January 14th

SPEZZA HURT IN SENS LOSS

Not only did the Ottawa Senators lose to the New York Islanders 3-1 Sunday, but they also lost forward Jason Spezza, who left in the first period after absorbing an open-ice hit from the Isles Freddy Meyer.

Spezza has 53 points on the season, third behind Daniel Alfredsson, and Dany Heatley who is out for up to six weeks after he dislocated his shoulder in Saturdays 3-2 win over Detroit.

Spezza did return for his next shifts in the first period, but didn't come out for the second, and a team spokesman said he was held out for "precautionary measures", though there was no indication of the nature of his injury


U.S WINS INAUGURAL WOMEN'S U-18 HOCKEY TITLE

Alyssa Grogan stopped 26 of 28 shots, while Brooke Ammerman, Meagan Mangene, Kendall Koyne, Brianna Decker and Amanda Kessel each scored for the U.S., as the Americans beat the Canadiens 5-2 in the first womens world under-18 hockey championship Saturday in Calgary.

Grogan was named the tournaments top goaltender, Canadian captain Lauriane Rougeau was chosen the best defencewoman, and Marie-Phillip of Canada was given the nod as the top forward.

The Czech Republic beat Sweden 4-2 in the bronze medal game.

Attendance over the 18 games played was about 10,000 at Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary, which holds about 2,000 people,and the adjacent Norma Bush Arena, which holds about 300.


BLUES JOHNSON OUT FOR SEASON

St. Louis Blues veteran forward Mike Johnson will undergo season-ending surgery on his left shoulder this week to repair a torn labrum.

The 33-year-old right wing, signed as a free agent on Oct. 4, hasn't played since hurting his shoulder in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 2.

Johnson has two goal and three assists in 21 games this season, and in 661 career-regular season games with the Blues, Montreal, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, and Toronto has 129 goals and 375 points.


BOWMAN SAYS LEAFS TURNED HIM DOWN

In an interview Saturday with CBC's Hockey Night in Canada's Ron MacLean, legendary coach Scotty Bowman said he discussed a possible senior adviser's job with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president Richard Peddie called off the talks in September, not the other way around.

The Leafs made the unusual announcement in the offseason that they were seeking someone to oversee embattled general manager John Ferguson. Speculation was that Bowman, a paid consultant to the Detroit Red Wings, was the team's first choice. But the talks never progressed to the point of a formal offer, and Bowman said he wished to return to the Red Wings, making it appear to some as if he'd walked away from the Leafs.

Bowman told MacLean in the interview that he wasn't sure why the Leafs decided not to hire him, but admitted that he asked for a degree of control over the team similar to that enjoyed by Bryan Colangelo, the president and GM of the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment owned Toronto Raptors of the NBA. Bowman went on to say that Leafs might have been concerned about how much time he was going to be able to spend on the Job, and that he currently speaks with Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and GM Ken Holland Daily.

Current Leafs GM John Ferguson was rumoured to be close to getting his pink slip in late November, when Richard Peddie said in a published report that he'd made 'a mistake' in hiring the first-time GM. Toronto, though, has briefly turned its fortunes around and no changes were made. Recently the Leafs have won just one of their last nine games and are in danger of altogether falling out of the Eastern Conference playoff race, and if that trend contuines there is the possibility that the Leafs brain trust could make changes before the season ends.

Scotty Bowman, a winner of a record nine Stanley Cups as a head coach with Montreal (1973, '76, '77, '78, '79), Pittsburgh (1992) and Detroit (1997, 98, & 2000) and was noncommittal when asked if he'd still be interested if the Leafs came calling again, saying it's a pretty tough question to answer and it'd be awfully tough to leave Detroit, and we'll cross that bridge if it ever comes to that.