NHL Morning Papers--Western Conference (Saturday Edition)

Here are the Northwest Division morning papers:

• After last night's embarrassing 4-0 loss at Minnesota, the Canucks find themselves in ninth place in the Western Conference. Even after taking a huge hit from Derek Boogard on Friday, Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa still expects to be in the line up on Sunday.


• Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune thinks that the Wild is peaking at just the right time. The Wild are going to remove one stressor from Kurtis Foster's life, as GM Doug Risebrough has said that he will qualify the defenseman in the off-season. (Writer's note: Classy move by Risebrough.)


• Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun calls out the Flames brass on their mismanagement of the Kristian Huselius situation. Moving closer to the playoffs, the Flames are hoping to make the Saddledome an extremely hard place to play.


• The Oilers lost a heartbreaker last night in Colorado, however, the team thinks it may actually help to get right back to business tonight in Calgary, writes Joanne Ireland. "We could have used the second one but it's over with," said Jarret Stoll after the contest. Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal wonders how good Ales Hemsky can become.


• Joe Sakic has not lost any of his magic, writes Rick Sadowski. "So-so, I think. I don't think we played as good as we wanted. Their skilled forwards had a little too much time, I think, and got to do a little too many moves. But we battled and we came back. We came back a couple times; we tied it up 3-3 and 4-4, so just overall it's a great win for us," said Peter Forsberg after last night's huge victory.

Here are the Pacific Division morning papers:

• The Ducks lost the game, the division and a ten game home winning streak last night versus the Sharks, writes Dan Wood.


• "It's obviously a good feeling, but I think it's the first step in the process that we have in our minds right now," said Jeremy Roenick after his Sharks clinched the Pacific Division title on Friday night.


• Kings coach Marc Crawford has more than just today's game versus Dallas to worry about, writes Eric Stephens and Lisa Dillman.


• The Stars understand the importance of today's afternoon tilt with the Kings, writes Mike Heika.

**There were no Phoenix Coyotes articles this morning**

Here are the Central Division morning papers:

• Mike Babcock made the sentimental decision of putting the Grind Line out to start yesterday's game versus St. Louis, writes Helene St. James. Chris Osgood proves that he is the ultimate team guy by telling reporters that Dominik Hasek is the number one in Motown.


• The Predators defeated the Blue Jackets 2-0 last night and now control their own destiny, writes John Glennon. And to think Dan Ellis' job was in jeopardy only days ago.


• Jared Boll more than proved his worth as a teammate last night, writes Tom Reed. In light of last night's adventures, Predators enforcer Darcy Hordichuk said the Blue Jackets need a tough guy.


• The Blues won their first game in overtime on Friday night when Brad Boyes popped his 40th marker of the season past Chris Osgood. Off the ice, the Blues have had an extremely successful season at the box office.


• After Denis Savard's comments earlier this week about the Blues, you can expect a heated rematch today, writes Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

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

NHL Morning Papers (Sunday Edition)

