Don't rule out a hit or two tonight

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: January 27, 2008 - 5:01 PM

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SUPERSKILLS RESULTS

TEAM SCORE: East 9, West 6

OBSTACLE COURSE RELAY: East wins 2-1

FASTEST SKATER: Team: tied 1-1; Individual: Shawn Horcoff, West (Edmonton)

ELIMINATION SHOOTOUT: Team: West wins 2-0; Individual: Dion Phaneuf, West (Calgary)

ACCURACY SHOOTING: Team: East wins 2-0; Individual: Tomas Kaberle, East (Toronto)

HARDEST SHOT: Team: East wins 2-0; Individual: Jason Arnott, West (Nashville)

BREAKAWAY CHALLENGE: Team: Tied 1-1; Individual: Ryan Getzlaf, West (Anaheim)

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ATLANTA — All-Star Games are typically no-hit affairs, so don't expect Calgary's Dion Phaneuf to go headhunting today, although he and Anaheim's Chris Pronger haven't ruled out a hit or two.

"I look forward to it," Pronger said. "It'd be an easy wake-up call, seeing somebody picking themselves up off the ice."

Flames coach Mike Keenan said he thinks the occasional All-Star Game hit isn't a bad thing.

"I remember the one All-Star Game where Mike Ramsey hit [Wayne Gretzky] and almost started a brawl," said Keenan, who coached the Wales Conference to a 4-3 victory in that 1986 game in Hartford, Conn. "Mike caught him with his head down and didn't let up and, of course, Gretz wasn't expecting it.

"The edge was on for the rest of the game."

Ramsey, the Wild assistant coach who was playing with Buffalo at the time, was stunned at the firestorm of controversy that came from his hit on the Great One.

"They made a bigger deal out of it than I thought it was," Ramsey said. "I told [the media], 'I get hit like that five times a game. Just because nobody's ever seen Gretzky hit before doesn't mean this is a big deal.'"

Gaborik comes up empty

Marian Gaborik's only fear before doing the shootout elimination and Breakaway Challenge on Saturday night was slipping and falling. "I have to think of some [moves] so I don't fall," the Wild star said. "You don't want to embarrass yourself out there."

In the shootout elimination, Gaborik deked Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, but he couldn't stick his shot wide of DiPietro's left pad. The puck trickled off the post.

In the Breakaway Challenge, Gaborik missed on both of his chances. The first he put between his legs for a pretty move, but DiPietro denied him. On the second, Gaborik streaked in, hit the brakes to spray DiPietro with ice and circled the back of the net but couldn't tuck it in on a wraparound.

In the YoungStars Game, the East beat the West 7-6. Bloomington's Erik Johnson (St. Louis) and Peter Mueller (Phoenix) scored for the West.

Etc.

• NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Wild owner Bob Naegele addressed the Board of Governors with an update on the team's sale to Craig Leipold. Daly said the approval process should begin in 45 to 60 days, and a vote, if conducted via fax or conference call, would require unanimous approval from all teams.

• The NHL will open next Oct. 4 and 5 with Ottawa and Tampa Bay playing in Stockholm and Pittsburgh and the Rangers playing in Prague, Czech Republic.

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