Gallant good to go

Brett Gallant was back in full practice mode today, feeling good and ready to go; Scott Pellerin said they’ll keep an eye on him, probably throw in a bit more contact tomorrow, but that’s a step in the right direction. They remained at six defensemen, though, with Joe Finley still out.

Among the reconfiguration of the lines: Lee-Strome-Sundstrom, of which we saw a little a few games ago, but which seems a bit more fixed at the moment. Will probably write a bit on this for Saturday’s paper, but it’s a far cry from years when it seemed as if there weren’t enough centermen to go around; now they’re at a point where they feel fine moving one of their top-two to the wing.

The others: Persson-Wetmore-Halmo, Diamond-Miller-Larson, Gallant-Clark-Johnson-Quine.

Another goal for Kirill Kabanov, but Stockton blew a 2-0 lead and lost 4-2 to Ontario last night. Parker Milner made 23 saves in his pro debut, and the last goal was an empty-netter. The Thunder play again Friday, then are off for a week.

Assorted links: Mark Arcobello is turning heads. … The Portland Maine Lewiston Pirates of Saco? … Manny Malhotra, folks.

Think I got this from Chris Jones: An oral history of the 1989 World Series. Neat stories.

And RIP, Bill Mazer.

Michael Fornabaio