Rolston likely to return; Looks like Clemmer again

Devils coach Brent Sutter said he's "assuming" Brian Rolston will play in Thursday's game in Philadelphia.

Rolston has been out since Oct. 16 with a high right ankle sprain, but practiced today for the third day in a row.

"Unless something comes up, at this point in time, I think he will be (playing)," Sutter said.

Rolston, who has missed the last 18 games after being injured in the third period of a 1-0 win in Atlanta, said he feels good to go.

"My gut feeling is I'll be in," he said.

Rolston might still have some rust to shake off after not playoing for seven weeks, but said the last three days of practice have helped.

"I'm ready," he said. "I feel good. I don't know if I'm playing tomorrow. That will be Lou (Lamoriello's) decision. I feel real good. I've had three practices with the team. Obviously there are some things that I'm going to continue to try to get better at. It's kind of a like a training camp all over for me. But, for the most part, I feel sharp. My ankle gave me no problems today at all. I'm excited about starting to play and getting into the routine again of playing hockey."

***
Although Sutter declined to answer which goaltender will play against the Flyers, it looks like Scott Clemmensen will start again. He was the first goaltender off the ice at the end of today's practice. So far, that has been a 100 percent accurate indicator of which goaltender will play.

Clemmensen would not say if he knew if he was playing. He has started the last three games and six of the last seven.

I joked that I have to ask him before every game just in case today is the day he finally answers the question.

"Today is not the day," he quipped.

***
Center Bobby Holik (broken right pinky) practiced with the team for the second day in a row and will travel with the team to Philadelphia to skate Thursday morning, but Sutter said again that Holik will not play against the Flyers. It's looking like Saturday's game in Montreal is a good possibility, though.

***
Sutter on why rookie defenseman Anssi Salmela was sent down to Lowell today and Jay Leach was called up to play in Thursday's game:

"It gives you a different look on defense, one, and also with Brian being healthy you cover that spot on the power play. That was one of the reasons why we went and got him this summer. It gives us a different element on defnese. That's not nothing against anybody else, but it gives us some size back there and when (Leach has) played the last few games he's been here, he's played very well. You're always looking for the right mix."

***
Sutter said "it's possible" he'll use five forwards on the first power-play unit on Thursday. The Devils practiced that today with Rolston and Jamie Langenbrunner on the points and Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and Patrik Elias up front.

That could prove dangerous against a Flyers team that leads the NHL with 10 shorthanded goals.

***
Tough guy Riley Cote returned to the Flyers' lineup on Tuesday after missing 12 games with a torn oblique muscle. Devils enforcer Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond said he won't be looking for revenge on Cote, however, for his boarding penalty on Oct. 25 which might have caused the cracked orbital bone that sidelined Leblond earlier this season.

"We don't know what caused it. I finished the game," Leblond said. "I'm not going to think about that. I just want to play my best game."

Leblond, a Levis, Quebec native, admitted that one of the reasons he wants to play well on Thursday is to earn a spot in the lineup Saturday in Montreal. It would be his first NHL game in his native province.

His family has been scrambling to try to get tickets since Leblond was called up on Monday, but he said, "There are no tickets. It's all sold out. There's some on-line, but they're $500."

Hopefully, if Leblond plays Saturday, some of his teammates will help him out.

***
I asked some of the players and Sutter whether they were worried about returning to Wachovia Center after the smoke bomb incident during their last visit on Oct. 25. None of them were worried. In fact, they all seemed to have forgotten about it until I brought it up.

"I don't worry about it," Sutter said. "Was it disturbing at the time? Absolutely. It's something you don't like to see happen. But, am I sitting here thinking about it? No. I haven't thought about it since we came back, since it happened. At the time, it's not something you like to see happen in any building, at any time."

***
Flyers center Daniel Briere is out four to five weeks with a groin strain.

Comments

[embo slice]

i feel bad for weekes...and i can't be the only one

[Pearl Jammed]

Well whoever it is, we need to step it up! thanks for the updates TG...

One more thing... whats with all the animosity here today?

[modnarm]

ditto

[Jeff in Hoboken]

Weekes deserves more of a chance to play. That Rangers game was more of a defensive collapse than a problem with goaltending.

[SonicDude]

ditti

re your animosity question >>> today? how about too many 20 year old posters.

bummed for weekes and anssi. a previous post about why is BB here and anssi not was right on the mark.

[Craigwell]

Yes, I'm surprised Weekes doesn't get another crack Thursday.

[bence174]

I agree, play Weekes.

[Kevin]

bad move by sutter if this is true.

weekes deserves a shot to play, and now there isn't even the excuse that we are on a win streak riding the hot goalie

[Pearl Jammed]

i agree Jeff.... Weekes is just as good a Player as Clemmer, and he has more experience as a starter as well. Clearly Weekes' worst game was the Ranger game but he can't shoulder all the blame for that one. The whole team quit on him and stopped skating, and when you stop skating and stand around in the Defensive zone your going to get a similar result to that game 9 times out of 10

[Jill]

I'm shocked about Clemmer. Dumb move, after a loss I understand trying to get him his confidence back by putting him in there keeping him fresh, but Weekes is just sitting on the sidelines rotting and his confidence is probably depleting.

