SMC 12/11/2016   The Christmas Holiday season is fast approaching.  Time to get your wish list ready.  I am going to sprinkle some of my wishes in throughout today’s SMC as I tackle my mug of hot coffee. The afternoon Stars-Flyers game was pretty exciting.  Drew Shore (2G) and Brayden Schenn (3G) exchanged blows in a 4-2 Philly victory making it a true Shore-Schenn Redemption.  Justas good as the movie! At the top of my wish list is that Tyler Seguin goes off on one of his torrid scoring paces. And where has Jamie Benn been?  Alright, he has 24 points in 29 games but it feels like he’s been invisible this year. You know who wasn’t invisible last night?  Max Pacioretty (4G) and the Montreal Canadiens who put up a 10 spot against Colorado.  The Habs sure haven’t missed Alex Galchenyuk so much the past three games scoring 15 goals after losing 30-2 in OT against St. Louis since Glachenyuk went down to injury on Sunday. I hope Max Pax’s arms aren’t too tired for Monday’s tilt against Boston after taking 8 SOG against Colorado. Jason Spezza is having a rough +/- game this year.  The worst since his last season in Ottawa in 2013-14 when he was -26.  Will history repeat itself?  I hope not because I have him on my fantasy squad finally. My second wish is that the Stars align for some pretty awesome offensive statistics. I hope Jakub Voracek isn’t becoming one of those “every-other-year” players like Mike Ribeiro. I miss Rob Klinkhammer.  Let’s start a petition, “Bring Back the Hammer”.  Why not?  John Scott has retired. Drew Doughty was fired up in his matchup against Erik Karlsson Saturday afternoon. Is there something amiss in Beantown?  Yes.  It’s called a Patrice Bergeron slump. I think the B’s miss Loui Eriksson more than they are letting on. Kris Letang finally had a Kris Letang game with 3 assists and a +1 rating with 4 SOG.  Welcome back! Last Sunday I said, “One day Jonathan Drouin is going to start producing like a superstar.  I hope that day comes soon for his, and Tampa Bay’s sake.”  He’s got 3 goals in 2 games this week with 5 SOG.  I wonder if he read my article. Although it seems like the Florida Panthers are picking up their offense of late, they are still losing.  Perhaps another coaching change will do the trick.  You know, like doubling down on a bet. It appears the NY Islanders are starting to put it together.  I mean, they couldn’t have played any worse and they still didn’t fire their Head Coach Jack Capuano. The Columbus Blue Jackets ...

Brayden Schenn- Claude Giroux has gone nuts and is slowly bringing his line-mates with him. Schenn is no Voracek in terms of upside but he can  produce like a 60-point guy when G is cruising. The winger has collected 7 points over his last 10 contests.    Teemu Terevainen- Cushy spot on top line with Toews and Hossa would be prime for any fantasy owners liking but what doesn't appeal to me is Coach Quenneville's constant shuffling of that spot-meaning the youngster will need to keep producing or else. Be wary but worth a flier.    Beau Bennett- Playing with the Sid the Kid has its benefits. Just keep in mind his fantasy value is directly tied to this situation so he can go from decent to mediocre in no time.    Jason Pominville- Hey, I am shocked as well that his percentage of ownership dropped so much but that's what happens when you score just one goal in your first 23 games. Now, he is back in normal form collecting 6 points in the last 7 games while playing with Parise and Granlund on the top line.    James Reimer- Going with the unconventional choice here given that he had been injured and out of the lineup for awhile. But he is super close to returning and with Bernier in AHL, it's Reimers job to lose. 

