It’s been a rough spell for Daniel Alfredsson, as first photos of him wearing a pink dress in Las Vegas find their way onto the inter-tubes, then his jaw goes boom. However, his Sens are still kicking since sending Craig Hartsburg into the abyss. Part of the reason for their semi-success? Antoine Vermette remembered he’s a pretty skilled hockey player and popped in seven points in his last five games.

In case you haven’t heard the latest news: Brad Richards = hurt (broken wrist, out up to two months), Mike Richards = awesome (five points against the Sabres on Thursday night), and Atlanta Thrashers = confused (scoring boatloads of goals when nothing matters…hell, even RotoRob noticed that one). Just wanted to get that out of the way.

The Pittsburgh Penguins got a shot in the arm (the return of Sergei Gonchar) and a kick in the ass (new coach Dan Bylsma), though they haven’t somehow reversed time to turn back into the 2007-08 world beaters they were last season. Gonchar’s return is significant though, as it should improve the woeful Pittsburgh power play and cause a trickle-down effect on the rest of the Penguin blueliners. As for Bylsma? He’s employing a more aggressive system than the ever-cautious Michel Therrien. We’ll see how long that sticks depending on performance, but right now that’s good news for whoever plays with Sidney what’s-his-name and Evgeni something-or-other. You know, those two franchise players that are supposed to make Pittsburgh the best team in the history of time.

In fantasy news that doesn’t really matter, Claude Lemieux — he of the glorious China-and-back return — scored his first point of the season. And it only took him 10 games. It’s a little different from Mario Lemieux’s return in 2000, ain’t it?

Vesa Toskala has transformed from starting goalie to walking sieve, so young Justin Pogge’s being given a chance (look for that Toskala robot in the new Transformers movie). Since nothing’s working in Toronto, it’s time to hand over the reins to the kids. Not that that’s always a good idea, but hey, you can’t live in the shadow of Mats Sundin forever, right?

Speaking of Mats, he teased us with thoughts of “He’s not just a poker player!” when the big Swede put up sevens points in three games. Since then? Two points in five games. Seven…three…two…five…hey, if he gets six points in his next four games, Sundin will have a straight! Of course, Mats endorses poker sites for entertainment purposes only, so he wouldn’t win any money.

Do you believe in the Florida Panthers? They just keep winning and winning despite not having a single guy over the 50-point plateau. The closest guy they have in this scoring-by-committee bunch is Stephen Weiss, but of his 41 points, only 10 are goals. That’s an acceptable ratio if you’re, say, Joe Thornton, but for the purposes of fantasy games that don’t involve Daniel Alfredsson in a pink dress, that’s thumbs down for a team leader. Want to ride the surge of the Panthers? Stick with the defense or Tomas Vokoun (according to Yahoo!, Vokoun’s still available in 22 per cent of its fantasy leagues).

The Week Ahead

• On Saturday afternoon, the struggling Habs (who are so desperate these days that they’ve sent Alexei Kovalev home to get his shit together) look to snap a three-game losing skid at home against Ottawa, which is making a bit of a push to try to get back in the race. On Thursday, Carey Price was again awful for Montreal, which is now free falling in the Eastern standings. Sacrebleu!
• Saturday night, the Bruins travel to Florida where they will eat dinner at 4 p.m. and then take on the surging Panthers in what could be a possible first round preview. As good as Florida has been at home this season (16-8-5), Boston is even better than that on the road (21-6-5). That’s pretty damn impressive.
• Speaking of afternoon hockey, on Sunday (on national TV, no less), we get the revitalized Penguins in Washington to take on the still red-hot Capitals. Pittsburgh is desperately trying to work its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, while Washington continues to chip away at Boston’s conference lead.

In the NHL, players will suddenly go very hot. In the fantasy world, the big question is always, how long will they stay hot?

Take Eric Fehr from the Washington Capitals. He’s got seven goals on the season, but four in his last five (plus two assists). Has the former first-round pick suddenly found his game? The Capitals have to be hoping so. He’s only got three goals in the previous three seasons, much of that spent in the minors. So is Fehr worth the risk? He’s certainly worth keeping an eye on.

Also, look for some great players to return to their lineups. A lot of times, players get injured and dumped out of fantasy lineups, and former owners forget to go pick them up. It’s like free money!

Pittsburgh defenseman Sergei Gonchar has been cleared to play, meaning he should appear in the Penguin lineup soon. While Gonchar will have to ease himself in (he hasn’t played all season), he’s a fixture on the Penguin power play — a unit that has really suffered without him. Look for Gonchar to see special teams time, if not regular even-strength minutes.

Also consider Andy McDonald from the Blues, who returned to the St. Louis roster Tuesday night. McDonald played on the wing instead of centre, but things still worked out, as he scored a goal and added an assist. Not bad, considering he hadn’t played since November 2008. The Blues just signed McDonald to a four-year extension, so if he’s good enough for them, he’s certainly good enough for your fantasy team.

The Blues also recently sent goalie Manny Legace down to the minors, so if he’s somehow on your roster, you might want to dump him. If New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur is available, grab him. He’s been cleared to practice and he could be back relatively soon.

If you’re looking for a slightly damaged goalie, Steve Mason from Columbus could be back Friday. He was out with mono. Don’t ask how he got it. Don’t even let your mind wander to the situations that could have caused it. Just think about his .923 save percentage and his 2.09 goals against. And in case you’re wondering, you can’t get mono through a waiver transaction.

And New York Islander Doug Weight is expected to be out six weeks with an MCL sprain. Weight’s numbers haven’t been great, but he seemed to be prime trade bait, and if he had been dealt, his numbers would presumably would have improved. I don’t see a team trading for him unless they really want to say “Wow. We really gained Weight this season.” And none of my uncles run NHL teams, so that’s not going to happen.

The Week Ahead

• Saturday, the Wild looks to get back on track against Ottawa. Minny is clinging to the final playoff spot in the West, but unfortunately the team has a date in Detroit next weekend — and that spells doom for the Wild. After Thursday’s 4-2 loss to Detroit, Minnesota is now 0-10-2 in its last dozen tries against the Wings. On the plus side, Brent Burns potted his first goal in almost a month. He’s been a real disappointment this season after enjoying a breakout campaign last year. He’s no longer a must-own fantasy defenceman.
• Sunday, the Sharks play the Devils in what could be a Stanley Cup Finals preview.
• Sunday, Colorado plays Detroit. For Detroit, it’s like when you see an old girlfriend on the street and she’s kind of let herself go, and you tell her she looks great, but she can tell you’re lying, and you just kind of stand there and then she bursts into tears.
• Monday the Rangers play the Blues. You have to hope the Rangers will tell John Davidson to stop running the team and go back to simply calling the games.