Hockey

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Stajan hurts from head hit, but puts blame on himself

By: Around The NHL

22/12/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

MATT Stajan woke up on Sunday morning with a bump on his nose, a scrape on his left cheek and a stiff neck.

The bump and the scrape were courtesy of Stajan's visor, which crashed into his face after the Boston Bruins' Johnny Boychuk levelled the Toronto Maple Leafs forward with a head-rattling open-ice hit Saturday night. The blow also left Stajan with a stiff neck, and a lot to think about.

"Looking at it, yes, I had my head down. I was looking at a pass and I turned up and there he was. He got me in the head. He left his feet, but at the end of the day, there are plays in hockey, what else could you have done there?" Stajan said Monday. "I think it should be the ref's discretion whether it is intent for the head. I think that one could be argued both ways. Yes, he hit my head, but I am not going to sit here and say that was his intent.

"But I know he was trying to hit me hard. I am kind of in the middle. You see hits like that all the time. At the end of the day, I turned into him with my head down."

Rangers' Redden longs

to get back in the zone

WADE Redden returned to the New York Rangers lineup Monday night after watching the past two contests from the press box as a healthy scratch.

The veteran blue-liner, with a US$6.5-million salary-cap hit through 2014, knows he has to be better to keep his roster spot. In 28 games, Redden has one goal, five assists and is a minus-1.

"It's not one thing; I think it's everything," he told the New York Daily News after Monday's morning skate prior to the Rangers' game against the Carolina Hurricanes. "There a certain feeling when things are going well, and you've just got to find a way to get into that zone. When you're mentally ready, everything just falls into place; you can react, you're not out there thinking about things, you read and react and not taking that half-second to think about it. You're just going. That's what I've got to bring."

If you're hot, you're in net

THE Columbus Blue Jackets have adopted a two-goaltender system for the time being.

Head coach Ken Hitchcock said Sunday he will go with the hot hand, meaning both Mathieu Garon and Steve Mason will see action.

"Win and you're in," Hitchcock told the Columbus Dispatch. "That's just where we're at now. If a guy wins, he gets to keep going. We can't wait any longer to get going."

The Blue Jackets have just one win in their past 10 games and have fallen to 14th place in the Western Conference standings.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 22, 2009 C8

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