Game Day Notes

[Sam]

Pens/Leafs


Penguins: Are 1-1 vs. Maple Leafs this season, including 4-0 loss Oct. 27 and 3-1 victory Nov. 1. ... LW Jan Hrdina has five goals, seven assists in 13 career games vs. Toronto. ... Have lost past three road games by combined score of 15-2.

The Penguins practiced for a little more than an hour yesterday at Air Canada Centre, working mostly on the transition game. All players who made the trip participated, although LW Dan LaCouture, LW Jan Hrdina, RW Aleksey Morozov and RW Toby Petersen had to leave because of various ailments. All are expected to be available tonight, leaving the Penguins without C Mario Lemieux (hip), LW Martin Straka (leg) and RW Billy Tibbetts. Tibbetts is not allowed to enter Canada because of his criminal record, so he flew Sunday directly from Phoenix, site of the Penguins' previous game, to Boston, site of the next game and his hometown. He will rejoin the team when it arrives in Boston tomorrow.

Kehoe's juggling of lines continued with another overhaul for practice yesterday. C Robert Lang was on the top line between Hrdina and RW Alexei Kovalev, C Milan Kraft between LW Stephane Richer and Morozov, C Kris Beech between LW Kevin Stevens and Petersen and C Wayne Primeau between LaCouture and RW Krzysztof Oliwa

Kehoe said G Johan Hedberg will start tonight. That would be his fifth in a row, and it would come after back-to-back games in which Hedberg allowed five goals. Several players spoke about the need for improved defense in front of Hedberg

The Maple Leafs had all of their players at practice except LW Mikael Renberg, who is questionable for tonight because of a bruised foot. If he doesn't play, that would leave Toronto without a critical piece of its top forward line, an all-Swedish trio which includes C Mats Sundin and RW Jonas Hoglund. They have combined for 64 points and a plus-39 rating. Also, D Wade Belak, who missed two games because of the death of his grandfather, returned to practice and will play.

 

[wigs]

update on the flu bug w/ pitt....
Left winger Dan LaCouture was the first to make a hasty exit from the Penguins' practice
yesterday at Air Canada Centre, bolting toward the locker room upon feeling ill. Only he
didn't quite reach his destination, pausing to vomit on the team bench. Right winger
Aleksey Morozov was next, back spasms knocking him out. Then right winger Toby
Petersen, his sugar level having fallen too low for his diabetic condition.
And finally, left winger Jan Hrdina, simply too fatigued to complete the closing sprints.
All of which prompted Coach Rick Kehoe to analyze his team's chances of beating the
first-place Toronto Maple Leafs tonight this way: "We lost one guy off each line. So, if we
play the whole game four-on-four, that would make it even."
Such is the sorry state of these Penguins, still ailing from a mysterious flu-type bug that
has nailed more than a dozen players on this four-game road trip, that they found comfort
in having three-quarters of the roster survive an hour-plus workout. "Maybe it's a little
encouraging, in a way," Petersen said. "We just dealt with having 11 or 12 guys being
sick, and now it's only a handful. Bottom line is that guys are feeling better rather than
worse."
Even those who didn't depart practice prematurely didn't necessarily have an easy time, as
was abundantly evident. Skates were moving as if weighted down by anvils, passes were
missing by the length of a blue line, and jaws were touching the ice throughout.
With each forward lost, Kehoe plugged a defenseman in his spot in a vain attempt to keep
the drills moving.
"It didn't work," he said. "We wanted to get the forwards doing certain things together."
Finally, when he ordered a drill and saw that nearly no one on the ice was physically
capable of executing it, he halted the session and sent everyone off.
"You have to give the guys credit. They're battling. They're trying to stay with it."
Kehoe is no exception, having taken intravenous fluids each of the past three days.
"I'm feeling a little better, and I think some of the guys are, too. I've never seen anything
like this. I've seen teams where a couple of guys get sick, but this is more than I could
have imagined."
The bug began Thursday in San Jose, shortly before a 5-0 loss to the Sharks, and it grew
far worse the next couple of days. Trainer Mark Mortland estimated that he administered
IV to 14 players before the game Saturday in Phoenix, with some of them taking unusually
large doses. The Penguins lost to the Coyotes, 5-2, but Mortland was impressed that the
puck even dropped that night.
"If we didn't have that IV, there just wouldn't have been a game. There's no way we would
have had enough players to go out there. To see it, we had nine guys hooked up in one
room and five guys in another, just to get people ready to play. And after the game, we had some guys who lost as much as 13 pounds and were right back on the IV. It was ...
unbelievable."
Mortland, too, found positives in the practice yesterday. He said LaCouture was the only
one still experiencing significant effects of the sickness and that the reactions of the other
absentees were fairly minor.
"Seems like we're getting better. That's the good thing."
He added that making a 4 1/2-hour flight from Phoenix to Toronto Sunday didn't exactly
help the team's cause, a point many of the players strongly endorsed after a few had
sleepless nights here.
"You get dehydrated on a long flight like that, anyway," defenseman Ian Moran said. "But
add that to the guys being sick ... it's an absolute bear to recover from."
"All kinds of things going on in here right now," left winger Stephane Richer said. "Guys
are sick, their backs hurt, they're dehydrated, it's a long trip. ... Lots of bad things."
Even so, the Penguins fully grasp that the NHL doesn't take a team's health into
consideration when awarding Stanley Cup playoff berths. They have dropped below .500
on this trip, to 10-11-3-2, and risk dropping off the Eastern Conference radar in the final
two games of the trip, tonight against a strong, swift-skating group of Maple Leafs, and Thursday in Boston against the Bruins, the team just behind Toronto in the Northeast
Division.
"It's tough right now," left winger Kevin Stevens said. "Look at that practice we just had.
You want to have your whole team out there, fresh and in good spirits, and this ... you've
just got to try to fight through it and get wins. No one's going to feel bad for you come
April. We've got to win games right now."
"We just need to get through this," defenseman Josef Melichar said. "This sickness thing,
this IV thing, this losing thing ... it's too much. Getting a win here in Toronto would really
be nice right now."

