Toews named Blackhawks captain

From the Globe & Mail:

The Chicago Blackhawks announced Friday that centre Jonathan Toews will serve as the team's captain for the 2008-09 season, making him the third-youngest captain in NHL history.

Only Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay Lightning centre Vincent Lecavalier, both while still 19, became captains at a younger age than the 20-year-old Toews.

"Jonathan deserves this honour," said Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon. "He is a tremendous individual and a wonderful leader on and off the ice. He has experience in captaining teams from his world junior appearances and guys follow his lead in our locker room."

Read the entire story here.

The Blackhawks are going to be this year's version of the 2007/08 Penguins with all the young talent they have throughout their line up. Selecting Toews as captain only makes the teams more similar, as Toews will play the same role Sidney Crosby does in Pittsburgh. I love this decision by the Hawks. Toews is their best all-around player who will lead this team on and off the ice for years to come. Making him captain right now will only give him more confidence. The responsbility that comes with this move is nothing that Toews cannot handle.

Wrigley Field to host New Year's Day game

From Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

According to a knowledgeable source, it’s official. The NHL’s second outdoor Winter Classic will take place New Year’s Day at the storied Wrigley Field when the Blackhawks take on the Stanley Cup-champion Detroit Red Wings.

An announcement is expected next week in the days leading up to the three-day inaugural “Blackhawks Convention” at the Chicago Hilton.

Read the entire entry from Russo's Rants here.

Should be a fun New Year's day game. The fact that Wrigley Field is hosting the game makes it much more intriguing than watching a game at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Having Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane playing doesn't hurt either.

The Outdoor Game may not be in New York

Larry Brooks: "The NHL needs to make commitment to the Winter Classic's host city within the next week or two. If the Rangers are awarded the game, it is believed they would meet the Bruins on New Year's Day in what would be the first of a home-and-home, with the return at Fenway on a year to be named later."

Here is the full article from the NY Post.

It appears the NHL's first choice is to have the game in New York and why not? However, the concern that the New York arrangement won't work does not seem that concerning to me as long as the NHL has Chicago and Wrigley Field as its second choice (which it does). Either of these two choices are terrific and whichever stadium is chosen to host the event, I'm sure will do a great job. As much mystique as the Rangers organization carries with it, an opportunity to watch Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane at Wrigley Field may be even more appealing than Scott Gomez and Henrik Lundqvist.

NHL Morning Papers--Western Conference (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the Central Division morning papers:

• The Predators got a terrific relief performance from Chris Mason last night and with two more victories, they will be in the playoffs. The Predators did get a little bit lucky after the referees made an iffy call in the third period.
• The Blues blew a 3-0 lead on home-ice last night and were defeated 4-3 by the Predators in overtime, writes Jeremy Rutherford.
• Red Wings winger Johan Franzen has been named the third star of the NHL for the month of March. In injury news, it appears that Kris Draper will be lost to the Red Wings until the beginning of the playoffs.
• It looks like David Vyborny is going to exit the Columbus scene quietly at season's end and Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch thinks that is wrong. Tom Reed of the Dispatch has a touching story about a Nationwide Arena employee.
• Hawks rookie Jonathan Toews does not want the season to end, writes Chris Kuc. If the Blackhawks want to make the playoffs, they'll need to win all three of their remaining games and get some help too.

Here are the Pacific Division morning papers:

• Joe Thornton recorded his 300th point as a Shark last night in his team's fairly easy 5-2 victory over the lowly Kings. Evgeni Nabokov will not get a shot at the NHL's win record for one season because Brian Boucher is slated to start Thursday's game at Los Angeles.
• According to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, Sergei Zubov may not be ready for the start of the playoffs. Meanwhile, coach Dave Tippett is not too concerned about starting the playoffs on the road.
• The Ducks got Ryan Carter back at practice on Tuesday, writes Al Balderas.
• Recently signed Coyotes prospect Kyle Turris is going to make his NHL debut on Thursday versus Dallas.

