Belfour out looks like
Belfour out looks like
Kidd 4-4-1 vs Ott, 2.59 gga, .910 pct
Lalime is 8-2-0 , 2.58 gga, .910 pct
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Belfour out with infected finger
Oct. 12, 2002. 01:29 PM
Kidd likely to get first start in goal against Senators
Ken Campbell
SPORTS REPORTER
An infected right index finger will almost certainly keep goalie Ed Belfour out of the Maple Leafs' NHL home opener tonight against the Ottawa Senators and has paved the way for Trevor Kidd's first start in blue and white.
The Maple Leafs summoned St. John's Maple Leafs stopper Mikael Tellqvist to Toronto last night and will decide whether or not to activate him today when Belfour has his finger re-evaluated.
There is little chance Belfour will be able to play and, even if he can dress, it will almost certainly be as a backup.
"At this point it looks pretty remote," Maple Leafs executive Bill Watters said last night on the chances of Belfour playing tonight. "But we'll wait until (today)."
Belfour was excused from practice yesterday and the Leafs reported it was for "body maintenance," the same excuse Belfour had for missing a game during the pre-season. Belfour's absence came the day after his triumphant debut as a Maple Leaf when he stopped all 33 shots in a 6-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins. In doing so, Belfour became the first goalie in team history to record a shutout in his debut.
Watters said he knew little about the injury, but said that to the best of his knowledge it did not happen in Thursday night's game. "We don't think it was a hockey injury," Watters said.
The Leafs are already at the NHL maximum 23-man roster, but Watters said that adding Tellqvist would not require them to drop any players. If a player goes on the injured reserve list, he must be on there for seven days, but there is a special goaltender call-up that allows teams to add a goalie from their affiliate without putting the injured goalie on the injured reserve list. But the injury must be a short-term one and teams are allowed to use the loophole only twice per season.
The Leafs have not officially called Tellqvist up yet because that would mean they would use one of their special call-ups.
Maple Leafs GM-coach Pat Quinn was not at practice yesterday either because he was attending to a family matter.
The Leafs signed Belfour to a guaranteed two-year deal that will pay him a minimum of $6.5 million (all figures in U.S. funds) and picked up Kidd over the summer after losing veteran Corey Schwab. Tellqvist, meanwhile, showed in the pre-season that he is much closer to being ready to face NHL shooters and would likely be able to handle the assignment.
:nono:
