Big Phil Turning Heads

Rookie defenceman Phil Oreskovic has turned some heads in his two games with the Leafs. The 6-foot-3, 217-pound Brampton native came up from the Marlies with the reputation as a strong defensive defenceman and a tough guy (he won a decision over the New York Islanders’ Tim Jackman in Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime victory at the ACC). But it’s his skating that has surprised some people. He credits Leafs skating coach, Graeme Townshend, with helping him in that regard “Graeme’s a tremendous, tremendous skating coach and he relates a lot of (practice) situations to game situations, which is nice because it doesn’t get repetitive,” Oreskovic said. Oreskovic said his teammates have pulled a couple of practical jokes on him, basically to keep him loose, such as placing a C on his jersey.