**There were no L.A. Kings articles this morning**

Here are the Northwest Division morning papers:

• The Wild need a win in one of their last two games to get Jacques Lemaire his 500th career NHL victory as a head coach. If the Wild beat the Flames on Thursday, the team may give some of its veterans a little time off prior to the playoffs.
• The Flames recorded a huge victory last night over the desperate Oilers in Edmonton. Last night's victory was more sweet for the Flames in that they eliminated the Oilers from playoff contention. Oilers coach Craig MacTavish thinks Robyn Regehr has gotten away with some dirty hits throughout the season.
• The Oilers run to the playoffs stopped last night versus Calgary, writes Joanne Ireland. Oilers defenseman Joni Pitkanen was diagnosed with a strained groin after Saturday's game against the Flames but he was not going to miss Tuesday's rematch. The dream is done for Edmonton, writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.
• The Canucks blew a 2-0 lead at home, and got no help from the out-of-town scoreboard to put their playoff chances in peril. The Canucks just could not match the Avalanche in all aspects of the game, writes Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province.
• The Avalanche clinched a playoff birth last night with a 4-2 win at Vancouver. Avalanche youngster David Jones was ecstatic to be able to play at GM Place last night in Vancouver.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

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

Mid-Afternoon Injury News

Here some injury tidbits that may be of interest to fans and poolies:

• Glen Murray (hip) made it through the morning skate in Buffalo and is expected to suit up for the Bruins for tonight's game.
• Samuel Pahlsson (abdomen) could play tonight when the Ducks face-off against the Devils at the Prudential Center.
• Jonathan Toews (knee) has been activated off the Blackhawks' injured list, and all signs point to his return on Sunday at Vancouver.
• It looks like Kyle McLaren (knee) will return to the Sharks lineup tonight.
• Sidney Crosby (ankle) practiced today with his teammates, but said "wishful thinking would be a couple more weeks."

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. An interesting article from the Stars' website chronicling the origin of NHL team names.
2. Pensblog does a pretty humorous run-down of last weekend's outdoor game.
3. TSN has the story about tomorrow's Canada-USA world junior semi-final.
4. The NCAA rankings from Inside College Hockey.
5. Ryan Smyth is out for 8 weeks with an ankle injury.
6. Jonathan Toews will not require surgery on his knee.
7. The Globe and Mail is reporting that Kyle Wellwood will be again be a healthy scratch.
8. Tim Wharsby notes that USA Hockey could use a little PR refresher, after making only 3 players and the coach available to the media.
9. The Senators have assigned Nick Foligno to Binghamton.
10. Sheldon Souray is injured again, but Ales Hemsky is back skating.
11. Peter Loubardias details that well kept secret that is the World Under-17 Championships.
12. The SJHL announces its All-Star rosters.
13. Jim Matheson answers reader questions.
14. The NHL celebrates Willie O'Ree's 50th Anniversary.
15. Musings from the desk of Michael Farber.
16. The Flyers have put Jim Dowd and Rory Fitzpatrick on waivers.
17. Hockey has taken root in Atlanta.
18. Alan Muir of SI notes some changes that Canada should make in preparation of tomorrow's semi-final.
19. The Kings have told Manchester Monarch Brian Boyle that he is moving back to center from defense as the team searches for production.
20. Bob Snow takes a look around the NCAA Divsion 1 hockey programs.
21. Wisconsin Badger teammates are now rivals at the World Junior championships.
22. Jonathan Bernier is not happy with Team Canada's coaching staff.
23. The weekly release from the USHL.
24. Teppo Numminen's heart seems to be a-ok.
25. Former Flames' goalie Jamie McLennan tells us about playing hockey in Japan.

NHL Morning Papers (Thursday Edition)

With the holiday season having come and gone, Illegal Curve is looking forward to providing you with as much hockey information as you can handle in the upcoming year. Before we return to our regular posting schedule, I would like to wish a Happy New Year to all our readers.

