Weekly Rumblings...

Calgary - Wow - we actually thought it would have taken ol' Iron Mike Keenan not nearly this long before he began to call out his goalie's play in the media - but after 17 games, Iron Mike has let it be known that he has not been fond of Mikka Kippusoff's play. Frankly, Kipper has been just above average on some nights, but the Flames' defence has been below average and as a result, the Flames are just average. Most would have thought a recent injury to Daymond Langkow would mean more minutes for Craig Conroy between Iginla and Tanguay. Keenan has decided to go with speedster Lombardi on the big line, and the results have been pretty good so far. Looks as though Keenan will keep Lombardi there for now as well, despite Langkow's return. Watch for Langkow to slip alongside Huselius and Conroy to be a pivot for Owen Nolan.

Fantasy Impact:

Lomabardi - Positive
Lankgow - even
Conroy - negative
Iginla - even
Kiprusoff - negative

New York - the Rangers are winning games without major contirbutions from the 4 big guns: Jagr, Gomez, Drury and Shanahan. Of the four, it looks as though Shanahan and Jagr are showing signs of beginning to score while Gomez and Drury are making GM Glen Sather signing of them look like a terrible decision. Brandon Dubinsky was even seeing some time as Jagr's pivot - and the Rangers are still winning. Lundqvist has been very good lately and that has helped, but watch out for the Rangers if the offense begins to catch up. The news that may fly under the radar is that Martin Straka has been finally cleared to begin contact drills and he just might be the lift that the Rangers offense needs.

Fantasy Impact:

Jagr - positive
Shanahan - even
Gomez - positive
Drury - even
Dawes - negative

Phoenix - with the news that Ilya Bryzgalov was placed on waivers, it seems only natural that the Coyotes would scoop him up as this is the team that is still wondering if one of the 4 back-ups they have brought in will become a consistent starter. Bryzgalov is the best of the bunch and when he gets hot, he's proven that he can carry a team for a few months. That said, Giguere was not exactly the west-coast version of Marty Brodeur in playing tons of games, yet Bryzgalov did not take advantage of his opportunity. In Phoenix he'll gets lots of playing time, in front of a young, improving but mistake prone team. he'll likely play very good for a few weeks and then begin to sag somewhat as his team loses close games.

Fantasy Impact:

Bryzgalov - positive
Auld - negative
Tellqvist - negative