Leafs Watch

By TIM WHARNSBY and DAVE FULLER -- Toronto Sun CAPTAIN CRUNCH: Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin, who has missed the past seven games with a fractured right foot, returned to the ice yesterday.
After another positive x-ray, Sundin skated for 10 minutes at the Air Canada Centre yesterday afternoon.
Sundin said that other than some stiffaness, his skate went well. The Leafs believe he will be ready for action in two weeks or less.
"We had a good report, that the bone is filling in quite well," Leafs general manager/coach Pat Quinn said. "We may be able to push the (recovery) schedule. But we will be cautious."
Initially, Sundin was expected to be out six weeks. He suffered the non-displaced fracture on Oct. 9 when he blocked a shot from Ottawa's Radek Bonk.

BERARD'S RETURN: Defenceman Bryan Berard returned to the Leafs lineup last night after serving his two-game suspension for elbowing St. Louis winger Geoff Courtnall in the head on Oct. 16.
"It was a long week," Berard said.
Berard, who has just two assists in his first eight games, claims the suspension won't make him tentative, even though Courtnall may be forced to retire from his second serious concussion in a year.
"You can't think about that," he said. "It was a freak accident. You just have to go out and play."

WALKING WOUNDED: The Stars were missing seven starters due to injuries, compared to the Leafs, who were only without Sundin. But their early stumbling blocks may have been a blessing in disguise.
"The last two games (2-1 victories over New Jersey and Edmonton) were the best we've played," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We went into a little turmoil, a lot of adversity, with seven different regulars out. But we have played through it, thanks to some of our young guys."
"I can't tell you these young guys (such as ex-Islander Warren Luhning and former Newmarket junior Alan Letang) will still be around in a couple of weeks but they'll be back because they've gained a lot of confidence."
The Dallas wounded included Darryl Sydor, Richard Matvichuk, Jere Lehtinen and Joe Nieuwendyk.

SLAPSHOTS: The Leafs have an 84-83-27 record against the Minnesota/Dallas franchise ... Entering play last night, Yanic Perreault was the NHL's top faceoff man, winning 59.9% of his draws (115 won, 77 lost) ... Sergei Berezin is the NHL's leading shot-taker, with 49 prior to the game last night.

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