Morning Musings

Here are the morning papers:

• The Predators may have reached rock bottom on Tuesday night after losing to Los Angeles 6-0. Their effort was so poor last night that the team called a closed door meeting immediately after the contest.
• It was a ridiculously easy victory for the Kings writes Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times.
• The Penguins have scored three goals in their past two games and, due to some terrific goaltending, have two wins to show for their efforts.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post is wondering whether Brendan Shanahan is beginning to lose his scoring touch as he closes in on 39 years old. Meanwhile, team leader Jaromir Jagr doesn't think the Rangers are getting enough quality scoring chances to be able to put up solid team goal-scoring totals.
• The Leafs have had a myriad of problems through the first ten games of the 2007/08 NHL season but goaltending has not been one of them writes Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail.
• After greeting Ryan Smyth with a video tribute, the Oilers decided to hand his Avalanche teammates a two goal lead after the first period and the Avs did not look back from there. There wasn't a dry eye in the house last night writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun. With all the Ryan Smyth distraction, defenseman Matieu Roy slipped into the Oilers' lineup under the radar due to an injury to Joni Pitkanen. While Mathieu Roy has found his way into the lineup, Ethan Moreau is champing at the bit to get back onto the ice.
• Ryan Smyth appreciated the reception he received from the fans last night writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post. Jaroslav Hlinka scored goal last night and is giving his best effort to stay out of Joel Quenville's doghouse.
• Former Duck Paul Kariya did in his former teammates last night helping the Blues to a 4-2 victory over the defending champion Ducks.
• As Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tells us, Blues' coach Andy Murray thought the Blues played well in all facets of the game last night. In other Blues' news, defenseman Erik Johnson will be kept off the ice for the rest of this week to rest his foot.
• According to Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post, it is looking like Caps' winger Alexander Semin will be in the lineup for tonight's game versus the Lightning.
• Moral victories don't usually add up to a playoff spot and that is a problem for this year's version of the Maple Leafs writes Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star. Mats Sundin was furious after last night's game about a no-call in the shootout on Thrashers' goalie Johan Hedberg. After eight of their first ten games at home, the Leafs now have to take their show on the road. In other Leafs' news, winger Tony Salmelainen has left the organization and returned home to Finland.
• Ilya Kovalchuk is emerging as a leader on the Thrashers and was tremendous last night against the Leafs, carrying his team to a 5-4 shootout victory. Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa have seen more time together since Don Waddell took over behind the bench. Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tells Thrashers' fans to not give up on the idea of a Marian Hossa contract extension.
• Bruins' coach Craig Julien wants his team to stop spreading out on offense so much and just go to the net. Winger Brandon Bochenski was demoted to the AHL yesterday.
• After reading Tony Dungy's book this off-season, Sabres' defenseman Brian Campbell knows that he has it within himself to do more.
• The Flames are trying to put their terrible performance versus the Sharks on Monday behind them. The Flames need to get back to playing with emotion according to head coach Mike Keenan.
• Hurricanes' winger Chad LaRose started taking care of his body this off-season and the results are paying off writes Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer. Due to injuries, both Eric Cole and Andrew Ladd were unable to practice yesterday.
• Patrick Kane was tremendous for the Blackhawks last night, unfortunately his teammates didn't follow suit as the Hawks lost 7-4 to the Blue Jackets.
• The Blue Jackets did a lot of things well last night in their victory over the Hawks said Jackets' coach Ken Hitchcock.
• The Stars have to do a lot of travelling in the Western Conference, but at least they will be doing it in style after owner Tom Hicks bought the team a new 757 private jet.
• It looks like agent Don Meehan and Chris Chelios may be heading into a heated battle after Meehan issued "notices of libel" against Chris Chelios.
• The Panthers' top defensive tandem of Jay Bouwmeester and Bryan Allen is a combined -12 on the season but both understand that only eight games have been played. Meanwhile, rookie Stefan Meyer is ecstatic that he is getting the chance to suit up in his first NHL game tonight as the Panthers take on the Flyers.
• The Islanders' powerplay will feel the effects of this injury as Bryan Berard will be lost to the team's lineup for 2-4 weeks with a groin injury.
• Even though they play eight times a year, a Devils/Rangers match up still means a lot writes Rich Chere of the Newark Star Ledger.
• Marcus Nilsson of the Flames thinks the most important job of a Wild opponent is getting the lead and making the Wild open up their style of play.
• Kevin Mio of the Montreal Gazette has a great one-on-one interview with Habs' winger Michael Ryder.
• Defenseman Zbynek Michalek is ready to return from the hand injury he sustained in practice and will play tomorrow night versus Anaheim.
• Antero Nittymaki will make his first start of the season tomorrow night versus the Lightning reports Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Needless to say, the Senators' players would be quite excited if Peter Forsberg were added to their team.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Late Night Recap: Marty "BEAST of the night" Biron

