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Slap shots

Compiled by DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 26, 2000

SNOWBOUND: The Sabres were buried Monday with the rest of the city of Buffalo by a wicked snowstorm.

Defenseman Jason Woolley was returning home from a hospital benefit when he and a neighbor spotted a stranded school bus. His neighbor stayed with the bus. Woolley tried to get home to call for help, but got lost in his own neighborhood because of poor visibility.

"I couldn't see anything," Woolley said. "I was trying to play Pet Detective and stick my head out the window. I was lost for about 10 minutes in my own neighborhood, and I had no idea where I was going.

"I hadn't seen anything like that in a long time. It was pretty scary."

Other snowy adventures: Wing Maxim Afinogenov was stuck at HSBC Arena and spent the night in the players' lounge. Wing Vaclav Varada was returning home from a tattoo parlor with two friends from the Czech Republic when his truck got stuck. They walked 2 miles to his home and helped dislodge a few vehicles along the way.

HE HAS THE BEAT: Edmonton forward Anson Carter has more than 500 CDs in his music collection and owns the largest set of earphones this side of a sound engineer.

His favorite singers: tenor Andrea Bocelli and R&B diva Mary J. Blige. He is not big on country or metal.

"If I'm uptight, I'll listen to R&B, softer stuff," Carter said. "If I'm trying to calm down, I'll listen to rap.

"The hard stuff, I can't take because I'm too wired and the game's fast enough as it is. I can't focus. I want to be calm when I go onto the ice.'

TIMELESS DEVOTION: Wing Bill Guerin says he was traded from Edmonton to Boston on his grandmother's 95th birthday.

"She says she's loved the Bruins all her life," Guerin said. That could be a tough. The Bruins have been around only 76 years.

BAD TIMING: Florida center Serge Payer, a Rockland, Ontario, native, scored his first NHL goal Nov. 18 with 2.2 seconds left in the first period against the Senators.

Family and friends witnessed the moment at the Corel Centre. But not his father.

"I'm in the can," said Paul Payer, who was alerted of the momentous occasion when his oldest son, Dan, came running through the bathroom door.

"But it was still the greatest night of my life."

WHO CARES?: When Senators right wing Marian Hossa was told he was named USA Today's "impact" player of the week, his reaction was one of puzzlement.

"What does that mean?" he said.

A reporter joked it meant that once the folks at USA Today heard his reaction, he would never be named again.

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