Rangers clinch President’s Trophy & gain home-ice advantage throughout playoffs, Senators still alive with dramatic win over the Penguins The NY Rangers and New Jersey Devils played a feisty game but it was the Rangers who prevailed and claimed the President’s Cup to gain home ice advantage throughout the playoffs as far as they go.  Kevin Hayes continues to show poise and patience with the puck and was the catalyst with a goal and 2 assists, one of those on the power play.  Hayes look like he can be a tremendous force on the Rangers for years to come….Defenseman Keith Yandle, with an assist, now has 9 assists in the last ten games as he gets acclimated to the Rangers style of play.  Yandle was always an offensive force but now playing with a more talented team in the New York, his fantasy value should skyrocket next year playing a full season with the Rangers…. It is amazing that with a talent such as Claude Giroux leading your team and his line mate Jakub Voracek in contention for the scoring title that the Philadelphia Flyers aren’t in the hunt for a playoff position, but having a suspect defense with the loss of Kimmo Timonen at the beginning of the season really put the Flyers behind the 8-ball.  If they address their defensive woes during the off-season, they will back contending next year for sure… Giroux came out flying and scored two first-period goals and the Flyers hung on to beat the New York Islanders 5-4 after letting the Isles tie the game late in the 3rd period.  Brayden Schenn scored with 3 seconds remaining to save face for the Flyers after blowing a 2-goal lead with just under 2 minutes remaining.  We had been high on Schenn to start the year and he has not lived up to our expectations until recently where he has scored 7 points in last 4 games.  Maybe next season…Voracek assisted on both Giroux goals to stay close to Crosby in the scoring race…. You can just tell how much Pavel Datsyuk means to this Detroit Red Wings team as he was a game-time decision because of a recurring nagging injury but he toughed it out and played getting the game-winning goal and an assist in the 3-2 win over Carolina.  Yes he’ll be 37 before the start of next season, but if he can stay relatively healthy for close to a full season, he will get you a point-per-game if not more…Oh yeah, and Detroit clinched a playoff spot with the win... Sidney Crosby feeling the heat, scored 10 seconds into the game and added an assist to hold onto the lead in the NHL ...

Buffalo stomps Leafs, Ain't that a Schenn and a Silfverberg lining in Anaheim The Buffalo Sabres scored three unanswered goals to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in a game with little relevance at this stage of the season.  4 different goal-scorers for the Sabres, so no big help there in the waning two weeks for fantasy players but Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak have shown signs of life of late and both added 2 assists on the night so keep playing those two especially against weaker opponents…. In the battle of Pennsylvania, it was the Flyers who showed some scoring punch with a 4-1 win over the Penguins. Brayden Schenn was the scoring star with 2 goals giving him 16 on the year.  It has been a bit of a disappointing year for the young forward who we expected to have more of a breakout season.  Perhaps next year….Meanwhile, the Penguins have only scored more than 2 goals in regulation twice in the last 10 games in which they have gone 3-6-1.  Not exactly lighting the world on fire especially with that lineup.... The Anaheim Ducks blasted the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 to claim the Pacific Division title and eighth win in the last ten games. Jakub Silfverberg had a career night with three assists and could be a decent play over the last week while the stars get rested a bit in Anaheim.. Thanks to a 5-1 drubbing of Colorado, the San Jose Sharks are still alive in the playoff hunt. Logan Couture continues to be a strong fantasy option down the stretch with two more points. BTW, what happened to Joe Thornton? Six straight games with no points.

* Brief thoughts on Franson's fantasy value in Nashville, Line shake-ups in Philly, Burns is red-hot again,and more... The Cody Franson trade to Nashville brings another offensive defenseman to the fold, but it would be unreasonable to think that he can be as fantasy relevant here as he was in Toronto. While basically the top power-play dog for the Leafs, Franson will play second-fiddle to Shea Weber and Roman Josi. Now, the Predators have been known to score a few more goals than his previous team and their second power-play unit is pretty solid, so he will still be valuable and still worthy of plug and play situations throughout the season. So, hold onto him.. Even after the Philadelphia Flyers captured an important two points in the narrow 2-1 win over Buffalo, fantasy owners aren't exactly rejoiced with the production of the top line in recent games. There has been more line-juggling to help ignite the Claude Giroux/Jakub Voracek tandem, this time lining them up with the recently returned Michael Raffl and dropping Brayden Schenn between Umberger/White. I would say give Raffl a look in your deeper formats if this sticks, while Schenn becomes non-starteable.   Brent Burns continues to rip it up for San Jose as his power-play goal last night has him on a four-point game streak and improves his numbers to 48 points in 58 games. With nine points over his last ten games, Burns has shown no signs of slowing down and should treated as an elite fantasy option the rest of the way as the Sharks keep relying on him for the bulk of their offensive blueline production.. My thoughts prior to last night's Anaheim-Washington tilt featuring Bruce Boudreau against his former club was the following- If Justin Peters is in, circle Anaheim for an easy win. Well, not so fast as Alex Ovechkin made sure the Caps did not fall flat by collecting four points in the road victory. Peters was not good but his counterpart John Gibson was worse as he failed to impress after a solid outing in Carolina. It's still Federik Andersen's job when he gets back..

