friday goalie/player info

[Aces High]

player info

Dany Heatley, Atlanta Thrashers - According to Thrashers GM Don Waddell, Heatley will be back on the ice this season. Waddell basically said that the surgery went "very well" and that Heatley has already begun rehabilitation. It's certainly possible for Heatley to return for the end of the regular season, but as we have pointed out before, this is assuming that his legal problems are smoothed over without incident.

Jeff Jillson, Boston Bruins - Jillson had an MRI taken on his left foot after taking a slapshot to it early in Wednesday's game against the Devils. Fortunately, the results were negative and the young defenseman is not expected to miss any time.

Martin Lapointe, Boston Bruins - Lapointe will accompany the Bruins on their upcoming six game road trip and hopes to be back in the lineup next Wednesday against the Stars. The rugged winger is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.

Jeff O'Neill, Carolina Hurricanes - In case you are wondering why O'Neill's icetime wasn't as high as usual, he left yesterday's game in the first period to get stitches for a lacerated right wrist but returned in the second period

Sean Avery, Los Angeles Kings - Avery will not play in tonight's game against the Penguins, reports the LA Times. He will be travelling to Ontario to attend the funeral of Dan Snyder, who was a teammate of his in junior hockey.

Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars - Lehtinen did not practice Thursday as he continued to nurse his shoulder injury. Stars coach Dave Tippett said Lehtinen was healthy enough to practice, but as a precaution was held out. Lehtinen is expected to skate Friday, and if he feels OK, he will play Saturday in Nashville.

Jason Woolley, Detroit Red Wings - Woolley was a healthy scratch for last night's game against the Kings and seems to be the odd-man out on an extremely talented and deep Detroit defense corps. He will probably still see modest action this season, probably at the expense of Mathieu Dandenault, but has minimal fantasy value due to his extremely limited role.

Martin Havlat, Ottawa Senators - Havlat has all but rejected the Senators' latest offer and is headed back to the Czech Republic. Havlat wants to be paid on the same level that the Flyers' Simon Gagne and the Lightning's Brad Richards earn, but the Senators, who have all the leverage in negotiations, refuse to budge from their apparent salary structure. Bottom line, it does not appear as if Havlat will be signing with the Senators anytime soon and it's now time to begin believing that this season will be a waste.


goalie info

Mike Dunham, New York Rangers - Dunham will be the starter for Friday's game against the Wild, reports the New York Post. Jussi Markkanen is expected to get the start on Saturday.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins - Fleury will be the starter for Friday's game against the Kings, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Nikolai Khabibulin, Tampa Bay Lightning - Khabibulin will be the starter for Friday's game against the Bruins, reports the St. Petersburg Times.

Jocelyn Thibault, Chicago Blackhawks - Thibault will be the starter for Friday's game against the Avalanche, reports the Denver Post.

David Aebischer, Colorado Avalanche - Aebischer will be the starter for Friday's game against the Blackhawks, reports the Denver Post.

Sean Burke, Phoenix Coyotes - Burke will be the starter for Friday's game against the Blues, reports the Arizona Republic.

Chris Osgood, St. Louis Blues - Osgood will be the starter for Friday's game against the Coyotes, reports the Arizona Republic.

Andrew Raycroft, Boston Bruins - Raycroft is the probable starter for Friday's game against the Lightning.

Roman Cechmanek, Los Angeles Kings - Cechmanek is the probable starter for Friday's game against the Penguins.

Manny Fernandez, Minnesota Wild - Fernandez is the probable starter for Friday's game against the Rangers.

Jani Hurme, Atlanta Thrashers - Hurme practiced for the first time yesterday since joining the Thrashers at the NHL's waiver draft. However, the netminder's future with the club is still shaky as both Pasi Nurminen and Byron Dafoe appear ahead of him on the depth chart. The Thrashers would ideally like to trade one of their goalies in the near future in exchange for a forward, however, it is not known which of their goalies they are shopping around. Coach Bob Hartley seems happy with Nurminen so our speculation is that if anyone will be moved, it will either be Dafoe or Hurme.

Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres - Miller got the start yesterday over Martin Biron and played well in a 2-0 loss to the Flyers. Despite this, Miller is by no means being awarded the Sabres #1 goalie duties as coach Lindy Ruff will likely play all three of his goalies (Miller, Biron and Mika Noronen) over the first couple of weeks to gauge which two he wants to keep. All three are capable NHL starters but obviously one only man can hold that distinction. Even though Miller may be the most talented out of the three, as we have mentioned before the thing that is working against him is that he is the only one who can be re-assigned to the AHL without having to clear waivers. If the Sabres can't work out a trade, that's what they may do instead of risking losing Biron or Noronen to another NHL team for free.

Garth Snow, New York Islanders - Snow was bombed for six goals in less than 30 minutes during yesterday's 6-1 loss to the Capitals. Hopefully it wasn't the reduction in his pads size but rather just an off-night but Snow can't afford to have many games like this with Rick DiPietro lurking over his shoulder. In fact, DiPietro was solid after relieving Snow in the second period by stopping every shot he faced and is almost surely going to get the Islanders' next start this weekend.

 

[Aces High]

Los Angeles Kings (0-1-0-0) at Pittsburgh Penguins (0-0-0-0), 7:30 p.m.
(Sports Network) - Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, the first overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, makes his professional debut tonight when his Penguins invite the Los Angeles Kings to the Igloo for Pittsburgh's opener.

Fleury was taken with the top selection after the Pens moved up and secured the choice. The 18-year-old phenom was drafted out of Cape Breton of the QMJHL and signed a contract on Monday, just before a deadline that would have forced him to spend the season in Juniors had he not inked a deal.

Head coach Ed Olczyk, making his own NHL debut behind the bench tonight, then made the announcement Thursday that Fleury would indeed start the opener.

"For sure, I want to [play]," said Fleury. "It's a dream to be playing in the NHL. I will realize that [tonight]. I didn't know what to expect. Even if I would have been here the whole week, I wouldn't have expected to be playing, but I'm really happy that I will be. I felt better today than yesterday, and I think [tonight] should be better again."

There is some concern that Fleury will have some rust to shake off, because before Thursday he hadn't practiced in roughly a week. He returned to Canada at the end of contract negotiations and immigration issues kept him there temporarily.

The Penguins hope Fleury can be some sort of savior on the heels of their second straight campaign out of the playoffs. In 2002-03, Mario Lemieux and Co. logged a meager 65 points, good for the second- worst record in the entire league. In addition to futility on the ice, the financially strapped club continued unloading its high-priced talent, shipping right wing Alex Kovalev to the NY Rangers last winter.

Lemieux, who decided to return rather than retire, is the obvious catalyst of the Pens' offense. He managed to play in 67 games last season -- after missing most of the previous one -- and led the team with 28 goals and 63 assists. However, having a 91-point scorer the caliber of Lemieux didn't spark Pittsburgh enough to make a difference, as the team placed 26th in the NHL with 189 goals scored. In all, the Penguins were shut out 10 times over the course of the season.

Lemieux, Fleury and Co. will face a Kings team trying to rebound from a season-opening 3-2 loss in Detroit. After the teams volleyed back and forth throughout the match, the Red Wings' Steve Yzerman beat new LA goaltender Roman Cechmanek for the game-winner with only 1.7 seconds remaining. Detroit had tied things via a Pavel Datsyuk marker with under 3:45 left in the third.

Eric Belanger and Ziggy Palffy scored in defeat, while Cechmanek finished with 35 saves in his Kings debut.

There was some bad news on the injury front for the Kings, who were already playing without Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh. Captain and defensive anchor Mattias Norstrom suffered an arm injury and is expected to miss at least two games.

