NHL Morning Papers (Monday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Steve Yzerman has once again been named GM of the Canadian men's squad for the World Hockey Championships this spring.
• The NHLPA has hired an accountant to take a closer look at the NHL's books, writes Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Even though they lost to the Red Wings on Saturday, the Bruins are quite pleased with their 2-1 record since the All-Star break. Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald reminds readers of how far the Bruins have come since all the pre-season predictions.
• After defeating the Habs 5-3 at the Bell Centre on Sunday, the Rangers have now won three straight road games and have undergone an extreme makeover, writes Larry Brooks of the NY Post.
• Paul Holmgren is still unsure of the whether Peter Forsberg will come back to the NHL at all, writes Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• While may not be as heralded as Sidney Crosby, Devils forward Zach Parise has turned into a special player in New Jersey, writes Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Even with the aformentioned Crosby out of the line up, the Devils are not going to change the way they play versus the Penguins.
• Even with their yelling match on Saturday, there are no hard feelings between Brent Sutter and Jamie Langenbrunner, writes Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger.
• With a couple of the team's players having been hit by the flu, Islanders coach Ted Nolan is considering who he wants to call up from Bridgeport of the AHL.
• Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star has been impressed with the Leafs' youngsters. "That's why I don't take putting on this jersey for granted. It is a privilege," said new Leafs forward Dominic Moore.
• It'll be Martin Gerber back between the pipes for the Senators tomorrow night when they face-off against the Habs. Senators coach John Paddock wants to see improved play from his defensemen, writes Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun.
• The Habs thought they had the Rangers beat with a 3-0 lead on home-ice, but before they knew it the game was tied, and they eventually lost 5-3, writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette. Hickey's colleague Herb Zurkowsky was impressed with the play of super-pest of Sean Avery yesterday.
• With all the injuries to the Panthers' roster, their affiliate in the AHL is having even more problems filling spots for their call-ups, writes Steven Gorten of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
• Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune thinks it is likely that the Bolts will trade Dan Boyle prior to this month's trade deadline.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Instead of giving his players a much-needed day off, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle decided to call practice and have his team play a fun game of shinny to take their minds off their current six game losing streak, writes Dan Wood of the Orange County Register.
• Jarome Iginla's goal-less drought is now his longest since 1999, writes Jean Lefebvre of the Calgary Herald. Flames coach Mike Keenan said new goaltender Curtis Joseph will start his first game this week.
• If the Blue Jackets are going to get back to their winning ways, they need Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev to turn up their game a few notches, writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.
• Mike Ribiero has decided his game needs to become more physical, writes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
• The Wings know it is a difficult task, but they have not discounted the possibility that they could break the NHL wins record this season. Meanwhile, Wings defenseman Chris Chelios would relish the opportunity to play more minutes for the Red Wings.
• The Wild will get a good opportunity to measure their in-season progress on Tuesday when the NHL leading Red Wings come to town, writes Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.
• Jessica Hopp of the Tennessean tells readers that enforcers need to have some hockey skills too.
• Since being given an ultimatum by coach Andy Murray, Blues forward David Backes has responded at an almost point-per-game clip.
• The Avalanche are hoping to have Paul Stastny back in their lineup near the end of the week, writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• Alberta native Curtis Glencross is looking forward to his Edmonton Oilers debut tonight, writes Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal.
• Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky has been pleasantly surprised with the play of Joel Perreault, writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic. Off the ice, Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet will be re-instated to the NHL and will be behind the bench Thursday for the Coyotes.
• Apparently Lukas Krajicek's shoulder injury is more serious than first believed, only adding to the Canucks already depleted blue line corps. Meanwhile, Canucks GM Dave Nonis is on a scouting trip in Sweden looking to add more firepower to the team for this season and beyond.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

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