NHL Morning Papers (Friday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• David Naylor of the Globe & Mail wonders whether all these Ray Emery controversies are distracting the Senators.
• In the National Post, Allen Panzeri discusses the small amount of trash talk that has taken place between the Canadian and United States junior hockey players prior to their semi-final game today in the Czech Republic.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today has an interesting article comparing this year's version of the New England Patriots with the 1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Bill Tiller of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides readers with his second quarter report on the Thrashers. Tiller's colleague Craig Custance says the Thrashers are in the perfect division to make a playoff push.
• The Bruins rode a 31 save performance by Tim Thomas last night and defeated the Capitals 2-0. The Bruins got exactly what they expected from Shane Hnidy in the veteran's first game with his new club.
• With only one assist in his last nineteen games, Thomas Vanek has been demoted to the Sabres' second line and the Austrian will now play alongside Tim Connolly and Ales Kotalik.
• With consistent goaltending problems, the Hurricanes have recalled Michael Leighton from the AHL and have waived John Grahame.
• Jassen Cullimore was the unlikely overtime scorer, but the Panthers will take it, as they put an end to a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 overtime victory at Long Island.
• The Habs knew the Lightning would be desperate last night, and still weathered the storm with a 6-3 home victory writes Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette.
• Those who were doubting Martin Brodeur early in the season don't look so smart now writes Bridget Wentworth of the Newark Star-Ledger.
• The Rangers were shutout by Roberto Luongo on Thursday night in what was a winnable game writes Jay Greenberg. John Dellapina of the New York Daily News tells readers that the Rangers' Achilles heel last night was their inept powerplay.
• It was quite a bizarre situation Thursday on Long Island, where it appears Rick DiPietro will now be suspended for two games for using goalie pads that were not examined by the league before being used.
• Senators coach John Paddock has yet to name a starting netminder for tonight's game versus the Sabres.
• Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer says that the Flyers have something very special in 22 year old Mike Richards. Meanwhile, the Flyers waived both Jim Dowd and Rory Fitzpatrick on Thursday.
• The Penguins had no trouble disposing of Toronto 6-2 last night writes Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It appears that Penguins forward Maxim Talbot is close to returning from an ankle sprain.
• The Lightning received terrific performances from their top line of Lecavalier, Prospal and St. Louis, but the rest of the team failed to show up in the Bolts' 6-3 loss at Montreal on Thursday.
• "We're halfway through the season and we still haven't found that consistency in terms of our efforts night in and night out," said Leafs captain Mats Sundin after last night's embarrassing 6-2 loss at Pittsburgh.
• The Capitals couldn't crack the scoresheet on Thursday night as they were shutout by Tim Thomas and the Bruins writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Curtis Zupke of the Orange County Register provides Ducks fans with some information on newcomer Brandon Bochenski.
• Jarome Iginla popped the overtime winner last night as the Flames made sure that the Sharks' home struggles continued with a 3-2 victory at the Shark Tank. (Writer's note: I watched this game and it was one of the more enjoyable games I've seen all season.)
• The Blackhawks didn't lose 9-2 again, but they still came out on the losing end of a 4-2 final last night at Phoenix.
• The Avalanche received another huge blow to their lineup yesterday when they got word that rugged winger Ryan Smyth will be lost to the team for up to eight weeks with a fractured ankle.
• The Blue Jackets rebounded from a 2-1 loss to the Ducks with a 4-3 victory over the lowly Kings. Even though he has been injured a number of times this season, that doesn't mean Mike Peca is going to change the way he plays writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.
• After being handily defeated 6-3 by the Wild, Stars coach Dave Tippett believes every part of his team's game needs work right now.
• There are really no flaws to the Red Wings' game right now writes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. In other Wings news, Tomas Holmstrom is hoping to return this Sunday versus Chicago from a sore right knee.
• The Oilers' defense wasn't ready for the speed of the Nashville forwards last night writes Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal.
• The Kings three-game winning streak sure didn't last long as they were beaten by the Blue Jackets 4-3 on home-ice last night.
