Len Barrie really likes his team's defense

From Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune:

“You can hear from me first, our defense is better than people think,’’ Barrie said. “That’s why we are loading up on forwards because I really, really like our young defense.’’

Barrie didn’t flat out say that they have no intention of bringing in more on defense and he did indicate that more deals are in the works, especially since they have 14 forwards on one-way deals, not counting Evgeny Artyukhin, who is expected to be signed this week, possibly as early as Tuesday.

Read more from Bolts Report here.

Len Barrie may like his team's defense, but I really don't. Who is going to log the big minutes? This team has lost its best defenseman and is replacing that defenseman with a young and inconsistent Matt Carle. So, the defense, which was poor last season, will arguably be worse this coming season.

NHL Morning Papers--Eastern Conference (Monday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Gordie Howe just turned 80 year old and the Globe & Mail put together a picture compilation commemorating this fine day.
• The Habs are starting to get injured at the wrong time, writes David Shoalts of the Globe & Mail.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today has a terrific article about what made Gordie Howe so great.

Here are the Northeast Division morning papers:

• The Bruins were happy to salvage a point last night versus the Sabres, writes Fluto Shinwaza. There is only one week remaining in the regular season, yet there are still so many possibilities, writes Kevin Paul Dupont. In a nice story, Jeff Hogan was ecstatic to make his NHL debut last night at the age of 30.
• The Sabres avoided elimination last night by defeating the Bruins 2-1 in overtime. Much of the Sabres success can be attributed to the play of the team's rookie defense tandem.
• It appears that Pavel Kubina has played well enough that Cliff Fletcher no longer wants him traded. Kubina wants to remain a Leaf too.
• Bruce Garrioch tells readers that it is still possible for the Senators to miss the playoffs. Since the team's hot start to begin the season, the Senators are a .500 squad.
• Mike Komisarek guarantees that he will be in the Habs line up for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Unfortunately, the Canadiens may be without Saku Koivu for the beginning of the playoffs.

Here are the Atlantic Division morning papers:

• Kevin Weekes was the Devils' number one goaltender for one day, writes Colin Stephenson.
• The Islanders are letting their young players play and are still staying fairly competitive.
• The Rangers had way too many passengers yesterday afternoon, writes Larry Brooks. Meanwhile, John Dellapina of the NY Daily News questioned some of the officials' calls on Sunday.
• While the team won't come out and say it, the Flyers are attempting to move up to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference so as to play a weaker first round opponent, writes Tim Panaccio.
• Petr Sykora compared yesterday's Penguins/Rangers tilt to a playoff game, which made the Penguins' 3-1 victory that much more sweet. Evgeni Malkin had a close call with a skate to the face last night.

Here are the Southeast Division morning papers:

• According to Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Thrashers rookie Boris Valabik won over his teammates on Saturday.
• Michel Ouellet has played a lot better since the trade of Brad Richards, but he does not know why, writes Erik Erlendsson.
• "We have to show our fans and ourselves how much it means to us to put the Panther jersey on, play with pride and finish the season strong," said Panthers captain Olli Jokinen. The Panthers may not be winning on the ice, but they are making winning contributions off of it.

**There were no Carolina Hurricanes or Washington Capitals articles this morning**

The Western Conference morning papers will be posted around 11:15 CST.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

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