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Thrashers are no longer a threat to make the playoffs, but that does not mean they took yesterday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Panthers very easily.
• The Bruins ended their losing streak with a win over the undisciplined Capitals on Saturday afternoon, writes Fluto Shinwaza. Shane Hnidy was the Bruins' difference-maker without even scoring a goal last night. Meanwhile, here is Kevin Paul Dupont's usual Sunday notes column.
• Buffalo was happy they were able to battle back and record an important point versus Carolina last night, unfortunately, their penalty troubles led to a 4-3 overtime loss. Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News opines that Gary Bettman's plan for parity is working perfectly.
• The Hurricanes finally capitalized on their eighth power play of the game to defeat the visiting Sabres in overtime. In other Canes news, it appears Frantisek Kaberle has returned to his old form.
• According to Larry Brooks of the NY Post, Glen Sather turned down an offer of Steve Bernier for Sean Avery at the trade deadline. John Dellapina of the NY Daily News has an interesting feature on Rangers goaltending coach Benoit Allaire.
• The Flyers rode four power play goals to a convincing 4-1 victory over the visiting Islanders, writes Joe Logan. Meantime, Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer wonders if the NHL's point system needs to be tweaked.
• Both the Crosby/Ovechkin and the Malkin/Ovechkin rivalries are renewed this afternoon, writes Shelly Anderson. Marian Hossa will not suit up this afternoon.
• The Leafs allowed a last minute goal to the Devils last night at the Air Canada Centre, and with that, probably kissed their slim playoff hopes goodbye. Damien Cox points out that the Leafs haven't had a shutdown defensive pair or checking line in a long time. Off the ice, Jason Blake feels lucky everyday.
• There are a couple of interesting story lines heading into today's Tampa/Columbus game.
• The Senators ended their West Coast road trip on a positive note last night, writes Bruce Garrioch. Erin Nicks wonders if Mike Fisher is a suitable second line center.
• After last night's loss to the Flyers, the Islanders are now seven points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
• Zach Parise almost single-handedly led the Devils to a 2-1 road victory over Toronto, writes Rich Chere.
• The Habs aren't even playing their best, but they are still winning, writes Pat Hickey. In roster news, it looks like unhappy forward Mikhail Grabovski will be returned to Hamilton of the AHL.
• The Panthers kept their slim playoff chances alive with a resilient come-from-behind victory over the Thrashers last night.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• With Corey Perry on the shelf for six weeks, the Ducks are hoping Bobby Ryan can help fill the void.
• Ken Hitchcock didn't care that his players had to trek through a lot of snow to get to practice on Saturday, as he sent the team home after an intense lecture. Here are the Jackets' probable lines for today's game versus Tampa.
• "We're kidding ourselves if we think we're going to play deep into the playoffs doing the things we're doing right now," said Stars captain Brenden Morrow after his team's 3-1 loss to Colorado on Saturday.
• Darren McCarty is in Detroit but the veteran is currently sidelined with a rib injury that is restricting his ability to practice. McCarty is not the only Red Wing who is going to miss Sunday's game, writes Helene St. James.
• The Habs played in Los Angeles for the first time in four years last night, and apparently it wasn't as much of a road game as many would think.
• The Wild play eight of their final thirteen games on home-ice, however, their play at home needs to improve if they are going to secure a playoff spot, writes Kent Youngblood.
• In Nashville, the Predators are concerned that David Legwand's foot may be broken.
• The Sharks are gunning for their ninth straight victory today at the Wild, writes David Pollak.
• Brad Boyes tallied twice last night, but he didn't get any help as his team lost 4-2 at Vancouver. The Blues have realized their chances of the playoffs are slim to none, so they have opted to start playing their youngsters in place of some veterans like Martin Rucinsky.
• Craig Conroy is done talking about the Flames' slow starts, writes Scott Cruickshank of the Calgary Herald. Jarome Iglinla's next goal will set the franchise record for the Flames.
• Every game is huge for the Blackhawks, who are six points back of a playoff spot with only fourteen games remaining, writes Chris Kuc.
• The Avalanche made it six victories in a row last night, in their 3-1 come-from-behind victory over the Stars. On the injury front, Adam Foote is questionable for tonight's rematch versus Dallas.
• Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal has a nice story on the Oilers' rookie duo of Cogliano and Gagner.
• "We didn't do enough to win, simple as that," said Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky, after his team's 4-2 home loss to the Senators.
• Alex Burrows was huge for the Canucks yesterday, helping his team to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Blues and taking the team within two points of the division lead. Burrows' play was important, but Brad Isbister was the star last night, writes Elliot Pap.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

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

Morning Musings: Let the games begin

It seems like only yesterday that that Ducks defeated the Sens in game five of the Stanley Cup Finals to become the 2006/07 champions. Somehow, the off-season is already complete and this afternoon (at 11:00 CST) the L.A. Kings take on the Anaheim Ducks overseas in London. With much excitement around the league it looks like 2007/08 will be a fascinating season.

