Official from the NHL: No suspension for Voros, nor any discipline to Carolina for having too many men on the ice during the big scrum last night. 

Going to be quick this afternoon as the sluggish one has lots of work to do.

– Not sure of the full lineup due to very optional skate, but Jacques Lemaire will definitely make changes. Kurtis Foster and his big power-play shot will be back in undoubtedly. Whether Foster goes in for Sean Hill or Keith Carney depends largely on which of their penalties last night Lemaire like least, perhaps. Lemaire wouldn’t divulge it. 

– Chris Simon skated, but I doubt he’ll play. So it’s just a matter of whether Lemaire inserts Matt Foy in for someone, maybe Aaron Voros.

Lemaire was very displeased with his penalties last night, not only the hit from behind but the one in the final minute where he upended the Hurricanes player in the d-zone.

No matter how marginal the call (to the objective person who nicely called me a fraud), Voros has got to be smarter. At the very least, it was textbook interference because the puck was nowhere near them. Just stay away from the guy. You’re on in the final minute to go crash the net and score.

I am assuming Voros will escape suspension for the hit on Staal because I’m hearing the Hurricanes are escaping discipline for six skaters on the ice during the ensuing melee (Cole was coming on for Walker, and then Walker never got off).

And for the few emailers who complained that the Wild got screwed by the refs again, let this stand as my response: the zebras gave the Wild plenty of chances to tie that game. And they pretty much evened up the major by getting the call on Cole right — two for instigating, two for instigating with a shield.

– Speaking of Voros, apparently he got top play on SportsCenter last night with that sweet between the legs pass to Mikko Koivu for the tying goal 19 ticks into the second period.

– I couldn’t really say definitively today because the Thrashers had not yet announced it, so I sort of couched it. But Todd White definitely won’t play his old team tonight. He not only has an elbow injury, he’s got a shoulder injury.

– Tomorrow’s notebook will be a follow to Lemaire’s demeanor after the game last night, i.e. the continuous go ask them answers. Lemaire said today his job is to keep working, but he admitted that he’s never had a harder time getting a team to play the way he wants them to on a consistent basis.

– Forgot to throw this up the other day. It’s an OC Register story on the Ducks accusing the Blackhawks of being dirty against … Pronger. I just thought it was awfully, let’s just say, ironic.

Later…Everybody wish my brother a happy birthday.

Coincidentally, he lives here in Atlanta, so he’ll get to enjoy the Wild-Thrashers game tonight at Philips with some friends.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 12:10 pm and is filed under Pregame skate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.