It’s a dry cold in the Phoenix desert; and how is Vinny’s shouder really feeling?

Posted Jan 8, 2009 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Jan 8, 2009 at 02:49 PM

Well, I finally made it to Phoenix on Wednesday afternoon, even after a 50-minute delay out of Tampa, which made it a rush to catch my connecting flight, which wound up being 45-minutes late out of Atlanta. And of course, both flights weren’t delayed until AFTER we were on board and the doors were closed, so we had to sit on the tarmac for both flights. The joys of commercial travel. No wonder the airlines get such bad customer satisfaction reports. Fortunately, we touched down safely in both instances and I didn’t check any baggage, so there was no chance of lost luggage!!!!

I’m staying at a hotel about a mile or so from where the team has been holed up since arriving here late Sunday night. The walk down this morning to their hotel wasn’t bad. There was a nice cool breeze and even with the sun out, it felt nice. With the desert mountains in the background, it made it a bit of a scenic walk as well. Although I had to wonder why I passed down furniture row, with about a dozen furniture stores and galleries on my right hand side. I’ve never seen such a thing before!!!

The team is staying in Scottsdale, which was about a 35-minute cab right from the Phoenix airport yesterday. And since the arena is on the other side of Phoenix from where we are located, it’s about 45 minutes away, so there was no morning skate. Instead the team went through a morning workout at their hotel.

I showed up just in time to catch Rick Tocchet (since the workout ended earlier than scheduled), who was talking about what kind of a difference Paul Ranger makes in the lineup. He discussed his time here in Phoenix, his relationship with Wayne Gretzky which dates back to the 1987 Canada Cup, and Vinny Lecavalier being named an All-Star today.

Mike Smith will make his 11th consecutive start in goal tonight and Tocchet said he is leaning toward giving Karri Ramo the start on Friday in Anaheim, although he said he wanted to discuss the situation one more time with goaltending coach Cap Raeder before coming to a final decision.

Paul Szczechura will once again sit out with a lower body injury, which is a leg situation that kept him out of Sunday’s game in Atlanta. Tocchet said he expects Szczechura to be in the lineup on Friday against the Ducks, but didn’t mention who would come out. Tocchet said he might look at some form of a rotation with some of the lower line players.

I also spoke to Vinny Lecavalier today about his All-Star selection, and asked him if it might be better to sit out the five days and let his shoulder rest up. His response, and I’m paraphrasing here, is that the shoulder is as good as it’s going to get for this season and that while it’s still stiff, there is no limitations on what he can do even while the ranger of motion is not at 100 percent. He said the only way for the shoulder to get really rested is during the summer, not a five-day break for the All-Star game. And as far as the wrist is concerned, it hasn’t been an issue and I can’t remember seeing him with ice on the wrist at all this season.