Thunder adds faces, confidence

Tim Graham

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1998 | 10:44 a.m.

It felt like the opening day of training camp all over again for first-year Las Vegas Thunder head coach Bob Bourne.

When the Thunder hit the ice for Monday's practice at Las Vegas Ice Gardens, Bourne not only found the team to have renewed confidence, but also some new players.

The Phoenix Coyotes sent forwards Daniel Briere and Brad Isbister to Las Vegas. They will be in uniform when the Thunder faces the Milwaukee Admirals tonight at 7:05 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"It was strange to see those kids out there," Bourne said. "It was very unexpected, but you can never have enough talented players. So I'm not complaining."

Briere and Isbister, along with recently acquired NHL veteran Randy Burridge, will help cushion the losses of first-liners Petr Nedved and Patrice Lefebvre, who were knocked out of action last week with an elbow and knee injury, respectively.

Burridge scored a hat trick in his Thunder debut, a 7-4 victory over the Utah Grizzlies on Saturday. It was the Thunder's first win of the season.

The injection of so many forwards creates a problem for Bourne, who now must find enough ice time for everyone. He is toying with the idea of dressing one less defenseman to accommodate the glut.

"It's a nice problem to have," Bourne said. "It raises the level of play of everyone else again. It certainly gives our team an awful lot of quality -- and quantity.

"But it's criminal to take someone out of our lineup from (Saturday) night who played so well."

Nedved skated Monday but will not dress tonight. Lefebvre is expected to miss at least three weeks.