NHL Happenings

Rookie goaltender Cedrick Desjardins picked up his first win in his NHL debut as the Tampa Bay Lightning downed the Montreal Canadians 4-1. Desjardins was traded by the Canadians to Tampa Bay before the start of this season. He made 27 saves. Montreal goaltender Carey Price was chased after allowing four goals on 20 shots. Steven Stamkos had two goals and two assists. Pavel Kubina and Martin St. Louis also scored for the Lightning. Max Pacioretti had a goal for the Canadians.


Tobias Enstrom scored two power play goals, and Brian Little and Tim Stapleton each scored in the first two rounds of a shootout as the Atlanta Thrashers defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2. Ondrej Pavelec picked up the win when he stoned Blake Wheeler and Tyler Seguin during the shootout. Tim Thomas was the hard-luck loser.

R.J. Umberger tipped a Rick Nash wrist shot past Jonas Gustavsson for the game winner as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2. Steve Mason stopped 20 of 22 shots for the victory. Kristian Huselius had two goals for the Blue Jackets, while Nikolai Kulemin and Tyler Bozak each had a single tally for the Leafs.

San Jose snapped its two game losing streak when Joe Thornton tipped in the game winner as the Sharks topped the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3. Antti Niemi stopped 26 shots for the win. Marty Turco making his third straight appearance was saddled with the loss after allowing four goals on 20 shots. Patrick Sharp, Troy Brouwer, and Brian Campbell scored for Chicago. Scott Nichol, Benn Ferriero, Dany Heatley, and Ryane Clowe each found the back of the net for San Jose. Dan Boyle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic each picked up a pair of assists.

Milan Hejduk scored the lone goal in a shootout to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The Avalanche darted out to a 3-0 first period lead on goals by TJ Galiardi, Paul Stastny, and Thomas Fleischman. Edmonton tied it on a second period goal by Taylor Hall, and third period goals by Ales Hemsky and Andrew Cogliano. Dustin Penner had two assists. Colorado goalie Craig Anderson picked up the win, while Devan Dubnyk suffered the loss for the Oilers.

Michael Leighton picked up his first victory of the season as the Philadelphia Flyers outlasted the Los Angeles Kings 7-4. Leighton had not played since last year's Stanley Cup final. He was finally activated after spending the entire season on IR rehabilitating from back surgery. He stopped 32-36 shots. Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier was ineffective allowing six goals on only 22 shots. He was finally relieved by Jonathan Quick. Mike Richards scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. He was joined by fellow teammates Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, James van Riemsdyk, and Ville Leino who each scored a goal. Ryan Williams potted two goals, while Justin Williams and Jack Johnson each scored once for L.A. The Kings Kyle Clifford, Wayne Simmonds, and Michal Handzus were a minus 3 plus/minus for the night.

Injuries:

Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf has been put on IR after sustaining multiple sinus fractures when a deflected puck hit his face a couple of days ago. He will miss at least two games.

The swelling is so severe, it will take two weeks to determine treatment for Oiler defenseman Ryan Whitney's ankle. If surgery is needed, he will miss the remainder of the year.

Atlanta's Nik Antropov was placed on IR with an injured hip. The injury was worse than originally thought.

Thrasher winger Evander Kane was unable to suit up for tonight's game with an undisclosed arm injury. He attempted to practice but was forced to leave the ice after six minutes.

Blackhawk forward Jonathan Toews will miss two weeks with a shoulder injury. Fortunately, the injury was not as severe as originally feared.

Awesome Race Fans

Awesome Race Fans, a forum for the avid and casual NASCAR fan alike, was launched on December 21, 2011. The website in its first week online, during NASCAR's off-season, has already seen impressive web traffic and lively fan interaction. The site Administrator, who goes by the name Vinny, has provided a wonderful web venue for race fans to share news, details about tracks and race strategy, a fan forum for each driver, history, race day weather, traffic reports to and from the race, tailgating tips, recipes, and more. I will be a regular visitor and contributor to the forum, and I intend to share with my readers much what is learned there.
Thanks Vinny and good luck!

