News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Canada names its roster for the 2008 Women's World Championships.
2. Jay Onrait examines Trade Centre '08 a week hence.
3. The recent trading of his rights has refocused Angelo Esposito's attentions.
4. Bryce Salvador, along with Hilary Clinton, is excited to be a Devil.
5. 6 must watch games for this week.
6. Brent Sutter, showing an astute command of the obvious, says that the Devils rely too much on Martin Brodeur.
7. The first entry from Zach Bogosian's blog.
8. Chris Simon just wants to be respected. And he will swing his stick at anyone who doesn't respect him.
9. In a bid to right the listing ship, the Leafs have taken to censoring radio ads.
10. More details emerge from Adam Foote's flight from Columbus.
11. The Prospects hot-list from the Hockey News.
12. The WHL and OHL are considering making neck protection mandatory.
13. In an effort to be more TSN-like, Sportsnet has jumped on the Leafs in the playoffs bandwagon.
14. A Q and A with Tom Poti.
15. Adam Proteau answers your questions.
16. Want more questions answered? Jim Kelley does his best on this 10 query quiz.
17. The Puck Stops Here offers its thought on John Tortorella's coaching style.
18. David Staples with a very interesting post on the first play for pay hockey league.
19. Puck That Hit wonders what the heck happened to Kiprusoff.
20. A little more hockey history for you, this time featuring Noel Picard.
21. A list of potential free agents for this upcoming summer.
22. Bob McKenzie gives his two cents on the Adam Foote saga.
23. Pierre Lebrun updates the race for the Calder Trophy.
24. John Buccigross live blogs the Ducks-Sens game.
25. Dennis Bernstein offers his thoughts on the post-trade deadline landscape.

Afternoon Roster News

Here are some news and notes from around the NHL this afternoon:

• Pascal Leclaire will start in net tonight for the Jackets.
• Chris Simon returns to the Islanders line-up tonight for the first time since being suspended for stepping on Jarko Ruutu's foot.
• Casey Borer has been demoted by the Hurricanes to the AHL.
• The MRI on Nicklas Lidstrom's knee revealed no tear, and the star defenseman will be lost to the Wings for three weeks.
• Niklas Kronwall (shoulder) may return to the Wings line-up this weekend.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

