We will have a story on Jason Bast in Tuesday’s paper. The Warriors captain skated for the second time Monday, but didn’t finish practice. His fitness isn’t where it needs to be and he still isn’t cleared to take any contact.
He will get a check-up Tuesday which should give the Warriors a better idea of how close he is to returning.
Joey Kornelsen is nursing a groin injury and didn’t practice Monday. Nathan MacMaster is seeing some progress, but is still out with a concussion.
* * * *
At practice Monday, Warriors head coach Dave Hunchak hadn’t decided on a starting goaltender for Tuesday’s contest against the Swift Current Broncos.
Hunchak praised the play of Brandon Glover in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win in Edmonton. He noted that Glover made some big saves in the first periods before the Warriors took over in the third period and rendered him a spectator for the most part.
* * * *
Czech forward Jakub Herman was healthy scratched Saturday night in Edmonton. This is the second time Herman has been scratched when the Warriors were already playing with fewer than 12 forwards.
Saturday Hunchak put defencemen Clinton Atkinson and Kevin Smith on the wings with Corey Scott and was fairly pleased with how the unorthodox unit worked.
Patience is a must with imports in their first season. It’s a big learning curve in a lot of respects, but Herman being healthy scratched in favour of playing defencemen out of position says a lot about where he is in his development right now.
* * * *
Former Warriors goaltender Mike Brodeur is backing up in Ottawa after the Senators starting goalie Pascal Leclaire fractured his cheekbone after being hit with a shot while sitting on the bench.
Brodeur was part of the 2003-04 edition of the Warriors that remains — in my opinion at least — the most talented team in franchise history.
Should Brodeur get in a game while up with the big club, he would become the ninth member of that 03-04 team to play an NHL. That’s a phenomenal number.
The others to play in the NHL, in case you were wondering, are Kyle Brodziak, Troy Brouwer, Tomas Fleischmann, Dustin Boyd, Kenndal McArdle, Masi Marjamaki, Aaron Rome and Johnny Boychuk.
That team doesn’t get their due in part because they didn’t get past the second round of the playoffs.
They played a great seven-game series with the Red Deer Rebels where Cam Ward basically stole the series. Ward made 53 saves in a 2-1 double-overtime win in the Civic Centre in Game 6 in a phenomenal performance. In Game 7 Ward made 37 saves to earn the shutout win.
Ward stopped 90 of 91 shots against a team that featured six future NHL forwards all while facing elimination.
No disrespect intended to the 2006 Eastern Conference championship team or some of the talented teams in the mid-80s, but that 03-04 team was a special team to watch.