[Pearl Jammed]

today its really bad, there is really no need for all the harsh comments, because in the end were all here reading this for one thing, constant and accurate Devils news. Which means.... WERE ALL DEVILS FANS HERE, why argue? i know i have been guilty of going back and forth with a disagreement but i try to keep the name calling out of it, and i think we should all try to be a little more Marty Brodeur and a little less Sean Avery, meaning lets just ignore it and not talk back when someone feels the need to name call, and not lash back out. This may offend some people but it is true... Arguing over the internet is like winning the special olympics, even if you win your still retarded

[qsurf99]

must be a black thing...

[ZM]

The problem with Weekes is that it seems like he needs a few starts in a row to get his feet under him. Clemmer has been the hot hand so far, even with the loss against Pitt. That being said, I seriously doubt that the Devils will ride Clemmer as hard as they rode Brodeur. Weekes will get his starts, certainly, but why tinker with Clemmer when the team has been playing well?

[embo slice]

he did give up a bad goal in that ranger game but come on...there were two 5-3's for nearly the full 2 mins and the team stopped playing towards the end of the 1st period and never picked it back up.....this pisses me off....when weekes finally gets another shot...it will be atleast over 2 weeks...probably 10, and he will look rusty, not play well, and have to wait till next year to get another chance

[mike in pa]

Sonicdude, being a 20 year old poster I'm deeply offended (I kid...) Joking aside...i think a lot of it is also armchair GM's that only go off of the ratings in NHL 09 and how well they recognize a name as opposed to people watching the games and seeing for themselves. When they have no argument or anything good to say they get confrontational. For anyone paying attention they can see that clemmesen has been steadier than weekes, especially when you look at controlling rebounds (I look back to the horrible buffalo game when weekes was leaving fat ones all game). The biggest concern about clemmer is that it seems like hes prone to at least one softie and one real bad 10 minute stretch per game.

[embo slice]

in that buffalo game...it should have been 10-0 after the 1st if not for weekes.....the team played like crap...probably cuz they just found out about marty's injury...if i'm not mistaken, that was a monday night game and the news came out to all of us the next morning

[RG9]

He has given up a lot of bad goals and when Weeksie was played it just turned out to be a losing game. Weeksie will obviously play cause we still have three months at least till brodeur gets back but her better be played soon if we want to depend on him ever

[Sarah]

Just...ugh. Poor Weeksie.

[Kevin]

Yeah, agreed Mike... Watching Weekes play at the Rock a few weeks ago I saw a guy who wasn't sharp. Clemmensen is not a great goalie, but he's solid and if he doesn't make too many mistakes, he gives ythe team a chance. With the exception of the Buff game for Weekes, I would argue he has yet to play a solid game.

[Zack]

I'm with you TG, 5 forwards on the PP against a team with 10 SHGs already in the year? Biiiiiig mistake if it does happen.

[embo slice]

saturdays game in MONTREAL for holik, c'mon TG, get with it.....j/k

[Pearl Jammed]

Well said Mike in PA...

One more thing, Sean Avery's thought process RIGHT NOW.....
"Well i am suspended, i guess i finally have time for my annual OB/GYN appointment. THANK GOD the itch is really getting to me"

[Brodeur30]

I don't mind leach staying with the team, but if Sutter had any balls at all he'd bench Colin White. Despite his size, he's soft and gets walked around constantly. Kinda sad that we have to put up with him for another 3 years after this one. Especially for 3 mill/yr.

People can say what they want about Salmela only having 3 assists, but at least the guy finds the net with his shot. Langenbrunner QBing the PP is a complete joke. Very few of his shots actually end up on goal. I hope he's back up very soon. Let's not forget that Rafalski was very soft in the defensive zone as well and made plenty of mistakes. He only looks better now because he's playing with Lidstom (by far the best d-man in the league) who'll cover up for his mistakes.

I'm not even going to comment on Brookbank still bring in the lineup. The worst part was seeing all the chances in the 3rd against pitt wind up on his stick. Great shot sheldon...you fanned on two and missed the net on countless others. Yeah yeah, he brings toughness to the fourth line. Great, surely that'll make a difference in the 4 mins/game they get.

[mike in pa]

I dont disagree that the team played poorly in the Buffalo game, but there were a lot of rebounds that he left dead in the slot, yes he saved a large amount of those rebounds...but my point is they were still there, and hes not going to save them like that on a nightly basis. Clemmer seems to get those rebounds to the corners much better than Weekes does, which is a clear advangtage to having him in net.

[Tom Gulitti]

Sorry. Must have Philadelphia on the brain. I know the game Saturday is in Montreal (I mentioned it later in writing about Leblond). I have corrected it.