NHL Morning Papers (Thursday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• According to Roy MacGregor of the Globe & Mail, Chris Simon thinks his suspension was unfair.
• The National Post has an interesting article on the Chris Simon incident from the perspective of other players in the NHL.
• USA Today provides readers with an insightful article on prospective prospects for the 2008 entry draft.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Thrashers defenseman Steve McCarthy is trying to work his way out of being a minus +/- player writes Craig Custance.
• It wasn't an intense workout, but Patrice Bergeron appears to be making positive steps towards a comeback some time this season writes Fluto Shinwaza of the Boston Globe.
• The Sabres are only going to go as far as Ryan Miller can take them, and the top goaltender was terrific last night leading the team to a 2-1 victory over the Islanders.
• With John Grahame having won two straight contests, no one in Carolina knows who will start between the pipes tonight when the Canes face off against the Panthers.
• The Panthers are hoping to carry the success of their road trip onto home ice tonight when they host Carolina. Jozef Stumpel was relieved to finally put his slump behind him in Montreal on Tuesday writes George Richards of the Miami Herald.
• Habs coach Guy Carbonneau doesn't understand why his team doesn't stick to his fairly simple system and battle hard all the time.
• The Devils aren't accustomed to travelling out of the Eastern time zone and that was easily reflected in their game on Tuesday night against the Canucks.
• Rangers defenseman Marek Malik is obviously unhappy about being a healthy scratch but understands that it is part of the game and intends to work his way out of it. For all the names on Broadway, it is a little known pair of defenseman who are playing the most and the hardest minutes on the Rangers blueline writes John Dellapina of the New York Daily News.
• The Islanders outshot the Sabres 43-17 but came out on the losing end of a 2-1 score thanks in large part to the play of Sabres goalie Ryan Miller.
• Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun has a fun article about brushes with greatness after he saw Denzel Washington in Boston's Logan Airport. Meanwhile, Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen has a very interesting article about home-ice advantage, or lack thereof, of teams who have very few fans actually showing up to the games.
• Sam Donnellon gives readers an inside look at the Flyers' power structure and the rise of Peter Luukko in owner Ed Snider's crew.
• The Penguins' offensive statistics are top heavy and if they want to make a move up the standings they are going to need scoring contributions from the entire roster writes Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. There are no indications as to when Ryan Malone will return to the Pens lineup with an infected cut on his leg.
• The Lightning have called up prospect Karri Ramo to try and solve their long-standing goaltending woes.
• After an embarrassing loss on Tuesday, the Leafs have the opportunity to quiet their critics tonight as they take on Tamba Bay tonight. As Mike Zeisberger points out in this morning's Toronto Sun, it wasn't the choice of the players on the ice at the end of Tuesday's game but how those players executed that cost the team the game.
• Capitals rookie Nicklas Backstrom is finally starting to get settled into the NHL game and it is paying dividends for the Capitals organization.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Having lost four straight games, the Blues are hoping to crack out of their slump against the powerhouse Red Wings tonight.
• The Canucks' top line realizes they will have to pump up their contributions with the injury to Brendan Morrison killing the teams secondary scoring.
• The Ducks continued their strong defensive play last night as they beat the Avalanche 2-1 in overtime thanks to Schneider's glove-side goal 2:29 into the extra frame. Since Neidermayer's return on Sunday, the Ducks have only allowed 2 goals in 3 games.
• After winning 6 in a row on the road, the Flames are looking to improve upon their 7-7-4 home record when they host the Stars tomorrow night. Despite their win streak, the Flames are still in fourth in the crowded Northeast Division. As well, Mike Keenan has rediscovered his passion for coaching with Calgary being his 8th coaching job in the NHL
• The Blackhawks did not let up after jumping ahead 3-0 in the first period as they beat the Predators 5-2. This was only their 2nd win in 8 games in December.
• Without the services of Ryan Smith and Jordan Leopold and despite only registering 12 shots on goal, the Avs still managed to walk away with a point from last night's overtime loss to the Ducks. The Ducks completely dominated in all aspects of the game but Peter Budaj was sensational stopping 36 of 38 shots.
• Blue Jacket's forward, Dave Vyborny, is anxious to return to the lineup on Friday after missing the last 8 games with a groin injury.
• Mike Ribiero, who is on pace for a career high 42 goals and 87 points, is looking to help the Stars beat the Canucks tonight in Vancouver.
• The Red Wings had goals from six different players last night against the Kings with Kronwall chipping in a career-high 4 assists as the NHL's best team beat the NHL's worst 6-2.
• Since arriving in Minnesota 2 year's ago, Brian Rolston has been a catalyst for the team's success. As Rolston is beginning to heat up expect the Wild to follow suit writes Minnesota Tribune's Kent Youngblood.
• The Pred's inability to score has found them losers of 5 in a row and sitting 14th place in the Western conference. After last night's lack lustre 5-2 loss to the Blackhawks, Pred's captain, Jason Arnott, led a players-only meeting to try to find a way to turn the season around.
• The Coyotes recent success can be attributed to the "VHS Line", featuring Vrbata, Hanzel and Sjostrom, writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• The Sharks play host to the suddenly resurgent Coyotes tonight. The Sharks have won all 4 meetings with the Coyotes this season.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock. (Illegal Curve's Adam Gutkin contributed the Western Conference papers this morning.)

Morning Musings

Here are the morning papers:

