Friday's notes -- first cuts made

Here's what Crawford had to say ...

``We're cutting down about 10 today. We'll cut again probably Sunday night. We got to get down in numbers. It's just a function of the way this camp has to be. In a usual year, when you have 8-9 exhibition games, this is a chance to see and reward people maybe for having a great camp. We don't have that luxury this year. We still want to reward people who have made a difference. One of those kids was Bud Holloway. We thought he really deserved a game last night. He's been one of the best scorers in camp. As a 19-year-old kid, we think he's got a little bit of promise. He showed us a lot and that's why we gave him a game last night. Usually, we like to do that with two, three, maybe four guys. We just don't have enough time. We'll let most of the junior kids go back today with the exception of Hickey, Simmonds and Bernier. They are the guys that are probably the closest in our minds to being ready to play in the national hockey level and we're going to keep them a little longer.''

On goaltending in Thursday's exhibition game: ``I thought our goaltending last night was very good at times, particularly on our penalty kill. I thought our penalty kill goaltending was a step up. I think the number of times we faced outnumbering situations, we needed key saves and we got them from both Clouts and particular J-S Aubin in the 5-on-3. If your penalty killing is going to pick up, your goaltending has to be the best part of it. I thought it was a step in the right direction.''

On Patrick O'Sullivan being strictly a winger: ``Yes. Not strictly. Strictly is a pretty strong word. There are not very many never-evers in our sport.''

More notes and player interviews coming over the next few hours ...