SLAP SHOTS

By TOM JONES

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 31, 1999

LICKING HIS CHOPS: Here's reason No. 671 why hockey players are the toughest, baddest dudes on the planet.

Last week, St. Louis' Michal Handzus caught the skate of New Jersey's Bobby Holik in the face, opening up a two-inch cut at the corner of his mouth.

St. Louis trainer Ray Barile said, "It was gaping open. You actually could have put your finger through his cheek and touch his tongue."

Which he did.

"We didn't know if he had been cut by a skate or a stick," he said. "We were probing, looking for stick particles, stuff from the ice. You have to clean it up."

The wound took 28 stitches to close, five on the inside of the mouth and 23 on the outside. Of course, Handzus continued playing that game. After all, the cut happened in the first period.

"That's normal," Handzus said. "I think everybody will come back if it's not that bad a cut. ... I was lucky. It could have been much worse."

Much worse? You mean a 28-stitch cut on your mouth isn't bad?

"These guys get lacerated," Barile said. "They get muscle strains and ligament sprains, and they want you to patch them up so they can go right back out there. I mean, it went right through his cheek. A normal guy would be on tubes in the hospital right now."

HOW 'BOUT SUSHI?: Canucks LW Peter Schaefer hails from Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan, which, of course, we all know is located between Regina and Weyburn just east of Lang. Anyway, he was glad to see his mom and cousins come for a visit to Vancouver.

"We're going out for calamari," Schaefer said. "They don't have that in Saskatchewan."

DID YOU REALLY PLAY, UNCLE BRENDAN?: Detroit's Brendan Shanahan can recite the details of his first goal and notable milestones thereafter. But ask for documentation and you'll get a stare and shrug. If memorabilia has a place in Shanahan's life, it's in the closet, or the attic, or the house of one of his brothers.

"I've got a few things, all stuck away somewhere," Shanahan said. "I don't even have a hockey picture up in the house. When I retire, I'll look to something to have proof that I actually played in this league." I CAN'T BELIEVE I ATE THE WHOLE THING: Calgary GM Al Coates has had plenty of sleepless nights this season after his Flames started the season 3-7-2. But now he has other reasons for pacing the floors. Recently, on a trip to Atlanta, Coates ordered an appetizer with shellfish in it.

Bad idea. He is allergic to shellfish.

"I lost a couple of nights sleep for a good reason," Coates said. "I lost sleep the other night for no reason."

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