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For a couple of hours on Tuesday, it looked like we were finally, absolutely and mercifully going to have closure on the interminable Mats Sundin saga.

Following a morning meeting in Vancouver with Sundin’s agent, J.P. Barry, Canuck general manager Mike Gillis told reporters that Sundin would be announcing on Thursday whether he was going to play the remainder of this season with Vancouver or the New York Rangers.

"He is going to make a decision on Thursday about the final destination," Gillis said following the Canucks’ practice at General Motors Place.

No ifs, ands or buts. According to Gillis, Thursday was going to be D-Day.

Not so fast. Barry apparently doesn’t see it quite that way.

"I did tell Mike that Thursday would be the earliest," Barry told The Vancouver Sun in a telephone interview from Alberta later in the day. "I am not going to hold Mats to any kind of deadline. He has never been held to one before and he’s not going to be held to one now. He says he is going to try and make a decision by the end of this week.

"It may not be Thursday if he struggles with the decision. He is going to make up

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Buffalo Sabres captain Craig Rivet is on a "two-week to two-week" timetable for his return to the lineup because of what the veteran defenseman revealed Monday is a shoulder injury suffered Nov. 29 in Montreal, the Buffalo News reported.

Rivet sat out two games, then returned to play in the next three but said he tweaked the injury in each one. Rivet decided to sit out Friday’s loss to Toronto in HSBC Arena and Saturday’s win at New Jersey and the new schedule of rehabilitation was devised.

He is practicing with the team on a limited basis, staying away from "battle drills" that involve pushing and shoving.

"It’s something that I tried to play with and it was really limiting what I could do on the ice," Rivet said. "It’s really affecting my game so we took a different game plan. The pain issue, you can get through. But when it starts making it that much more difficult on the ice, you have to take a step back. We’re going to try to rehabilitate it."

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Rivet will be evaluated in two weeks and if doctors don’t feel he’s ready, he’ll be forced to wait another two weeks for a new checkup.

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The Mats Sundin sweepstakes have come down to a repeat of the 1994 Stanley Cup finals: the Vancouver Canucks vs. the New York Rangers. The Canucks are hoping this time they might win.

Sundin’s Calgary-based agent, J.P. Barry, confirmed Monday that his client has narrowed his choices down to the Canucks and Rangers, the Vancouver Sun reported.

"Mats is now focused on those two teams," Barry said. "I think he is going to try and make a decision, at least amongst ourselves, by the end of the week."

Barry will be in Vancouver Tuesday to meet with Canuck general manager Mike Gillis. That meeting was scheduled two weeks ago mainly to discuss contract issues involving Mattias Ohlund and the Sedin twins, who are also Barry’s clients.

"I’m sure we’ll discuss Mats, but there’s not a lot more for Mike to say," Barry said. "He has laid out their position pretty clearly."

Gillis said it’s no surprise to him that the Canucks are in the late running to land Sundin.

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Marc-Andre Fleury is coming back to a team desperate for a victory, a team that has tumbled about as far through the Eastern Conference standings as it dare without risking significant damage to its season, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

But after spending the past 13 games as a spectator — all but one of those in street clothes — Fleury isn’t about to take it upon himself to single-handedly pull the Penguins out of their skid.

"The thing for me will be to just do my job," he said. "Like I can. And like I should. If I do, I’m confident the team should do all right."

Which is pretty much the way his teammates seem to feel about their chances of pulling out of their 1-4 skid once Fleury is back. To a man, they insist that backups Dany Sabourin and John Curry filled in admirably while Fleury recovered from a groin injury he got making a save late in the Penguins’ 5-2 victory against Buffalo Nov. 15 at Mellon Arena. Just as, to a man, they acknowledge that Fleury is capable of things that most goalies simply aren’t.

"We all realize he’s going to be the starting goalie, and you have certain assumptions about the starting goalie," defenseman Rob Scuderi said. "Like he’s going to be there every night, or he’s going to be your stopper if you struggle for a few games. You know a guy like him could possibly make the difference in a game, could really steal you a game."

Barring a setback in practice this week, Fleury will get his first chance to do that when the Penguins visit Atlanta at 7:08 p.m. Thursday.

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Brendan Morrison was blunt about his season thus far, and the little ray of red light that he is beginning to see.

"I’m feeling better," said Morrison, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in March. "It couldn’t get much worse. It can only go up."

There has been an upswing of late. Morrison scored his second game-winning goal in three games, helping the Ducks to a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild Sunday.

Just another step forward in the recovery process?

"I just have to continue to build and be consistent," Morrison said.

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The Dallas Stars are expected to announce Sunday their plans for Sean Avery, whose six-game suspension ended with Saturday’s game against Nashville.

