Who are the most unlikely team points leaders so far this campaign? I would have to say that I did not expect Dustin Penner, Rick Peverley, Rene Bourque, Tomas Plekanec, Steve Reinprecht, Andy McDonald and Patrice Bergeron to be leading their respective clubs in scoring.

Of course, things will change. I do believe Bourque will relinquish his lead to Jarome Iginla and Peverley will give way to Ilya Kovalchuk. But it certainly spices up fantasy hockey a bit when 67% of the players leading their teams offensively were not expected to do so.

Paul Kariya is a player to watch closely over the next few games. He’s on a nine-game pointless streak, been taken off the Blues' top two scoring lines and off the power-play units. To add to the drama, yesterday the Blues owner Dave Checketts attacked the team over it’s slow start. It’s time to see how Kariya responds.

Personally, I don’t think his time has past, but he needs to prove he’s still the impact player we’ve come to know. The Blues are getting impatient with the team’s slow start, as evidence by them sticking Kariya on the third line. If he breaks out over the next few games than all will be forgiven and he might start getting ice time with the man advantage. If he continues to struggle, than this will become the new reality and fantasy owners will be forced to move on.

Like Checketts said on Friday in reference to his team, the wait is over. That applies to Kariya too. It’s time for him to show us what he can do, for better or worse.

On a different subject, if you're interested in the business side of the NHL, you may be interested to know that the Forbes' 2009 list of NHL's team value have been released. Not surprisingly, the Toronto Maple Leafs top the list despite their continued struggles on the ice. The average NHL franchise's net worth is now at $223 million, $3 million higher than it was a year ago.

Upon researching the Karjala Cup, what struck me was how many prominent former NHLers played in the tournament. The Russian roster featured Sergei Zubov, Oleg Tverdovsky, Vitali Vishnevsky, Alexander Radulov and Viktor Kozlov. Ossi Vaananen, Lasse Kukkonen and Ville Peltonen played for Finland, while Jiri Hudler, Jan Hlavac, Pavel Brendl, Jan Bulis and Josef Melichar were on the Czech Republic roster. In addition to Forsberg, the Swedes iced a team with P.J. Axelsson, Mikael Tellqvist, Marcus Ragnarsson, Christian Backman, Dick Tarnstrom, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Mattias Weinhandl and Marcus Nilsson.

Hockey pool enthusiasts are generally focused on European players who come over to play in North America. However, they rarely give a thought to how many former NHL players go home to play in Europe. To be successful in your hockey pool it might be worthwhile to have a world view that includes studying some of the European leagues. Many of these players (Forsberg is a prime example) may return to the NHL and be eligible for future fantasy drafts. Although many of my colleagues criticized me, I drafted both Forsberg and Jaromir Jagr in my farm system. If you are in a keeper league, I suggest that you at least consider the benefit of selecting some of the aforementioned players for your reserve lists in upcoming drafts.

There's been plenty of attention given to the struggling US hockey markets, from Phoenix to Columbus. But there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for hockey in non-traditional US markets. TV ratings in the US are up and the reason might be affordable HDTVs.

HD TV might be helping hockey more than any of the other big four sports because the crisp picture is making it easier for a new wave of US viewers to follow the puck in the fast-paced sport. The Versus network posted a 33% increase in viewership over the first couple weeks of the season while Anaheim and Florida saw triple-digit increases in their local ratings.

It's too early to read too much into those numbers, but it'll be interesting to see if the theory holds true.

1. Is he finally healthy?
2. To what extent have his elite-level skills eroded?
3. Where will he sign?

With respect to his health, Forsberg’s foot (hairline fracture) is completely healed and his ankle problems seem under control. How long he can remain healthy is another question entirely.

With respect to his skills, those who have watched Foppa playing for Modo say that he is vintage Forsberg. Of course, he has been playing in games with talent far inferior to that in the NHL. But even so, he seems to have lost little.

So if he is fit, fabulous and anxious to play in the NHL, where will he sign? Many believe the Flyers and Caps are the frontrunners. The Avs seemed to have turned the page and will not enter the Forsberg sweepstakes. I’m going to put my money on the Wings. Detroit has six Swedish players on its roster, including Foppa’s good friends Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom. The Wings could use the boost Forsberg would provide, having lost Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula to injuries.

I know we’ve been down this road before--hoping that Foppa can stay healthy and play at a high level--only to be disappointed. I have a good feeling about his comeback this time. And believe me when I tell you it has nothing to do with the fact that Mike Finewax and I drafted him in our hockey pool. Honest!

