From hurting to hooey

A whole lot of hurtin' goin' on.
Eric Lindros has a torn wrist ligament, and Belfour's "got a groin" as they say in the trade.
Allison made it after being iffy following some dental surgery -- a gamer, he is. Leafs win 3-2 against Anaheim, showing more zip than any night out since that late November overtime tilt against Montreal -- although it was no sure thing right up until the end, hanging on against a team that has won just three road games.
Still, they won without a couple of major ingredients.

BERNARD WEIL/TORONTO STAR

Mats Sundin doll: Just pull the string and he does his little dance with 110% effort.

Time to pull the cord on the side of the Mats Sundin doll:

"I think that's the sign of a good team. Good teams in this league can do that; they can win games when certain people are out of the lineup."

Hey, amazingly lifelike and just in time for Christmas.
At least this will make the next few days a little less shrill around here, with the Senators coming in next following four off days with airwaves to be filled and prints to be printed. Add a four-game losing streak to the usual hooey re Lindros, Belfour et al., not to mention organizing a search party for Jeff O'Neill and more pulls of the Sundin doll cord, and it would've been even more unbearable than usual, so count your blessings out of this one.
Only a couple of notes from last night worth passing along: Keith Carney was awful for the visitors, suffering through a Belakian evening and as Ken Campbell points out, even Kyle Wellwood had no choice but to shoot after Carney set him up beautifully in front of the net. And Alexander Steen was the best on the ice by a mile to everyone except the three star selectors, who pegged him at No. 3 -- that was as mystifying as all those NHL scouts on hand in the boxes, and not a trade rumour to be found.
I guess that's what these four off days will be for.

Other stuff:

With Mario Lemieux not confident about the Penguins remaining in Pittsburgh, it's time to round up the usual suspects.

Jiri Fischer talked yesterday: "I don't foresee myself coming back in the next couple of weeks. But this is what I know. It's all I've worked for my whole life. I don't want it to be taken away."

(Oh, one more little thing. A little while back I mentioned William Shatner's commercial and after enduring it again last night, I'm reminded of a link regular poster Carla sent in that got lost in the shuffle. It's a bit old, and I guess my well-used Shatner Shield protected me from it before, but here's her explanation for the "simple man" conceit behind that unwatchable combination of product promotion and Bill's usual mugging: Shatner and Pulp, Common People (WM player req'd).)
(C.Y.)

Comments

[Gary]

What is the deal with Jeff O'Neill? I wonder if he is lacking confidence, is injured or just lazy but I don't recall him having a scoring chance in the lsat 5 games. Domi seems lost in the new NHL and surely Kronwall is better than Khavanov and should replace him in the lineup when he is healthy.
On the positive side of the leadger, the way Steen held on to the puck and moved into a better position to score is the sign of a very confident player. Wellwood does something every game to show he belongs and Antropov has been very effective with his 12 foot reach in killing penalties . Not to start a goaltending controversy but I for one feel like the Leafs have a better chance of winning with Tellquist in net than Eddie right now.

[Michelle]

Steen, Wellwood, Stajan, Antropov, Tellquist and Ponikarovsky have been the most consistent bright spots in this young season. Gary, I agree with you about our goaltending situation. I feel regretful admitting I've lost faith in Belfour but the positive thing is a growing confidence on Tellquist.

[cy]

Gary, I haven't read a thing about this, but i keep hearing that O'Neill is injured, and he did have that shoulder checked out last week. If it's bothering him, they should sit him until it gets better. He's been almost useless, from what I can see. As for Belfour, Leafs had their chance to go young in goal over the summer and chose not to. Tellqvist has certainly been faultless whenever asked thus far, and you can't say the same thing for Eddie.

[NR]

I agree it would be a huge feat if JFJ could work his lack of magic and trade Belfour. Bringing up Racine to back up Tellqvist is definitely a viable option. Telly's been solid and the team seems to really pull for the guy. Maybe we could package Eddie with a young Defenceman and get a Stud Defensive Defenseman that's still under 30?
On another trade note - I'm still reeling about that Thornton trade - who wouldn't want this guy? Boston should have shopped him a little more, I'm sure they could have gotten more than they did.

[Carla]

'As for Belfour, Leafs had their chance to go young in goal over the summer and chose not to. Tellqvist has certainly been faultless whenever asked thus far, and you can't say the same thing for Eddie.'

Well, *cough*, Lalame is available... ;-)

[FlamFlim]

Trade Belfour? People ... please. This is Toronto. Nothing so spectacular ever happens here because it is not required to sell the ACC out or get y'all to glue yourselves to the telly when the boys in blue take to the ice.

That said ... a little rumour I've heard today suggests Florida GM Mike Keenan is looking at swapping goalie Roberto Luongo to Colorado for G David Aiebescher (sp?). If that happens, the Avs become an instant playoff threat in the west.

Moreover, unless JFJ reads this post, he won't have heard a whisper about it until after the fact. There's a rich history of blissful ignorance that runs deep in the T-dot.

Good game versus the Ducks last night for some of our guys: Wellwood, Steen, Sundin, Tellqvist, Kaberle, Wilm, and McCabe.

[NR]

Ducks Game: I was at the game. It wasn't all that impressive. Steen was probably the most noticeable on the ice. Sundin needs to take off that visor! He wore one the last time he had an eye injury and was less than great until he took it off and his season improved tenfold... McCabe was a mess - he may be great offensively but Kaberle has been the real star this season. His passing and back checking have helped McCabe look better than he's been. I think that's why Quinn is afraid to split them up, he's probably waiting for the Dec. 21 deadline so McCabe continues to get a look by the Great One. Tellqvist let a softy in, but was outstanding in the third and they def. would have lost it if it wasn't for him. Kilger was actually pretty good, he got some good chances, he just can't capitalize. But the line of Kilger-Domi-Wilm was good at keeping the puck in the ducks zone. O'Neill needs to take a seat for a few days, he's clearly injured and trying to play through isn't good for the team. Czerkawski is just as useless, play him and see if he can create some trade value with his low $ contract and give O'Neill a much needed rest. He'll come back and be that sniper Sundin needs on his wing with Lindros on the left. You could play Steen on anyone's wing and he would still look good. He'd look great on a line with SYKORA and Wellwood or Stajan at center!