Leafs Watch

By MIKE ZEISBERGER AND LANCE HORNBY -- Toronto Sun
STAR STRUCK: Goaltender Curtis Joseph and centre Mats Sundin of the Maple Leafs continue to soar in voting for the 50th NHL all-star game.

With just four days left in fan balloting, Joseph and Sundin are virtual locks to make their respective teams for the all-star game, Feb. 6 at the Air Canada Centre.

Joseph leads all goaltenders in balloting for the North American team with 485,032 votes. Sundin, meanwhile, is the top vote-getter among centres vying for a spot on the World all-stars with 476,448.

Other leaders are North American defencemen Chris Pronger (448,358) and Rob Blake (441,963), centre Steve Yzerman (466,159) and wingers Paul Kariya (649,552) and Brendan Shanahan (409,864); and World goaltender Dominik Hasek (464,936), defencemen Nicklas Lidstrom (817,566) and Sergei Zubov (520,498), and wingers Jaromir Jagr (903,745) and Teemu Selanne (582,074).

Leafs with an outside shot at making the World team are Dmitry Yushkevich, who ranks sixth among defencemen with 230,570 votes; and Sergei Berezin, who is ninth among wingers with 135,105 votes. With 118,459 votes, Steve Thomas ranks 13th among wingers attempting to gain a spot with the North American squad.

Jagr is on the verge of becoming the first player to top one million votes since the all-star fan balloting program began in 1985-86.

SURGING SERGEI: While some critics consider Berezin's total of 14 goals in 38 games to be disappointing, he is ahead of his 37-goal pace of a year ago. Last season, Berezin had just 11 goals in 38 games but really came on in the second half.

PERTURBED PAT: Leafs general manager/coach Pat Quinn still is bitter at the fact his club allowed a goal with just 27 seconds to play in Toronto's 2-1 win Wednesday over the New York Islanders.

It was the second time in less than a month that the Leafs had blown a shutout with under a minute to go in regulation time against the Islanders.

"I was not fit to talk to anybody right away," Quinn said yesterday. "It was like we didn't have a team out there. It was inexcusable."

WHAT PARTY? Not too many Maple Leafs are planning to party hearty tonight to usher in the new year.

One of the biggest roadblocks is the fact the Leafs will take off first thing tomorrow for Buffalo, where they will meet the Sabres at 7 p.m. The team bus is scheduled to leave at about 7 a.m.

Players such as goaltenders Joseph and Glenn Healy plan on spending the evening with their families. "My oldest kid is a nighthawk and should still be up at midnight," Joseph said.

Sundin and his girlfriend have plans to go out to dinner with linemate Jonas Hoglund.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL: When the 1990s come to an end tonight, the Leafs will have made 97 trades during the decade (pending any deals today).

The most common trading partner has been the Islanders. The nine deals completed with the Isles during the '90s netted the Leafs 10 players and five draft picks.

Bert's back on blades
Blue Jays boot game
Bombers drop Peterson
Felicien rebuilds race

Visit our Polls Archive

SLAM! Sports SLAM! Galleries Help CANOE