Brodeur's return makes Clemmensen irrelevant

The return of marquee players to NHL action has been the theme of the past week, with Sean Avery's rumored reunion with the New York Rangers now inching closer to reality, Jaromir Jagr potentially joining the Edmonton Oilers (which was covered by John Pereira on Wednesday), and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar being medically cleared to play for the first time this season. Yet this was all merely a preamble to the news Friday that Martin Brodeur could be returning to live game action soon, meaning his owners could be returning to fantasy glory. The Newark Star-Ledger reports that Brodeur withstood a 40-minute practice Thursday in which he was pummeled by shots. "This is more work than a full practice," Brodeur told the Star-Ledger's Rich Chere. "Six guys shooting non-stop for 40 minutes. If I get that many shots in a game, we'll be in trouble." Asked about the possibility that he would honor Brodeur's request to travel with the team when they head to Florida next week, coach Brent Sutter told the paper "probably pretty good." With Brodeur on the mend, Scott Clemmensen has shown he has the stuff to be not only a No. 1 goalie for a division-leading NHL team, but a legitimate option in fantasy as well. For the speculators out there who didn't have Brodeur on their team from the season's onset but swooped in to grab Clemmensen before the Brodeur owner could, the gravy train might slowly grind to a halt within the next two weeks. After the team concludes their road trip next weekend, they'll be off until Feb. 26, when they will host the Colorado Avalanche, and this could be the night Brodeur makes his triumphant return. For the Brodeur owners out there, your patience will finally pay off. All this leads to one primary question: How will Sutter split the two goalies' starts? Brodeur, when healthy, usually starts all but a handful of the team's games; likewise, in Brodeur's absence this season, Clemmensen has started a lion's share of games over Kevin Weekes. Clearly this is a team that is more attuned to having an alpha dog between the pipes, and there's no reason to think this strategy will change despite Clemmensen's fantastic understudy performance. In other words, once the torch is passed back to Marty, don't expect to get much more out of Clemmensen this fantasy season unless another freak injury befalls No. 30. Ice Chips Two other goalies were busy Thursday night, yet Tomas Vokoun (42 saves) and Miikka Kiprusoff (36 saves) both recorded shutouts. Kipper is a nice place when his Calgary Flames line up against the Los Angeles Kings; in three starts against the Kings this season, he has surrendered just four total goals. My long-division skills might not be as keen as they once were, but I think that works out to about 1.33 goals per game. Meanwhile, Vokoun has recovered nicely since his rough start to the season, which included a six-goal-against shellacking on opening night by the same Carolina Hurricanes he shut out Thursday, and has now given up just 21 goals in his past 11 games going back to mid-January. With the Panthers still fighting to stick among the Eastern Conference's top eight seeds, Vokoun will be relied upon to carry his team to the playoffs, and fantasy owners can expect strong play down the stretch. … Richard Zednik responded to being the "cover boy" of ESPN Fantasy Hockey on Thursday by scoring goal No. 11 of the season. He's on a four-game scoring streak and, remarkably, is still owned in only 1.7 percent of ESPN leagues. Grab him while he's hot, folks. … The Ottawa Senators are finally showing signs of life; Thursday's win over the reeling Philadelphia Flyers is their third in a row. The Big Three -- Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza -- each had two points in Thursday's tilt, and Brian Elliott has allowed just five goals total during the three-game span. Despite some hiccups in the weeks prior, it appears Elliott will be a solid No. 2 goalie from here on out. … The Tampa Bay Lightning must've had fantasy relevance in mind when they decided who would score their goals Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Six goals were poured in by five different goal-scorers -- Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Mark Recchi, Ryan Malone (two goals) and Steven Stamkos. Of the five, only Recchi has less than a 50 percent ownership in ESPN leagues, and even he has had bouts of relevance thanks to his power-play role this season. … Andy McDonald sneaked back into live action this week, scoring a goal and adding an assist Tuesday before his pointless effort Thursday, and his ownership level is still at only 33.2 percent. While he'll continue to play his way back into the form that garnered him 20 minutes of average ice time before his injury, he will be a solid option at center for the rest of the 2008-09 season regardless, and a point-per-game average is not a wild expectation. … On Thursday, Alexandre Burrows skated on the top line with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin against the Phoenix Coyotes. Known more for the bruising aspects of his game -- and the 80 minutes in the penalty box that those aspects have engendered this season -- Burrows already has a career-high 13 goals (through just 54 games) this season. If the Quebec native can find chemistry with the Sedin twins and retain his role on the top line, he will be a fantasy gold mine from here on out.

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