Here are the national morning papers:

• The NHL is ecstatic with the ratings that the outdoor-game garnered this weekend writes William Houston of the Globe & Mail.
• Rangers winger Brendan Shanahan is happy with the changes the NHL has made post-lockout writes Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail.
• According to Mark Spector of the National Post, finding a balance between experience and skill has been a difficult task for Canada's World Juniors coach Craig Hartsburg.
• The USA's path to the World Juniors gold medal is unsurprisingly going through Canada writes Kevin Allen of the USA Today.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Thrashers gained some ground on the Hurricanes last night with an important 5-4 overtime victory in Carolina. (Writer's note: If you missed Ilya Kovalchuk's goal last night please see this link. It will be worth your while.)
• Barbara Matson of the Boston Globe has the details behind the Brandon Bochenski trade from Boston to Anaheim. Here are some notes about the Capitals/Bruins heading into tonight's game at the Banknorth Garden. Meanwhile, the return of David Krejci to the Bruins lineup is a testament to the youngster's work ethic.
• With the distraction of the outdoor game in the rear-view mirror, the Sabres will now shift their focus to the Ottawa Senators writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. In positive news, things are looking up for Sabres forward Drew Stafford after he missed the team's past three games with a concussion problem.
• The Hurricanes felt like they missed out on too many opportunities before losing in overtime to the division-rival Thrashers. (Writer's note: The Hurricanes need to get their goaltending in order. I mean, this team seems to be letting in five goals every time they play.)
• In typical Devils fashion, they feasted on the Panthers' mistakes and came away with a 3-2 victory on home-ice. Florida's hopes of having Cory Murphy return to the lineup appear to be a ways away.
• Habs coach Guy Carbonneau was very impressed with the play of his youngsters on the team's most recent road trip writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette.
• Devils coach Brent Sutter had a talk with team captain Jamie Langenbrunner and it seemed to pay immediate dividends after he scored a goal to lead the Devils to a 3-2 home victory over the Panthers.
• Jay Greenberg of the NY Post was unimpressed with the Rangers' performance in the team's 4-3 loss at Calgary last night. "At the end of the day, with all due respect to our opponent, I think we beat ourselves," coach Tom Renney said.
• Over on Long Island, the Islanders players believe that the outdoor game was good for the sport of hockey.
• After missing fifteen games with a broken finger, the Senators can't wait to see Anton Volchenkov return to their lineup tonight versus the Sabres.
• According to Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Flyers winger Simon Gagne will not return to the team's lineup until next week.
• The Penguins have the second most shootout wins in the NHL this season writes Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Apparently the outdoor game outdrew Wayne Gretzky's last NHL game. (Writer's note: I still cant believe the game outdrew Gretzky's last NHL game. That is ridiculous. How does a mediocre mid-season game outdraw the last game of the greatest hockey player of all time? )
• Lightning coach John Tortorella is unsure of his team's mental toughness right now writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• Rosie Dimanno of the Toronto Star says that it is time for the Leafs' youngsters to act like men.
• The injuries to Alexander Semin and Tom Poti do not look to be overly serious writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• As Dan Wood tells us, it wasn't pretty but the Ducks pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Blue Jackets on home-ice last night.
• After last night's 4-3 victory over the Broadway Blueshirts, the Flames are now only one point out of first spot in the Northwest Division standings.
• It looks like the Blackhawks will be without rookie phenom Jonathan Toews for approximately 2-4 weeks as the former UND Fighting Sioux forward injured his knee in Tuesday night's 9-2 loss at Los Angeles.