This one goes out to all the insomniacs out there

• Chris Campoli churned out 4 assists, Bill Guerin made it rain hats and Bryan Berard had a goal and an assist playing like he had two fully functional eyes. The Islanders defeat the Capitals 5 - 4
• The Boston Bruins were able to hold the Lecavalier, St. Louis, Prospal line to zero points. Marco Sturm chipped in with two goals and Patrice Bergeron had two assists. Bruins 4 Lightning 1
• Atlanta responds to Bob Hartley's firing by pumping out 5 goals vs the Rangers. Marian Hossa had two points for the Thrashers. Kari Lehtonen left mid game with a groin. Thrashers 5, Rangers 3
• In tonights episode of The Office, Jim and Pam stay a night at Dwights beet farm. Dwight tries to get over Angela, and Michael is out of money. It might just be me but the new season of The Office hasn't impressed me much.
• Back to hockey: Marty "BEAST of the night" Biron records his 2nd straight shutout, stopping 38 shots from the Devils. 38 shots from the Devils, that must be a franchise record. Flyers 4 Devils 0
• In All-Star Randy Robitaille's Sens debut, Nick Foglino scored his first NHL goal. The Sens over the Canadiens 4-3. The media took overhyping to a new level when the Senators signed Randy Robitaille signing. It really wasn't news at all.
  
• Nik Antropov scored with 27 seconds left and Bryan McCabe responded to unnecessary criticism by scoring a goal. The Leafs knock off the Panthers 3-2. If Bryan McCabe wasn't obviously overpaid, would people boo him? The guy never deserved the money in the first place, Leafs fans should be booing JFJ not McCabe. Was he supposed to decline that fat contract because he didn't think he deserved it? Give Bryan McCabe a break.
• Daymond Langkow scores his 500th NHL point as Calgary gets the lead and is able to keep it this time in a 4 - 3 win over Los Angeles.
• Oilers 4 Phoenix 2. These teams are both awful. Oh yeah, Raffi Torres scored 2 goals.
• Chris Osgood gets his 3rd win of the year for Detroit and Henrik Zetterberg nets two points. The Detroit Red Wings spear the San Jose Sharks 4 - 2.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:30pm: CLB@BUF, CAR@PIT
8:30pm: COL@CHI
10:00pm: LA@VAN

Morning Musings

I don't have time for a preamble this morning, the usual format will return tomorrow.

Here are the morning papers:

