The Fantasy Hockey Weekly Planner is the essential guide to setting your lineup for the upcoming week. Every Friday, we provide you with top matchups, the latest news and give you the scoop on injured players.

Projections are for Oct. 8-14 games.

***NOTE: Set lineup reminder -- due to Columbus Day in the United States, there are two afternoon games on Mon., Oct. 8. The first game is at 2pm ET/11am PT, so make sure to set your lineups early!

Teams with four games (4): Detroit, Edmonton, N.Y. Islanders, Ottawa

Teams with three games (16): Atlanta, Boston, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Dallas, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville, New Jersey, N.Y. Rangers, Phoenix, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington

Teams with two games (10): Anaheim, Buffalo, Colorado, Columbus, Montreal, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Jose, Tampa Bay

On tap: Week 2 brings us five televised nationally televised games in either the United States or Canada: Carolina at Toronto in the United States on Tuesday; N.Y. Rangers at N.Y. Islanders in the United States and Edmonton at Minnesota in Canada on Wednesday; Pittsburgh at Toronto and Edmonton at Vancouver on Saturday. Other prime matchups to watch: Jarome Iginla and the Flames travel to Big D for a battle against Marty Turco and the Stars on Friday; it's offense against defense when Marian Hossa and the Thrashers host Martin Brodeur and the Devils, Joe Thornton hosts his old team when the Bruins pay a visit to San Jose and the Lightning and Panthers renew their rivalry on a busy Saturday.

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F A N T A S Y   S P I N S

The NHL season is finally underway, as every team will have played at least one game as of Friday. We're starting to get our first looks at players getting their feet wet after coming in as high draft picks. If you missed Thursday's game between the St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes, you missed a handful of impressive rookies who we're likely to hear from for many years to come. Erik Johnson, the No. 1 pick overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, looked very good in his initial outing. While coach Andy Murray still feels he has some things he needs to work on, he showed off his cannon of a shot against Mikael Tellqvist, one that the Phoenix goaltender is likely still feeling. Johnson picked up an assist in the game, too. Don't drop a veteran from your Fantasy roster for him just yet, but if you have the space in deeper leagues, Johnson is well worth the look. Owners in long-term keeper leagues should already have him. ... Johnson was not the only rookie to have an impressive debut in that Blues-Coyotes game, either. Martin Hanzal, the 17th pick overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, came up with a nifty pass, feeding another first-year guy Daniel Winnik. Winnik, the former University of New Hampshire standout, is not as well-known of a prospect as Johnson or Hanzal, but he knew what to do with the puck, beating Manny Legace for his first NHL goal in his first game. ... In case you were worried about Johan Holmqvist in Tampa Bay or Niklas Backstrom in Minnesota falling into a platoon situation, you need not worry. Holmqvist was sharp in Thursday's game, allowing just one goal in a win against the Devils. As far as Backstrom is concerned, there has been talk that coach Jacques Lemaire wanted to use his goaltenders in perhaps a 65-35 split. However, Backstrom wants to do more than just keep the crease warm for Josh Harding, as he blanked the Blackhawks in Thursday's opener, looking very impressive in the 1-0 win. Poor Nikolai Khabibulin was outstanding in the loss, but he did allow a goal to Pierre-Marc Bouchard. ... Ottawa's 'CASH' line is off to a tremendous start. The line consisting of captain Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley tormented Andrew Raycroft and Vesa Toskala of Toronto, taking an overtime game on Heater's game-winner at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday and then getting the difference maker from Alf on Thursday night back in Kanata. Check out these numbers for Heatley: In 26 games against the Maple Leafs, he has managed 23 goals and 20 assists. Of course, that's about par for the course for the sharpshooter. ... Perhaps I am dating myself here, but it was interesting looking through some of the box scores the past few days. Stastny had a hat trick. Gagner picked up an assist. Foligno was playing on the second line. It feels like the early 1980's all over again. Of course, that's Colorado's Paul Stastny with the three-goal effort Wednesday against Dallas, not Peter, Marion or Anton of the Quebec Nordiques. And that's Sam Gagner of the Oilers, not Dave Gagner of the Minnesota North Stars. And lastly, Nick Foligno, Mike's boy, plays for the Ottawa Senators. Sorry, I am starting to feel a little old here, as I have a shoebox full of O-Pee-Che hockey cards in my closet with the fathers of today's new stars.

F I V E   T E A M S   W I T H   F A V O R A B L E   M A T C H U P S
The following five teams have the best matchups for the upcoming week. That doesn't necessarily mean they will post the best Fantasy stats, but if you're looking for a one-week start or are trying to make a difficult decision between two players to use, lean toward players from these teams:
Team 10/8 10/9 10/10 10/11 10/12 10/13 10/14
Colorado Avalanche (COL) -- -- -- -- @STL CLB --
The Avalanche only have a pair of games in the upcoming scoring period, but with games against the Blues and Blue Jackets, the offensive numbers they put up might look like they played in three games.
Dallas Stars (DAL) -- -- LA -- CGY @CHI --
The Blackhawks and Kings are always nice to see on the upcoming schedule for your offensive Fantasy stars. Look for big things, especially from Philippe Boucher and Sergei Zubov.
Detroit Red Wings (DET) EDM -- CGY -- CHI -- @LA
The Red Wings have four games against teams which they should be able to take care of rather easily. Dominik Hasek should be in for a huge week with this favorable schedule.
Minnesota Wild (MIN) -- -- EDM -- -- @PHO @ANA
The Wild have favorable games against the Oilers and Coyotes, which should get their top scoring line going after being shut down by a young Chicago defense and Khabibulin in the opener on Thursday.
Nashville Predators (NSH) -- -- @STL PHO -- CGY --
We expect teams to put up a lot of offense, at least early on, against the Blues and Coyotes. While these teams have bright futures, they have a lot of inexperience and that bodes well for your offensive players skating against them.
F I V E   T E A M S   W I T H   P O O R   M A T C H U P S
The following five teams have the worst matchups for the upcoming week. That doesn't necessarily mean you should reserve every player from these teams, but try to avoid less-heralded performers from these squads if you have an alternative on your roster:
Team 10/8 10/9 10/10 10/11 10/12 10/13 10/14
Atlanta Thrashers (ATL) -- -- OTT @BUF -- NJ --
The Thrashers offense might have a slow week facing goaltenders such as Martin Gerber, Ryan Miller and Brodeur. We'll find out a lot about the Thrashers early on.
Calgary Flames (CGY) -- -- @DET -- @DAL @NSH --
The Flames hit the road and have a very difficult task ahead of them. The offense will have to solve the Dominator, Marty Turco and Chris Mason, the new Nashville No. 1 goaltender, who had a shutout on Thursday against Colorado. The Flames offense might be snuffed out in Week 2.
Edmonton Oilers (EDM) @DET -- @MIN -- VAN @VAN --
It's never good to see Roberto Luongo and the Canucks on the schedule for a home-and-home. Despite the fact the Oilers have four games, two games against Vancouver might yield very few offensive results.
Phoenix Coyotes (PHO) -- -- @CLB @NSH -- MIN --
The young Coyotes have a lot of up-and-comers, but we might not see too many glimpses of brilliance against two goaltenders who posted shutouts in the first week.
St. Louis Blues (STL) -- -- NSH -- COL -- --
The Blues will have just two games in the upcoming scoring period, so most of their offensive stars are not recommended Fantasy options in cumulative points leagues, especially since they'll be facing Mason and Peter Budaj.

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