As the end of December approaches, we’re entering into one of the most exciting time periods for hockey fans, the culmination of which only happens every four years. For starters, the NHL season is in full swing, and we’ve already seen history in the making with Martin Brodeur’s record-setting 104th career shutout, climbing ahead of legendary Terry Sawchuk for the all-time lead. On December 26th, the 2010 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships will get underway in Saskatchewan, Canada, showcasing some of the NHL’s brightest stars of tomorrow, in one of the most exciting hockey tournaments around. And just a few weeks later, Vancouver will host the 2010 men’s Olympic hockey tournament, providing the ultimate showdown of international hockey talent. The competition at this level is so immense that in the past three Olympic tournaments (the only ones in which the modern NHL has sent players) there have been three different champions, and no team has even managed to reach the finals twice. For those of you considering Olympic fantasy hockey pools, we’ll have more on this in a future article. Until then, here’s the fantasy lowdown on players from around the league:

Tyler Myers, Buffalo – Not to be confused with Zdeno Chara, the equally imposing 6′8 rookie Tyler Myers has been a Chara-like stalwart on the Sabres blue line. At only 19 years of age, Myers has earned the trust of the Sabres coaching staff, as evidenced by his ice time: 20-plus minutes in 27 straight games, a very impressive statistic for a rookie playing on one of the NHL’s top teams. Myers has been very responsible defensively, as indicated by his +7 rating, and has held up his own in the offensive end: 19 points in 35 games. He’s widely available in the majority of leagues, so if you’re looking for some defensive depth, grab him while he’s still available.

Francois Beauchemin, Toronto – After a slow start to the year, Francois Beauchemin has proven to Leaf fans why Brian Burke brought him along to Toronto, from Anaheim. If we set the month of October aside, one in which the Leafs won just once in their first twelve games, Beauchemin has provided excellent value as a fourth defenseman in deeper leagues. Through the remaining 25 games, he has scored 15 points in 25 games, with an even plus/minus rating, six powerplay points and a game-winning goal to boot. With Toronto playing much better overall, and Beauchemin getting time alongside Tomas Kaberle on the powerplay, look for him to end the season with somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 points.

Marc-Andre Bergeron, Montreal – If you had to guess who was the best performing fantasy defenseman over the past month, who would you pick? If you said Mike Green, you’d be right. Guessing who rings in at number two though may not be as obvious – it’s not Dan Boyle, not Zdeno Chara, not Sergei Gonchar and not Tomas Kaberle. Rather, it’s Montreal’s Marc-Andre Bergeron. When Bergeron broke into the league in 2003 with the Oilers he showed great promise as an offensive defenseman. His point totals steadily increased over the next three years, only to come crashing down in 2007 and 2008. This year though, and especially in the past month, Bergeron has enjoyed a renaissance. His twelve points in the past fifteen games games have placed him second overall among fantasy defenseman for the month, and even more valuable is that eight of those have come on the powerplay. For good measure, Bergeron has also chipped in three GWG, giving him four for the year, which makes him third in the league overall for that category. Bergeron’s breakout could indicate a reversion to the player he once projected to be, so get him in your lineup.

Kurtis Foster, Tampa Bay – If you had to guess who was the third best performing fantasy defenseman over the past month, who would you pick? Let’s cut to the chase on this one: Kurtis Foster. Over the past month, Foster has racked up 5 goals, 5 assists, a plus-2 rating, six PPP and 1 GWG. Can he sustain the pace? Foster has shown glimpses of offensive prowess before, especially early in his career with Minnesota, having scored 18 points on the man-advantage in his rookie year. He was never able to duplicate that performance however, and combined with injuries, has regressed ever since. Keep your eye on this one.

Martin Havlat, Minnesota – After gutting fantasy owners with an awful start to the year, Havlat has returned with a vengeance, scoring 12 points in 11 December games. His shots are finally starting to find the back of the net, as is evidenced by his 13.8% shooting percentage, more than three-fold higher than what it was in the first two months of the season. If you stubbornly held on to Havlat through the ugly October and November, congrats are in order, as he seems to have finally turned the corner, and is playing like you would expect out of a fifth round pick.

Todd Bertuzzi, Detroit – With all the injuries and disappointing play of the Red Wings this year, Todd Bertuzzi has been one of the few bright points over the past month. He was recently placed alongside Pavel Datsyuk on the Wings’ top line, and has played like every bit of the power forward he once was: 9 points, 22 PIM and 2 GWG in 10 December games. With Bertuzzi however, there is always the risk of injury, so buyer beware.

Stephen Weiss, Florida – After notching a career-high 61 points last year, Stephen Weiss has picked up exactly where he left off and then some, having scored 37 points in 38 games thus far. In fact, he’s second only to Sidney Crosby as the best performing center over the past month with 23 points. He has found great chemistry with linemate Nathan Horton (who was also featured in a previous article), and its therefore no surprise that both players’ performance has exploded at the same time. Given Weiss’ career projection, I believe his performance is real, and that he should easily reach the 70-point mark. Given his availability in nearly 40% of Yahoo! fantasy leagues, Weiss is a definite waiver pickup, especially considering the underperformances/injuries to positional peers Jason Spezza, Joe Pavelski and David Krejci.

Jimmy Howard, Detroit – As with Nathan Horton, Jimmy Howard has also been featured numerous times in this column, and he’s given us no reason to stop. Howard has numbers for the season are impressive enough, but his performance over the past month has been staggering:  6 wins, 1.99 GAA and a .931 SV%. With numbers like that, the job in Detroit is his for the taking, and as the Red Wings injuries start to heal up, Howard’s numbers can be expected to only improve over time. The only question that lingers is whether or not the Wings feel comfortable enough going into the playoffs with an unexperienced netminder. I suppose they’ll worry about that when, and if, they even get a playoff seed.

Jonas Gustavsson, Toronto – The Monster is back, after undergoing a second heart surgery in just the past few months. As alarming as that might sound, management doesn’t seem to be worried and Gustavsson’s play certainly doesn’t indicate otherwise. He’s played in three straight games and allowed just four goals, having also earned his first career shutout against the Bruins on Saturday night. He was a hard-luck loser on Monday night to Buffalo, as defensive lapses by Toronto cost them both the lead and the game, but that’s to be expected as the young netminder continues to grow with a struggling team. Gustavsson has the opportunity to become the Leafs #1 goalie, but from a fantasy perspective has very little value beyond a number three goalie at best.

Johan Hedberg, Atlanta – At first glance, Hedberg’s numbers might seem very good: 9-4-1, 2.43 GAA and a .922 SV%. In fact, those are great numbers.  One look at his career stats though, and another look at Atlanta’s defense and you get the idea…Hedberg hasn’t posted a season with a save percentage higher than .900 since 2003-2004. In fact, his GAA over the past two years is a horrendous 3.48. If you own Hedberg and have the chance to sell high on this guy, now might be your best bet. Throw a third defenseman into the package (which you can easily replenish) and see if you can land one of Ray Emery, Pascal Leclaire or Antti Niemi.