 

[wigs]

refs

bos/atl kowal & rooney
phi/nyi auguer & o halloran
tor/pit- leggo & larue
tb/ nj- furlatt & vonMassenhoven
nyr/was- pollock & stewart
buf/car- zelkin & gregson
cal/sj- devorski & martell

 

[TIME TO MAKE $$$]

Leafs should win this one easy tonight!
My POD.

Good Luck Sam


------------------
SEPT 11, 2001. THE DAY THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

R.I.P. TO ALL VICTIMS
We are in this together

 

[Sam]

Can anyone confirm Joseph in net?

 

[wigs]

not yet sam, checking though--Vernon for Calgary tonight

 

[Sam]

Yes, and i LOVE it.

 

[wigs]

so it looks like joseph, right? i found an article that said schwab is still waiting for his first home start but that is it, nothing more mentioned. renberg's condition...Mikael Renberg, who was slashed across the left foot during a 4-1 home win Saturday over Chicago, tried to skate Monday but packed it in after a few minutes.
"It's swollen and red," said the first-line right-winger. "I'll try it (Tuesday morning) and decide if I can play."

 

[TIME TO MAKE $$$]

I will inform you as soon as I hear anything!

------------------
SEPT 11, 2001. THE DAY THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

R.I.P. TO ALL VICTIMS
We are in this together

 

[wigs]

carolina notes.....
The Carolina Hurricanes will start "backup" Arturs Irbe against the Sabres tonight at 7 in Raleigh's Entertainment and Sports Arena.

Boston....
They have converted just once in their last 41 opportunities on the PP over a span of 12 games.

San jOSe...
Sutter said he's hoping either Harvey or Sundstrom return to the lineup tonight, though he said it's doubtful that both will

 

[wigs]

Refs Stats as of 12/4

Kowal Home teams' Ats 13-8 13-9 o/u 5.36G
Rooney- 5-10 5-9 5.06 GPG

Auger 18-5 7-14 o/u 4.68 GPG
O Halloran 12-8 13/7 5.86

Leggo 11-10 14-6 o/u 6.08 GPG
LaRue 13-5 7-16 4.46 GPG

Furlatt 10-1(loss was Mont last night) 4-4 o/u 5.16
vonMassenhoven 12-10 8-14 5.20

Pollock 16-6 8-12 o/u 5.12 GPG
Stewart 6-2 4-1 o/u 6.00

Zelkin 12-9 8-9 o/u 5.21 GPG
Gregson 17-5 9-12 o/u 5.20

Devorski 19-5 8-11 o/u 4.76 GPG
Martell 8-8 9-9 o/u 4.84

 

[Sam]

I hear Schwab for Leafs

 

[wigs]

December 3, 2001
Schwab gets home start
Likely to play Tuesday against Penguins


Canadian Press
TORONTO, ON

Corey Schwab eagerly anticipates his first home start for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The three games handled so far by Curtis Joseph's backup have all been on the road, and he's played well. He shows no signs of rust when he's called upon, which is strange considering he's sat and watched 24 from the end of the NHL team's bench.

"Any chance I get to play is a great opportunity for me and I'm happy for that whether it's on the road or at home," Schwab said after practice Monday. "Sure, it would be nice at some point during the course of the season to get a home start but it makes no big difference to me.

"I'm with the program. Whenever they need me, that's when I have to be ready. That's when I'll be happy to play."

Schwab knew he wouldn't see much action when he signed with the Leafs during training camp. The 31-year-old native of North Battleford, Sask., was just happy to get an invitation.

"I understood what my duties would be," he said. "Cujo is going to be our goalie in the Olympics and that says a lot right there.

"He's one of the best. I get to learn from him by watching him. It's not that I'm not gaining anything by not playing. I try to take little bits from his game and hopefully I can put them in mine when I get in there. I'm just happy to be part of the team right now."

He has a .906 save percentage in his three appearances - an overtime loss in Boston on Oct. 25, a win at Florida on Nov. 14, and a loss at Buffalo on Nov. 21. In 106 career NHL starts, he's .892.

"What I try to do is work as hard as I can in practice," he said in explaining how he stays sharp while without game action for weeks at a time. "You have to.

"For the time we have set aside for practice every day, I have to play that like my game. I have to come mentally prepared to work each and every day we have a practice so I can stay sharp, and do stuff off the ice to keep some conditioning. When you do get into a game, you hope you get a few shots early and get on a bit of a roll. Your instincts take over from there. You just let it ride from there."

The Leafs (15-7-2-3) play at home Tuesday against Pittsburgh (10-11-3-2), in New York on Thursday, and back home Saturday against the same Rangers (17-9-2-1). They'll need to win at least two of them to hold onto first place in the NHL's Northeast Division.

Coach Pat Quinn is confident.

"I don't think we've played our best hockey yet," said Quinn.

If Schwab is to get a start this week, it most likely will be against the Penguins, who have lost two in a row and who are 3-7-1-2 on the road.

 

[tedy]

Who will be goalie for TAMPA BAY?

 

[wigs]

expect khabi in net tonight

 

[tedy]

thx