Sundin-less Leafs find hope in rookie

By PIERRE LeBRUN -- Canadian Press TORONTO -- One play in Wednesday night's 3-2 win over Florida had Toronto Maple Leaf fans drooling over Nikolai Antropov.
The prospect from Kazakhstan, who was called up in the wake of Mats Sundin's ankle injury, turned around in the corner and whipped a bullet of a pass to an oncoming Tomas Kaberle, who was pinching in from the point. The puck went from tape to tape and then behind goalie Sean Burke.
It was hard to tell Antropov, 19, was playing in his first NHL regular season game.
"It's a play a lot of guys can't make," Leafs head coach and GM Pat Quinn said Thursday.
High praise indeed.
If there is any silver lining in playing without Sundin for the next six weeks -- let's face it, the Leafs hope to play .500 hockey in the big Swede's absence -- it's been the addition of Antropov.
The six-foot-five, 200-pound centre could have begun the season anywhere from Moscow (Russian Elite League), to St. John's (AHL), to Brampton (OHL), to Toronto.
"No more junior," Antropov, in the little English he knows at this point, muttered Thursday when asked about where he thought he'd play this year.
He started in St. John's, mainly because the Leafs had a glut at centre, but he was Quinn's first choice to get called up once the injury bug hit.
His play on Wednesday validated the call-up.
"I wasn't surprised (that he played well), having seen him in training camp," Quinn said. "Our scouts had seen that in him."
The Leafs must thank departed executives Mike Smith and Anders Hedberg for Antropov.
They led the charge to draft Antropov 10th overall in the first round of the 1998 entry draft. At the time, nobody knew who the kid was.
Antropov's adaptation to the NHL will be made easier with the glut of Russian-born players on the Leafs roster.
He's not Russian, but he speaks their language.
Sergei Berezin, Alexander Karpovtsev, Dimitri Yushkevich, Daniil Markov and Igor Korolev will do their best to help him survive.
Karpovtsev, for one, could be seen kidding around with Antropov at practice on Thursday. The Leafs veteran, an underrated blue-liner who has become one of Toronto's most important players, says he'll keep an eye on the teenage prospect.
"He's young and I try to help young players," Karpovtsev said. "I don't care whether they're Russian or not. I'll help them out."
Berezin, the Leafs' top scoring threat with Sundin out, says he likes what he sees in the kid so far.
"He's a good, young talent," says the sniper. "I told him to stay calm, not to get nervous. It's amazing for a 19-year-old to do those things."
Yushkevich, who helped bring along Markov last year, was asked how difficult it might be for Antropov to adjust to North America until he learned to speak English.
"When I couldn't speak English (in Philadelphia), I couldn't read the papers," Yushkevich said laughing. "That was good."
Antropov's next test comes tonight in Chicago. The Blackhawks, due to a lack of apparent talent, have resigned themselves to a style of play that borders on thuggery.
But Quinn has no reservations throwing the rookie out there against a team that will punish him each chance its gets.
"There are physical teams out there," Quinn said. "You can't hide your players. ...
"In this young man's case, he's got a little bite to him. I think he'll be OK."

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