On to the morning papers:

• With regards to the Steve Downie suspension, the NHL got it exactly right this time writes Erik Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail.
• Here is a list, from the aforementioned Duhatschek, of the top 200 players to draft for you poolies out there.
• If Nikolai Zherdev is not in the Blue Jackets' top-six forward lines, it appears he will request a trade out of Columbus. Meanwhile, the Jackets were defeated by the Hurricanes 2-1 in exhibition action on Friday night. The game didn't lack physicality writes Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer.
• With the preseason coming to a close, Stars' coach Dave Tippett has some concerns about the Stars game but he is not going to put some of his injured players in the lineup to make the team more consistent heading into the season.
• Kyle Quincey has a broken hand and will be out of the lineup at least two weeks writes George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press. Perhaps the Wings already miss Quincy's defensive presence as they were defeated 6-4 by the Leafs last night.
• The Oilers have yet to name a captain and coach Craig MacTavish says he would prefer to avoid having alternating captains throughout the season; Derek Van Diest of the Edmonton Sun has the story.
• The Oilers only have one preseason game remaining but don't expect their veterans in the lineup for tonight's contest says Craig MacTavish.
• The Panthers completed their exhibition schedule last night with a 1-0 loss to the Thrashers.
• The fact that both Kings/Ducks games in London have sold out is a pleasant surprise for all involved.
• Michael Russo of the Star Tribune examines the possibility of the Wild signing youngster James Sheppard to an NHL contract prior to the start of the season.
• Patrice Brisebois has hardly even practiced but that hasn't stopped coach Guy Carbonneau from pairing up his former teammate with Roman Hamrlik to form the team's number two defense pairing.
• Greg Zanon has proven himself to the Predators' brass and will be a vital part of the team's top six defense. In other Predators' news, Dan Ellis has won the team's backup goaltending job to start the season.
• As Bridget Wentworth of the Newark Star-Ledger tells us, Brent Sutter is not afraid to shake things up at Devils' camp; the new coach has split up the checking combination of John Madden and Jay Pandolfo. "I don't like the like the idea of having a checking line that's just your checking line," Sutter told the New York Post on Friday.
• With Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery sitting out last night's exhibition game versus the Islanders, the Rangers will probably not be able to experiment with their new line combinations before the regular season begins next week.
• It wouldn't be MSG without drama and yesterday was no exception as MSG filed suit against the NHL on Friday afternoon.
• Brendan Shanahan and Scott Gomez are starting to develop some good chemistry writes Steve Zipay of New York Newsday.
• Bruce Garrioch explains where both sides are at in the Dany Heatley contract negotiations in this morning's Ottawa Sun.
• Flyers' GM Paul Holmgren thinks the Steve Downie 20-game suspension was a little bit long, but respects the decision of Colin Campbell. (Writer's note: I think Holmgren and Nick Kypreos are the only people who believe this suspension is excessive.)
• Coyotes' forward Steven Reinprecht says there is more enthusiasm and energy around the team this season with so many youngsters on the roster.
• Colby Armstrong will try not to beat himself up so much if he struggles to score goals early on in the season writes Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Meanwhile, the Pens were defeated by the Sabres 6-5 in exhibition action on Friday night.
• Steve Bernier is fitter than he was last season at training camp writes David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News.
• Brad Boyes had two goals and an assist in the Blues' 4-2 victory over the Wild in exhibition action on Friday night.
• Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune details what the Lightning management and coaching staff bases their roster decisions on.
• Paul Maurice says the Leafs need better performances from their goaltenders writes Mark Zwolinksi of the Toronto Star.
• Bill Lankhoff of the Toronto Sun has the story of Chad Kilger's long road to success.
• Curtis Sanford was sensational in his team's 3-2 victory over the Flames on Friday night.
• Tarik El-Bashir documents the nervous times of Capitals' youngster David Steckel in his quest to make the NHL roster.
• The Ducks have an opening day salary cap hit of $45.8 million writes Dan Wood of the Orange Country Register.
• Kari Lehtonen is looking sharp heading into the season writes Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune tells us that coach Denis Savard doesn't think all of his players have turned the switch on yet.
• Zdeno Chara doesn't want to answer questions about his shoulder writes Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald.
• Flames' players approve of the length of Steve Downie's suspension writes Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.