National Post (National Edition)
McELHINNEY EAGER FOR MORE ACTION
Curtis McElhinney is not so crazy about the Toronto Maple Leafs taking another break — five days for the coming NHL allstar weekend.
The backup goaltender has already been parked far too long, with Thursday night’s scheduled start against the Stars his first since Dec. 20. Two extended breaks by the Leafs already added to his wait to get some back-to-back game action behind Frederik Andersen, while he missed a scheduled start Dec. 29 in Denver because of a minor injury.
At least he’ll come back next week with a quick assignment, as the Leafs resume play with consecutive games against the New York Islanders and Rangers.
“It’s tough sitting around, with the little injury blip,” McElhinney conceded before Thursday. “(Risk of rust) is always there and it’s about how quickly you get a feel for the game. Dallas has a high offence and the first 10 minutes will be very important. I’m familiar with their club and what they bring to the table.”
With defencemen Nikita Zaitsev and Morgan Rielly out, McElhinney was not only facing the prospect of a tired Leaf blue line, but has not yet played with rookie Travis Dermott in front of him and has only seen newcomer Andreas Borgman a few times. “They look good. The more games you get the more comfortable you are,” said McElhinney. “Hopefully, we’ll make it work pretty quick.”
Ron Hainsey says his broken stick assist in Chicago on Wednesday was not the weirdest point he’s ever been credited with.
“I’ve had a few all the way back on the bench,” said the veteran defenceman, who vacated the Blackhawks zone when his twig snapped on a slap shot. Mitch Marner eventually scored while Hainsey’s back was turned to the play while racing for a new stick. “I could tell by the groan of the crowd that we’d scored,” Hainsey said.
His most long-distance goal was an infamous one against the Leafs, deep from his own end in October 2013 as a Carolina Hurricane. Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier thought it was going to be icing, but Hainsey’s dump took a bounce and went in.
The popular Scotiabank Pro-Am Tournament for Alzheimer’s, set for May 3-5 with 500 players, will get a warmup Friday at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto. Leaf alumni president Dan Daoust and NHLers such as Nik Antropov and Dennis Maruk will be at a noontime exhibition game with other celebs including Mayor John Tory. The Pro-Am allows top fundraisers to draft from a list of former players to be on their team this spring. More than $32 million has been raised for Toronto-based Baycrest Health Sciences during the 13 years of the tourney.
William Nylander’s gamewinning overtime goal on a penalty shot in Chicago was his first penalty shot attempt, the first such goal in extra time by a Leaf, tied the club and NHL OT speed record coming at the six-second mark and was the 12th penalty shot extra-time winner in NHL history ... Longtime equipment manager Brian Papineau has not been at his usual position beside the players bench much of this season. Papineau, with the club since the late 1980s, has had some health issues and the team hopes he will be back at the rink at some point.