Matt Stajan, left, Alexei Ponikarovsky, centre, and Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate a goal against the Atlanta Thrashers December 7, 2009 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Abelimages
The majority of the Toronto Maple Leafs weren't touching questions about their opponent's messy financial situation, but the ever-personable Mike Komisarek didn't seem to mind wading in on the topic of the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday.
While he acknowledged that he's not up to date on all of the team's ownership issues, Komisarek said that players realize the dire situation in Phoenix could very well affect their bottom line given salaries are tied to NHL revenues via an escrow system.
"It seems like every week something is coming out," Komisarek said. "Hopefully they'll resolve the situation. I don't know, I mean, I haven't really been too focused on it.
"Hopefully it works out down there for them. I don't know if they're going to keep the team there or relocate. It's out of my hands. Obviously now, with escrow and stuff like that, you want profitable, successful franchises. The big question is 'is that the right situation down there?'
"It's not for me to figure out."
What Komisarek and the suddenly hot Leafs are more focused on is trying to beat the Coyotes on the ice. Phoenix, buoyed by strong goaltending and coaching, is among the playoff teams in the tough Western Conference, and should give Toronto a tough test given their stifling defensive play.
Having faced his teams often when current Coyotes coach Dave Tippett coached the Dallas Stars, Leafs coach Ron Wilson said he's well aware what to expect from the Coyotes.
"Tipp is known for being one of the best defensive coaches, technically and tactically," Wilson said. "I'm anticipating a low-scoring game tonight and a tight game. Almost every game I've coached against Tipp, that's what it turns out to be.
"I think one year in San Jose, in our eight games [against the Stars] seven of them went to overtime or a shootout. They're usually tight games and the difference is one break or another."
Wilson added that he wasn't surprised the Coyotes' off-ice turmoil hasn't affected the team's play so far this season.
"I'm glad that they've found a group that can keep the team in Phoenix," Wilson said, referring to a pending purchase of the Coyotes by Ice Edge Holdings. "They're doing their part on the ice now, starting to win, and as everything settles down, that'll translate [into more fans]"
Getting the starts in goal Wednesday night will be Vesa Toskala for the Leafs and Ilya Bryzgalov for the Coyotes. With six wins in its past eight games, Toronto will not make any changes to its lineup, meaning defenceman Luke Schenn will be a healthy scratch for the third game in a row.
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Coyotes captain Shane Doan drew by far the biggest media throng at Wednesday's game-day scrum, fielding questions on everything from the sparse crowds in Glendale, Ariz., to what comes next for the only franchise he's ever played for.
Here are a few of his more interesting observations:
"Everyone seemed to expect us to be struggling, I think everyone picked us to finish last. As a group, we really didn't see that. We saw last year, other than for about three weeks, we were in fifth at the all-star break, and for three weeks after that, we dropped the ball and that's what put us in the situation we were in."
"We thought we could win, we really did … we think we can win more than we have so far and can be better yet."
"The fans - that's a lot of ask of them to come out to the building when they don't know if the team's going to be back. I was in Winnipeg when we went through it the first time and that's a great hockey market, Canadian town, everyone loves hockey there, and there wasn't a lot of fans there that [last]year either. That was tough. It's a difficult situation for anyone to go through when your team is leaving."
"Hopefully [new ownership]can get everything settled, and then we'll see how things turn around [in terms of attendance] When we get everything settled and we prove we're actually a team that's competitive and can win, we'll see how they do. That's when I think the judgment will be."
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Leave it to Bryzgalov to bring a little levity.
The quirky Russian netminder strolled into the Coyotes dressing room on Wednesday and announced he had a question for the gathered media.
"How much does marble cost, per square foot, in Canada?" he said.
It turns out he was serious, at least in part, as the marble is for his (apparently lavish) home in Moscow. Bryzgalov didn't get a lot of answers, likely due to the fact those in the media aren't taking home close to the $4.25-million (U.S.) he brings in a year.
While most players tend to get out of the dressing room as quickly as they can when in Toronto, Bryzgalov spent the better part of 15 minutes in street clothes conversing with Leafs reporters about nothing in particular.
He said he has been trying to not think about the Olympics in February despite the fact he's a strong candidate to start for Russia given his numbers this season.
Bryzgalov added that playing in the Pacific Division is a tough haul given the competition every night and that he can't afford to look beyond the Coyotes' next game.
"There are four teams in our division that can make the playoffs," he said.
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Leafs enforcer Colton Orr will be fit to play in this one - albeit with a visor after taking a big blow to his left eye in a fight with Ottawa Senators defenceman Matt Carkner in Monday's 3-2 win. Orr was sporting a huge black eye at the game-day skate but grumbled that he would be okay.
Like any fighter, he wasn't keen on reliving the details of what happened in his losing bout. Orr did say, however, that Wednesday night would be his first game wearing a visor since junior.
Fighting, however, is probably out of the question.
"Colton should be fine," Wilson said. "It looks uglier than it is."
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Probably the most excited player in either dressing room was Coyotes forward Paul Bissonnette, a Welland, Ont., native playing his first NHL game in Toronto.
Bissonnette's father will be in attendance, but the Phoenix pugilist may not have anyone to tangle with tonight given Orr's injury.
"My dad's first NHL game seeing me play," Bissonnette said. "It's cool, you know, he's really proud. You want to see your kid play in the National Hockey League and tonight he gets to live that out."
Bissonnette had some kind words for Orr as well.
"He's a tough cookie man, that guy's a gamer," he said. "I remember coming into the league, you ask me who the toughest guy is in the league and Colton Orr was one of them."