Don't look now but the Columbus Blue Jackets have won 4 in a row with G Sergei Bobrovsky backstopping the team to their longest winning streak of the season. The Jackets edged the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in overtime with big thanks to their goaltender.  If you read the BETWEEN THE PIPES: SHOW ME MARTY! On December 2nd, you know we mentioned that it was time to ‘buy-low" on Bobrovsky. Columbus is inching back into the thick of things in the Eastern Conference...For Philly, they have gotten points in last 3 games...Brayden Schenn scored his 8th and 9th goals on the season and now has 5 points in last 5 games.... In New Jersey the biggest story wasn't that Keith Kincaid got his first NHL start but the fact that the Devils gave starter Cory Schneider the night off after 8 consecutive starts. Kincaid didn't draw a favorable matchup as he faced perhaps one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now in the Chicago Blackhawks but managed to hold his own and get the devils a point as the Hawks won 3-2 in a shootout.... The Buffalo Sabres must just love playing against West Coast teams as they defeated the LA Kings 1-0 as Jhonas Enroth pitched a 34-save shutout. If you remember correctly, the Sabres beat San Jose in both games this season and lost 2-1 to LA earlier in the season.  They did lose both matches against the Anaheim Ducks but they won't have to worry about California Dreamin' anymore this season.  Enroth seems to have made himself fantasy relevant with his play of late.... Toronto has gone 6-1-1 since that 9-2 drubbing at the hands of the Tampa bay Lightning with the whole team playing spirited hockey. Nazem Kadri with 2 assists and James van Riemsdyk with his game-winning goal and assist led the charge for the Maple Leafs. JVR has 6 points in last 5 games while Kadri has 8 in his last 6.  If available, pick him up as he is starting to be a bit more consistent.....Jonathan Bernier was spectacular turning aside 32 of 33 shots on goal for his 11th win on the season..... One of our most hyped pre-season breakout candidates, goalie Braden Holtby, is quickly distancing himself from a slow start as his 33-save effort over Tampa Bay gives him three straight wins and rising peripheral numbers (2.37 GAA/.916). It was just a matter of time before the "Barry Trotz" effect took place in Washington. His system is incredibly goalie-friendly for fantasy purposes... An improbable comeback headlined the Minnesota Wild's 5-4 win over the New York Islanders, scoring four ...

The Buffalo Sabres picked up their second win of the season with a road win over the San Jose Sharks who have lost 4 in a row after a 4-0-1 start. Don't put much stock in the Buffalo "road warrior" moniker as both of their wins have come on the road.  Still, no one is fantasy-worthy at this point in time...The Sharks play 7 of their next 9 on the road, so they will need to become "road warriors" if they want to stay close in the division and league leaders in the Western Conference... If you were wondering how the Chara-less Bruins would do in his absence, I believe Dougie Hamilton had a quick answer with his goal and 2 assist night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. .  Perhaps this is the coming out party everyone has been waiting for.  Tuukka Rask turned aside 32 of the 33 SOG to earn his 4th victory on the young season .... Carey Price (34/35 SVS) and the Montreal Canadiens exacted some revenge for last year playoff knockout by the New York Rangers with a 3-1 victory at the Bell Centre. Next time be sure to start Price in net against the Rangers as he is now 8-1-1 with 5 shutouts in his last 10 starts against them.... Although his record is only 4-2-2 with a 2.92 GAA and .907 SP overall, in his past 2 games New Jersey Devil G Cory Schneider has had a SP of over .940 and looks to be improving on his game after a few duds. If there was any a time to trade for him, now is the time before he starts to get into the groove....Rookie D-man Damon Severson got back onto the score sheet with a goal and an assist and has not gone 2 consecutive games without a point so far in his young NHL career. Definitely worth a starting slot in your fantasy lineup... Don't look now but the Philadelphia Flyers have won 3 of their last 4 and it looks like the offensive weapons are starting to hit on all cylinders as Michael Raffl potted 2 goals and Brayden Schenn netted a power play goal, his second goal of the season. The Flyers could use some secondary scoring aside from the top line and the past 2 games were a good sign.... Besides the somewhat surprising 7-5 score in the Islanders win over Dallas was the fact that Isles C John Tavares didn't factor in any of the scoring. Very strange indeed....It was another Islander center that provided the fireworks as Frans Nielsen had a 3rd period hat-trick to help New York to overcome the Dallas Stars....A good sign for poolies was the fact that Islander D-man Lubomir Visnovsky had a goal and assist in just his second game of the ...

