CAROLINA HURRICANES (17-23-6-5, 45 pts.)
vs.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (25-20-4-1, 55 pts.)
Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2003, 7:30 p.m. at RBC Center

GAME NIGHT

The defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes return to RBC Center to face Toronto at 7:30 p.m in the first game of a back-to-back set. The Hurricanes will travel to Tampa Bay following the game for tomorrow evening’s match up against the Lightning and St. Pete Times Forum. Tonight’s game will be broadcast nationally by espn2 in the United States and TSN in Canada.

PRACTICE TIMES

Jan. 29	Wednesday	RBC Center	10:30 a.m.
Jan. 30	Thursday	St. Pete Times Forum	11:30 a.m.
Jan. 31	Friday	RBC Center	11 a.m.
Feb. 2	Sunday	RecZone	TBA
Feb. 3	Monday	Logitech Ice	1:45-3:15 p.m.
Feb. 4	Tuesday	Logitech Ice	11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

ON THE AIR
Television: ESPN2 (U.S.); TSN (Canada)
Radio: WKIX 102.3 FM (Goldsboro); WKXU 101.1 FM (Raleigh); WDTF 570-AM (Raleigh); WMFD 630-AM (Wilmington); WDLZ 98.3-FM (Murfreesboro); WSJS 600-AM (Winston-Salem); WRUP 97.9-FM (New Bern/Morehead City); WSTK 910-AM (Jacksonville); WNMX 106.1 (Charlotte); WCNC 1240-AM (Elizabeth City); WZBO 1260-AM (Edenton)
Internet: www.nhl.com

CAROLINA NOTES
Hurricanes winger Jeff O’Neill has seven goals in the last 13 games and was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Jan. 16. His four-game goals streak (Jan. 3-8: 5g, 0a) was the longest this season by any Carolina player. O’Neill leads the team with 19 goals and 39 points. He ranked tied for sixth among all NHL players with six game-winning goals through games of Jan. 26. Second-year forward Erik Cole has 20 points (12g, 8a) in the last 32 games and was named to the Topps/NHL YoungStars game on Jan. 18. Josef Vasicek has three goals and an assist in the last three games.

CAROLINA AT HOME: 9-10-5-3
CAROLINA ON THE ROAD: 8-13-1-2
CAROLINA ON THE POWER PLAY: 45-of-282 (16.0%)
CAROLINA SHORTHANDED: 223-of-267 (83.5%)

CAROLINA INJURY UPDATE
Defenseman Glen Wesley is day-to-day and has missed one game due to a groin injury.
Center Rod Brind’Amour was placed on injured reserve Jan. 21 and has missed one game after hand surgery on Jan. 22.

CAROLINA / TORONTO NOTES
Tonight marks the first of four regular-season meetings between the Hurricanes and Toronto and the first time the teams have played since Carolina downed the Maple Leafs 4-2 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals series last May. Last season, the teams split the four-game regular-season series by winning one game and dropping one game on home ice. Sami Kapanen led the Hurricanes with six points (5g, 1a) in the regular-season series. Bates Battaglia (2g, 2a) and captain Ron Francis (0g, 4a) eached notched four points against the Leafs last season. Mats Sundin led all Toronto scorers in the four-game set with five points (3g, 2a). Carolina holds a 34-21-10-0 all-time record against the Maple Leafs including an 18-10-5-0 home mark and a 16-11-5-0 road record.

MAPLE LEAFS NOTES
With his goal January 17 at Washington, Mats Sundin has scored 20 goals for the ninth consecutive season in a Maple Leafs uniform. He is tied for the club record in that category with Ron Ellis and Darryl Sittler… With his 50 saves against the New Jersey Devils January 4, Ed Belfour became the first Toronto goaltender to record 50 saves in a game since Felix Potvin stopped 51 shots in a 4-4 tie February 13, 1997 at Los Angeles. Belfour ranks third in the NHL in shutouts (5-tie), fourth in save percentage (.925), fifth in wins (21-tie) and sixth in goals against average (2.15) through January 27, 2003.

SCORING LEADERS AND GOALTENDERS

HURRICANES
	GP	G	A	TP
92 O'Neill	51	19	20	39
17 Brind'Amour	48	14	23	37
10 Francis	51	18	17	35
26 Cole	51	14	12	26
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
1 Irbe	24	2.93	7-15-2	.888
80 Weekes	31	2.38	10-13-4	.920
MAPLE LEAFS
	GP	G	A	TP
89 Mogilny	44	21	29	50
13 Sundin	44	20	19	39
15 Kaberle	50	6	23	29
16 Tucker	50	7	19	26
Goalies	GP	GAA	W-L-T	SV%
20 Belfour	38	2.15	21-14-3	.925
32 Tellqvist	3	2.79	1-1-0	.895
37 Kidd	11	3.43	3-6-1	.885