friday's news and notes

[wigs]

UPDATE: ZUBOV OUT FRIDAY ALSO, JUST REPORTED

sorry if this is too early to post, but reading on-line so when i do that i usually copy anything that i read that i feel is of some value...
dallas....
No word yet on whether defenseman Sergei Zubov will be available or not following the shoulder injury he received Sunday in Vancouver. Zubov missed Wednesday's loss to Ottawa and did skate with his team Thursday, wearing the practice sweater designated for injured players. "He skated but he had the wrong color shirt on," Hitchcock said. "We'll see tomorrow. He's really day-to-day. If he doesn't feel comfortable playing tomorrow we'll just wait and he'll play Wednesday. Because it's Edmonton he really wants to play badly. If he feels he can give us close to his best we'll go with him, but right now I'd say we have to wait another day."

Hitchcock also said Marty Turco would start in goal for Dallas against Edmonton.
The Stars are on an 11-game home winning streak against Edmonton, outscoring the Oilers 44-17 in those 11 games. That winning streak is the longest in club history against one team.(note this is regular season only so i feel this stat is somewhat worthless, by no means have the stars "completely" dominated the oilers. oilers continually have battled in playoff rounds as everyone knows...)



[This message has been edited by wigs (edited 12-07-2001).]

 

[wigs]

Refs

EDM/DAL- Stewart & Sutherland

PHO/DET- Gregson & Pollock NOTE
Gregson- hometeams 18-6 ATS Pollock 17-6
COL/BUF- Maguire & McGeough

NYI/CHI- Martell & Watson

[This message has been edited by wigs (edited 12-07-2001).]

 

[wigs]

buf........
Biron has quietly put together a solid stretch of starts heading into the Sabres' game against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche tonight at 7 in HSBC Arena (Empire, Radio 107.7).

It will be another chance for Biron to emerge from the shadows of the NHL's elite goalies. His boyhood idol, Patrick Roy, will be in front of the other net.
(NOTE: BUF PAPER SAYS ROY, BUT BOTH COL PAPERs LIST AEBISCHER< DOWN BELOW, EXPECT AEBISCHER)
Buffalo ranks second-to-last in the NHL in faceoffs, winning just 45.5 percent of its faceoffs. Tonight's foe, the Colorado Avalanche, ranks fifth at 52.9 percent.
The Sabres' combustible line of center Barnes, left wing J.P. Dumont and right wing Miroslav Satan enters tonight with 30 points in the past seven games
AVS.......
Avalanche defenseman Rob Blake took part in practice Thursday and showed no lingering effects from a groin injury . . . Backup goalie David Aebischer will be in net for Colorado, with Patrick Roy scheduled to start Saturday when the Avalanche wraps up a three-game trip in Columbus . both denver papers are reporting aebischer....


[This message has been edited by wigs (edited 12-07-2001).]

 

[wigs]

edm...
Jason Smith (back spasms) is 50-50 after missing Wednesday's Ducks game. Ethan Moreau stopped a shot on his foot on a penalty kill against Anaheim and didn't practise Thursday morning. X-rays were negative but he's iffy. If Moreau can't go, Marty Reasoner will likely play fourth-line centre and Rem Murray will move into Moreau's spot on the checking line.
How are they winning?

It's more on defence than offence for the Oilers.(note: i am not canadian but decided to leave defence and offence spelled this way out of respect for those weirdos, just kidding)

They've got four guys mired in awful slumps.

Ethan Moreau: no goals in 27 games. Mike Grier: one goal in 24. Rem Murray: one goal in 22. Todd Marchant: one goal in 16.
That's three forwards with one goal in the last month to six weeks.
Dan Cleary isn't much better: no goals in 11 games (since Nov. 9 against Columbus).

The ice, which at Reunion had the consistency of a Slurpee in April or May, is better at the AAC -- it's middle of the pack according to most markers.
The dressing room at Reunion was about the size of a bachelor suite; it's bigger at the AAC, although hardly palatial.

The atmosphere in the new palace is different.

More of a corporate crowd; fewer people in hockey jerseys and painted faces.

The Stars? There's a different look there too. They haven't won at their new digs in a month, going back to Nov. 2 (3-0 against Nashville).

They're winless in six games (three losses, three ties) and 4-4-6-3 on the season.

"Hearing coaches talk during pre-season about how much they liked the new rink made me nervous. You don't want visiting teams too comfortable,'' said Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock.

 

[wigs]

TB....
After weeks of denial, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Rick Dudley admits he is trying to trade Vincent Lecavalier.

The St. Petersburgh Times says as many as 15 teams are actively purusing Lecavalier but Dudley believes there are "six to eight serious" contenders for the former first round pick overall.

"I can say I'm going to try to expedite matters," said Dudley "The last two days, I've been trying to cut it down to a workable number of teams that have interest."

 

[Terryray]

Columnist Jim Lorentz on Sabres' official website sez Aebischer in net tonight.

 

[TexasBC6]

In case anyone is trying to decide whether to play one of the late games, here is some additional info about the referees for tonight's games.

(Home team ATS, then over/under records, then goals per game average

EDM/DAL-

Stewart:
7-2 5-1 6.10
Sutherland:
12-9 13-11 5.28

PHO/DET-

Gregson:
18-6 10-12 5.23
Pollock:
17-6 9-12 5.20

COL/BUF-

Maguire:
9-16 11-10 5.20
McGeough:
16-3 7-9 4.40

NYI/CHI-

Martell:
8-8 9-10 4.81
Watson:
13-9 11-8 5.49