• The Bruins almost squeaked out a win versus the Ducks last night, but a late Francois Beauchemin goal gave the Ducks a 2-1 victory at the Honda Center. The Bruins played the contest without Marc Savard who was held out of last night's game with a groin injury. If the Bruins are to breakout offensively, they need Glen Murray to return to old form writes Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald.
• Dan Wood of the Orange County Register details the momentum changing shift that Ryan Getzlaf and Chris Kunitz had for the Ducks midway through the 2nd period. The game was almost second fiddle for most Ducks' fan as the team raised the Stanley Cup banner prior to the game. Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne were both on hand for that celebration.
• The Sabres have been endlessly working on their defensive play in practice since their two early season losses to the Islanders. Just because Ryan Miller's cousin has passed away, it doesn't mean he won't continue to be an inspiration for Miller and those who knew him and his story.
• Kris Draper was admittedly in awe of his teammates Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg after their terrific performance in the Wings' 4-2 victory over Calgary on Wednesday. Sometimes it is an adjustment for European players to come to the NHL and be told to shoot, shoot, shoot writes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.
• The Datsyuk line thoroughly outplayed the Iginla line admitted Iginla himself in this morning's Calgary Sun.
• As Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times explains, the Kings kept giving the puck away last night versus the Stars and, as a result, were on the losing end of a 5-1 score.
• Niklas Hagman's promotion to a scoring line was a rousing success as the winger scored twice leading the Stars to a 5-1 victory over the Kings.
• The Wild continued their recent domination over the Oilers last night with a 2-0 victory; Michael Russo of the Star Tribune has the story. Russo also has a great story about the respect and admiration that Oilers' defenseman Sheldon Souray has for his former coach Jacques Lemaire.
• Oilers' head coach Craig MacTavish thought the Oilers played a good road game writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun. Shawn Horcoff was a little bit more critical saying, "if we're going to make the playoffs, we have to beat teams like this."
• John Glennon of the Tennessean explains that the Predators fell about nine minutes short of their goal in last night's game at St. Louis. While Predators' coach Barry Trotz was not impressed with his team's defensive performance saying, "We left (goaltender) Mason to the Wolves."
• The Flyers thoroughly dominated the Canucks in every aspect of the game leading to an easy 8-2 victory. Former Canuck R.J. Umberger was awfully excited to defeat the team that he could never agree to a contract with writes Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Flyers' enforcer Jesse Boulerice cross-checked Ryan Kesler in the face in the 3rd period of last night's game and Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province thinks the repeat offender deserves more than a 15 game suspension.
• Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette believes that the Habs' great goaltending torch has now been passed to Carey Price after his impressive 3-2 victory over the Penguins last night.
• While the Penguins were impressed with Carey Price's debut, they believe their mental mistakes were the real reason they lost 3-2 to the Habs on Wednesday night. Although nothing has been confirmed, it looks like the Penguins may be opening up 2008/09 in Prague versus the Senators.
• The Leafs are only four games into this young season but there is already a sense of urgency surrounding the club explains Mark Zwolinski in this morning's Toronto Star. Catching nobody by surprise, Leafs' coach Paul Maurice plans on giving his lineup quite the face lift for the team's big game versus the Islanders tonight.
• After Chris Gratton scored both Tampa's goals in their 2-1 victory over the Panthers, Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune wonders if the Panthers now regret trading the big centerman. However, the real star of the game was Lightning goaltender Johan Holmqvist who turned away 30 of 31 shots for the victory.
• Even though they have hardly counted on the scoresheet, the Panthers are taking solace in the fact that they are generating scoring chances. Craig Anderson was in net on Wednesday night meaning Tomas Vokoun will be back in between the pipes tonight.
• Capitals' coach Glen Hanlon is happy with the Caps 3-0 start but believes his team still has "a long way to go," starting with the team's slumping powerplay.
• Even though Blues' President Dave Checketts didn't guarantee a home opener victory this season, the Blues pleased their boss anyways with a decisive 4-1 victory over Nashville. Prior to Wednesday's home opener, Blues' rookie defenseman Erik Johnson tried to beg his way into the lineup, even though he has a hairline fracture in his foot.
• Milan Michalek was happy to be reunited with Steve Bernier and, more importantly, Patrick Marleau for last night's tilt in Chicago. The young winger's happiness was evident as he scored the only two Sharks' goals in the team's 2-1 victory. Sharks' defenseman Douglas Murray was a healthy scratch for last night's contest.
• The Hawks didn't win their home opener but their stud rookie Jonathan Toews opened some eyes with his gorgeous first period goal.
• Coyotes' coach Wayne Gretzky believes his team is letting their opposition dictate the pace at the start of games.
• The Thrashers were beaten by rookie Brian Elliot and the Ottawa Senators 3-1 last night writes Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Daniel Alfredsson was impressed by John Paddock's decision to start Elliot in between the pipes, saying, "the coach looks like a genius." Meanwhile, Jason Spezza's agent Rick Curran tells Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen that negotiations on a contract extension for his client will not be done in public.
• Bryan Berard had quite the return to Long Island scoring the game winning goal in his team's 2-1 victory over the rival Rangers.
• The Rangers have produced nothing on the offensive side of the puck since the season began last week writes Larry Brooks of the NY Post. With so many new faces in town, Jaromir Jagr says the chemistry is not yet there on Broadway.
• Richard Matvichuk has been placed on the trading block by Lou Lamoriello because coach Brent Sutter has opted for a more mobile defense. The GM believes he can complete a deal quite quickly.
• The Hurricanes can roll out three lines that have the ability to score writes Luke Decock of the News Observer.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post provides readers with a Q & A with Joe Sakic. Sakic's GM for all his prime years Pierre Lacroix, was elected into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Morning Musings: NHL Schedule

