Papineau finished with proving ground

Justin Papineau torched the Boston Bruins for five goals in one pre-season game last September. Not long after, he found himself with the Worcester IceCats for the third straight year. The 23-year-old center was more than a tad disappointed with the St. Louis Blues’ decision. “I lost a bit of confidence after that happened,” Papineau said. “But I said to myself, ‘You can’t sit on that five-goal game. Go to the minors and prove that wasn’t a fluke by putting the puck in the net again in the AHL.’ “ Papineau did just that, scoring 21 times for Don Granato’s IceCats in 44 games. He was recalled to St. Louis four times and managed two goals and an assist in 11 games, but eventually found himself back in Worcester. At least until a March…

McCabe’s knee woes taking longer to heal

For the Maple Leafs and defenseman Bryan McCabe, the supposed “safe route” turned out to be the one fraught with the most peril. When McCabe tore the meniscus in his left knee during an off-season workout, the team opted for rehabilitation over surgery and the 28-year-old was expected to be back in the lineup for the season’s start. But when the injury hadn’t healed in late September, he underwent arthroscopic surgery and was expected to be out of the lineup until mid-November. Had McCabe had the surgery immediately, he would have been ready for the start of the season, but McCabe wasn’t pointing a finger at the team’s medical staff. “There was a very good chance it was going to heal on its own and I was that five per cent that didn’t…

NOTEBOOK

The Lakeland Loggerheads may be new to the World Hockey Association 2, but so far they’re the only team in the six-team league to target Canadian players with four days of tryouts in Montreal and Toronto in early October. Loggerheads owner/coach Rick Ladouceur, who sold his ownership share in the Ottawa Jr. B Senators, said he hopes to find at least 10 Canadian players to attend the team’s camp in Lakeland, Fla. “The whole idea is with Toronto and Montreal being so big, that there’d be a lot of players looking for places to play,” he said.…

‘B’ PARTY