• Matthew Lombardi led the Flames out of their early season slump with two goals, including the overtime winner, in his team's 3-2 overtime victory over Dallas. Steve Macfarlane of the Calgary Sun provides readers with the three stars and other notes from the Flames/Stars game.
• "It was no one's fault but my own," said Brenden Morrow after his lazy drop pass was picked off easily by Matthew Lombardi leading to the Lombardi's overtime winner.
• Calling up Rick Rypien from Manitoba of the AHL appeared to be the right decision for the Canucks after the feisty forward tallied a goal and an assist in the Canucks' 5-2 victory at Edmonton last night.
• Whereas the Canucks got all-star goaltending from Roberto Luongo, the Oilers received suspect goaltending from both their netminders in last night's loss to the Canucks. Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal provides readers with notes from around the Oilers after last night's contest. Oilers' fan favorite, Fernando Pisani has been through some difficult times recently but after taking a new medication things are starting to look up for the team's heart and soul player. In less serious news, Robbie Schremp has been called up by the Oilers and will get his opportunity to prove his worth tonight in Vancouver.
• After blowing a 4-1 lead, the Bruins, on the backs of Marc Savard and Phil Kessel, ended up prevailing 8-6 over the Kings in one the craziest NHL games this young season. As Fluto Shinwaza of the Boston Globe points out, Bruins' winger Glen Murray is finally starting to get back into his groove after his 2006/07 season ended prematurely with groin problems. While Boston scored eight goals last night, coach Claude Julien was unimpressed with the team's defensive play.
• Since their impressive victory in London over the Ducks, the Kings have now dropped four straight games writes Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times.
• It looks like Jean-Sebastien Giguere will make his first start of the season for the Ducks on Sunday.
• As Craig Custance writes in this morning's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Don Waddell says it's too early to panic in Atlanta. The Thrashers may move Ilya Kovalchuk to the point on their powerplay in order to jump start the slumping unit.
• Drew Stafford has been placed on the Sabres' number one line alongside Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy because coach Lindy Ruff thinks Stafford's "bang and crash" style may be a better fit than Maxim Afinogenov in the number right wing spot.
• The Hurricanes have gotten off to a great start, and Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer thinks the team may be one puck moving defenseman away from putting itself into a terrific position to contend. The Canes visit Montreal tonight in what is the Habs' home opener.
• Robert Lang continues to make his old team regret letting him go, as the veteran Czech center had a big goal in his team's 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Red Wings on Friday night.
• The Wings outplayed the Hawks in the first two periods but unfortunately for Detroit, the game was still tied at two at the second intermission. Meanwhile, Chris Chelios reacted to Steve Yzerman's Notre Dame comments in this morning's Detroit Free Press.
• The Avs were stoned by Manny Legace and the Blues last night in a game that was closer than the 4-1 score indicated.
• As Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch tells readers, David Vyborny is one of the few NHL'ers who still uses a wooden stick. With Jared Boll out of the lineup for tonight's game with a knee injury, Jody Shelley may see some action on one of the Jackets' checking lines tonight as the team faces off against the Avs.
• Panthers' coach Jacques Martin has been quite happy with the play of his team's third line writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Panthers also need to improve on their even strength play.
• The Wild want to get off to a better start on the road this year than they did last year writes Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.
• The Habs don't have the firepower to get into an end-to-end game with the Canes says coach Guy Carbonneau.
• Stephanie Myles of the Montreal Gazette has a review of the book King of Russia written by Dave King with the Globe & Mail's Eric Duhatschek.
• John Glennon of the Tennessean reports that Steve Sullivan's injured back is improving, however, no timeline has been placed on when he will return to the Predators' lineup. Apparently Jim Balsillie is now back in the picture in Nashville.
• Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger profiles the similarities between Zach Parise and his father, former NHL'er, J.P. Parise. In unfortunate news, Devils' defenseman Colin White still has blurry vision in his right eye and is not even thinking about playing hockey right now.
• The Rangers rode the success of their powerplay to a 3-1 victory over the Capitals on Friday night. With the high shot totals they were posting in their previous games, the Rangers knew it was just a matter of time before some pucks starting finding their way into the net writes John Dellapina of the New York Daily News.
• According to Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post, the Capitals lost because they couldn't stay out of the penalty box.
• Chris Simon's 25 game suspension for stick-swinging last season is over and he will make his season debut tonight, against the new suspension capital team of the NHL--the Philadelphia Flyers.
• John Paddock doesn't believe there is such thing as a "good loss" writes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. In other Senators' news, the team is looking to sign forward, and Ottawa native, Randy Robitaille to a one year contract.
• While the official hat trick came a day later, Fredrik Sjostrom will take it anyways writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• English is not that foreign to Evgeni Malkin anymore writes Shelly Anderson in this morning's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Penguins coaches are happy that the weather has cooled down in Pittsburgh, because the recent hot weather was cutting down their practice time.
• Joe Thornton will be playing against the Bruins for the second time in his career tonight in the Sharks' home opener.
• Manny Legace continued his domination of the Avalanche last night in the Blues' 4-1 win. Some good news for the Blues, as the team expects injured defenseman Eric Brewer back in the lineup this upcoming week, and maybe as early as Wednesday.
• Martin St. Louis has to guard against over-passing writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• Matt Stajan has been quite impressive so far this young season writes Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star. Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun explains that the Leafs understand they need to stay out of the penalty box against the offensively dangerous Penguins tonight.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.