When Scott Hartnell was traded this summer, the big question was "who will fill that spot on the Flyers top line?" There were four candidates, Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, Matt Read and R.J Umberger. For now, that spot will belong to the 23-year-old Schenn. He had 20 goals and 21 assists (41 points) in 2013-14 and now has even more upside playing with one of the leagues top setup men.

SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE -- PRESEASON EDITION Hi, it's so good to be back for another season of NHL hockey. This is the best time of the year, not only because we have hockey back, but here in the United States it means the start of Mallomars season as well as Nabisco does not ship out their chocolate laden marshmallow cookies for fear they would melt during the hot summer months. So yours truly has stocked up on 10 boxes of the delicious treats as they go on sale as soon as they hit the stores.  Bon apetit! I don't know if it's me or not, but I have noticed quite a few hat tricks during the pre-season. Does that mean scoring will be up this year? Bergeron, Pominville, Seguin, and Jeff Carter all had hatties, plus there were lots of 2-goal games from a lot of players, some you have never heard of and may not even hear of for a year or two and some more well-known names like Ovechkin. I hope this translates into the regular season. I think for the most part you will see the same teams in the playoffs this upcoming year, with a few changes. I think the New Jersey Devils will be much improved and may the playoffs.  And in the West, I can see Nashville bumping someone out. You are just gonna love watching the Tampa Bay Lightning this year. I can just feel it!  Can Colorado match last season's efforts? They won't be catching any teams by surprise this year. The Vancouver Canucks must be so happy playing for Willie Desjardins. Really happy. We believe it will be Anaheim Ducks facing off against the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals come June. I know the Winnipeg Jets fans are just chomping at the bit for their beloved team to make the playoffs. Do you know how loud it will be in the playoffs at the MTS Centre? The Islanders made some shrewd moves yesterday picking up defensemen Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy. Are they trying to win or something? I would just love to see a full-blown controversy in San Jose but with no one getting traded nor any coaches getting fired. Just some real-life soap opera stuff. Some of the players I am going to enjoy watching this year are Brayden Schenn, James van Riemsdyk, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Murphy, Jake Gardiner, Jonathan Drouin and Brandon Saad, as every year there are a handful of players that have the buzz. I think Nikita Kucherov wants to be more of a factor in Tampa's offense this year. It's good to see Henrik Sedin with 6 pre-season assists. I think all the Canucks want to forget last year. Evander Kane leads the ...

Does anyone realize just how close the Philadelphia Flyers had come to being where the New York Rangers ended up? Everyone remembers the horrific start to the season the Flyers had, and especially Claude Giroux, but Giroux ended up 3rd in league scoring and the Flyers lost to the Rangers in the opening round in game 7 by a score of 2-1 or we may have seen the Flyers up against the LA Kings for the right to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. Will things be different this year?  Steve Mason proved his worth to the Flyers especially during that 2-1 loss to the Rangers where he played lights out in a must-win situation. GOALIES The Philadelphia Flyers, who always seem to have a problem with maintaining a true Number 1 net minder, took a stab at Columbus' Mason in a April 2013 trade. Mason, who couldn't seem to recapture his rookie year magic when in Columbus, was expendable because of the play of ex-Flyer goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky who was acquired the year prior. How ironic is that?  Well, Mason has proved to be the Number 1 goalie the team has been searching for, and he is only 26-years old.  Philadelphia just may be his cup of tea as he posted similar numbers last year as he did in his rookie season, except for the shutout totals.  Expect Mason to be Philly's guy for the foreseeable future. DEFENSE Losing a veteran presence like Kimmo Timonen is tough to replace, but the prior season;s signing of Mark Streit should ease that loss a little bit. The team also signed Michael Del Zotto to a contract hoping that they can light the fire in MDZ's belly after his promising career derailed in New York and then Nashville. Del Zotto still needs to prove that he can play at the NHL level night-in and night-out. The offense will come mainly from Streit with hopes MDZ can contribute something as the rest of the blueliners are more suited to playing a defensive style. FORWARDS It is amazing that with the start that Giroux had last year that he ended up 3rd in NHL scoring. That was an incredible pace and you could possibly see Giroux leading the league in scoring this year if he can play at that level from Game 1.  Jakub Voracek has found a home playing alongside Giroux and that shouldn't change a bit. Wayne Simmonds finally got some recognition with the year he had, scoring 39 goals with a career high also in points with 60. He can do it again. One player that will be on everyone's lips this season is Brayden Schenn who is set to breakout in a big way. 70 is not out of ...