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EDMONTON -- The massive Maple Leafs' road show pulls into Winnipeg today, carrying as many men and supplies as the D-Day landings.
The 20 players who watched last night's game against the Oilers get to play in the first Toronto match in Manitoba since the Jets departed in 1996. Of note is the first exhibition game for the line of Mats Sundin, Jason Blake and Nik Antropov, the homecoming of Alex Steen and GM John Ferguson and a wire-to-wire game for Andrew Raycroft in goal, possibly opposing ex-Leaf Mikael Tellqvist of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Coach Paul Maurice brought four goalies on the trip, but said he didn't want to split any games.
"I'm not a believer in that," Maurice said. "I don't want them looking at the clock and thinking, 'All I have to do is get to 30 minutes.' "
That leaves Vesa Toskala fresh to debut at the Air Canada Centre against the Coyotes tomorrow night.
By tonight, Maurice had hoped to use all players on the trip, with the exeception of Toskala, back-up goalie Scott Clemmensen and defenceman Anton Stralman (bronchitis).
Maurice said he would continue rotating forward lines until the first real cuts come after Saturday's fourth exhibition in Boston.
