|
JUMBLING LINES
Part of keeping things fresh for the Leafs during five days of practice this week is a daily change of the forward lines.
With no unit distinguishing itself yet, coach Ron Wilson changed combinations again yesterday and likely will keep toying with them up to Saturday's game against Vancouver. He had Jason Blake with the Russian-speaking duo of Alexei Ponikarovsky and centre Mikhail Grabovski yesterday at the MasterCard Centre and put Niklas Hagman with Matt Stajan and Viktor Stalberg.
"This is a little bit like Rubik's Cube right now, trying to get all the squares right," Wilson said. "Sometimes you give guys different motivations in practice. Hopefully, we find the right combinations sooner than later."
GO WEST YOUNG MAN
Getting left behind on the coming road trip to Vancouver could be bad for Leafs' back-up goaltender James Reimer's romantic life. The 21-year-old's fiancee, April, lives in Vancouver and he already had his trip to British Columbia with the Marlies cancelled when the Leafs called him up prior to the farm team departing for this week's two games in Abbotsford against Calgary's relocated minor affiliate.
CONTROVERSY
As with everything to do with Sean Avery, there was a touch of controversy when he tipped the puck that cut Ian White in the mouth for about 20 stitches on Saturday. "I don't know whether he was trying to score or where he thought the net was, but he wasn't anywhere near it," White said.
