Martin Brodeur returned his goalie stick to the rack and calmed the fears of a hockey-crazed nation.
``Well, I made it through practice,'' Canada's top netminder said Monday.
Brodeur was on the ice for the first time in four days and his injured left wrist came through a full workout just fine. If his sore catching hand keeps improving, Brodeur is expected to return from a one-game absence and play Tuesday night against Finland in the World Cup of Hockey championship.
``For the first time in five or six days I was able to use it,'' said Brodeur, who has allowed only three goals on 100 shots in four games.
If he doesn't get into this game, it might be a long time before he suits up again.
The NHL's collective bargaining agreement with the players association expires Wednesday, and with the sides far apart and no negotiating sessions scheduled, a lockout that threatens next season and beyond is on the verge of becoming reality.
``Hopefully, they can come up with a compromise that everyone's happy with because it would be great to see us keep playing hockey,'' Wayne Gretzky said.
Gretzky holds most of the NHL's offensive records and is now executive director of Team Canada and managing partner of the Phoenix Coyotes. Having seen both sides of the labor dispute is not enough to get him to jump into the negotiations.
``No, no,'' he said. ``This is way over my head.''
Brodeur was hurt last Wednesday during the closing minutes of a 5-0 quarterfinal victory over Slovakia when he made an awkward catch of a shot from center ice. The force jammed his arm toward his body and left him with an injury described as a sprain. He practiced briefly Friday and sat out Canada's 4-3 overtime win against the Czech Republic on Saturday.
``He looked fine to me, like normal,'' forward Joe Sakic said after practice.
Roberto Luongo made 37 saves in Brodeur's absence, but he split time in the backup role Monday with Jose Theodore.
Brodeur didn't have to use his glove in practice until Brad Richards fired a shot about 15 minutes in. Dany Heatley followed with one, and Richards let another drive go into the mitt, too.
Brodeur is a master puck-handler and plays like a third defenseman. He showed some caution with the puck on his stick and often used just his right hand.
``I'll find ways to be able to play with the puck and do something with it without hurting it when I have my glove on,'' Brodeur said. ``I got a good taping job.''
With a seven-hour time difference between Toronto and Helsinki, there might be many tape jobs going on in Finland, too. Videotaping that is. It'll be after 2 a.m. in Finland when the first puck drops in the biggest hockey game in the country's history.
``Oh, there'll be a lot of drunk people there,'' forward Teemu Selanne said.
Finland has reached the World Cup/Canada Cup finals for the first time and hasn't won a world hockey championship since 1995. The country also carries a stigma of not rising to the occasion when a big game is on the line.
That notion was dispelled somewhat Friday when the Finns stunned the United States with a 2-1 semifinal victory in Minnesota. It was the first time in this tournament a team rallied from a deficit to win.
``I think we're kind of underdogs when we play them, and people didn't expect too much from us,'' forward Tuomo Ruutu said. ``Everybody is behind us in Finland, and I don't think there's pressure.''
Finland beat the Americans by scoring twice in the third period. So the question remains, is this team just happy to be here?
It's one thing to advance from the European Division and win once in North America on opposing ice. Maybe two victories is too much to ask for.
``I'm pretty sure that we are hungry,'' Finland coach Raimo Summanen said. ``We are a small country and we don't win so often. We have a chance to do something real big.''
The sports hopes of the country that managed only two silver medals in the Athens Olympics rest on this team, and on goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. So far, he's handled the pressure -- Finland is 4-0-1 and Kiprusoff has allowed only six goals.
``He gives us a chance to win every night,'' forward Ville Nieminen said.
``Well, I made it through practice,'' Canada's top netminder said Monday.
Brodeur was on the ice for the first time in four days and his injured left wrist came through a full workout just fine. If his sore catching hand keeps improving, Brodeur is expected to return from a one-game absence and play Tuesday night against Finland in the World Cup of Hockey championship.
``For the first time in five or six days I was able to use it,'' said Brodeur, who has allowed only three goals on 100 shots in four games.
If he doesn't get into this game, it might be a long time before he suits up again.
The NHL's collective bargaining agreement with the players association expires Wednesday, and with the sides far apart and no negotiating sessions scheduled, a lockout that threatens next season and beyond is on the verge of becoming reality.
``Hopefully, they can come up with a compromise that everyone's happy with because it would be great to see us keep playing hockey,'' Wayne Gretzky said.
Gretzky holds most of the NHL's offensive records and is now executive director of Team Canada and managing partner of the Phoenix Coyotes. Having seen both sides of the labor dispute is not enough to get him to jump into the negotiations.
``No, no,'' he said. ``This is way over my head.''
Brodeur was hurt last Wednesday during the closing minutes of a 5-0 quarterfinal victory over Slovakia when he made an awkward catch of a shot from center ice. The force jammed his arm toward his body and left him with an injury described as a sprain. He practiced briefly Friday and sat out Canada's 4-3 overtime win against the Czech Republic on Saturday.
``He looked fine to me, like normal,'' forward Joe Sakic said after practice.
Roberto Luongo made 37 saves in Brodeur's absence, but he split time in the backup role Monday with Jose Theodore.
Brodeur didn't have to use his glove in practice until Brad Richards fired a shot about 15 minutes in. Dany Heatley followed with one, and Richards let another drive go into the mitt, too.
Brodeur is a master puck-handler and plays like a third defenseman. He showed some caution with the puck on his stick and often used just his right hand.
``I'll find ways to be able to play with the puck and do something with it without hurting it when I have my glove on,'' Brodeur said. ``I got a good taping job.''
With a seven-hour time difference between Toronto and Helsinki, there might be many tape jobs going on in Finland, too. Videotaping that is. It'll be after 2 a.m. in Finland when the first puck drops in the biggest hockey game in the country's history.
``Oh, there'll be a lot of drunk people there,'' forward Teemu Selanne said.
Finland has reached the World Cup/Canada Cup finals for the first time and hasn't won a world hockey championship since 1995. The country also carries a stigma of not rising to the occasion when a big game is on the line.
That notion was dispelled somewhat Friday when the Finns stunned the United States with a 2-1 semifinal victory in Minnesota. It was the first time in this tournament a team rallied from a deficit to win.
``I think we're kind of underdogs when we play them, and people didn't expect too much from us,'' forward Tuomo Ruutu said. ``Everybody is behind us in Finland, and I don't think there's pressure.''
Finland beat the Americans by scoring twice in the third period. So the question remains, is this team just happy to be here?
It's one thing to advance from the European Division and win once in North America on opposing ice. Maybe two victories is too much to ask for.
``I'm pretty sure that we are hungry,'' Finland coach Raimo Summanen said. ``We are a small country and we don't win so often. We have a chance to do something real big.''
The sports hopes of the country that managed only two silver medals in the Athens Olympics rest on this team, and on goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. So far, he's handled the pressure -- Finland is 4-0-1 and Kiprusoff has allowed only six goals.
``He gives us a chance to win every night,'' forward Ville Nieminen said.
