NHL Morning Papers (Monday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Alan Maki of the Globe & Mail expects the NHL to be reactive rather than proactive after the announcement of a possible Super League being created in Europe.
• As Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post explains, the Ducks' trade of Andy McDonald was all about keeping their defense together.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Although this article was published yesterday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an interesting examination of the success of two-goalie tandems in the NHL this season.
• Even though they are sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference, Bruins coach Claude Julien says there are a number of areas in which his team can improve. Meanwhile, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald tells readers that Milan Lucic's confidence and comfort level have increased significantly since the season began.
• After seven games in eleven nights, the Sabres were given Sunday off by coach Lindy Ruff.
• According to Luke Decock of the News-Observer, the Hurricanes are hoping to have Cory Stillman return from his knee injury on December 26th when they face the New York Rangers.
• The Panthers pulled out a 3-1 road victory at Chicago on Sunday and can thank goaltender Tomas Vokoun for the win writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The Panthers got Brett McLean back in their lineup last night, however, that good news was offset by the loss of Ville Peltonen for a month to a broken hand.
• Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette warns Habs fans to not get too high or too low in what will continue to be a roller-coaster season.
• The Devils were happy to record a victory over the Flyers on Sunday before heading to Western Canada on their upcoming road trip. As Mark Everson of the NY Post explains, the Devils never take intra-division games lightly.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post thought he was watching the Rangers of the late 90's last night when the Rangers welcomed Wayne Gretzky back to town and handed his Coyotes a 5-1 victory. "For me, I had three great years here. It was nice to come back tonight. It was an enjoyable night," said Gretzky after the game.
• Antoine Vermette will be given an opportunity to shoulder more of offensive role on the Senators after being moved onto a line with Daniel Alfredsson. "It's a substantial loss," said Senators coach John Paddock about the loss of center Mike Fisher to injury.
• The Flyers continued to slump yesterday as they were defeated 4-2 by the Devils in Newark.
• Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profiles the pleasant surprise that is Tyler Kennedy of the Penguins. Here are some notes about the Penguins.
• According to Carter Gaddis of the Tampa Tribune, a new offer to purchase the team is expected by the end of the week.
• It is going to be difficult to replace the all-around production that the Leafs have lost with Bryan McCabe's hand injury writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. "I've never had a serious injury like this before," said McCabe yesterday.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• While the Ducks lost to the Sharks 2-1 in a shootout last night, the team was happy to see Scott Niedermayer on the ice in game action. The Ducks finally started the season ten weeks after everyone else writes Jeff Miller of the Orange Country Register.
• After last night's 5-3 victory over the Blues it is fair to say that Jarome Iginla and Kristian Huselius are on absolute tears right now. With Huselius and Daymond Langkow are playing alongside Iginla, that means Alex Tanguay has found a new role with the club. Overshadowed by the Flames' road success was the fact that last night's victory was Mike Keenan's 600th NHL victory.
• The Blackhawks were expecting a big December but last night's 3-1 loss to Florida was the team's sixth loss in their last seven games.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post has an interesting article about relative unknown defenseman Kyle Cumiskey of the Avalanche.
• Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch has the details behind Rick Nash's recent slump.
• In Dallas, Steve Ott is healthy and finally living up to his reputation as an all-around pest writes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
• The Detroit Red Wings are very aware of what Alexander Ovechkin will be bringing to the table tonight.
• Derek Van Diest of the Edmonton Sun profiles the tremendous season of Shawn Horcoff in this morning's paper. In other Oilers news, much of the team's recent success can be attributed to their newfound confidence.
• It looks like Jason Labarbera will return to the Los Angeles net tonight when the Kigns face-off against the Avalanche.
• Jacques Lemaire gives Niklas Backstrom a subtle shot in this morning's Minneapolis Star Tribune.
• Speaking of the Wild, Craig Leopold will not comment on a report that he is expected to buy into the Wild after the sale of the Predators is completed.
• The Coyotes dominated the Rangers on the back of AHL call-up Joel Perrault's three point game.
• Joe Thornton was feeling lucky last night in Anaheim which was why he was asked to shoot in his team's shootout victory last night over the Ducks.
• Mike Keenan and the Flames spoiled Andy McDonald's debut as a member of the Blues last night with a 5-3 victory.
• The Canucks have finally returned home after one of the toughest travel road trips in recent memory writes Gordon McIntyre of the Vancouver Province.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

