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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 3069301" data-attributes="member: 2012">Young Leafs turn heads in intrasquad gameCanadian Press9/17/2006 6:58:44 PMTORONTO (CP) - There's little time to make much of an impression in training camp, but several Toronto Maple Leafs prospects were front and centre in the Blue-and-White game Sunday afternoon.Forwards John Pohl and Jeremy Williams and defenceman Andy Wozniewski scored in regulation Colin Murphy provided the sudden-death shootout winner as Team White edged Team Blue 4-3 in the annual Maple Leafs intrasquad scrimmage in front of 8,021 at Ricoh Coliseum."They (young players) need to do something, they don't have a whole lot of time," said Maple Leafs coach Paul Maurice, who watched the action from a luxury box. "They have to play at a high level right as soon as they can."Erik Westrum, on a line with 2006 first-round draft pick Jiri Tlusty and U.S. college grad Robbie Earl, scored two goals for Team Blue. Tlusty, a Czech Republic native who was the Leafs' first round draft pick (13th overall) last June, also scored."I've wanted to play in the NHL my whole life," said Westrum, a 25-year-old who led the AHL with 98 points last season. "I've been lucky enough to play 25 NHL games in my career, and I'm hoping to stick with a team."While Leafs captain Mats Sundin and other fan-favourites such as Darcy Tucker, Alex Steen and free-agent signing Mike Peca all played and were loudly cheered by the fans, it was the organization's young forwards that made the most noise on the ice."I thought there was a little bit of an edge to the game, which was nice," Maurice said. "It had a good pace in the first period, then bogged down a bit in the middle of the game. Fatigue became a bit of a factor."There was a total of 28 power plays in the game - though minor penalties were one minute in length, not the traditional two minutes - as Maurice wanted the contest to be strictly called.Team Blue was 1-for-11 with the man advantage, while Team White was 1-for-17."I met with the refs before the game and told them to call everything," Maurice said. "We have to keep our sticks on the ice and our hands off shoulders. "We wanted a lot called, we know there's going to be a lot called in the regular season."The game was tied 3-3 after regulation and overtime, and needed eight shooters aside to settle the shootout.Alexander Suglobov, Pohl, Nik Antropov and Murphy scored on Justin Pogge for Team White, while Team Blue's Alexei Ponikarovsky, Peca and Tlusty beat Mikael Tellqvist."It was fun," Tellqvist said. "Even though it's just an exhibition game, it's good to get out and play."Andrew Raycroft, who has the No. 1 job in the Leafs crease going into the season, started in goal for Team Blue and stopped nine of 11 shots before being replaced by highly regarded prospect Pogge midway through the second period.Raycroft's best moments came at the expense of Suglobov, who was robbed twice by Raycroft in the opening period. Suglobov was foiled on a breakaway, and was also denied when he tried to tip a Sundin pass past Raycroft.Pogge, meanwhile, surrendered one goal on 13 shots.For Team White, Jean-Sebastien Aubin got the start, allowing one goal on nine shots, and then gave way to Tellqvist.Aubin and Tellqvist, who gave up two goals on 22 shots, are thought to be battling for the backup job behind Raycroft."I want a guy who doesn't want to be a backup, who's looking for that opportunity to become a starter," Maurice said.Said Tellqvist: "I don't think about it too much. I just go out and do my thing and see what happens."There are only a couple of job openings at forward on the Leafs, with the competition likely to come down to grinders such as Ben Ondrus and Kris Newbury and offensive players like Pohl, Suglobov, and Jeremy Williams."There's a lot of line combos with 23 different forwards," Maurice said. "I'd like to get in as many players as I can in the first 3-4 exhibition games. It'll be a little different in the final 3-4 exhibition games."On defence, where there are two or three NHL jobs up for grabs. Stalwarts Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle played for Team White and were paired together, as they were most of last season on the Leafs blue-line. The other pairings were Brendan Bell with Brad Brown and Dominic D'Amour with Wozniewski.Free agent additions Pavel Kubina and Hal Gill both skated for Team White, although they weren't a unit.Kubina played with Staffan Kronwall while Gill was with Ian White.Jay Harrison, who's also pushing for NHL employment, and Phil Oreskovic were Team Blue's third defence pairing.Defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo, who left the ice during the Leafs' first practice last week, remains sidelined with what is thought to be post-concussion syndrome."He'll be re-evaluated tomorrow," Maurice said. "As soon as he gets the medical OK and doesn't have a headache, there's a 24-hour wait time before he can get back on the ice."Leafs assistants Keith Acton and Dallas Eakins coached Team Blue, while Randy Ladouceur and Marlies coach Greg Gilbert were behind Team White's bench.The Maple Leafs play their first pre-season game Monday when the Buffalo Sabres visit Air Canada Centre.</blockquote>

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