The Kings will finish their season-opening road trip Sunday in Chicago, before playing seven straight in Los Angeles. That home set will begin next Wednesday versus Ottawa.

LA swept two games from Pittsburgh last season and is 6-0-1 in the last seven meetings. The Pens have not beaten the Kings since January 16, 1999.


Boston Bruins (0-0-1-0) at Tampa Bay Lightning (0-0-0-0), 7:30 p.m.
(Sports Network) - The Southeast Division-champion Tampa Bay Lightning open their quest for a repeat tonight when they host the Boston Bruins at the St. Pete Times Forum.

In 2002-03 Tampa Bay qualified for the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history. What followed was a first-round victory over the Washington Capitals and a humbling 4-1 series loss to eventual-champion New Jersey in the conference semis.

The Bolts' offseason began with trade rumors regarding goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, who was more than unhappy with the fact that he was replaced by backup John Grahame for Game 5 of the second-round set with the Devils. Well, the Bulin Wall remains in the Bolts' net, but winger Vaclav Prospal, the team's leading scorer and a fixture on the top line, fled for Anaheim when free agency began in July.

Prospal was the most glaring of the Lightning's departures, but he will essentially be replaced on the left side by veteran Cory Stillman, who scored 24 goals with 43 assists for St. Louis last season. Stillman was obtained from the Blues at the Draft.

Center Vincent Lecavalier returns as the offensive catalyst after scoring 33 goals and 45 assists last season. The former No. 1 pick is joined in the nucleus by the diminutive Martin St. Louis (33g, 37a), who continues to prove there's no such thing as being too small to play in the NHL. The 5-9 right wing enters his fourth season with Tampa after being released by the Calgary Flames. Brad Richards, meanwhile, hopes to continue his emergence as one of the league's top playmakers, after finishing tied for fourth in the NHL with 57 assists.

Khabibulin is on record saying that his issues from early in the summer are behind him, and he should have the kind of season we've become accustomed to. In 2002-03 he posted a 30-22-11 mark with a 2.47 goals-against average and .911 save percentage, and this is a contract year approaching.

Boston, meanwhile, began its season Wednesday with a 3-3 home tie versus New Jersey. Jeff Jillson scored two goals, including the equalizer with under four minutes to go in regulation, as the Bruins rallied for a point against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Captain Joe Thornton, hoping to build on his breakout 2002-03 effort, also scored, while Felix Potvin made 32 saves in his B's debut.

The tie, however, leaves rookie coach Mike Sullivan still searching for his first NHL win. Sullivan, who was hired in June, spent last season as head man of the team's AHL affiliate in Providence, and was promoted to a Boston assistant when GM Mike O'Connell took over for the fired Robbie Ftorek on an interim basis. He is only two seasons removed from his playing days, as he spent 2001-02 with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Tampa Bay went 2-1-1 against Boston last season, but the Bruins are 7-2-3 in the last 12 meetings.


New York Rangers (0-0-0-0) at Minnesota Wild (0-1-0-0), 8:30 p.m.
(Sports Network) - The Minnesota Wild try for their first-ever win over the New York Rangers this evening when they play their home-opener at the Xcel Energy Center.

Minnesota has lost all five meetings with the Rangers and has been outscored 17-9 in the process.

The Wild's quest to get back into the playoffs got off to a less-than- spectacular start Wednesday, as they were blanked, 1-0, by the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.

Chicago's Tyler Arnason notched the only goal of the match, beating Dwayne Roloson 3:53 into the second period. Roloson turned away 21 shots for the Wild, who fell to 1-2-1 in season openers.

Minnesota's best scoring chance in the final period came shorthanded with less than four minutes remaining, but Wes Walz's shot from between the circles hit the right post.

The Wild's futile offensive effort came without two of their key cogs on the ice, as both Marian Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis, who finished first and second, respectively, in scoring last season, remained unsigned. Both players are Group II/restricted free agents.