NHL Morning Papers (Sunday Edition)

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Thrashers three game win steak was ended last night by a superior Carolina team who defeated Atlanta 5-3. Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution documents the surprises, good and bad, surrounding the Thrashers this season.
• The Bruins demonstrated composure last night, responding to the Sabres' game-tying short-handed goal by scoring the game-winning goal thirty two seconds later. Meanwhile, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe profiles Chris Bourque, among many things, in his Sunday notes column. Needless to say, Bruins' defenseman Aaron Ward was furious that Francis Bouillon's hit to his head was deemed an accident.
• The Sabres took the play to the Bruins for most of the night but they, as has been the case all season, just couldn't crack the scoresheet writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. Sabres' winger Maxim Afinogenov was benched last night after he turned the puck over and it led to a Bruins' goal.
• The Hurricanes were unhappy with their performance Thursday against the Lightning and responded well to that poor performance by beating the streaking Thrashers 5-3 on the road Saturday night. In other Canes' news, Dennis Seidenberg no longer has visa issues and has rejoined the Hurricanes
• Olli Jokinen says the Panthers have to stop skating on the outside if they want to draw more penalties.
• The Habs may have lost yesterday's contest to the Senators, but they never lack leadership with Saku Koivu on the ice as the feisty Finnish center took on Patrick Eaves in a quasi-fight. Kevin Mio of the Montreal Gazette has an interesting Q & A with Habs' off-season acquisition Tom Kostopoulos.
• One of the Devils' coaches took a bench minor which gave the Islanders a 5-on-3, and Miroslav Satan made them pay by scoring the game-winning goal on that power play. "You can't lose a game that way," said coach Brent Sutter after the contest.
• Islanders' captain Bill Guerin left last night's game after taking a puck off the head and no update on his condition will be released until tomorrow.
• Stephen Valiquette provided a good argument for giving Henrik Lundqvist more games off with his performance last night in Toronto. Larry Brooks of the NY Post demonstrates his support for Eric Lindros's induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his Sunday Slap Shots column. Sean Avery started a scuffle before the game even began last night in Toronto writes John Dellapina of the NY Daily News.
• The Senators proved you almost have to play a perfect game to beat them as the Habs came up five minutes short and were defeated 3-1 yesterday afternoon. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun provides readers with his usual rumor roundup.
• The Flyers/Penguins is becoming quite a rivalry writes Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• After last night's 5-2 loss to the Flyers, Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders how low Marc-Andre Fleury's confidence can really get.
• After struggling for a couple weeks, the Lightning seem to have regained their confidence and are now back to .500 after defeating the Capitals 5-2 on Saturday night.
• The Capitals were in the game until the third period when the Lightning took over writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post.
• The Leafs could not get enough pucks past Etobicoke native Stephen Valiquette as the Rangers upended Toronto 3-2 in a shootout in last evening's Hall of Fame game. "He has no sense of class," said Darcy Tucker about Sean Avery after the contest.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• You won't find any person with a bad thing to say about soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee Al MacInnis writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• Jeremy Roenick was beyond excited, and understandably so, after scoring his 500th goal last night in the Sharks 4-1 win over his former team the Coyotes.
• The Predators demonstrated resiliency last night after blowing a late two goal but coming back to defeat the Blue Jackets 4-3 in a shootout. Predators' defenseman Shea Weber is getting closer to a return from a dislocated knee cap, although no date has yet been set for his return.
• Michael Russo has an interesting story about Wild rookie James Sheppard and the support he is receiving from a former Wild forward. It looks like goaltender Niklas Backstrom re-injured his groin in practice yesterday and will miss tonight's game at Colorado.
• The Kings pulled off a remarkable comeback last night at home versus the Stars, you almost have to have seen it to believe it writes Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times.
• The Oilers got a much-needed victory last night over their provincial rival Flames to inch closer to the .500 level on the season. There may be a definite goalie controversy in the Albertan capital after Mathieu Garon turned aside 37 of the 39 shots he faced last night in Calgary.
• The Wings aren't even concentrating on their long winning streak, they just want to take it game-by-game.
• The Stars somehow blew a 4-0 lead with eight minutes remaining in the game and have unofficially reached 'rock bottom.'
• The Blue Jackets showed some character last night by rallying from two goals down in the third to salvage a point, however, they were defeated 4-3 by the Predators in a shootout.
• Avalanche superstar Joe Sakic only has one goal in his past eleven games but that doesn't mean the sniper will stop shooting writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• Melissa Isaacson of the Chicago Tribune has a great piece on Hawks' rookie Patrick Kane in this morning's of paper.
• It's now five losses in a row for the Flames after they were defeated by the young Oilers 4-2 on Saturday night. With Daymond Langkow on the shelf with a concussion, center Matthew Lombardi has been promoted to center the second unit.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Morning Musings: When will players learn to respect each other?

