Friday, February 1, 2002
Canada's injured must decide own fate
By LANCE HORNBY -- Toronto Sun
Team Canada's goaltending, injuries and forward lines were discussed yesterday at a meeting of the coaching staff and executive director Wayne Gretzky at a Los Angeles hotel.
Bob Nicholson, president of the Canadian Hockey Association and a member of the selection committee, said no firm decision was reached on replacing injured players such as New York Rangers centre Eric Lindros.
"If a player can't play to capacity, it is not for us to decide. It is for him," Nicholson said.
The committee does not have any firm medical evidence yet on any injured players, but a final decision should come in the next couple of days.
The first and second goaltenders, meanwhile, should be identified during the all-star weekend, with Gretzky making that announcement perhaps as early as today.
There also is some talk of Canada dressing fewer than the allowable 22 players for a game in order to streamline the number of defencemen on the roster who are used to playing 25 to 30 minutes a game.
NABOKOV CAN'T PLAY FOR RUSSIA:
San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov is ineligible to represent Russia in the 2002 Winter Olympics, an arbitrator ruled yesterday.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld an International Ice Hockey Federation bylaw that prohibits players from representing a country in any IIHF championship or Olympic competition and later playing for another country.
Nabokov represented Kazakhstan at the 1994 world championship.
Nabokov would have been the backup to Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin on the Russian team.
BRIEFLY:
Even though Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 was retired league-wide after he retired in 1999, the Los Angeles Kings will hold a ceremony to retire the number at the team's home opener next season ... Washington Capitals centre Jeff Halpern will require season-ending surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
-- with files from CP
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
