Kurri Jogs Memory

Five Stanley Cup banners hang from the Edmonton Coliseum rafters and Jari Kurri had a hand in winning each. Kurri last played for Edmonton in 1989-90, but returning always brings back fond memories.

“It’s always fun to come here,” he said. “Maybe it will give me a jump.”

Kurri had only eight goals going into Saturday. Since Jan. 1, he had scored only one goal and failed to record an assist.

“I’m not where I want to be,” said Kurri, who needs nine goals to become the seventh player in NHL history to score 600. “I’ve got to find three or four shots a game. The big reason I’m not scoring is that I’m not shooting. It’s as simple as that.”

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Growing up in Finland in the 1980s, Teemu Selanne longed to see more highlights of Kurri and the Oilers on TV.

“There were never enough,” Selanne said. “Maybe once or twice a month they would show highlights of games. All Finns were very proud. Jari gave us so much hope. He made us believe if we worked hard we could make it in the NHL. He was a big influence for everybody in Finland and in Europe.”

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Goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov needed nine stitches to close a cut over his left eye after Joe Sacco’s slap shot hit his mask late in Friday’s practice. “I was thinking I was real safe under the mask,” Shtalenkov said. “Well, it’s part of hockey.’