NHL Morning Papers: Playoff Teams (Monday Edition)

Here are the morning papers for the Western Conference playoff match ups:

Detroit versus Nashville:

• Tomas Holmstrom is looking a lot healthier as the games go on and his game is really coming together as a result. At practice, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg practiced both together and apart. The Wings sure don't lack experience in net with Dominik Hasek between the pipes.
• The Predators know that one key moment can change a series, writes John Glennon. On the injury front, David Legwand will be a game-time decision for tonight's contest.

San Jose versus Calgary:

• Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News wonders if the Sharks can recover from their collapse last night at the Saddledome. You knew what was coming if you were a Sharks fan last night, writes Purdy. "It takes men to play this sport, not a bunch of boys," said Sharks netminder Evgeni Nabokov after last night's 4-3 loss.
• When the Flames started to bully, the Sharks did not fight back, writes George Johnson. Cory Sarich's big hit was what turned the whole game around, writes Jean Lefebvre. Curtis Joseph pitched a shutout in his relief appearance last night and that was enough to hold the Flames in the game until they got the lead late in the third period. Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun thinks Sarich's hit may have turned the Flames' whole season around. (Writer's note: Here is the hit if you have not seen it.)

Minnesota versus Colorado:

• The Wild know they are fortunate to be tied 1-1 without any production from sniper Marian Gaborik, writes Michael Russo. No coach creates more line combinations than the old master Jacques Lemaire.
• Peter Forsberg missed practice on Sunday, but Avalanche fans need not worry, as the veteran was just getting some rest for tonight's tilt. Across the ice, the Wild's playmakers have yet to prove they can play at the level of the Avs playmakers, writes Mike Chambers. With the Avalanche finally back home, the Pepsi Center should be rocking tonight.

Anaheim versus Dallas:

• It has been a tough start to the playoffs for Anaheim, so the Ducks just want to focus on winning the next period of their series with the Stars, writes Dan Wood. If the Ducks have any aspirations of winning this series, the team's defense needs to be play up to its capabilities.
• Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson have found chemistry at the perfect time, writes Mike Heika. There is a different feel around this version of the Stars says Mike Modano.

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: The Bryan McCabe situation

On Monday, Leafs' defenseman Bryan McCabe accidentally shot the puck in his own net at the end of overtime versus the Buffalo Sabres. The next day, the outcry from Leafs' fans was overwhelming. People were, and still are, calling for McCabe to be traded, saying he was the most overpaid defenseman in the league and just plain bashing the offensive rearguard. The question I have for Leaf fans is, why? Why boo McCabe when he plays at home? I just don't get it. The word fan is derived from the word fanatic and Leaf fans are fanatic about their team; more importantly fans are presumably fanatic about wanting their team to win. If they want their team to win then what is the purpose in bashing/booing Bryan McCabe? I never understand why fans do this. When you boo a player, it only affects his confidence in a negative way, thereby hurting the player's production which results in less wins for your favorite team. If the Leafs fans were as knowledgeable as they claim to be, they would support McCabe and give the rearguard some confidence; this most likely result in better production from the gritty defenseman and therefore more wins for the organization.

On to the morning papers:

• Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the details of Bob Hartley's firing. While, Jeff Schultz of the AJC thinks that Don Waddell should have been the one fired. Here is a list of possible coaching replacements provided by the paper.
• Petteri Wirtanen scored the winning goal as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Nashville Predators 3-1 on Wednesday night.
• The Predators played a lot better last night than they had their three games before, nonetheless, it wasn't enough to beat the Ducks; John Glennon of the Tennessean has the details. David Legwand has been creating scoring chances with his linemates but has been having trouble making those chances count.
• As Kevin Paul Dupont writes in this morning's Boston Globe, the Bruins finally get the opportunity to impress their fans at tonight's home opener. Since leaving the Boston Garden, the Bruins haven't been that successful at defending home-ice and coach Claude Julien says that has to change. In other Bruins' news, coach Julien wants the Boston media to get off Manny Fernandez's back.
• Coach Denis Savard has set 28 wins as his goal for home-ice wins this season, unfortunately for Savard last night's 3-1 loss to St. Louis won't help contribute to lessening that number. Star forward Martin Havlat has decided to undergo rehabilitation instead of surgery and is expected to be out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks. Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune opines that the Blackhawks missed out on an opportunity to gain some fans by blacking out last night's home-game with little, if any, competition on television.
• Both Avalanche goaltenders are happy to have full-time goalie coach Jeff Hackett around to correct their mistakes.
• The Blue Jackets couldn't close the deal last night at home versus Dallas writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Fredrik Norrena knew was shootout move Jussi Jokinen was going to use, yet Jokinen somehow still scored on the netminder. Meanwhile, Michael Arace of the Dispatch believes that with the youth of the Blue Jackets, coach Ken Hitchock can't rely on his old methods.
• If not for the their goaltender Mike Smith, the Stars would never have made it to the shootout in the first place writes Mike Heika in the Dallas Morning News.
• Chris Osgood will be starting tonight for the Red Wings versus the Sharks and no, Dominik Hasek is not injured.
• The Oilers will be without off-season acquisition Sheldon Souray for up to a month with a shoulder injury. With Souray lost to injury, this is starting to look a lot like last March writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.
• Panthers' rookie Cory Murphy can't wait to play an NHL game in his hometown of Ottawa for the first tieme this Saturday. Olli Jokinen is the Panthers' ironman with 300 consecutive games played writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
• As Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times explains, Marc Crawford is still behind Rob Blake even though he has struggled to begin the season.
• While the Wild had a successful road trip, Michael Russo of the Star Tribune says they need to get more disciplined if they hope to continue their success.
• Habs' Coach Guy Carbonneau obviously has some confidence in goaltender Carey Price as he is starting the rookie against the defending Eastern Conference champion Senators tonight. Carbonneau was also busy yesterday diffusing a number of team controversies writes Pat Hickey in this morning's Montreal Gazette. Meanwhile, youngster Maxim Lapierre doesn't intend on sulking in the AHL after being sent down last week.
• The Devils defeated the Penguins last night by outscoring instead of out-defending them writes Mark Everson of the NY Post. Petr Sykora is wondering why his former linemate Patrik Elias didn't even tell him he got married.
• The Penguins received another lackluster effort from goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury writes Dave Molinari of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• The Rangers play in Atlanta today and are wary of a team that is looking for their first win and has a new coach behind the bench. Marek Malik may be a healthy scratch for the Rangers tonight writes John Dellapina of the NY Daily News.
• Islanders' coach Ted Nolan is not big fan of changing up his lines but will do it when necessary.
• Martin Gerber has been "the club's best player" says captain Daniel Alfredsson and will be in between the pipes tonight with Ray Emery backing him up versus the Habs. Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen is wondering if it is Gerber's job to lose.
• The Devils are still the Devils, and thus, the Flyers won't be taking any game against them lightly writes Ed Moran of the Philadelpihia Inquirer. Martin Biron has been a calm and steady influence on the Flyers so far this season writes Moran's colleague Tim Panaccio.
• Coyotes' coach Wayne Gretzky is not as hard on his team's youngsters as Glen Sather was on him in Edmonton.
• The Sharks aren't focusing on last season's playoff loss to the Red Wings going into tonight's game against Mike Babcock and friends.
• Andy Murray's powerplay line switch helped the Blues win 3-1 over Chicago on Wednesday night.
• The aforementioned Bryan McCabe puts his gaffe into perspective for the Leafs' media. McCabe knows booing is part of the game and think he is lucky to compared to a defenseman of Larry Murphy's stature.
• Kevin Bieksa looks to be hurt, but he is a tough cookie and sure won't admit it.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.