Summary: After a two week 'break' that saw us release two bonus episodes, Elan and Brian are back for the first 'regular' episode Keeping Karlsson Fantasy Hockey Podcast of the year. This edition opens with an injury and a rant, as Brian lets the world know what he thinks of 'clean hits' in the wake of Patrik Laine's concussion. The guys go on to pinpoint a few rosters that have been hit particularly hard by the injury bug-- Nashville, Montreal, and Florida-- and assess the absences of a scoring winger that poolies, Kings fans, and maybe even Anze Kopitar would love to have back, as well as a first line forward in the desert who is obviously Martin Hanzal. Outjuries come next, with the guys rueing the return of not just a goalie but a goalie controversy in Philadelphia, lauding a rejuvenated lot of top six forwards (and perhaps another goalie controversy to be imminently reignited) in Tampa Bay, wondering whether there's room for more than one productive blueliner in Pittsburgh, and realizing there's not much new to say about the returns of an injury-prone Blackhawk and Hurricane. A short goalie-centric interlude follows, where the league's newest number one goalie's tier placement is assessed, hope is shared regarding a long-standing tandem situation morphing into a clearer #1/#2 scenario, and hope is dashed by two guys who refuse to run away with the starters' job when given the opportunity. Hot streaks feature an entire line of flaming Flames, a near-entire top six of Wild running wild, and an entire touchdown of Leafs who are making it harder to use the word 'Leafy' as a negative connotation. A surprising scoring leader in Vancouver, not either of the first three blueliners you'd guess in Washington, a couple young Red Wings and a pair of Pups (that's what you call a baby shark) round out the segment. And finally, the show closes with cold streaks, with unsurprising visits to the infamous 3rd line in St Louis, and the higher lines in Colorado. Players mentioned on this episode include Patrik Laine, Mikael Backlund, Bo Horvat, Michael Frolik, Kevin Fiala, Aaron Ekblad, Tyler Johnson, Victor Hedman, PK Subban, Matthew Tkachuk, Kris Letang, Justin Schultz, Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Ryan Strome, Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier, Jacob Trouba, Drew Stafford, Nik Ehlers, Joel Armia, Mark Scheifele, Dustin Byfuglien, Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, James Neal, Viktor Arvidsson, Juuse Saros, Pekka Rinne, Tyler Toffoli, Milan Lucic, Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez, Alex Barkov, Nick Bjugstad, Seth Griffith, Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Paul Byron, Philip Danault, Nathan Beaulieu, Martin Hanzal, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Radim Vrbata, Michal Neuvirth, Steve Mason, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, Jonathan Drouin, Vladislav Namestnikov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ben Bishop, Marian Hossa, Artemi Panarin, Jonathan Toews, Vinny Hinostroza, Justin Faulk, Ty Rattie, Derek Ryan, Victor Rask, Jeff Skinner, Jaroslav Halak, Thomas Greiss, Andrew Ladd, John Gibson, Jonathan Bernier, Brian Elliott, Chad Johnson, Alex Chiasson, Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, TJ Brodie, Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, James van Riemsdyk, William Nylander, Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly, Dmitry Orlov, Loui Eriksson, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, Alex Steen, Jaden Schwartz, Tyson Barrie, Matt Duchene, Torey Krug, John Klingberg, Jon Carlson and more. * * * Download this episode, subscribe, and review us on iTunes! If you enjoy the show, please support future episodes by becoming a patron of Keeping Karlsson. Keeping Karlsson patrons can join our patron-only Facebook group and take part in (and receive audio from) a monthly live, face-to-face and interactive Keeping Karlsson recording! You can also support us by telling a friend, subscribing to and reviewing Keeping Karlsson on iTunes, and following us on Twitter (@keepingkarlsson). Tweet us with your feedback, fantasy hockey questions, and requests for future episodes! The Keeping Karlsson Fantasy Hockey Podcast is proudly presented by DobberHockey. Thanks for listening!
