NEWS OF MAPLE LEAFS
Last Update:
Wednesday December 30, 1998 5:57PM EST
Wednesday December 30, 1998 Sees his ailing father
Dimitri Yushkevich yesterday rejoined the Maple Leafs yesterday after a gruelling trek back to Russia to visit his ailing father.
Doctor's have given Yushkevich's dad, Sergei, a 50-50 chance of surviving surgery to have a tumour removed from his brain.
"We changed the surgery date to Jan. 5, which is good because doctors are people, too, and they like to celebrate during the holidays," Yushkevich said.
"He's taking some really strong medicine to relieve the pain and keep him relaxed."
Yushkevich said that while his father tries to maintain a sense of humour about his plight, "he can barely walk and he talks very slowly." He has been hopitalized for weeks.
Yushkevich flew to Moscow on Dec. 24, then drove a car for 10 hours to his father's home in Cherpovetc, 1,000 kilometres northwest of the Russian capital.
"The doctors said it's really hard to do this kind of operation on someone who is down emotionally," the defenceman said. "Hopefully, seeing me will help raise his spirits.
"It was nice of the (Leafs) organization to let me go. Before I felt really bad about everything that was happening. Now, I feel a lot better."
Monday December 28, 1998 No quit in Warriner: Beleaguered winger wants to stay with the Leafs
For four years, Todd Warriner's stall has been located perilously close to the door of the Maple Leafs dressing room.
Today, with his 25th birthday approaching, the exit never has seemed nearer. Though it is no secret Warriner has been shopped intermittently during the past few years, agent Don Meehan now has the blessing of Leafs management to arrange his own deal for the winger.
However, Warriner insists he wants one more chance before turning in his Leafs sweater. He and Mats Sundin are the longest-serving Leafs, outside of absent Felix Potvin, having arrived from the Nordiques in the same trade on June 28, 1994.
While Sundin has grown into the captaincy, Warriner is in danger of becoming a footnote.
"They've been four pretty lean years here," Warriner said yesterday as gazed around the room. "But I don't want to quit on things now. I'm as good a player as I ever was. I think I've got better with age.
"I still would like an opportunity. Nine games (this season) is not much ... playing two, missing two weeks, is tough, too."
Warriner didn't play in nine of the team's first 10 games. He made a surprise start in Philadelphia a month ago and responded with a goal and assist, but head coach Pat Quinn took him out a game later.
Four different Toronto coaches have now passed judgment on Warriner. The former first-round draft pick often titillated with bursts of speed, power and scoring touch, only to have his game fall back to a level of mediocrity. Last season, he was a regular and then missed 27 games with a bruised thigh.
During the past few years, the Leafs have rebuilt their flanks with Steve Thomas, Fredrik Modin, Sergei Berezin, Igor Korolev, Mike Johnson, Tie Domi, Derek and Kris King and Garry Valk.
With the Leafs fighting for first overall and leading the National Hockey League in goals scored, Warriner has not shown he deserves ice time ahead of the other wingers.
"People can say what they want about me," Warriner said. "You have to ask more of yourself as a player. I think I have a lot more to do in this league before I'm finished."
The Leafs were hoping to deal Warriner in conjunction with a Potvin trade. But, with the resumption of trade talks on Monday after the holiday freeze, Meehan has not had any more success than associate general manager Mike Smith.
A team looking for an extra gun down the stretch may look at Warriner, who is cheap at $412,750 US this season. But Warriner won't buy the theory a change of scenery will cure his problems.
"Who knows where I might end up?" Warriner said. "I may never get this kind of opportunity again. Especially this year. This is the kind of hockey I'm best suited for. If I can get in the lineup and stay, that would be a help.
"This is home for me. I'm from southern Ontario (Blenheim). I wouldn't (fight a trade), but we are finally on the verge of accomplishing something here."
The Leafs held a second spirited workout at De La Salle College yesterday before returning to the Gardens to prepare for back-to-back games against Anaheim tomorrow and in Detroit on New Year's Eve.
Thursday December 17, 1998 Markov out two to four weeks
Maple Leafs defenceman Daniil Markov will be sidelined from two to four weeks with a separated shoulder.
Markov, 22, already has missed eight games due to back spasms and broken toes. He was slammed into the glass by Dallas Drake during a 5-2 victory Wednesday night over the Phoenix Coyotes.
"He's a reckless guy," said coach Pat Quinn. "He loves to play, and that's one of the great things about him, and maybe he'll start to say to himself, 'How do I keep playing?'
"Maybe his behaviour will change a little bit. But players hear about one word in 11 that a coach says."
Markov is getting better at chasing the puck, said Quinn, but he still rushes towards trouble.
"The hard part is to explain that, 'You'll get the puck back if you work with the other guys. If you're trying to chase it all over the place, they don't know what the hell is going on.'"
Defenceman Dmitri Yushkevich has missed three games with a strained groin. Now Markov is back out of the lineup.
Saturday December 12, 1998 Lightning bolts on the Cat
It was another case of shift or get off the Potvin.
The Tampa Bay Lightning chose the latter yesterday, as the trade talks involving Felix Potvin for Mikael Renberg broke down to the point of extinction.
An old Potvin suitor -- the New York Islanders -- has resurfaced according to two sources, but there's nothing substantial on the table yet.
"I called (Leafs associate general manager) Mike Smith this morning and told him the price is too high for us," Tampa general manager and coach Jacques Demers told the Tampa Tribune yesterday.
Disappointment on the Leafs' end, from the oft-spurned Smith to the totally deflated Potvin camp, was quite evident.
"They danced with Tampa for more than a week," Potvin's agent Jay Fee said with a grumble, "and they couldn't creatively close their differences once again. They waited too long. At this point, I'm not surprised."
Potvin could wind up sitting at home near Montreal until the New Year, losing more than $14,000 US a day from his $2.7-million US contract.
Smith, returning to Toronto today after spending three weeks in the Boston area with his ailing wife, wouldn't say talks are finished. But with no call from Demers as of last night to rekindle discussions, he wasn't optimistic about salvaging a deal.
Demers wouldn't budge on frequent Smith requests to sweeten the pot with players such as defenceman Cory Cross or a second-round draft pick. With Renberg getting plenty of attention from clubs such as Philadelphia, and his importance to the weak Lightning offence becoming more evident, Demers got cold feet.
Hits another wall
"Talks (with Tampa) have cooled ... It's a combination of things," Smith said.
Asked how he felt about hitting yet another wall, Smith said: "I'm beyond the point of being encouraged, discouraged or surprised. There are other (teams), but the talk is at the staging level. They're building a platform to a deal."
He did not immediately react to a question about the Isles' involvement.
"I've not commented on what teams are involved since this started and see no reason to start now."
Demers said he didn't drop the Leafs to deal with the Flyers, who hoped to pull off some kind of swap involving Renberg for Chris Gratton. "We're not going there right now," Demers said.
The Islanders had professed to be uninterested in Potvin since the summer, having invested in Tommy Salo's future by bringing goaltender coach Stefan Lunnar in from Sweden.
But now the Isles, who have lost six consecutive games, have the second worst goals-against average in the Eastern Conference and are four points from the cellar.