Cujo puts bite on Habs

By LANCE HORNBY -- Toronto Sun MONTREAL -- Last season, 10 general managers voted Curtis Joseph worthy of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender.
With last night's 4-1 win over the Canadiens, Joseph began a campaign to convince 18 more.
The other Maple Leaf with something to prove this season, not so much with his hands and feet as in his head, is captain Mats Sundin, who backed a summer of no-nonsense conditioning with a three-point game.
"The whole day you could tell everyone was relaxed and confident," Sundin said after his team-high 26 shifts in a variety of roles. "Our line (with Steve Thomas and Jonas Hoglund) had jump and it was good to see the relationship Stumpy (Thomas) and I had is still there.
"I'm more into the game when I kill penalties and play a lot (he was double-shifted as the Leafs went with seven defencemen)."
Toronto's first step on a return trip to the Eastern Conference final was down to Joseph in the second and third periods. He made 25 saves in all, many from close range, as both teams tested a more-lenient NHL crease rule. It was a fast-paced opener against the surprisingly scrappy Habs at the sold-out Molson Centre.
Joseph finished second to the Sabres' Dominik Hasek for the top goaltender honour last year despite getting more first-place votes. But as he said on awards' night, another 30-plus wins easily could produce some personal hardware.
"This is just one game ... consistency and longevity make a career," Joseph said. "Look at Ray Bourque (and his string of Norris Trophies as top defenceman)."
Aided by a crossbar and post, Joseph got a quick start on breaking his club record of 35 wins. Martin Rucinsky finally put the puck past Joseph at 7:02 of the third period to tighten the game at 2-1, but a few saves later and a mousehole goal under Canadiens goalie Jeff Hackett by Tomas Kaberle clinched the win.
Sundin, who had one pre-season goal and six assists, wasted little time getting on the board. Killing a penalty, he took the puck off of Barry Richter at the Leafs blue line and with a fjord of ice between himself and Hackett, pulled the latter's pads open on a backhand at 6:05 of the first. It was his ninth goal against Hackett since the 1997-98 season and was the first of five by Europeans on the night.
Hoglund, who asked a skeptical media to look at his 20 shots in pre-season rather than his one paltry assist, knocked in a Sundin rebound at 17:13 of his Leafs debut. Sergei Berezin had the Leafs' other goal.
Leafs general manager/coach Pat Quinn went with seven defencemen, though he had fretted about risking an injury to Bryan Berard, who has had only two days' practice since his holdout ended. Berard unleashed a couple of hits and got into a rare fight with Patrick Poulin, while newcomer Cory Cross got more than twice the ice time of Chris McAllister.
"We were pretty good overall, but we weren't moving the puck as well as I would have liked," Quinn said. "One of the advantages of dressing seven (defencemen) is you can take guys like Mats and Sergei and give them lots of ice. It's especially good when you play a team that checks because it frees these guys up."
Quinn did work fourth-line forwards Tie Domi and Steve Sullivan into the game early on, while Joseph and the Leafs' penalty killers closed ranks on five Montreal chances. Igor Korolev, showing no ill effects from a surgically repaired wrist, returned to centring the line with Berezin and Garry Valk.

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