New York, meanwhile, is coming off a year which saw them miss the postseason for a sixth straight season. With 78 points (32-26-10-4), the Rangers found themselves ninth in the Eastern Conference, five points out of the final spot.

General manager/head coach Glen Sather, who relieved Bryan Trottier of his head coaching duties after just 54 games last year, had a particularly quiet offseason on the free agent front, bringing in only Chris Simon and defenseman Greg de Vries. The team also brought back wingers Martin Rucinsky and former Czech Posse member Jan Hlavac, who thrived on Petr Nedved's line before being dealt to Philadelphia for Eric Lindros two years ago.

Speaking of Lindros, the Big E played in all but one game last season and missed that contest because he was suspended. However, he had perhaps his worst season from a production standpoint.

Once again Mark Messier will be back for a 25th season, still not saying if this will be the finale of his brilliant career. Only the legendary Gordie Howe (26) has played as many years.

Messier is also on the verge of a few significant milestones, as well. He is one assist shy of tying Ray Bourque (1,169) for third on the all-time list and is six points away from Howe's 1,850.

For the first time since the 1989 season, the Rangers begin a campaign without Mike Richter in net. After 13 wonderful seasons and a Stanley Cup, Richter was forced to hang up his skates because of concussions.

Sather knew last season that the chances of Richter returning were slim and acquired Mike Dunham from the Nashville Predators for three players. Dunham thrived in New York, where he was probably the team MVP, posting a 19-17-5 mark to go along with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage.

New York will also be without two-time Norris Trophy winner Brian Leetch, who could be sidelined for several more weeks as he continues to recover from a right ankle injury. The injury is similar to the one that sidelined the All- Star defenseman for a large portion of last season.

Leetch, who was re-signed by the Rangers to a two- year contract this past offseason, was practicing at the team's facility in Greenburgh, NY just before training camp when he was hit by a shot in the ankle.

Also gone is superstar winger Pavel Bure, who was not cleared to play by the Rangers medical staff because of his surgically repaired knees, probably ending his brilliant career.

The Rangers are 30-34-13 in their season-openers.

 

[Aces High]

Chicago Blackhawks (1-0-0-0) at Colorado Avalanche (0-0-0-0), 9 p.m. --------------------------------------------------------------------

(Sports Network) - The Colorado Avalanche begin life without Patrick Roy this evening when they open their 2003-04 campaign against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Pepsi Center.

Last season saw the Avalanche rally from an early hole for their National Hockey League-record ninth consecutive division title as a franchise. The Avs finished as the third seed in the Western Conference with 105 points (42-19-13-8).

However, the team was humbled in the first round by the upstart Minnesota Wild in seven games and squandered a 3-1 series lead in the process. To make matters worse goaltender Patrick Roy decided to end his sure-bet Hall of Fame career. Roy looked human against the Wild in the postseason, and instead of letting things get worse he decided to leave the game with no regrets.

David Aebischer, Roy's backup for three seasons, will get first crack at the starting job, but Philippe Suave, who spent last year with Hershey of the AHL, is in the mix as well.

Colorado opened the free agency period with a bang as the club signed wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne in what amounted to a package deal. Both might not be the players they were when they teamed together in Anaheim, but putting them on a second line flanking Joe Sakic is nothing short of scary.

And of course they are joined by Hart Trophy winner Peter Forsberg (29g, 77a), Richard Trophy winner Milan Hejduk and winger Alex Tanguay, who were simply dazzling as a line last season, especially down the stretch. The trio accounted for 54 of the Avs' last 96 markers in the regular season. Also, one or more posted at least a point in 35 of the Avs' final 36 games.

Chicago, meanwhile, started its season on a winning note Wednesday, as Jocelyn Thibault stopped 33 shots for his 36th career shutout, leading the Blackhawks to a 1-0 win over Minnesota.

Tyler Arnason notched the only goal for the Blackhawks, who improved to 34-27-17 overall in season openers.

Thibault, who recorded eight shutouts last season, also blanked Buffalo (3-0) in last year's home opener.