• The Wild were able to get revenge last night over the Stars after being embarrassed in Dallas a little over a week ago.
• The Predators easily defeated the Oilers 5-2 on Thursday on the back of a two-goal effort from Alexander Radulov. (Writer's note: I'm still wondering why Radulov isn't playing more on this squad????)
• "We're playing hard, good, solid hockey, and are doing a lot of good things," said Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky after his team defeated the Blackhawks by a score of 4-2 on home-ice.
• Even though the Sharks lost in overtime last night to Calgary, the one point they received for the loss moved them into a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with Dallas.
• Blues coach Andy Murray is confident in his team's talent-level on the powerplay, and that is why he just can't figure out why his team has such problems with the man-advantage.
• Roberto Luongo was single-handedly responsible for his team's victory over the Rangers last night.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Hejduk, Hasek and Kopitar are the NHL's three stars for the week.
2. The Flyers have traded AHL defenseman Jussi Timonen to the Dallas Stars.
3. Ken Holland gets a promotion in Detroit.
4. Who's hot and cold in the CHL.
5. Two more USHL'ers are headed to the World Juniors.
6. Pierre Lebrun makes the case that Lecavalier is the best player in the NHL.
7. The Maple Leafs have waived Bates Battaglia.
8. Ethan Moreau has his cast removed and may return to the lineup soon.
9. The undrafted Jerome Samson is turning heads in Albany.
10. Jonathan Toews was recently named an Alternate Captain in Chicago.
11. Ryan Miller and Adam Hall will both be playing their 2nd outdoor game this January.
12. A look at the 2007 draft picks, some of whom are already playing in the NHL.
13. The Michigan Wolverines are the new #1 team in the country.
14. Ted Nolan is enjoying his time back in the NHL, and is making a difference.
15. The Boston Globe notes that the Bruins may be looking to make a deal.
16. The QMJHL is filling the hockey void in Atlantic Canada.
17. Taking Note chronicles the weekend action in the WHL.
18. Andy Murray has righted the ship in St. Louis.
19. One of the coaches involved in the 8 year olds brawl receives a 3 year suspension.
20. Al Strachan doesn't think Scott Niedermayer's return will be 100% rosy.
21. Torres and Stoll will return to the Oilers lineup tonight.
22. The Senators are relaxing after breaking out of their funk.
23. Steven Stamkos blogs about preparing for the World Juniors.
24. Spector rounds up all the Western Conference rumours.
25. Mike Brophy writes that the Devils are coming around.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior

NHL Morning Papers (Saturday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail compares and contrasts the managing success (or lack thereof) of Toronto's John Ferguson Jr. with Montreal's Bob Gainey.
• Eric Duhatschek discusses the upcoming Hall of Fame class and their inability to get away from the game they love in his Saturday notes column.

Here are the Western Confernce morning papers:

• Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun profiles Al MacInnis just prior to his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.
• The Blackhawks defeated the Blues 4-2 last night in Chicago and one of the reasons for the Hawks' success can be attributed to their defense's offensive output. Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune explains the expectations that Comcast has for its home broadcasts this season.
• "They're the measuring stick and we're trying to catch up," is what Ken Hitchcock said about the Red Wings after they defeated the Blue Jackets 4-1 on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Jackets face the Predators on Saturday night and coach Hitchcock says the Jackets won't have a rivalry with the Predators unless they stop losing to them all the time. Here are the Jackets' probable lines for tonight's game.
• The Stars are striving to be more consistent writes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
• Both the Red Wings and their star forward Henrik Zetterberg kept their streaks going last night in Detroit as they defeated the Blue Jackets 4-1. Wings' youngster Jiri Hudler appears to be on a similar career course as current Detroit first-liner Tomas Holmstrom.
• Sheldon Souray thinks he will be back in the Oilers' lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Canucks writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun. Oilers' defenseman Alan Rourke will make his team debut on Hockey Night in Canada tonight versus the Flames.
