Chara continues to rehab from shoulder surgery

From Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald:

“We’ll have to see how the rehab goes, but it should be right for the start of training camp,” Chara said. “But we’ll see. Everybody’s different, but hopefully I’m going to be healing well and I’ll be strong. Obviously I want to be careful with it. Right now, it’s hard for me to say if I’ll be ready for the start of training camp or (if) it will be another couple of weeks.”

Read the entire article here.

No sense in speculating about Chara's rehab until training camp is a week or two away. The Bruins just need to ensure that they don't rush Chara back.

NHL Morning Papers (Saturday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail examines the Sharks' winning streak and the importance of winning the Pacific Division.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today says Chris Pronger should receive a substantial suspension.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Thrashers followed their impressive comeback victory on Thursday with a real dud last night, writes Craig Custance.
• A Zdeno Chara weekend return seems unlikely, writes Fluto Shinwaza. In other Bruins news, apparently all three of the team's netminders get along.
• Buffalo finally put forth a performance they could build on last night, after defeating the Hurricanes 7-1 on home ice. The Sabres got the usual energetic performance from their fourth line last night and, as an added bonus, the group also threw in some offense.
• The Hurricanes didn't match the Sabres' desperation and intensity last night, writes Luke Decock. In injury news, the team will be without Ray Whitney for 2-3 weeks.
• The Rangers power play was one of the main reasons why the team was defeated 3-2 by a desperate Florida team last night, writes Larry Brooks. Last night's loss was the Rangers' first loss in regulation in five weeks.
• The return of Mike Richards should give the Flyers a much-needed boost, writes Joe Logan.
• Sidney Crosby is expected to be out of the Penguins lineup for around a week while he rests his sore right ankle. Meanwhile, Georges Laraque was not happy with the three-game suspension handed down to him by Colin Campbell.
• The Capitals still don't think they are out of the playoff hunt, after last night's impressive 4-1 man-handling of the Thrashers.
• Damien Cox says it is the Bruins, not the Flyers, that Leafs fans should have their eyes on. It looks like the Leafs will rely heavily on Alexander Steen if Mats Sundin doesn't suit up tonight.
• While this season is already a write-off, the Lightning do have some exciting pieces in place for next season, writes Erik Erlendsson.
• After taking a closer look at the CBA, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun tells readers that it would be cheaper for the Senators to buy-out Ray Emery's contract, than they probably think.
• The Islanders have mixed up their lines for tonight's game versus Montreal, writes Greg Logan.
• The Devils may be without Patrik Elias (knee) tonight versus Colorado.
• In an effort to motivate Chris Higgins, Habs coach Guy Carbonneau has mixed up his lines.
• Olli Jokinen picked an opportune time to score his first goal in eight games, as it turned out to be the winner in the Panthers' 3-2 victory over NYR.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• After further review, Chris Pronger is likely to face a suspension, writes Dan Wood.
• Owen Nolan has been named the Flames' Masterton nominee, writes Jean Lefebvre.
• Newest Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash was not pleased with his team's performance last night, writes Tom Reed.
• Even though the Stars have struggled as of late, the team's coaches are not hitting the panic button.
• The Wings' pre-season plan of splitting up Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk has finally started to work out for Detroit. Here is the injury news for the Red Wings.
• Kent Youngblood provides readers with Chris Simon's perspective of the Chris Pronger "stomp."
• Dan Ellis has a problem many people would love to have, writes John Glennon.
• The Sharks made it eleven in a row last night, with a 4-1 easy victory over the Blues.
• The Blues got off to a horrible start last night in San Jose, and the game was basically over after the first period.
• The Coyotes are looking to get closer to the eighth and final playoff spot tonight when they face-off against the Oilers.
• Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal says that the Oilers really miss Shawn Horcoff on their first line. On the injury front, Joni Pitkanen is expected to return from injury tonight.
• The Hawks recorded an important road victory at Columbus last night, as the win moved them to within five points of the final Western Conference playoff spot with only ten games remaining on the season.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Email any thoughts, ideas or suggestions to illegalcurve@gmail.com