Colorado won all four matchups between the two teams last season and has been victorious in five of the last six meetings.

Chicago has lost two straight to the Avs and is just 1-7-1 in its last nine at Colorado.

Colorado, dating back to its days as the Quebec Nordiques, owns the best winning percentage on opening night at .708 and has posted a 14-4-6 mark in the franchise's first games.


St. Louis Blues (0-0-0-0) at Phoenix Coyotes (0-0-0-0), 10 p.m. ---------------------------------------------------------------

(Sports Network) - The St. Louis Blues try to win their first season-opener in seven years this evening when they kick off the 2003-04 campaign against the Phoenix Coyotes at America West Arena.

St. Louis holds the longest current winless streak on opening night, going 0-4-2 in its last six openers. The Blues, despite their recent stretch of futility, have fared pretty well in openers and are 18-12-6 all-time in their first game of the year.

The Blues had another solid, but not spectacular season a year ago garnering 99 points (41-24-11-6) and the fifth seed in the Western Conference. St. Louis, though, squandered a 3-1 lead in the opening round of the playoffs and eventually lost to the Vancouver Canucks.

General manager Larry Pleau made a few minor moves in the offseason, but for the most part this year?s outfit is very similar to years past. Cory Stillman, who scored 24 goals last season, was dealt to Tampa Bay. Free agent Martin Rucinsky left town in favor of Broadway, and annoyance Tyson Nash was shipped to Phoenix.

Goaltender Chris Osgood will try to overcome his disappointing performance from last spring?s first-round loss. Osgood, who came over at the trade deadline, does have a Stanley Cup to his name as he led the Red Wings all the way in 1998.

One positive that St. Louis is relying on is the return of all-everything defenseman Chris Pronger. The former Hart and Norris Trophy winner, who relinquished his captaincy to defenseman Al MacInnis in the offseason, played in just five games last season and also competed in the playoffs, but was not at full strength due to a serious wrist injury that kept him out of the lineup for virtually the entire season.

Another positive is the emergence of Pavol Demitra as a bona fide star. The 28-year-old Slovakian center, who along with Keith Tkachuk provides on the best one-two-punches in the West, scored 36 goals last season and has registered at least 20 in each of the last six seasons.

On the milestone watch, Tkachuk starts the year two goals shy of 400 for his career.

Phoenix, meanwhile, will open things significantly different from the club that began last season. Thanks to franchise-record 462 man-games lost to injury the Coyotes finished 11th in the Western Conference with 78 points (31-35-11-5).

Tony Amonte never became the player the team thought they were getting when they lured him from Chicago and he essentially was dealt to Philadelphia for nothing just before the trade deadline. The dumping continued this offseason with the dealing of team captain and defensive staple Teppo Numminen and fellow blueliner Danny Markov.

As for what the Coyotes do have going for them, you must start in goal, where Sean Burke has resurrected his career the last few years. However, his 37 years of age might be catching up with him, as he missed much of last season with various injuries.

Phoenix also has a respectable top scoring line to hang its hat on. Ladislav Nagy, Daymond Langkow and Mike Johnson have been together for much of the last two seasons, and combined for 65 goals and 107 assists in 02-03.

But none of those three names offer the kind of star power a team needs to sell the new building it will move into come December, and there isn't much on the rest of the roster either. The only thing the folks in the Valley of the Sun can hope for is that coach Bob Francis has himself a group of overachievers, as he did two years ago when the Coyotes made an unexpected playoff run.

St. Louis is 2-1-1 last year against the Coyotes and is 10-6-2 in the last 18 matchups. Phoenix could have the advantage tonight, though, as the home team in this series is 9-2-1 in the last 12 meetings.

The Coyotes are 10-10-4 in season openers dating back to their days as the Winnipeg Jets.

 

[no all]

thanks 4 posting the goalie info

 

[no all]

CRISTOBAL HUET
in net 4 the kings tonight