Fantasy Hockey Coach - Hockey Pool and Keeper Hockey Advice

The NHL season is set to begin next weekend as the lockout finally ended after 100+ days and what seems like an eternity. Many fantasy hockey GM's are left scrambling as fantasy drafts are suddenly scheduled for the coming days. Fantasy Hockey Coach has your back if you are one of the many who has not been paying attention since Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup a life time ago. The fantasy experts at FHC put our knowledge into our Fantasy Hockey Playbook that was released way back in October. While the guide was originally built for a full 82 game regular season we are still confident in its content and will be offering it up for free for the shortened season. Check back in the next day or two for the link to this wealth of fantasy knowledge.

Lubomir Visnovsky has announced he intends to remainder in the KHL for the remainder of the season. Visnovsky was traded from Anaheim to the New York Islanders earlier and attempted to overturn the trade. At 36 years old, his NHL career is probably over. At his age even if he returns next season, his fantasy value is all but gone considering his cap hit ($5.6 million) and the team he plays for (Islanders).

Tomas Holmstrom took his time, but has decided to retire from the NHL. His retirement opens up a top six winger position in Motown. Valtteri Filppula, Johan Franzen, and Todd Bertuzzi hold down three of the top four winger positions. Look for Gustav Nyquist, Dan Cleary, and Damien Brunner to battle it out for the final spot. Our friend Darrly Dobbs of Dobberhockey and The hockey news has The Lowdown on Damien Brunner

Injury Updates there are some serious injuries to be aware of as you prepare for your fantasy draft. The following players are out with concussions; Nathan Horton, Marc Savard (Bruins), Patrick Eaves (Wings), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (Wild), Travis Hamonic (Islanders), Michael Sauer (Rangers), Paul Martin (Penguins), and Chris Pronger (Flyers) Jake Gardiner(Leafs).

Other injuries of note include:
Nathan Gerbe (Buffalo) - Back - Indefinitely
Tuomo Ruutu (Carolina) - Hip - May
Ryan Murray (Columbus) - Shoulder - Season
Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles) - Lower Body - 3-4 weeks
Marian Gaborik (New York) - Shoulder - Month-to-Month
Jared Cowen (Ottawa) - Hip - Season
Andrej Meszaros (Philadelphia) - Achilles - Indefinitely
J.T. Brown (Tampa) - Clavicle - February
Matias Ohlund (Tampa) - knee - Indefinitely
Ryan Kesler (Vancouver) - Shoulder - January
Zach Bogosian (Winnipeg) - Wrist - February

Come back tomorrow when the Press Box will look at players who are primed for a fantasy breakout, and some sleeper picks and dark horse picks for the short season.

Coach Pete Harling

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The Press Box January 8, 2012

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