Blueliners play wait and see on trade front
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published February 10, 2007
NEW YORK - Lightning defenseman Cory Sarich said he has "mixed emotions" about the team perhaps adding a blueliner by the Feb. 27 trade deadline.
He said he wants the team to improve. But he knows that means one defenseman now playing regularly likely will lose playing time.
"So it's a little bit of a double-edged sword," Sarich said. "Personally, if I had to sway one way, if guys are getting the job done, why fix what isn't broken?"
The defense has improved.
Sarich said many defensive-zone mistakes have been eliminated and defensemen are more confident with the puck and trying to make plays. He also praised the forwards for a commitment to "team defense."
Still, the Lightning seems committed to adding another puck-moving defenseman.
The most intriguing names so far are Los Angeles' Brent Sopel and Columbus' Bryan Berard.
"It's all hypothetical," Sarich said. "We're the only seven guys here now trying to get the job done. That's all you can focus on."
"You always want to win with the guys you've played with all year," defenseman Doug Janik said. "But you can't control it, so you don't worry about somebody new until it happens."
THE HOLLWEG EFFECT: Rookie Blair Jones said he doesn't want to believe the Rangers' Ryan Hollweg tried to injure him.
"The game was out of reach," Jones said of the knee-to-knee hit with 2:53 left. "I don't know if there's a reason to do something like that. But his game is rugged."
Hollweg received a five-minute penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct. That comes with a $200 fine and a report to the commissioner's office, which can apply supplementary discipline.
"The league should take a look at it," Tampa Bay's Andre Roy said. "If Marty St. Louis or Jaromir Jagr is hit like that, the league for sure would look at it."
FAMILY AFFAIR: St. Louis said when he made his family's travel arrangements for New York, he did not realize the game would be his 500th in the NHL.
"It's weird," he said. "Who would have thought my 500th would be in New York? I planned this a long time ago."
His mother, France; father, Normand; wife, Heather; and her parents were at the game.
ODDS AND ENDS: Wing Ruslan Fedotenko, who missed a game because of the flu, was in the lineup. ... Captain Tim Taylor and defenseman Luke Richardson were healthy scratches. ... The season series finished 2-2.
Damian Cristodero can be reached at cristodero@sptimes.com.