Legace joins old friends, new teammates

They were once teammates on the Detroit Red Wings -- Manny Legace, Aaron Ward and Ray Whitney. Now they've been reunited again with the Hurricanes.

Legace and Ward have known each other since their days in junior hockey in Canada. Whitney has been both teammate and pesky foe. And Legace, with a laugh, said he has known the Canes' Scott Walker "since he was a defenseman."

A crisis situation has put them in the same room again: Cam Ward's leg laceration that will sideline him for at least a month. Legace, signed Monday to a one-year contract, will team with Michael Leighton to try and stabilize the goaltending situation until Ward returns.

"In Detroit we had a good team and he was one of the big reasons why," said Whitney, who played for the Wings in 2003-2004. "We had Curtis Joseph and (Dominik) Hasek both out and he carried the load for three months and he did a good job.

"He plays the puck well. He's competitive, he's fast. He's streaky. He gets on a hot streak and he can carry you. He carried us in Detroit when we didn't have any business winning, and we're going to need the same thing out of him now."

The Canes hope Legace can still produce that kind of play. He's now 36 and coming to the team from the Chicago Wolves (AHL), but he also has 177 NHL wins.

"He makes some acrobatic saves," Ward said. "He's obviously got a pretty good track record. A solid NHL goalie."

But Whitney and Ward stressed the team still has a lot of confidence in Leighton, Ward's backup the last two years.

"Absolutely," Whitney said. "Mike has the opportunity, knowing there's someone else there as well that can help with the load.

"The situation isn't easy for Mike and it isn't easy for Manny to step into. It's not easy for any of us. We're fine with Michael and it may give him that relaxation that he doesn't live and die by every shot that's coming his way. He can relax and just play his game."

Although Leighton was the loser in the 3-2 defeat by the Columbus Blue Jackets after Cam Ward was injured, Aaron Ward said he was composed and made some key saves.

"It's a comforting feeling to know we have two solid guys back there," Ward said.

Speaking of freak injuries, Legace has had one of his own. In late October of last year, with the St. Louis Blues, he was hurt stepping onto a red carpet placed on the ice for vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to drop a ceremonial first puck.

Legace suffered a hip flexor injury, missed five games and was never the same. He later was placed on waivers by the Blues, cleared waivers and was sent down to Peoria (AHL).

"I deserved to get sent down. I wasn't professional about it," Legace said. "I took my medicine and it cost me over the summer. Teams were shying away because of it. Understandable."

But the Atlanta Thrashers gave him a tryout. The Wolves later gave him a place to play. Now he's with the Hurricanes, with some old friends.