Cullimore sits out; Welch takes his spot
Defenseman Jassen Cullimore sat out Tuesday’s game against the Predators with a hand/wrist injury, but should be ready to play in the Panthers’ next game Friday, coach Pete DeBoer said.
“He had an MRI and it doesn’t look like they see anything on it,” DeBoer said. “But we figured we’d give him the break. It’s still pretty sore.”
With Cullimore out, Noah Welch was in the lineup for the second time in three games since going down to AHL Rochester and playing seven games. DeBoer said Welch has improved.
“He has realized what we need in order for him to get in the lineup and be effective, and that’s for him to be simple and safe and physical,” DeBoer said. “When we’ve stuck him in lately, even before the two-week conditioning, he has played that way.”
Belak returnsRight wing/enforcer Wade Belak made his first appearance at BankAtlantic Center since the Panthers traded him to the Predators on Nov. 27. Belak entered Tuesday’s game with one assist in 11 games. Winger Nick Tarnasky, who came from Nashville in exchange for Belak, was a healthy scratch. Anthony Stewart took Tarnasky’s spot in the lineup.
Fateful moveThe Panthers went 7-2-2 immediately after trading Belak, who was “a casualty of the circumstances and the way we started the season,” DeBoer said. “We needed at that point of the season to shake up the team somehow.
“Everybody on our team needed to be put on notice that status quo wasn’t good enough and nobody’s job was safe.”
Holiday memoriesDeBoer’s best Christmas gift? Winning the gold medal during the holidays at the 2005 World Junior Championship with Sidney Crosby, Dion Phaneuf and Team Canada against Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and the Russians.
Others he remembers?
“When I was 5, I got a Denis Potvin autographed stick,” DeBoer said, laughing. “My kids always get me something great. Usually ties that I’ll never be seen in public with, but I wear to all the family functions.”