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Steven Stamkos has topped the ISS mid-season rankings.
2. The family of Keith Magnuson has asked a judge to spare Rob Ramage a prison sentence.
3. Todd Bertuzzi's testimony is about to become public, likely this afternoon.
4. Ken Holland and Larry Pleau have been named honorary captains for the AHL All-Star Game.
5. Shawn "Scorcoff" Horcoff's new approach to the game is paying dividends.
6. The Vancouver Giants are finding ways to win, despite losing all 5 of their top scorers from last year.
7. Alex Steen doesn't mind comparisons to his father.
8. Thomas McCollum has gone from dud to stud for the Guelph Storm.
9. INCH's weekly power rankings.
10. Pierre Lebrun writes that the transfer agreement problems are a more pressing concern for the NHL than the proposed new Euro Super League.
11. Larry Brooks has some ideas for making suspensions hurt.
12. Taking Note gives us the CHL Power Rankings.
13. An interesting look at scouting by Mike Smith, courtesy of his blog.
14. Stan Fischler tells us that Chris Osgood would like to be a bullpen catcher with the Tigers after he finishes his playing career.
15. Kukla's Korner looks at the NHL's top play by play men.
16. Luca Cunti's career in college hockey looks to be over. Watch for him to join the USHL's Chicago Steel.
17. Ken Campbell of the Hockey News looks at clutch players.
18. Fanhouse thinks that the ECHL is a good factory for goons and grinders.
19. Craig MacTavish has the luxury of having two hot goalies.
20. The Flames Eric Nystrom has grabbed hold of a roster spot and doesn't want to let it go.
21. The Maple Leafs have recalled Jiri Tlusty.
22. Morris Dalla Costa looks at Canada's Under-17 team.
23. Bob Probert got a little surprise when he showed up to film a cameo in an upcoming movie.
24. John Paddock hearts Zdeno Chara.
25. The Hockey News profiles the hot prospects.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior.

Morning Musings

Here are the Western Conference Morning Papers:

• After losing to the Coyotes 1-0 on Thursday night, it is fair to say that the Ducks are in a downward spiral. However, team captain Chris Pronger says the last thing the team needs to do is start pointing fingers at each other.
• Much of the credit for the Coyotes victory should go to Alex Auld who turned aside all 31 shots he faced last night.
• Amazingly, yesterday's game between the Blue Jackets and the Blues, which saw Columbus win 3-0, was the first game between the teams in which both teams were above .500. Blue Jackets' coach Ken Hitchcock thinks some team from the Central Division will join Detroit in the playoffs and he believes that spot is up for grabs.
• Rick Nash scored an amazing goal to lead the Blue Jackets' to their 3-0 victory over the Blues. About ten games have passed for each team in the NHL and somehow Pascal Leclaire already has four shutouts.
• Jarome Iginla looks to be on his way to his best season yet writes Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun.
• Having played against each other in college and on the world stage, Hawks' forward Jonathan Toews was able to renew acquaintances with Bruins' forward Phil Kessel as both put their best effort forward to carry their respective teams. In the end, Kessel won out as the Bruins defeated the Blackhawks 3-1.
• The Avalanche are not receiving as much production from their blueline as they would like writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post. In other Avs' news, Jordan Leopold is injured again. (Writer's note: That Tanguay for Leopold trade looks pretty, pretty, pretty bad right now.)
• The Stars played a good first part of the game against the Kings but then made some mental errors which allowed the Kings to score twice and prevail 2-1.
• The victory was the first for the Kings over the Stars in the past ten meetings between the two clubs.
• The two best teams in the face-off circle meet tonight in Detroit as the visiting Sharks try and knock off the Wings. Although there is no indication whether it is serious or not, Dominik Hasek will be out of the Wings' lineup tonight with hip irritation.
• Ales Hemsky had two markers, one of the highlight variety, as the Oilers recorded their first divisional win by knocking off the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in a shootout. The Oilers' veterans finally came alive last night and carried the team's youngsters for arguably the first time all season.
• While the Wild eventually lost 5-4 in a shootout, the team was happy with the way it battled back from a two goal deficit instead of packing it in. Meanwhile, the Wild secured an integral member of their youthful core as the team agreed to a four year contract extension with defenseman Brent Burns.
• The Predators put an end to the ugly six game slide as they defeated the Thrashers 3-0 on Thursday night. In rather surprising news, defenseman Marek Zidlicky was a healthy scratch last night.
• The relaxing time in Banff is over with and the Sharks' road trip turns into high-gear as they play three games in the next four nights against conference rivals.