After commending the NHL for not competing with the NFLover ratings on Sundays, I have to say that I don't understand what the league is doing with the rest of its opening week schedule. Last night, for example, the league only scheduled one game. One game! It was a Tuesday night, with the only prospective competition being MLB playoffs (Although baseball's first round ended Monday, the NHL television schedule is completed mid-summer). While I realize that MLB playoffs garner much attention, Tuesday is a day without NFL or college football. Additionally, the NBA has not even started its regular season action. For some reason, the NHL decides that one game on a Tuesday and twelve games on a Wednesday makes more sense than six games each night? If MLB playoffs were the reason for the light Tuesday night schedule, then how does one explain twelve games the next night, where MLB, in theory, could have been playing the latter games of a 1st round playoff matchup. If the league expects to succeed in the United States then it just cannot have one game on Versus on a Tuesday, between non-draws like Carolina and Toronto. It's as simple as that.

On to the morning papers:

• After losing to Washington over the weekend, the Hurricanes looked like an entirely different team Tuesday night handing the Leafs an embarrassing 7-1 defeat. Cam Ward exacted his revenge on the Leafs after they embarrassed him last season with 4 goals on 19 shots in late March.
• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says the Leafs have already hit rock bottom and it's not even Halloween yet. Mats Sundin called the Leafs' effort "unacceptable." Coach Paul Maurice said all the Leafs were poor across the board.
• Jason Blake is going to fight his cancer head-on with determination he has demonstrated his entire life. Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun has a must-read article on the inspiration that Jason Blake will provide to many in his fight against cancer.
• Paul Ranger has become a horse on the Lightning blue line with the loss of Dan Boyle writes Erik Erlendsson in this morning's Tampa Tribune.
• A real sellout is expected for the Blues' home opener tonight; instead of last season's ticket giveaway, this year the tickets have actually been purchased. Paul Kariya faces off versus his former Predator teammates for the first time since signing with the Blues this off-season.
• As David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News explains, it appears that Sharks' coach Ron Wilson has reverted back to his old lines for tonight's game against the Blackhawks.
• Brooks Orpik has the tough task of shutting down Saku Koivu tonight as the Penguins take on the Habs. Even with lingering foot pain, Sidney Crosby is not going to pass up the chance to face the Canadiens who were his favorite team growing up.
• Keith Ballard is doing a great job of demonstrating why he is one of Wayne Gretzky's favorites in Phoenix. Coach Gretzky thinks newest Coyote Freddy Meyer fits into the team well because he adds speed and energy.
• After all their team building, the Flyers get a chance to get back on the ice tonight when they face off against the Canucks at GM Place.
• As Alan Panzeri tells us in this morning's Ottawa Citizen, Martin Gerber's new mask has arrived, freshly painted, however the Swiss netminder doesn't think he is going to put it to immediate use because of the team's success when he wears his plain black helmet. Gerber seems to have finally adjusted to the added pressure that goes along with playing in Canada writes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Meanwhile, John Paddock has no immediate plans to break up the Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson line (a.k.a. the Pizza line).
• There is no guarantee that newest Isle Bryan Berard will be in the lineup versus the Rangers tonight writes Greg Logan of Newsday.
• John Dellapina of the NY Daily News provides readers with Rangers' coach Tom Renney's explanation about why he will most likely go with Jason Strudwick in the lineup tonight over Paul Mara. Larry Brooks of the NY Post is critical of Renney saying that he believes the coach is using Jason Strudwick as a crutch.
• Mark Everson of the NY Post admires Devils' coach Brent Sutter's movement away from matching lines but says that utilizing John Madden in a checking role right now may give the Devils their best chance to win because of the struggles of their other offensive forwards. The Devils spent much of their Tuesday practice focusing on defensive positioning writes Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger.
• The Predators realize that facing the Blues no longer means an easy two points. Here are notes about both teams heading into tonight's game.
• Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette previews Carey Price's much awaited season debut in Pittsburgh tonight. Price admits he'll be a little nervous, but the cool netminder says "it's just another game."
• Pierre-Marc Bouchard is striving to be more consistent this season writes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune.
• After scoring two easy tap ins on Saturday night, it comes as no surprise that Dustin Brown loves playing with Anze Kopitar.
• Richard Zednik is back from injury and should add some much needed speed to the Panthers top line.
• The Oilers aren't exactly excited to see Derek Boogard for the first time in 2007/08. The Oilers hope to improve on their recent record against the Wild writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.
• The Red Wings are disappointed they will be playing in front of their third below capacity home-crowd tonight when they host the Flames. In other Wings' news, goaltender Dominik Hasek has a sore knee and may have to miss tonight's game.
• The Stars expect Mike Ribiero to make his season debut tonight against the Kings writes Mike Hieka of the Dallas Morning News.
• When Ken Hitchock arrived in Columbus he was not happy with the team's fitness scores and he takes pride in the team's improved fitness since his arrival. The Jackets expect to have Mike Peca in their lineup for the first time this season when they face-off against the Coyotes tonight.
• Milan Hedjuk has made a point of making Jaroslav Hlinka's transition to North America a lot easier.
• Jonathan Toews will make his NHL debut tonight in Chicago writes Chris Kuc of Chicago Tribune.
• The Flames are hoping to make up for their lackluster performance at the Joe Louis Arena in the 2006/07 playoffs tonight when they visit Detroit. Craig Conroy of the Flames calls tonight's game versus Detroit "huge."
• According to coach Bob Hartley, Thrashers' star forward Marian Hossa is "very doubtful" for tonight's game against the Sens after injuring his groin in practice on Monday. Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution opines that the Thrashers' slow start can be attributed to a lack of effort.
• The Ducks will finally raise the Stanley Cup banner tonight writes Dan Wood of the Orange County Register.
• According to Bruins' coach Claude Julien, forward Marc Savard "is probably out" for tonight's game against the Ducks.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Breaking News: Berard signs with Islanders