In case you missed it, Marian Gaborik is day-to-day with a knee injury. That's not groundbreaking news, but what made it an interesting story in my mind was Tortorella and the New York Rangers' initial refusal to explain the nature of the injury. Although the Rangers were quick to point out that Gaborik's current injury had nothing to do with any of his priors, Tortorella refused to even specify if it was a lower, mid, or upper-body injury at first. That only added an air of mystery to what could have been a relatively standard story. Especially with a player like Gaborik where your natural tendency is to worry about the worst case scenario whenever you hear that he's hurt.

It's come out now that it's a knee injury, although the team is officially referring to it as a lower-body injury, but that just makes me wonder why they covered it up in the first place. Was it a privacy thing? Is Gaborik ashamed that his knee specifically is injured and he didn't want that to get out? It sounds silly, but when the team doesn't get the information out there, the fans are left to fill in the blanks. The only possibilities that make sense to me is either the Rangers feared or still fear it's a much bigger injury than they're letting on or they didn't know exactly what the injury was at first. The second possibility seems unlikely seeing because Gaborik knew enough off the bat to rule out a hip, groin, or torso injury. Maybe he didn't know exactly what was wrong right away, but they could have come up with a basic explanation of what's bothering him and why they were sure it wasn't related to his previous injuries. If the first possibility turns out to be true, that this is much more than a day-to-day injury, then the Tortorella and the Rangers will just lose credibility later on, especially with regards to Gaborik.

Withholding information regarding an injury isn't anything new and it's not unique to the Rangers organization. However, in my humble opinion, it rarely proves to be helpful from a PR perspective and it leads to people assuming the worst.

If a player goes through a stretch of 10 games where he has registered zero points and a minus seven rating starting in game 53, you certainly would notice, but wouldn’t throw him under the bus. If he does it to start the season, you are clambering to drop him.

My recommendation to you is to treat all sluggish beginnings as if they took place starting in game 53. You’ll be a lot happier in the long run.

Well that didn't take long, did it? Carey Price picked up where he left off last season, with a 3.36 GAA and .886 save percentage in six games. As a result, Jaroslav Halak is expected to start in his third straight game tonight. Halak has always had the potential to be a starting goaltender, but it's clear that Price is the horse that Montreal wants to back. Although it looked like Halak had stolen the starter job from Price last season, the Canadiens eventually decided to give Price another shot at the number one job, much to Halak's dismay.

Maybe this season will be different under coach Jacques Martin, but the fact that Price is the Canadiens' desired goaltender of the future hasn't changed. If Halak outplays Price, he should be able to continue to steal playing time from him, but Price's potential alone will keep tempting the Canadiens to give him another shot. If Price gets hot and never looks back, he could still start in 60+ games this season. I don't think the reverse is true for Halak.

It's also worth noting that Halak and Price are both scheduled to be restricted free agents at the end of the season. Price could hinder his future with the Canadiens if he doesn't perform this season and then demands too much in the summer. By the same token, if Price turns things around this season, and Halak demands too much, the Canadiens could look into trading Halak to save themselves some critical cap space. One way or another, this could be the last season Montreal has the luxury of a Price-Halak goaltending tandem.

On last Saturday's edition of the Hotstove on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, Pierre LeBrun discussed the possibility of Atlanta superstar Ilya Kovalchuk signing in the Kontinental Hockey League. He mentioned that St. Petersburg will likely throw a huge contract his way if he does not re-sign with the Thrashers. If Russia was able to lure Kovalchuk away from the NHL it would be massive for their league and it would not only serve to legitimize them as a legit competitor, it would also give them their first true star and poster boy.

However, Atlanta is committed to keeping their former first overall pick in the 2001 draft. They do not want these negotiations to linger and expect to have Kovalchuk locked up to a long-term deal in the next couple of weeks. The fact that the team is playing so well and that they have done so much in an attempt to please him (signing Pavel Kubina, Nik Antropov and retaining the services of Rich Peverley) will go a long way to showing him they are committed to winning and improving their club. At this point in his career, the talented Russian simply wants to win. All things considered, it is highly likely that he will remain in the NHL and probably with Atlanta. Stay tuned to see how all this unfolds.

Quick note: I started reading Theo Fleury's book, Playing With Fire, and it is both horrifying and strangely compelling. He has seemingly overcome so much in his life and has worked so hard to clean up his act, which I find to be extremely commendable and inspiring.

