnik to put up the kinds of numbers he did last year and especially this week where he faces a Tampa Bay team which should come on very strong and offensively minded and the Capitals, who held Zhitnik to only 1 point in 5 games and a mins-3 rating.

Chicago Blackhawks, G
Comment: Couple a weak preseason (1-2-0 record, 3.37 GGA, .881 save percentage) with a mediocre defense and you'll have a disastrous Fantasy Week 1. Khabbi suffered 4 losses against Detroit and 2 no decisions against Minnesota last year and that trend should continue.

Toronto Maple Leafs, G
Comment: Until he proves that the preseason was just an aberration, don't start Toskala just yet if you can spare a goalie. Also, two games against Ottawa won't help his stats at all. Even if he does manage to pull out a victory both games are sure to be high scoring slobberknockers (JR!).



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

17,551 Hockey supporters showed up to fill the O2 Arena in London, England for the season opener between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings.

30 Age of the Colorado Avalanche's newest rookie sensation, Jaroslav Hlinka, who could find himself playing alongside sophomore sensation, 21-year-old Paul Stastny.

20 Steve Downie has been suspended 20 games for his hit on Dean McAmmond. This is the same number of games as Todd Bertuzzi's suspension from 2004.

1 Goal needed for Mats Sundin to tie Darryl Sittler's record of 389 career goals as a Toronto Maple Leaf.


Detroit Red Wings, C
Comment: This young Czech will be given every opportunity to have a breakout season. He's had a very promising training camp and all reports are pointing to the fact that he'll be starting the season as a Top 6 forward, playing alongside either Datsyuk or Zetterberg. Hudler was able to accumulate 15 goals with very limited ice time last season and will see a major spike in numbers. He's a viable option for a late-round pick or a waiver grab in a smaller league but for those in Keeper leagues, pay attention to this young star. Good things should follow.



Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, CBC, RDS
The first edition of this year's Hockey Night in Canada should be a spectacle for sure as one of the league's oldest rivalries reignites for the first time this season. Expect, as usual, a strong dose of offense and aggressiveness by two teams who dislike each other and play another seven times after this.

 
FIGHT: DAN CLEARY VS. KRIS NEWBURY

• Power Plays: Oct. 1-7, 2007