If you haven't seen it already, here is a clip of Randy Jones' hit-from-behind on an unsuspecting Patrice Bergeron. After watching this clip, I don't even know what to say. I mean, this hit was just plain ruthless. Jones followed through on the hit and buried Bergeron's face directly into the end boards. Now, some people have said that this isn't Jones' game; that the defenseman doesn't play this dirty style of play. Even so, that is irrelevant in my opinion. Past history of dirty play or not, this hit deserves a severe suspension. Think about it, Bergeron could have broken his neck. In my opinion, there is no dirtier hit in hockey than a hit-from-behind. It is cowardly, cheap and completely unnecessary. If the NHL wants to put an end to these ridiculous hits, they will give Jones at least a 15+ game suspension and set a strong precedent that would discourage other players from hitting-from-behind.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Fluto Shinwaza of the Boston Globe has an update on Bergeron's injury status in this morning's paper. The hit was a chilling reminder of some of the scary things that can happen when you play a contact sport. As far as the game goes, Bruins' coach Claude Julien thinks the Bruins deserved better than the 2-1 loss they were handed.
• Here is Kevin Paul Dupont's usual Sunday notes piece.
• The Flyers' victory was definitely tainted by the Jones hit writes Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Meanwhile, Panaccio also has a piece this morning on the plans of new NHLPA boss Paul Kelly.
• The Sabres could have packed it in when they fell behind 3-2 in the third period, but instead the team turned it on and wound up coming back and defeating the Bolts 4-3 in overtime. In other Sabres' news, it looks like Nolan Pratt will be joining the team in the next day or two.
• Pens' goaltender Dany Sabourin came into last night's game to replace a struggling Marc-Andre Fleury, after Fleury let in three early goals, and ended up giving the Penguins a chance to win; however, unfortunately for Pens' fans the team lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Habs. Penguins' veteran Gary Roberts missed last night's game because he has the flu and was replaced in the lineup by youngster Tyler Kennedy.
• The Capitals had a twenty minute players-only meeting after their 4-3 loss to the Blues on Saturday night. Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post has the details of the Alexander Semin contract extension.
• Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov led the Thrashers to their second victory on their current seven-game road trip last night with a win over the Blackhawks. Coach of the AHL's Chicago Wolves John Anderson has proven he can win in the minors and is being considered for the head coaching position in Atlanta.
• The Hurricanes proved last night that rest is overrated writes Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer. Eric Cole was excited to get back into the Canes' lineup last night after injuring his foot a week earlier while playing soccer during warmups.
• Tomas Vokoun's return to Nashville turned out to be a letdown last night as the the veteran netminder was beat for the game-winning goal in the last minute of action. "We basically give games away, and we do it night after night," said Vokoun after the game.
• As Pat Hickey tells us in this morning's Montreal Gazette, size does matter, especially if you are Habs' rookie netminder Carey Price. Hickey also has an interesting story about the "struggling" Sidney Crosby and the youngster's ability to take criticism in stride.
• Apparently the Devils' new arena was far less disappointing than the team's play on the ice. Here are some sights and sounds from the new Prudential Center. In sad news, Colin White is not sure if he'll be able to play hockey again after sustaining an eye injury 38 days ago.
• The Rangers were awful last night according to Larry Brooks of the NY Post. You can find Larry Brooks' Sunday Slap Shots piece right here.
• Much of the Islanders' impressive statistics went out the window after being blown out by the Hurricanes last night writes John Jeansonne of Newsday.
• Lightning coach John Tortorella had "no complaints" about the way his team played last night in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Sabres. The coach also had no complaints about his team's disallowed goal late in the third period.
• It is fair to say that the Senators are home wreckers writes Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun. Here is Bruce Garrioch's Sunday rumors piece.
• The Leafs proved they can hold a third period lead last night on Broadway writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. Darcy Tucker has denied reports that his ACL is torn writes Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun. Meanwhile, Mark Bell is looking forward to finally returning to the Leafs' lineup.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Alex Tanguay is heeding the advice of all the people around him and has decided to shoot the puck more often.
• The Blackhawks fell to below .500 last night after losing 3-2 to the Thrashers; Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune has the story. Winger Sergei Samsonov was a healthy scratch for last night's game.
• Terry Frei of the Denver Post profiles new NHLPA boss Paul Kelly and the promise that goes along with his hiring. Frei's colleague at the Post, Adrian Dater has the story of Jeff Jillson and the possibility that he will get into some NHL game action today for the Avalanche.
• Looks like a move to the fourth line was just what was needed to motivate a struggling Mike Modano opines Mike Heika in the Dallas Morning News.
• George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press has the story of Andres Lilja's 11th career goal. (Writer's note: You know it is a slow news day when...)
• If the Oilers want to start winning games they have to eliminate their bad giveaways. The team just committed too many errors to have a chance to win writes Jim Matheson in this morning's Edmonton Journal.
• Once again, the Jackets stifled an opponent going into the third period protecting a lead writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. The team's successful penalty kill has been one of the reasons that the Jackets are three games above .500 for the first time in franchise history.
• The Kings' impressive backstop Jason LaBarbera turned aside 34 of 35 shots to give the Kings the W over the Oilers.
• Didn't take too long did it? Wild winger Marian Gaborik hurt his groin in practice and will miss tonight's game versus Colorado. In other injury news for the Wild, Niklas Backstrom also was injured in practice and will miss tonight's contests.
• Predators' new goaltender Dan Ellis out-dueled the Predators' former netminder Tomas Vokoun for a 4-3 victory last night.
• The Coyotes were defeated by the Stars, but Shane Doan reached a milestone with his 200th career goal.
• Craig Rivet says the Sharks have "far too many passengers" on their team right now, as the Sharks were defeated 2-1 by the Blue Jackets yesterday afternoon.
• Brad Boyes continued his offensive tear last night with two goals as the Blues upended the Capitals 4-3.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Jagged Little Recap: Rangers 0'fer on the PP

