Blues to retire MacInnis’ No. 2

NOTEBOOK

The St. Louis Blues have announced plans to retire former defenceman Al MacInnis’ No. 2.

MacInnis, who played 10 of his 23 NHL seasons in St. Louis, will be honoured on April 9 during an in- game ceremony, the team announced yesterday. The native of Port Hood, N. S., is third among defenceman alltime with 1,274 points.

“ We are extremely pleased to announce that Al MacInnis will be the last Blues player to wear No. 2,” Blues president and CEO Mark Sauer said.

It will be just the fifth number retired by St. Louis and first since the team honoured Bernie Federko’s No. 24 in 1991. KLESLA OUT AGAIN:

Columbus defenceman Rostislav Klesla was expected to miss six weeks after breaking his left hand in a fight, and was placed on injured reserve yesterday.

Klesla and St. Louis’ Eric Brewer fought after the Blue Jackets’ 3- 1 victory Wednesday.

Klesla, 23, missed the first 12 games of the season with a stress fracture in his right leg. FLEURY GETS CALL:

Former top pick Marc- Andre Fleury was recalled yesterday by Pittsburgh because of an injury to goalie Sebastien Caron.

No. 1 pick in 2003 was brought back for the second time in slightly more than a month. Caron was placed on the injured reserve list after straining a quadriceps muscle during a 5- 0 loss in Atlanta Wednesday. CANADA ROLLING:

Jeff Maund stopped 33 shots and was named player of the game yesterday as Canada beat the United States 4- 1 at the Deutschland Cup at Mannheim, Germany. Maund got his second straight start in place of injured starter Jimmy Waite, helping Canada to their second win. GREEN GOES DOWN:

The Washington Capitals assigned defenceman Mike Green to Hershey of the AHL yesterday. He appeared in 11 games and had no goals or assists. DOWNIE’S DEBUT:

Former Windsor forward Steve Downie made his debut in Peterborough last night recording an assist in the Petes’ 5- 4 win over Ottawa. Downie was also involved in a fight with 67’ s defenceman Elgin Reid in the second period.