It looks like we are mere weeks away from Phil Kessel's debut in a Leafs uniform, but Leafs fans and Kessel owners should keep their expectations in check. The Leafs 0-5-1 start to the season was the absolute worst thing that could happen to Kessel. The Leafs fanbase and media isn't known for it's easy going, wait-and-see mentality. The pressure Leafs Nation will put on Phil Kessel to produce immediately after his return will be immense.

Toronto acquired Kessel for their 2010 and 2011 first round picks and 2010 second round selection. Although Toronto is only six games into the season, people are already wondering if he was really worth it. Kessel hasn't even taken the ice yet and a section of Leafs Nation has already soured to him. That's bad news for Kessel, who was never likely to score 36 goals in 70 games again this season. He'll be coming off shoulder surgery and Toronto has no equivalent to Marc Savard to set up his goals. All the same, if Kessel isn't scoring goals right off the bat, Leafs Nation will get antsy and we'll find out how Kessel performs under intense pressure and negative feedback.

Although it's early one, Hedman is proving to be different than Doughty and other first year defensemen. The proof is in the four assists, +2 rating and eight penalty minutes he's put up in five games. It's obviously too early to say whether he can keep this play up, but he's made a much smoother transition to the NHL than even the Lightning thought. Coach Rick Tocchet said he'd bring Hedman along slowly, as he did with Stamkos, but that plan has been burned. Hedman is averaging 25:40 per game. And he's only 18!

It looks like the NHL has another exciting crop of rookies in 2009-10. Watching the Islanders' John Tavares, Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman and Colorado's Matt Duchene has been exciting early into this year. The league's top three picks from this past June's draft have all impressed in their professional introductions and have not looked the least bit out of place playing with the big boys.

This year's rookie class is shaping up to be a good one and if early indications are correct the John Tavares-Victor Hedman debate could stretch until the Calder Trophy is handed out at the end of the season.

Missed out on the top-tier goaltenders on draft day? Here are a couple of underrated goaltenders you may be able to acquire cheaply or pick up as a free agent:

Craig Anderson (Col) - His stock has gone up due to his hot start (1.68 GAA and .955 save percentage in three games), but he's still only owned in 66% of Yahoo! leagues. Scoop him up now if you're lucky enough to find him on the wire. Playing for the lowly Colorado Avalanche will hurt his value, but he should still be amongst the league leaders in save percentage and he may even surprise people with a 30-win campaign.

Scott Clemmensen (Fla) - He's a bigger gamble than Smith or Anderson, but with just 18% of teams taking a chance on him so far, he's the most likely to be available. Family issues have prevented him from starting in a game yet this season, but coach Peter DeBoer initial plan was to have Clemmensen and Tomas Vokoun split time pretty evenly. In Florida that probably means that whoever is hot will play consistently until they start to struggle and then the other goaltender will get his turn. If nothing else, the 85% of fantasy players who picked up Vokoun should consider grabbing Clemmensen for insurance purposes.

By the way, just as a quick follow up to my blog entry last week, Victor Hedman has been defying expectations by anchoring the Lightning's power play and averaging 25 minutes a game so far. He's looked great out there and he might be worth taking a chance on if you're hurting for offensive defenseman. If the Lightning continue to play him this much, he could finish the season with 30-40 points.

The Montreal Canadiens were the first victims of the injury bug when they lost star defenseman Andrei Markov for up to four months with a torn tendon in his ankle. The injury occurred when he was sliced by goaltender Carey Price's skate during a play for a loose puck in their first game of the year against Toronto. Where do they go from here?

Roman Hamrlik saw the majority of the power-play time in Markov's place on Saturday against the Sabres. He logged 5:24 of ice time with the man advantage and ended up with a shorthanded assist in the team's 2-1 overtime victory. Yannick Weber was also recalled from the minors to help shoulder some of the offensive load from the blueline after a knee injury struck rugged rearguard Ryan O'Byrne. O'Byrne is expected to miss the next eight weeks with the injury. As a result, Montreal turned for help outside the organization, agreeing to a one-year deal with Marc-Andre Bergeron. Bergeron netted 14 goals and 32 points in 72 games with the Wild last campaign. He is projected to get back into game shape in the minors before being recalled by the club. Bergeron should help the Canadiens' power play with his booming shot from the point when he is ready to suit up. Depending on how Weber plays, he may be sent down to the minors when Bergeron goes up.