After having only one game yesterday, todays twelve was like Hanukkah for me (or Christmas if you prefer). All day I was looking forward to plopping on the couch and flipping from game to game.

• The New York Islanders win the first battle of New York with a 2-1 victory over the Rangers. Marc-Andre Bergeron had two points, Bryan Berard scored a goal in his return and Rick DiPietro made 36 saves in the win. The Rangers went 0 for 6 on the powerplay and have failed to score a pp goal this year. With all of their offensive firepower they have only managed 1 goal in the past 2 games (@OTT/@NYI). Albeit their scoring woes, the Rangers feel that their scoring will come around.
• Brian Elliot started in goal for the Sens and made 28 saves for the 3-1 win over the Thrashers, extending Ottawa's winning streak to 5. Marian Hossa did not play for the Thrash, he was out with a groin.
• Pascal Leclaire recorded his second straight shutout for the Blue Jackets, they defeat Gretzky's Coyotes 3-0. Jason Chimera nets three points for the Jackets.
• In the match-up of the Florida teams, the Lightning edge out the Panthers 2-1. Chris Gratton scores two and Johan Holmqvist made 30 saves for Tampa Bay.
• The reunited Zetterberg, Datsuyk, Holmstrom line combine for 4 points, The Detroit Red Wings take the Calgary Flames 4-2.
  