Avery was suspended by the NHL after making disparaging comments about his ex-girlfriend, actress Elisha Cuthbert, and her new boyfriend, Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf, to the media in Calgary on Dec. 2. At the league’s order, Avery is in counseling for anger management in the NHL Players Association therapy program.

Because Avery’s privacy is protected in the therapy program, the Stars have not been able to communicate with him directly. However, they have been in contact with his agent, Pat Morris.

Avery is eligible to return to practice and could play Tuesday against the Phoenix Coyotes. But it is expected that the Stars will not put him back in the lineup, or the locker room. Coach Dave Tippett said Dec. 3 that he does not believe Avery can fit comfortably back into the Stars’ chemistry.

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The Montreal Canadiens are awaiting word on the severity of an injury suffered by captain Saku Koivu during Thursday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Koivu appeared to injure himself early in the second period after getting tangled up with Lightning’ forward Radek Smolenak. Koivu appeared to injure his right foot and he left the ice gingerly. Although he was able to take one shift later in the period, he did not return for the third stanza.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau refused to speculate on the injury following the game, stating only that Koivu had suffered a ‘lower body injury and was too sore to return for the third period.’

The 34-year old Koivu is scheduled to undergo tests later today. His status for Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals is unknown, according to TSN.ca.

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Sportsnet has learned the Tampa Bay Lightning ownership group is contemplating filing a charge with the league claiming Barry Melrose breached his contract when he spoke out Tuesday against his former team. If the Lightning go ahead and the league supports the claim, they can than refuse to pay Melrose the remaining $2.25M owed on his 3-year deal.

In a radio interview on the FAN590, Melrose went on a tirade against his former employers, accusing them of meddling with his coaching style.

"I had guys in Tampa who wanted to run the team and I wouldn’t let them. I was hired to coach and I coached," Melrose told the Fan 590. "I wasn’t playing the right guys. I was playing certain guys too much, I wasn’t playing other guys enough. Every day was a constant battle.

"Finally the guys in charge decided they wanted to coach and they got rid of me. That’s what it comes down to. It obviously wasn’t a hockey decision, because it’s not like they’ve set the world on fire since they got rid of me…Now they’ve got guys in charge that let them do what they want and obviously that isn’t working out very well either."

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During a recent radio show in Toronto, host Mike Hogan invited fans to call in with their person lists of the five players in the NHL they most enjoy watching.

It’s no surprise that Alex Ovechkin was included on most people’s list, as he was mentioned over 90 times. But Sidney Crosby?

Believe it or not, Sid the Kid made the final cut on just six lists.

Most people said they love the passion Ovechkin displays on the ice, including his wild goal scoring celebrations. However, Crosby also plays with his heart on his sleeve, so there has to be something else to explain his lack of popularity in a head-to-head comparison with Ovechkin.

One possibility that comes to mind is the two superstars different approaches with the media. Ovechkin is an open book with reporters, while Crosby has obviously been coached by media consultants who have taught him how to deliver fifteen second sound bites without really saying anything of interest. Sid the Kid has been under the media microscope since he was, well, just a kid. As a result, he’s very polite when addressing the lights and cameras, but he’s also extremely careful to avoid uttering anything controversial. Case in point: Last month, Washington’s other Alex, Alexander Semin, was quoted as saying that there wasn’t really anything special about Crosby and that he was "overrated". But when asked to respond, Crosby took a "no comment" pass and chose to do his talking on the ice by making a dramatic push towards the top of the NHL scoring leaders. There’s certainly nothing wrong with walking, and talking, softly and carrying a big stick, but it won’t help you win very many popularity contests.

Unlike Crosby, Ovechkin isn’t afraid of shooting from the lip and his spontaneous personality and the interviews that go with it are a big part of his allure. With his unruly hair, ripped jeans and devil-may-care attitude, Ovechkin just doesn’t seem as self-aware as Crosby.

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Hurting but happy, Frank Gore limped out of the locker room at Candlestick Park, pulling his roller bag behind him. It was the one downer to an otherwise splendid Sunday after the 49ers had dispatched the Jets 24-14 to win their second game in a row.

Gore sprained his right ankle early in the third quarter when someone fell on him after his second straight 5-yard run. Gore was helped off the field with 14:03 to play in the period and minutes later was carted to the locker room for X-rays, which proved negative.

"I’m going to come back and play," Gore said after rushing for 52 yards on 14 carries in little more than a half of duty.

Asked about his running back, coach Mike Singletary said, "Right now, he’s sore. We’ll have to wait and see."

Gore has 978 yards rushing this season. With 22 more in the remaining three games, he’ll become the 49ers’ first 1,000-yard rusher in three consecutive seasons.

In Gore’s stead Sunday, DeShaun Foster rushed 16 times for 35 yards. Though a 2.2-yard average is not impressive, Foster did his job well and helped the 49ers maintain their overwhelming

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