Staal-ing for time

Couple of things about tonight's game:
It's the return of Jeff O'Neill to Carolina, and Ken Campbell takes a look, noting the role of Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford in trading O'Neill to "really the only place for Jeff based on the circumstances." A real good read, this one. O'Neill's been mostly invisible for the past half dozen game nights. This might light his fuse.
For Toronto observers, emerging star Eric Staal is also in the picture. This guy's smoother than a tall glass of sweet tea. We've seen how the Leafs measure up against the best young speed team in the league -- Ottawa, of course, and off the evidence thus far, the latest coming last night in Buffalo, I have a feeling there will be a few more 8-0's, maybe even a 12-0, in the Sens' future -- and now this Staal kid, tied with Spezza for the league scoring lead.
The southern fans are already ga-ga over him -- check out our regular From the Blogs feature over at The Game page for a sampling.  Yesterday in the Globe, Tim Wharnsby featured Staal. On HNIC Saturday, Don Cherry noted the similarities between Staal and the likes of stud youngsters Joe Thornton and Rick Nash. After dropping in on a Canes broadcast last week, Staal looks to me like he's got a lot of Beliveau elegance in him. And that's not bad.
Oh, yeah. Mats Sundin. If you haven't done so yet, check out yesterday's late posting from our visiting Grade 9'ers, out of yesterday's practice. And as hockey jockey Campbell noted in his missive, it appears that Kyle Wellwood is safe with Sundin almost certainly suiting up Saturday against Tampa Bay:

What the Leafs will likely do to create a spot on the roster is place Nik Antropov on the short-term injury list. Once he and Mariusz Czerkawski are healthy and if the Leafs face a roster decision, the most likely candidate for demotion will be right winger Nathan Perrott, who has played in only three games and is minus-5.

As for Pat Quinn, grumpily harrumphing about Wellwood's "tomfoolery", even he might be coming around, as Dave Shoalts notes in what the Globe is calling a "blog" (that's their story, anyway, and they're stickin' to it): "Kyle's done very well.  He's much improved in his overall play.  It's going to be a hard call."
Hard call? Stop it Coach, you're killin' me.
(C.Y.)

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A quick post so I can eat some words today. Okay, eating just one word. Thanks to this zinger from poster SensOwn in yesterday's comments.

CP PHOTO

Stupid Alfredsson.

Apparently my post yesterday hinted that Martin Havlat was foolish or something? (Okay, it was stupid - I'm still chewing on that one -- it was Havlat's word, by the way):

Yah, that was a pretty "stupid" performace by Marty last night. Or is the word Stupendous?

Ummm, yeah. Stupendous is definitely the word. Like Chris says above, there's a few more football scores in the Senators future. Wow.

Hey Senators, you may be scoring goals like crazy, but you still don't have the best clutch player in the league. That would be Eric Lindros, according to USA Today's "clutch rankings". They rank players using a formula based based on a 'when you score the goal and what it means in the context of the game' system. Check the list here and the explanation here. Alexei Yashin is their second-ranked player which says a lot about how flawed the idea is. Nicolai Khabibulin is the lowest-ranked clutch goalie. ... I repeat: the guy who won the last Stanley Cup is the lowest-ranked clutch goalie.

Leafs-Canes tonight. Go Jeff O'Neill.  (SW)

Comments

[FlamFlim]

Pat Quinn criticizes Wellwood's skills because he's incapable of appreciating what it means to play hockey instead of ice rugby. 'Atta' boy Quinn ... do like you always do. Get rid of the youngsters with all the potential and stick with players like Wade Belak and Nik Antropov.

[Carla]

Well, wait a sec, Spencer. Just because Havlat was--as SensOwn says--"stupendous" in last night's game doesn't mean he wasn't also "stupid" for kicking Hal Gill. One does not preclude the other. Besides, as you point out, "stupid" was Havlat's own description of himself.

[Bal]

Just a thought: let's place Marius Czerkawski on waivers, if he clears them, send him down, if we lose him perfect. In his place let's sign Stumpy. He'd look a lot better on the wing than Czerkawski ever will in the Blue&White.

[Carla]

Sounds good to me, Bal!

[SW]

Yeah Carla, I know. What Havlat did was, is, and will always be, well, stupid. But 4 goals? Makes me want to change my vote.