• Andrei Markov had two points and Carey Price made 26 saves to win his NHL debut, the Canadiens ice the Penguins 3-2. Sidney Crosby has gotten off to a bit of a slow start with only two points in three games, he should catch fire soon.
• Niklas Backstrom earns his second shutout for the Wild, he made 21 saves in a 2-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Minnesota has only allowed 2 goals in their first three games.
• The St. Louis Blues eat up the Nashville Predators 4-1. Brad Boyes notches 2 for the Blues. Last year while in Boston, Boyes scored 34 points in 62 games and had a -17 plus minus. Since being acquired by the Blues, he has put up 13 points in 22 games and a plus one rating.
• Niklas Hagman nets two, and Marty Turco posts 32 saves, the Dallas Stars put the hurt on the LA Kings 5-1.
• In rookie Jonathan Toews' first NHL game, he scores his goal, but it's not enough. The Blackhawks get chomped by the Sharks 2-1. Milan Michalek scored both goals for San Jose and goaltender Evegny Nabokov made 16 saves in the win.
• Ryan Getzlaf posts two points and Ilya Bryzgalov gets 18 saves as the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks win their home opener over the Boston Bruins 2-1.
  
• MONSTER of the night Mike Richards scores 4 points, including a goal on a 3 on 5 penalty kill. Scoring was plentiful as the Philadelphia Flyers go into GM Place and absolutely embarrass the Canucks 8-2. Ryan Kesler left the game with an injury, he was cross checked in the face by Flyers "tough guy" Jesse Boulerice (who received a match penalty). After the cross check Boulerice dropped his gloves ready to fight Kesler. Ya forsure! The Flyers finish up their Western road trip 2-1, having scored 14 goals in three games.

On Schedule for Tomorrow (all times Eastern)
7:00pm ATL@BUF
7:30pm CAR@OTT, NYI@TOR, NJ@FLA
8:00pm PHX@NSH

Tomorrow's game stories: Can Carolina can be the team to snap Ottawa's winning streak? Will the Leafs look just as pathetic vs. the Islanders? Looking forward to those matchups.

Fantasy Watch: Last Night's Recap

F Chris Drury, New York Rangers
1 G, 2 A, 22:24 TOI, +3, 4 SOG

In his first game with the Rangers, Drury didn't disappoint, assisting on two goals, while netting the game winning goal himself. Look for an improvement on last year's 69 point output, as playing with Jaromir Jagr will yield a lot of opportunities.

F Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
3 A, 24:38 TOI, +3

After posting two 90+ point seasons in the last four years, their are still some out there who are skeptical of St. Louis's talent. Scoring three assists in his first game should erase any doubt as the forward should be able to recreate last year's totals.

G Chris Mason, Nashville Predators
Stopped all 35 shots in Nashville's 3-0 victory over Colorado

Backing up Vokoun last year, Mason started in 48 games going 24-11-4 with five shutouts. Now that Vokoun is in Florida, Mason has become the Preds starting goaltender and could finish the year among the NHL's elite.

G Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild
Stopped all 27 shots in Minnesota's 1-0 victory over Chicago

A reliable backup last year, Backstrom posted 23 wins in 36 games started. With the starting job all his, expect a steady output of wins.

F Daniel Briere, Philadelphia Flyers
2 G, 19:19 TOI, +2, 6 SOG

Scoring the game winning goal against a very talented Calgary team, Briere appears to have Philadelphia back on track. Owners should expect a similar point total for the former Buffalo Saber.


Honorable Mention:
F, Jason Arnott, Nashville Predators

Phoenix Coyotes (undefeated!)

F, Martin Havlat, Chicago Blackhawks (It was obvious the fragile forward would go down, but the first game? Really?)


For Illegal Curve, Im Jonny Remis