When Kyle Wellwood hobbled off the ice midway through practice yesterday, speculation rippled through Lakeshore Lions Arena that the shifty forward might be out for a few games.
But coach Paul Maurice quickly scuttled such talk among the naysayers, saying he expects Wellwood to be in the lineup when the Maple Leafs pay a rare visit to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Windy City tomorrow night.
"He just had some soreness," Maurice said. "He's got one of those hip flexors, groins, I don't really know which one. He should be all right.
"If he's sore, he won't practice (today). If he feels better he will. He's been on and off with this thing for a while now.
Watching injured forward Nik Antropov leave Lakeshore Lions Arena yesterday, you could not notice a significant limp.
That's because his sprained ankle has improved to the point where he hopes to be back on the ice in the near future.
"It feels pretty good," Antropov said. "It's feeling stronger and stronger every day.
"I can do a lot of things (in the gym) like shuffles, but they have not allowed me to start skating at this point as of yet. Hopefully that will come at the end of this week or next week.
"We'll just have to see."
QUOTE/UNQUOTE, PART 1
"He's not going to score enough goals for people to love him, other than coaches and other players."
-- Maurice, referring to defenceman Hal Gill.
QUOTE/UNQUOTE, PART 2
"Absolutely. Both our goaltenders have done a great job. But when you give up breakaways and things like that, it's not going to matter who's playing in net for you."
-- Captain Mats Sundin, when asked by a TV reporter if he had complete faith in goalie Andrew Raycroft.