NHL Morning Papers (Thursday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail suggests the Leafs wait until the summer to make any decisions about their coach and general manager.
• Here are some NHL notes courtesy of the National Post.
• Hugh Adami summarizes the NHL franchise rankings courtesy of the Hockey News.
• George Johnson details the Chicago Blackhawks and their two new phenoms in the National Post.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Two odd penalties cost Anaheim a 1-0 lead as they were defeated 2-1 by the Stars on Wednesday night.
• Jonathan Toews is looking forward his first ever Western Canadian road trip writes Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun.
• Hawks' enforcer David Koci has made a point of working on his offensive game while he has been sitting out of the lineup with a broken nose.
• The Avalanche are hoping to end their offensive struggles tonight at Edmonton writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• Blue Jackets' coach Ken Hitchcock was unhappy with his team's competition level last night writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. It looks like Manny Malhotra will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner for a number of his teammates.
• After last night's 3-0 victory over St. Louis, Red Wings' netminder Chris Osgood's record moved to 10-1 on the campaign. Wings' defenseman Niklas Kronwall is hoping to increase his offensive output, although he still feels he's behind where he should be since his groin injury.
• Fernando Pisani has not put a timeline on his return, but it looks like the reliable winger is getting closer and closer to an amazing comeback.
• Make it four losses in a row for the Kings, who continue to have trouble generating offense, after they lost to Phoenix 4-1 last night.
• The Canucks, playing their third game in four nights, had more energy than the Wild on Wednesday and defeated Minnesota 4-2 at the Xcel Center. Veteran defenseman Sean Hill made his season debut last night.
• The Coyotes are now one game within .500 after their 4-1 victory over the Kings on Wednesday night. Coyotes' coach Wayne Gretzky has been very impressed with the work ethic of Mike Zigomanis writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• The Sharks have signed Matt Carle to a big-time contract extension and David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News has the details.
• Blues' coach Andy Murray didn't think his team played hard enough last night and placed the blame for that squarely on his shoulders. Meanwhile, St. Louis winger David Backes is targeting November 30 as a return date from his knee injury.
• The Canucks put forth an impressive effort in their big 4-2 win over the Wild on Wednesday writes Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Thrashers easily handled the more than struggling Capitals last night with a 5-1 victory. "They played like they wanted to get their coach fired, but that's another story," said Thrashers' center Bobby Holik.
• Manny Fernandez just can't seem to shake the injury bug as he left practice yesterday with back spasms. Glen Murray just couldn't find the net to start the season, but his luck has started to change recently, much to the delight of Bruins' coach Claude Julien.
• The Sabres are realizing how much easier it is to play with the lead, as the young squad scored the first three goals of the game last night and defeated the Eastern leading Senators 4-2. While he hasn't made any decisions about a comeback, it is still great to hear that Teppo Numminen has been skating on his own.
• The Hurricanes have now lost three of their last four games after being beaten down by the Flyers 6-3 last evening. In other Canes' news, winger Erik Cole has been cleared for contact drills; however, his return date is still in question.
• The Panthers finally decided to win a game that wasn't close at the end, with a 5-2 victory at Columbus on Wednesday. The key to the team's victory was a strong third period writes George Richards of the Miami Herald.
• As Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette tells us, the Habs got two goals from defensive specialist Steve Begin and had no problem upending the Isles 4-1 on Wednesday.
• Long-time Devils' defenseman Colin White was back in the lineup last night and gave the team a morale boost in the Devils' 2-1 victory over the Penguins. In even better news, White says he is back to play for the long haul and won't consider disability insurance for his injured eye.
• The Rangers rarely allow teams to score more than two goals against them in a game, and last night was no exception, as Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 32 shots in the team's 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay.
• The Islanders were unhappy with their play in the first two periods of Wednesday's game writes Greg Logan of Newsday.
• Ray Emery wasn't impressive last night, but then again, neither were the rest of the Senators who were handily defeated 4-2 by the Sabres. Winger Patrick Eaves left last night's game with a separated shoulder.
• Daniel Briere proved why the Flyers unloaded the Brinks truck in front of his house this summer, with a hat trick and one assist in his team's 6-3 victory over the Hurricanes.
• The Penguins lost their fourth straight one-goal game last night by a score of 2-1 to the Devils. The Pens play tonight in Ottawa, and the fact that they are playing on Thanksgiving night doesn't really seem to be an issue.
• The Lightning were shutdown 2-1 by the Rangers, who have become the stingiest defensive team in the league writes Carter Gaddis of the Tampa Tribune.
• Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star tells readers that Mats Sundin is currently on pace to post the second highest point total of his illustrious career. Pat Burns says there are nothing to the rumors of him returning to coach the Leafs. As Dave Feschuk writes, Brett Hull has quickly realized that there is more to being a general manager than he once thought.
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post wonders just how much worse it can get for the Capitals right now.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.