Morning Musings

Here are the morning papers:

• Sharks' coach Ron Wilson was able to get Jonathan Cheechoo's attention by demoting him from the first line for the first period of Monday's game versus the Canucks. The sniper responded to his one period demotion with his first points of the season in the third period, leading the Sharks to a 4-2 victory over Vancouver.
• The Canucks left Roberto Luongo out to dry in the third period of last night's game and, for once, he was unable to bail his teammates out. Brad Zeimer of the Vancouver Sun believes that the Sharks have rightfully earned the tag of Stanley Cup contender. In reality, the Canucks had no answer for all-star Joe Thornton writes Iain MacIntyre in this morning's Vancouver Sun.
• The Ducks responded well to coach Randy Carlyle's challenge by downing the Red Wings 6-3 last night.
• It was evident after the Red Wings 6-3 loss to the Ducks on Monday night that Wings' coach Mike Babcock was unhappy with the officiating; however, Babcock was disciplined enough to not say anything that will get him fined. In other Wings' news, it is probably fair to say Chris Chelios and Gary Bettman won't be going out for lunch anytime soon.
• Bryan McCabe accidentally shot the puck in his own net with four seconds remaining in overtime to give the Sabres a 5-4 win over the Leafs. Damien Cox of the Toronto Star wonders if McCabe has entered Larry Murphy territory with Leaf fans.
• The Sabres didn't sell out last night's home game which ended a streak of 45 straight regular season games sold out at the HSBC Arena.
• According to Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Thrashers are expecting to have Marian Hossa back in the lineup for tonight's game versus Philadelphia.
• The Bruins play their home opener on Thursday night and the team is trying its best to steal some of the sporting spotlight with the Red Sox in the ALCS, the Patriots undefeated and Kevin Garnett debuting as a Celtic. In other Bruins' news, youngster Milan Lucic is making management's decision whether to keep him up in the NHL or send him back to juniors very difficult.
• Steve Macfarlane of the Calgary Sun tells readers that Iron Mike has mellowed with age. Meanwhile, Jean Lefebvre of the Calgary Herald points out that the Flames have had one player score twice in each of their five games played this season.
• The Hurricanes are on such a roll that 15 players showed up to workout on Monday rather than take an optional day off.
• As Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune explains, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are not only the future for the Blackhawks, they are the present too.
• Oilers' coach Craig MacTavish thinks Jarret Stoll is lacking confidence. After losing their past four games, the Oilers are taking some time to golf and get to know each other in the desert before their next game at Phoenix on Thursday.
• The Stars believe that if they get their act together they can take control of the slow-starting Pacific Division.
• The Blue Jackets can't seem to find a sidekick for Rick Nash and are, once again, trying a new top line combination.
• Forget his incredible achievements on the ice, Joe Sakic's charitable work in the Denver area has been truly admirable; Adrian Dater of the Denver Post has the story.
• Carey Price took a shot off the collarbone in practice on Monday but the young netminder will be able to dress for tonight's game versus Florida. With Guillaume Latendresse in the coach's doghouse, Bryan Smolinksi will start tonight's game on the Habs' number two line.
• Michael Russo has a great piece on Jacques Lemaire favorite--Martin Skoula in this morning's Star Tribune.
• The Kings sent Jonathan Bernier back to juniors and Brady Murray back to the AHL to protect them from an environment that isn't conducive to young players writes Lonnie White and Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times.
• After Saturday's comeback victory over Tampa, the Panthers had a team meeting stressing that they should play with more confidence. Meanwhile, as Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes, coach Jacques Martin expects a better year from Ruslan Salei and Mike Van Ryn.
• If you are into ranking your lines 1-4, then the Rangers have the most expensive third line center in the entire league writes John Dellapina in this morning's New York Daily News. As Brendan Shanahan points out, if he went through five games without a goal in the middle of the season, no one would realize; however, because he hasn't scored in his team's first five games to start the season, his struggles have been magnified.
• According to Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger, there is nothing new to report on the Richard Matvichuk front.
• In order to minimize their turnovers, the Predators have been working on their puck support the past two days at practice. On top of better puck support, showing some urgency and getting off to a good start is also imperative for the Predators.
• If the Islanders expect to return to the playoffs, they need to improve their offensive output writes Greg Logan of Newsday.
• With Ray Emery back to full health, a goalie controversy appears to be an inevitable issue in Ottawa. Coach John Paddock says he hasn't made up his mind yet as to who will start Thursday's game against the Canadiens.
• As Tim Pannacio of the Philadelphia Inquirer explains, the Flyers waived Jesse Boulerice in order to create room on their roster for another forward. Here are some quick notes about the Flyers put together by Pannacio.
• Coyotes' coach Wayne Gretzky is not coaching in the NHL for moral victories, he's coaching to win.
• The Penguins have an odd schedule which sees them play only three divisional opponents before November 3rd. Meanwhile in Penguins' camp, the team could have Brooks Orpik back in the lineup on Wednesday against New Jersey.
• As Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch writes, Brad Boyes has been a great addition to the Blues' lineup since his acquisition late last season for Dennis Wideman.
• Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune provides readers with an inside look at Tim Taylor's difficult rehabilitation.
• Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail details how much of an advantage a good start to the regular season can really be.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today has an interesting piece about the relatively unknown Niklas Backstrom.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.