Winnipeg Sun
Sunday, February 17, 2002
By Kirk Penton -- Winnipeg Sun

The Manitoba Moose were in desperate need of a break last night and Don MacLean gave them one -- literally.

The Moose had squandered a 3-1 lead against the St. John's Maple Leafs in the third period, so they decided to ask referee Jason Lang to measure MacLean's stick with 4:09 to play and the AHL contest tied 3-3.

At that point, it appeared that both MacLean and fellow Maple Leaf Bob Wren intentionally broke their sticks in anticipation of an impending measurement.

Lang gave MacLean an unsportsmanlike penalty for intentionally breaking his blade and Wren was assessed a match penalty when he swung his stick at the Moose bench seconds later.

That gave the Moose a two-minute, two-man advantage and their all-star delivered. Steve Kariya, who had three assists in the AHL all-star game on Thursday night in St. John's, wired a slap shot over the shoulder of Mike Minard and gave the Moose an eventual 4-3 win in front of 8,299 at the Winnipeg Arena.

"It did work out in our favour in the end," Moose head coach Stan Smyl said of the measurement call. "It was just one of those situations ... where we thought it would give us an advantage and it did. It paid off for us."

Manitoba's season-high, four-game losing streak came to an end and the squad also jumped back into third place in the Canadian Division. The Moose (27-25-3-2) are only two points behind the second-place Maple Leafs, whom they will meet again at the Arena this afternoon at 2 o'clock.

Needless to say, both sides had different views of the events that took place with 4:09 to go in the third.

St. John's head coach Lou Crawford said Moose forward Mike Brown tried to spear one of his players as he went to the bench, prompting Wren to respond with a swing that hit the hand of Moose assistant trainer Brad Hall.

"Let's face it: The guy out there who did the job knew he didn't have a good game," said Crawford, refusing to be more specific. "He was totally confused from the time he got on the ice.

"How can you call five (minutes) there and not call a five the other way?"

Crawford added that no one saw MacLean intentionally break his stick and that it happened during the play.

Smyl saw things differently.

"Once they went out there, we requested it and then, before we knew it, two sticks were broken at the same time," he said.

Moose forward Brad Leeb, who broke a 12-game goal- and point-scoring drought in the second period, said the win was important in more ways than one.

"It's definitely an important game for us because of the time of year and how tight everything is in our division," he said. "Every game is that much more important, especially against these guys."

Todd Warriner and Josh Holden, with his second goal in three games after a two-month drought, had the other tallies for the Moose, who tied a franchise record when they allowed only one St. John's shot in the second period.

Doug Doull, Karel Pilar and Jeff Farkas replied for the Maple Leafs (25-19-12-1).



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