Sports: Slap shots

Slap shots

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times wires

IN HARM'S WAY: Had his relationship with his players been anything but healthy, Pittsburgh coach Ivan Hlinka would have been in a tough spot Wednesday when he played defense during practice.

It's not often the healthy scratches and low-minutes guys get their coach, who is determining their playing time, in a gamelike situation. During a two-on-one drill, right wing Matthew Barnaby, who has played sparingly of late, gave Hlinka a good-natured spray of ice and a slash.

" "Don't hold on to it too long,' " Barnaby said when asked what he thought as he bore down on his puck-handling coach. " "Don't hold on to it too long.' He moved it pretty quick. I had two hits (Tuesday) night, but I was looking to throw a few more today."

GOON-BE-GONE: With his two goals Thursday night against the Islanders, Maple Leafs tough guy Tie Domi has eight, including four in two games. He is three goals shy of his career-best 11 with Toronto in 1996-97.

"Yanic (Perreault) and Curtis (Joseph) have started calling me Cy Domi (as in Cy Young)," Domi said.

WORDSMITH: Senators center Vaclav Prospal is in the worst scoring slump of his career with no goals and eight assists in 24 games. But Prospal, who had 22 goals, 33 assists last season, isn't at a loss for words.

"I don't need to look in the mirror to see that I stink," he said. "I know that more than anyone else. I just have to find a way out.

"In January, February and March, I was on top of the world. Now I'm totally at the bottom of the ocean."

NOSE JOB: Predators defenseman Cale Hulse will play with a protective visor for the next week or so to guard the nose he broke Tuesday against the Flames.

Hulse had the nose "straightened" in Nashville on Wednesday.

"It wasn't cosmetic because, you know, I'm a hockey player,' Hulse said. "But I couldn't breathe the way it was before."

GLOVE MEN: Toronto center Mats Sundin and goaltender Curtis Joseph were playing catch (that's right, baseball) in the hallway of Nassau Coliseum before the Islanders game, using gloves courtesy of Blue Jays pitcher Chris Carpenter.

"Carpenter loves hockey and played it in high school," Maple Leafs trainer Scott McKay said. "Mats is a pretty good lefty. He changes hands to throw like (one-arm pitcher) Jim Abbott. Maybe the Jays could use him."

SAY WHAT?: Minnesota's Finnish-born left wing, Antti Laaksonen, picked up the Wild's first hattutempuu Nov. 15 against the Rangers. What is a hattutempuu? It's Finnish for hat trick.