Amherst, NY (WGR 550) -- Patrick Lalime went through a full practice today at the Pepsi Center and proclaimed himself ready from a groin injury, "It went pretty good. I went a little on Monday and yesterday and it felt pretty good so I wanted to have a good practice today and it felt good." That means Jhonas Enroth has been sent back to Portland and likely will play tonight in the arena against Rochester. It's a game Jeremy White and I will bring you on WGR Sports Radio 550 at 7:00.
As of 1:00 today, neither Lindy Ruff or Clarke MacArthur had heard from the NHL about last night's hit on Liam Reddox. MacArthur was given a boarding penalty and was accused by Oilers coach Pat Quinn of doing it on purpose. MacArthur heard Quinn's comments on last night's post game show and said, "It upset me a little bit. I don't know what kind of view he had from back there. I mean if you watch it on the video you can clearly tell, especially on the one angle I was trying to lean in on him. It's not between me and Quinn, it's that Liam's OK, that's the main thing." He added, "It was one of those things where I don't even feel like I leaned on him that hard, he went in so quick like he lost his footing as soon as I bumped him so it was a dangerous situation and I'm glad he's OK." Over his career MacArthur has never been considered a dirty player. He said, "You can look ten years back, I never do stuff like that. I never, ever try to hit to hurt."
Tomorrow's game vs Calgary features two teams that are one win apart. The Flames have been in Montreal since Monday afternoon. Lindy Ruff is really looking forward to this game, "They're a pretty hard nosed team. They got a big, physical defense. It's tough to gain space, it's tough to buy time and part of our practice today is getting ready to compete in small areas. I think this is a great opportunity for us to make a statement, I'm real curious to see. They're a team that come after yah and don't give yah much time on your power play, they don't give you much time five on five and you don't have much room in the offensive zone."
Toni Lydman skated today, but still isn't right. Mike Grier did not as he nurses a sore ankle. Ruff would not rule him out for tomorrow, but it's not looking good. Adam Mair moved onto the fourth line and Pat Kaleta took Grier's spot with Tim Kennedy and Jochen Hecht.
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