IT'S BEEN A GOOD WEEK FOR
FABIAN BRUNNSTROMThose many, many NHL types who had been holding their breath in anticipation of where the unknown Swede was heading were able to exhale Thursday. Brunnstrom, who apparently isn't good enough to play for a national team that's missing many of the usual gang (including Mats Sundin and Daniel Alfredsson) and wasn't drafted, landed a two-year contract with the Dallas Stars. If and when he reaches the big show, he should buy his agent, J.P. Barry, one heckuva pricey dinner.

BASEBALL: BLUE JAYS ADD PAIR OF VETERANS
The pursuit lasted several years, but the Toronto Blue Jays finally got their men.Veterans Kevin Mench and Brad Wilkerson joined the Blue Jays in Cleveland yesterday and were immediately put to work, inserted into the lineup for last night's game against the Indians. Mench was the designated hitter, while Wilkerson went into left field.

Blue Jays, Wells take tumble on the road
The first thing Vernon Wells noticed was that he couldn't breath.Then his left wrist started to throb, along with his right leg.As for the rest of the Toronto Blue Jays, they just felt crummy, period, having squandered yet another solid pitching performance from ace Roy Halladay as the Cleveland Indians rode one big inning to a 6-1 victory last night.

Malkin, Penguins too much for Philadelphia to handle in opener
Sidney Crosby, once expected to single-handedly push the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise out of financial woes and back into Stanley Cup contention, now gets by with a little help from his friends.

CITIUS, ALTIUS, UNLUCKY-US
It happened faster than you can say ''an Arabian double front layout gone wrong.''In a fraction of a second, Kyle Shewfelt was soaring through the air, his legs locked underneath him for a spot-on landing; the next, he was lying on the mat, curled up in a ball of pain.