Here are the national morning papers:

• Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail says there is actually a hint of logic in John Ferguson Jr.'s pursuit of young phenom John Tavares.
• Cam Cole of the National Post describes all that's wrong with the struggling Vancouver Canucks right now.
• Kevin Allen of the USA Today writes that next summer's entry draft could be yet another strong draft for American prospects.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The line of Tlusty-Stajan-Steen was terrific last night in leading the Leafs to a 5-2 victory over the Penguins. Circumventing the league rules is not the Leafs' style says MLSE President Richard Peddie. While the idea is far-fetched, Damien Cox gives the Leafs points for creativity in this morning's Toronto Star.
• Coach Michel Therrien was critical of his team's performance and competition level after their 5-2 loss at the hands of the struggling Maple Leafs.
• The Lightning defeated the Flyers 5-2 on Thursday night and are playing far better at home than they did last season writes Carter Gaddis of the Tampa Tribune. Lightning forward Michel Ouellet was finally rewarded for his season-long hard work.
• Flyers' coach John Stevens says a loss of the special teams battle is what cost the Flyers the game last night in Tampa.
• Daniel Alfredsson answers readers' questions in this morning's Ottawa Citizen. Meanwhile, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun takes a look at each of the terrific Ottawa blueliners one through six.
• Shawn Bates of the Islanders can't wait to get into some game action for the first time in over seven months, however, he has no clue when he will get a chance to crack the team's lineup.
• In what was a complete role-reversal from past years, the Rangers defeated the Devils 2-0 at MSG last night. On a team full of veterans, coach Tom Renney is demonstrating the utmost confidence in his younger players writes Larry Brooks of the NY Post.
• Devils' coach Brent Sutter was very unhappy that his team only earned seven of a possible eighteen points on their season-opening nine-game road trip. Scott Gomez admitted that he did feel a little bit weird during warm-ups but once the game began he was okay about facing-off versus his former teammates.
• The Habs are on the road for back-to-back games this weekend and if they expect to compete for a playoff spot, they need to improve their record in back-to-back games over last season.
• The Panthers also play back-to-back games this weekend, however, Jacques Martin has yet to announce who will start both games in net. Even a day later, Martin admitted he was very impressed with his team's play in its victory over Philly on Wednesday night.
• Some good news for Hurricanes' fans as Eric Cole may be able to return to the lineup for Saturday's game.
• The Sabres need to improve their play when the game is on the line writes John Vogl of the Buffalo News.
• Phil Kessel was terrific last night as the Bruins upended the Blackhawks 3-1 at the Banknorth Garden. After seeing all the blood on the ice after Zdeno Chara pummeled David Koci, don't be expecting anyone to be taking on Chara for a while. The Bruins need more production from their top unit of Schaeffer-Savard-Murray writes Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe.
• The Thrashers didn't play as desperate as they needed to and it cost them the game against the struggling Predators writes Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Zdeno Chara takes BEAST of the night to a new level

• Bruins 3, Blackhawks 1. Due to the World Series, the game was played in front of half a crowd. Phill Kessel sniped 2 goals and Jonathan Toews continues his point streak as he gets one on the powerplay. Zdeno Chara is the BEAST of the night as he pummels David Koci. He left with a bloody face.
  

• Stopping 36 saves, Pascal Leclaire recorded his fourth shutout on the season (believe it or not), three of them coming at home. Rick Nash continues to light the lamp, as he scores in his his fifth straight game. Columbus 3, St. Louis 0.
• In their past 3 games, the Rangers have gone 1-2 in their past three games, allowing one goal and scoring two. Henrik Lundvqist earned the shutout tonight and Winnipeg's Nigel Dawes scored two. Rangers 2, Devils 0
• Toronto 5 - Pittsburgh 2
• Tampa Bay 5 - Philadelphia 2
• Nashville 3 - Atlanta 0
• On Craig Welker's only goal Phoenix shuts out Anaheim 1 - 0
• Edmonton 5 - Minnesota 4
• Los Angeles 2 - Dallas 1

Tommorow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm MTL@CAR, VAN@WSH
7:30pm SJ@DET, BUF@FLA
9:00pm COL@CGY