• Flames' center Daymond Langkow will not dress for tonight's game versus the Oilers due to a concussion he suffered at the hands of Matt Cooke on Thursday night. Asked yesterday whether he would share his beliefs of why the Flames had been struggling, coach Mike Keenan responded, "I think that's information that should stay in the locker-room. It's something you try to protect with the team and deal with them."
• Marian Gaborik has joined his teammates on their trip to Colorado for Sunday's game against the Avalance, but his linemate Pavol Demitra was left behind due to his more serious groin injury.
• The Kings are hoping to have enforcer Raitis Ivanans back in the lineup next week, however, Kyle Calder is still a couple weeks away from a return to the lineup.
• The Predators have to make sure they are prepared for tonight's game versus Columbus because the Jackets were beat by Nashville in all eight meetings last season and are very much stressing the importance of beating the Preds this season.
• While the Sharks are not where they want to be in terms of their play, they feel like last night's 3-2 shootout loss to the Ducks was a step in the right direction.
• "It's difficult for us to win a hockey game when, in our opinion, I don't know if we had five of our forwards play average or above," said Blues' coach Andy Murray after the team was defeated by the Hawks 4-2 at the United Center. Meanwhile, the Blues' face-off percentage has been falling off for the past couple weeks writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• The Canucks got their third win in a row last night and are now back at .500 after they defeated the Avalanche 2-1 in overtime. Jim Jamieson of the Vancouver Province has a feature on Paul Stastny.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Don Waddell improved his record to 7-3 behind the bench this season for the Thrashers as they defeated the Panthers 4-1 on Friday night. Ilya Kovalchuk is arguably playing the best hockey of his career right now and is maturing into a leader writes Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Bruins' defenseman Aaron Ward will be out of the lineup indefinitely with a concussion. It is going to be a battle for the Bruins to fill Ward's void in terms of leadership and minutes-played writes Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald.
• The Sabres offense is struggling so much right now that they couldn't even breakout versus the lowly Leafs' defense as they were defeated by Toronto 3-0 on Friday. The breaks just aren't going the Sabres' way right now writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.
• Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer previews the Hurricanes' game at Atlanta tonight.
• The Panthers outplayed the Thrashers last night but couldn't bulge the twine and it cost them as they were defeated by Atlanta 4-1 at home. "We're in a big hole now. There's no question about it. We have to be better, no doubt about it," said goaltender Tomas Vokoun after the loss.
• This season's version of the Flyers are definitely not on equal footing with the Broad Street bullies writes Red Fisher in this morning's Montreal Gazette. Francis Bouillon of the Habs said his collision with Bruins' defenseman Aaron Ward was completely by accident and that he didn't even see Ward coming.
• For the first time since last season, the Devils had their full healthy roster at practice yesterday. Both Colin White and Jamie Langenbrunner are now able to practice but they won't be in tonight's lineup versus the Islanders.
• Former Ranger Mark Messier will be watching from the stands as the Rangers are in Toronto tonight to face-off against the Leafs in the Hall of Fame game. The Blueshirts will attempt to secure their first road victory tonight.
• One of the keys to the Islanders' success is the goal-scoring of veteran Miroslav Satan writes Mark Hermmann of Newsday.
• With the way things are going for Martin Gerber, the netminder is not about to change to his new helmet anytime soon. According to Bruce Garrioch, the Senators may open the 2008/09 regular season in Sweden. The aforementioned Gerber will get the start this afternoon versus the streaking Habs.
• It looks like Simon Gagne may have returned too soon from his concussion, so don't expect him or the Flyers to make that same mistake twice.
• Ray Shero made it clear yesterday that he is not replacing Michel Therrien with a new head coach and he is not replacing Marc-Andre Fleury with a new number one netminder. Ryan Whitney is slated to return to the Penguins' lineup tonight after missing the last four games with a sore groin.
• Both Bryan McCabe and Andrew Raycroft got redemption last night in the Leafs' 3-0 win in Buffalo. With all the panic and outcry over the Leafs' play, the team reached the .500 level after Friday's win over the Sabres.
• Carter Gaddis of the Tampa Tribune has an interesting piece on the relationship between Tampa coach John Tortorella and GM Jay Feaster

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.