December 12th

Shamu Injured

The Vancouver Canucks have listed goaltender Roberto Luongo as day-to-day with a rib contusion while forward Brendan Morrison's NHL iron man streak is in jeopardy due to a wrist injury. The Canucks will probably also be without forward Brad Isbister when they play the Anaheim (LA) Ducks on Wednesday night at Honda Center as Isbister strained his hamstring in Mondays 4-2 loss to the KIngs.

Luongo suffered his rib injury when he was hit by a shot in a loss against the Wild on Dec. 2, but played three nights later in Chicago and also on Sunday against the Penguins. He took the warmup against the Kings Monday but decided he was too sore to play. Curtis Sanford is expected to start in goal Wednesday against the Ducks.

Morrison has been playing most of the season with a sore wrist and returned to Vancouver for an MRI Tuesday and the results should be known late Wednesday morning. The 32-year-old forward has eight goals and 12 assists in 30 games this season, and has played 542 consecutive NHL games, the longest current streak in the NHL. The all-time record is 946 held by the Montreal Canadiens Doug Jarvis.


Poile named Preds Pres of Ops

The new owners of the Nashville Predators wasted little time showing who's in charge, promoting current general manager David Poile to president of hockey operations on Tuesday. Lead owner David Freeman, who took over operation of the team and management of the team's arena on Friday, the same day teh team's $193 million purchase of the team was finalized, also moved Ed Lang to president of business operations.

Freeman said the new owners wanted to send the message the Predators are ready to go.

Poile said the moves signals the start of a new day, after six months of uncertainty and limbo because of original owner Craig Leipold's decision to sell the franchise.


Four NHLers Skating on Heated Blades

Heated skate blades that are supposed to enhance performance are being used by four anonymous NHL players. The four teams they play for asked that their names be kept secret so the Thermablades on their feet didn't draw media attention and their use become a distraction, says Kris King, the NHL's Toronto-based senior manager of hockey operations.

The product is manufactured by the Quebec, Ca. company Therma Blade Inc., and both the NHL and the NHL Players' Association are assessing the experiment of using them in NHL games. King says he's found no problems after conducting follow-ups with the four players who have been skating on them for several weeks now and their equipment managers. He's waiting for the players' association to complete its evaluation. The two groups will then huddle and decide whether to conduct further tests in conjunction with the company.

Thermablades use a rechargeable battery and microprocessor to maintain a blade temperature of 37 F (5 C). The slight heat is enough to increase the thickness of the water layer between the blade and the ice surface, and the company says its tests have shown this reduces gliding friction and starting resistance for skaters. Therma Blade Inc. president Patrick Francey said during an Oct. 16 news conference at the Hockey Hall of Fame that he believes use of the heated blades will have a significant impact on performance. The batteries last for about two games. Fingers placed on sensors on either side of the rear of the plastic blade holder for three seconds activates the battery to signal the sensor to warm the blade. The system turns off automatically when a player is idle on the bench, and the energy of returning to the ice reactivates the system.

The blades are available in adult sizes in specialty stores at $399.99 retail. Buyers have to get them installed on their skate boots.


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