Greg Logan of Newsday is reporting that the New York Islanders have signed defenseman Bryan Berard to a 1 year, $725,000 deal.

Morning Musings: Is there anything better than a Brian Burke interview?

Last night I had the privilege of watching Brian Burke's interview with James Duthie of TSN and it was anything but a letdown. When asked about his relationship with Kevin Lowe after the summer offer sheet he gave to Dustin Penner, Burke responded, "If I had run my team into the sewer like that I wouldn't throw a grenade at the other 29 teams and my own indirectly." All I can say about that comment is WOW. Burke even went on to say that he wouldn't speak with Kevin Lowe even if he coveted one of his players in a trade; rather, he would have his assistant GM Bob Murray make that call. I am still wondering if the best part of the interview was Burke going off like that or James Duthie's "okay" response as you could see the anchor was in shock by what had just been said. Either way, it makes for good television.

I know Burke gets his fair share of criticism but, to be honest, I'm still not sure why. He does a tremendous job of building teams and fan bases as Eric Duhatschek points out in the Globe and Mail. Additionally, he gives his frank opinion on issues. In my mind that is a breath of fresh air. In this particular interview, Duthie asked Burke a question and regardless of your opinion on his response, you can't argue with the fact that he was being honest. Straight shooters are more rare in the game today than they were, say, twenty years ago and in my humble opinion, the NHL needs more personalities like Brian Burke.

On to the morning papers:

