I was able to attend practice today and while the lines were the same as in the past several games, there were a few things to report.
Joe Corvo is traveling with the team to New York and could play tomorrow night. The team will probably make a decision about him after the morning skate. Corvo participated in normal drills during the practice and fit right in. There was no word on who would be the odd man out if he returned to the lineup. More about this tomorrow.
Erik Cole was skating with the team in the yellow, "no contact" jersey. Coach Maurice said that he would be out for at least another week and would not travel with the team. There was no update on his status, but he looked okay on the ice as much as one could tell.
I asked Tuomo Ruutu what his status was, after which Aaron Ward replied, "He's single and available!". The forward laughed and said he was feeling better everyday. "I won't be able to play for another week, but I'm getting close."
Good news for Ruutu fans, but he will be staying home on this short trip. He skated with Cole when practice was over.
Manny Legace was back out on the ice and has recovered from his bout of "pink eye." I asked Maurice if he planned on splitting time between the goalkeepers this coming back-to-back sequence, but look for Cam Ward to start both games.
"It's tough because I really like Cam Ward's game in a back-to-back. And he can't play the second game unless he plays the first one, so we will see." The coach was not definitive, but read into this as you may. "He just had a couple of days off, so he should be okay. But we have a lot of games coming up and Manny should see some action soon."
The team was loose and looked ready to go to New York.
There was no update concerning the bid for the All Star game or the River Rats possible relocation. I asked a few other questions for an article I'm working on tonight. More on that later.