Brandon Webb

Brandon Webb agreed to a one year contract Sunday night with the Texas Rangers. He is slated to be their fourth or fifth starter. ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that the deal is worth $3 million dollars in base salary with a possibility of earning an additional $2 million in performance-based incentives.
Webb only made one appearance in 2009 lasting just four innings. He was forced to leave the game when he experienced severe bursitis in his right throwing shoulder. He tried to let the injury heal with rest, but finally opted for surgery towards the end of the year. His rehabilitation cost him the entire 2010 season.
Webb did, however, work out for a number of teams during the latter part of the year, pitching in a number instructional league games. His fastball was reported to be peaking in the low 80's, a drop of 5 MPH compared to when he was pitching prior to the injury. And although he threw the fastball with his trademark good sink, one scout claimed, "Scary that that is all he's got after such long rehab."
Webb averaged 227 innings pitched, 178K's, 7.1 K/9, and 2.96 BB/9 from 2004-2008. He was able to compensate for his above average strike out rate by never inducing less than an average of 64% of balls hit in play as grounders. His superb sinker made him one of the elite pitchers at that time.
If Webb is able to make his debut with the Rangers, he will essentially be pitching for the first time in two years. He has several factors working against him. One, he will be close to 32 years of age at the start of the 2011 season. Two is his marked drop in velocity. Third is recent history. Ben Sheets, Rich Harden, Chien Ming-Wang, Justin Duchscherer, and Erik Bedard all failed in their 2010 comeback attempts from arm surgery. Last is the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is notoriously known as a difficult place to pitch, especially in the heat of summer.
Therefore, it is likely that Webb will not be effective this season. Yet fantasy leagues are many times won with late-round sleepers or low dollar acquisitions of those that were shunned, some because of injury. Josh Hamilton in 2010 and Chris Carpenter in 2009 are two that should come to mind to any fantasy GM.

J.C. Romero

Philadelphia has come to terms with left handed pitcher J.C. Romero after declining his $4.5 million dollar option two months ago. The Phillies earlier this month had an apparent deal on the table with Dennys Reyes. However, it is believed to have fallen through when doctors had questions about Reyes' health.
Romero was limited to 36.2 IP in 60 appearances because of elbow problems in 2010. In addition, control problems once again continued to plague him. He struck out 28 batters (6.87 K/9) while walking 29 (7.12 BB/9). He still is able to induce batters into hitting ground balls (61% GB/12% LD/ 26%FB), and is effective against left-handed hitters holding them to a .174/.278/.251 batting line over the last three seasons.
At this stage of his career, however, the Phillies will have to contend with his wildness. He ended last season with a respectable 3.68 ERA. But because of walks, he posted a considerably higher 4.99 xERA and an ugly 1.61 WHIP. These are numbers that will find him on many fantasy waiver wires this coming year, even in leagues which count holds.

Andrew McCutchen

MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates may be contemplating a multiyear extension for 24 year old outfielder Andrew McCutchen. This follows on the heals of Jay Bruce's recently signed contract extension with the Reds. However, Luke Adams in his article rightly points out that McCutchen's extension should be modeled after that of Justin Upton's six-year $51.25 MM extension which he signed last winter. McCutchen finished last year with a .286/.365/.449 slash line, and 16 HR's, 94 R's, and 56 RBI's in 570 PA's, numbers very similar to Upton's pre-2010 signing. And like Upton, he is looked upon more for his speed than his power. McCutchen stole 33 bases in 2010, but also was caught stealing 10 times.

The question the Pirates now face is whether or not McCutchen's service time qualifies him for Super Two status. He has accumulated one year and 123 days of service. If the cutoff in 2011 is similar to last year's one year and 122 days of service, it can pose a problem for Pittsburgh's future payroll. Both sides will most likely opt, therefore, to wait for clarity on this issue before pursuing an extension. McCutchen is now under the Pirates control through 2015, and regardless of when arbitration may take place, he remains a vital key to the Pirates future hopes.

Brad Hawpe

Pending a physical, the San Diego Padres will sign 31 year old Brad Hawpe over the weekend to a one year contract. Hawpe, a Type B free agent, was traded mid season last year from the Rockies to the Tampa Bay Rays. He is expected to play 1st base for the Friars. The lefty swinger has a career .271/.367/.467 slash line, but is only a .245/.322/.438 career hitter against southpaws. The Padres are likely to find a platoon partner for him. Hawpe has patrolled the corner outfield positions most of his career but is considered a weak defender. As a matter of fact, per cumulative UZR, he ranks as one of the top ten worst fielders in the last decade (RF, -83.8). He has hit well inside Petco Field, and should be on one's fantasy radar in NL-only leagues.

Prospects

Fangraphs has been rolling out their 2011 preview of their top 10 prospects for every major league team. Their analysis is superb. This is a must read for all those in dynasty or keeper leagues.