• Alexei Kovalev is making an effort to help his young teammates out this season writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette. As far as predictions go, Hickey believes the Habs will finish in the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference and just squeak into the playoffs.
• Radek Bonk has impressed his new coach Barry Trotz with his poise both offensively and defensively. Meanwhile, Preds' forward Martin Gelinas will have stitches removed from his hand before the team's opener on Thursday.
• Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger has a must-read human interest piece on Brent Sutter this morning. In other Sutter news, the new Devils' coach will wait to make a decision on team captain and open the season with three alternate captains. It is interesting to note that neither John Madden nor Jay Pandolfo were named alternates.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post is unimpressed with Tom Renney's plan to have Scott Gomez on the Rangers' second powerplay unit. It appears Chris Drury will get every opportunity to prove he can mesh with Jaromir Jagr to stick on the team's number one line.
• At Islanders' camp, Jeff Tambellini was demoted to Bridgeport of the AHL on Tuesday, however, a decision has not yet been made on the future of Bryan Berard.
• Due to their playoff success a season ago, the Senators are now a team with a target on their backs writes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Chris Phillips is not buying the argument that this may be the Sens' last chance to compete for the Cup.
• Hugh Adami of the Ottawa Citizen suggests that Bryan Murray make Jason Spezza his first priority ahead of signing Dany Heatley.
• You can count Mike Richards as one player who is happy John Stevens is behind the Flyers' bench this season instead of Ken Hitchcock.
• Phil Sheridan of the Philadelpia Inquirer wonders if expectations are too high for the Flyers heading into the season.
• Heading into Thursday's opener against the Blues, Coyotes' coach Wayne Gretzky has finalized his team's lines. After looking at these lines, you can't help but think it is going to be a long season in the desert.
• David Pollack of the San Jose Mercury News provides readers with the line combinations at Sharks' practice on Tuesday.
• For Jordan Staal, adjusting to left wing is not as hard when your linemates are Sidney Crosby and Petr Sykora.
• The Blues' roster is so young that Doug Weight jokes he may have to go shopping for a new wardrobe to keep up with his new, hip, well-dressed teammates.
• John Tortorella never questions Vaclav Prospal's effort and expects a big year out of the winger. Tortorella also announced his starting goalteder for Thursday's opener will be Johan Holmqvist.
• It is time for the Leafs to start playing games that count writes Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star. While Damien Cox of the Star believes the time has come for Mats Sundin to pass the torch on to a teammate. Sundin is fully aware he is nearing the end of his career writes Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun. (Writer's note: There was a brilliant quote by Jason Blake in Paul Hunter's piece this morning. "All three of us have different characteristics. Mats is big and strong. Nik is big and strong. I'm small and weak. Hopefully things will work out." Ummmm, I'm not sure, but I think big and strong and big and strong would be the SAME characteristics!!!)
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post examines how the CBA has worked two years after the inception of the salary cap.
• Roberto Luongo believes he is a better goalie than he was last season writes Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province. (Writer's note: Is that even possible?)
• Modest Mike Modano is closing in on becoming the all-time leading U.S. born scorer in NHL history writes Kevin Allen of USA Today.
• As Illegal Curve told you last night, Bobby Holik is the newest captain of the Atlanta Thrashers.
• Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Shawn Thornton were all excited to see cut-down day go by without their names being included writes Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe. Here are the Bruins' line combinations heading into the season.
• The Sabres will use a monthly captain rotation this season with Jochen Hecht sporting the C to begin the season.
• Steve Macfarlane of the Calgary Sun has a Q & A with new coach Mike Keenan. Keenan is the key to the team's fortunes this season writes Eric Francis of the Sun.
• Bruce Dowbiggen of the Calgary Herald provides readers with a preview of the Flames this season IF readers are ready for it.
• The Ducks are back from Europe and ready to renew their rivalry with the Wings.
• Luke Decock of the News Observer does a good job of capturing the optimism that surrounds the Canes heading into 2007/08. (Writer's note: The Canes won't be televising the team's first game. However, fear not Carolina fans, the league is working to get the Montreal feed on the Center Ice package so Canes fans can get the game. Nothing like a sound marketing strategy. I mean there has to be about two people with Center Ice in Carolina and I'm betting they probably don't speak French.)
• Injuries are no longer an issue for the Blackhawks heading into the season opener writes Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune.
• As Adrian Date of the Denver Post tells us, Joel Quenville has strayed away from the team's successful line combinations from a season ago by flip-flopping Milan Hejduk and Andrew Brunette. Meanwhile, Terry Frei of the Post has a great piece on the adjustment to life in the Rockies for Ryan Smyth and his family.
• The Blue Jackets will start the season with a platoon in net writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. It looks like Mike Peca may not be ready for the season opener due to back spasms.
• Dave Tippett has become better at realizing when he needs to give his mind a rest from thinking about hockey; Mike Heika has the story in the Dallas Morning News.
• Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press provides readers with a few reasons why the Wings won't win the Cup this season. However, it is clear her article was just for argument's sake because in the Free Press prediction column, St. James has the Wings taking home Lord Stanley's Cup.
• New goalie Tomas Vokoun is the key to the Panthers' fortunes this season.
• Ladislav Smid was pushed to the AHL by the increased crop of talent that was in the big camp this season writes Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal.
• Apparently Craig MacTavish has quite a simple formula for picking the team's next captain.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.