• The Avalanche lost for the fourth straight time last night at home to the up-and-coming Coyotes. (Writer's note: With Joe Sakic on the mend, the Avs need Paul Stastny to turn it up a notch and lead them through the next portion of the schedule.)
• The Ducks' experience came in handy on Wednesday night as they defeated the young Blue Jackets 2-1. Meanwhile, the Jackets are hoping a demotion to Syracuse will get Gilbert Brule turned around. Here are the Jackets' projected lines for tonight's contest versus the Kings.
• The Stars needed a better performance from their top players last night as they were defeated by the powerful Red Wings 4-1 at the Joe Louis Arena.
• With last night's victory, the Red Wings officially completed the most successful first-half of the season in franchise history. Even though Chris Osgood played well versus the Stars on Wednesday, Dominik Hasek is slated to get the start in net for the Wings on Saturday when they take on Dallas, once again. In other Wings news, winger Kirk Maltby is shooting for a return to the lineup within the next ten days.
• The Oilers pulled out an important 3-2 overtime victory over the Blues last night writes Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal. Off the ice, the Oilers' board of directors voted against selling the team to Edmonton billionaire Daryl Katz.
• Lost in Ladislav Nagy's five-point effort on Tuesday night, was the play of Kings forward Alexander Frolov writes Dan Arritt of the L.A. Times.
• You can't say Jacques Lemaire doesn't back up his players, after the veteran coach defended the struggling Martin Skoula to the Minnesota media on Wednesday.
• Predators defenseman Shea Weber had a setback in his rehab and will be out of the team's lineup for at least another week writes Jessica Hopp of the Tennessean.
• Former Colorado forward Steven Reinprecht had four points on Wednesday to lead the Coyotes to a 5-2 victory over the struggling Avalanche.
• The Sharks have no problem winning on the road (they are currently on a ten-game road win streak) and will try and use that road success to turnaround their suspect home record.
• The Blues outshot the Oilers 33-24 on Wednesday, but their powerplay did them in writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Note: For those of you looking for Vancouver Canucks stories, I encourage you to email the Vancouver Province and Vancouver Sun and tell them to post their articles at an earlier time. Both of these sites consistently don't have the day's articles up by around 8am/9am CST.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Hejduk, Hasek and Kopitar are the NHL's three stars for the week.
2. The Flyers have traded AHL defenseman Jussi Timonen to the Dallas Stars.
3. Ken Holland gets a promotion in Detroit.
4. Who's hot and cold in the CHL.
5. Two more USHL'ers are headed to the World Juniors.
6. Pierre Lebrun makes the case that Lecavalier is the best player in the NHL.
7. The Maple Leafs have waived Bates Battaglia.
8. Ethan Moreau has his cast removed and may return to the lineup soon.
9. The undrafted Jerome Samson is turning heads in Albany.
10. Jonathan Toews was recently named an Alternate Captain in Chicago.
11. Ryan Miller and Adam Hall will both be playing their 2nd outdoor game this January.
12. A look at the 2007 draft picks, some of whom are already playing in the NHL.
13. The Michigan Wolverines are the new #1 team in the country.
14. Ted Nolan is enjoying his time back in the NHL, and is making a difference.
15. The Boston Globe notes that the Bruins may be looking to make a deal.
16. The QMJHL is filling the hockey void in Atlantic Canada.
17. Taking Note chronicles the weekend action in the WHL.
18. Andy Murray has righted the ship in St. Louis.
19. One of the coaches involved in the 8 year olds brawl receives a 3 year suspension.
20. Al Strachan doesn't think Scott Niedermayer's return will be 100% rosy.
21. Torres and Stoll will return to the Oilers lineup tonight.
22. The Senators are relaxing after breaking out of their funk.
23. Steven Stamkos blogs about preparing for the World Juniors.
24. Spector rounds up all the Western Conference rumours.
25. Mike Brophy writes that the Devils are coming around.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior

NHL Morning Papers

I just wanted to let our readers know that the name of my morning papers roundup has been changed from Morning Musings to the NHL Morning Papers, just so nobody gets confused. Additionally, I will be out of town tomorrow morning and therefore be unable to post the Sunday morning papers. The regular format will return on Monday.

Here are the national morning papers:

• Eric Duhatshek of the Globe & Mail provides readers with his usual Saturday notes column.
• In the National Post, Red Fisher tells readers there is no doubt who is in charge in Jersey this season.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• The Ducks have a chance to make a statement over their next ten games writes Curits Zupke of the Orange County Register.
• Thanks in large part to Matthew Lombardi, it appears the Flames no longer have a secondary scoring problem.
• Blackhawks' winger Martin Havlat is expected to return from injury during the team's upcoming four-game home-stand. Meanwhile, Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune thinks the Chicago ownership could do more to broadcast home games if they really wanted.
• Woody Paige of the Denver Post compares Sidney Crosby with Wayne Gretzky.
• The Blue Jackets/Ducks game on Thursday was a game with a playoff-like intensity and Ken Hitchcock believes the point his team received after losing overtime was "a great point for our hockey club."
• The Stars were defeated by the Coyotes 5-0 on Friday night and after the game team captain Brenden Morrow said, "This is rock-bottom for us."
• The Red Wings believe they are a tougher team to play against than in the past write Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.
• Not only did the Oilers lose the game against the Predators last night, but they lost yet another defenseman to injury as Mathieu Roy separated his shoulder.
• The Kings rode a terrific 45 save performance from J.S. Aubin to defeat their division rival Sharks 5-2 last night.
• The Wild will be looking to dig deep and end their slump tonight as they host the Flames in St. Paul.
• Dan Ellis is doing his best to create a goalie controversy in Nashville as he turned aside 31 of 32 shots last night to lead the Preds to a 4-1 victory over the Oilers.
• The Coyotes continued to get solid goaltending last night, as Mikael Tellqvist led the team to a 5-0 shutout over Dallas.
• The Sharks were defeated 5-2 by the Sharks last night and the team has to stop saying it's still early before it gets too late says Patrick Marleau.
• Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch profiles Blackhawks' rookie Jonathan Toews in this morning's paper.
• Both Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo will be lost to the Canucks for over 6 weeks and maybe longer writes Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Capitals lost, once again, last night to the Flyers and with the losses mounting they are trying to do their best to limit their frustration.
• The Leafs wasted a solid road effort last night with a couple late third period lapses and were defeated by the Devils 3-2. The Leafs are going to dismantle their powerplay because as coach Paul Maurice said, "it's costing us games."
• The struggling Lightning have an important division stretch coming up writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• The Penguins have finally received their expected production from Sidney Crosby, however, the team is not receiving any scoring from the majority of their forwards.
• The Flyers' Mike Richards has totally redefined his role this season continued his success on Friday night leading the Flyers to a 3-2 victory over the Capitals.
• Jason Spezza won't suit up for the Senators' game tonight versus Boston, but that doesn't mean he isn't ecstatic about his new seven year contract extension.
• It should be quite the scene tonight on Long Island as legendary coach Al Arbour returns to the Island to coach his 1500th game.
• John Dellapina of the New York Daily News has information on the Rangers' attempted injunction against the NHL.
• John Madden continued his terrific play this season against the Maple Leafs last night, leading his team to a 3-2 victory. Martin Brodeur looked like the Brodeur of old versus the Leafs last night write Rich Chere of the Newark Star Ledger.
• Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette says the Habs have a good opportunity to continue their hot streak tonight against the struggling Leafs.
• The Panthers are now 3-0 against teams they have played for the second time this season after defeating the Sabres 4-2 in Buffalo last night. Richard Zednik led the way with two goals.
• Sabres' backup goalie Jocelyn Thibault got a rare start last night and afterwards he was not happy with his play in his team's loss to the Panthers.
• Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an interesting piece about Don Waddell and his belief that there is an American Revolution in hockey.
• The Hurricanes need to improve their penalty killing which is ranked 28th ranked in the league.
• Patrice Bergeron is in worse shape than originally believed and Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli is taking exception with anyone who says that the Bruins' forward is partly to blame for his injury.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Saturday Night: Lightning Beast on The Thrashers

This is the abbreviated Saturday Night Recap

• Smart move by the Bruins organization to move the game to the afternoon to avoid conflict with the Red Sox. The game was 0-0 going into the shootout and Phil Kessel netted the only goal for Boston. Bruins 1 - Rangers 0.
• Chicago 2nd win in two nights comes against the rested Maple Leafs. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are reminiscent of the Thrashers' Heatley/Kovalchuk in their rookie years. They combined for 3 points tonight and Mats Sundin continues to rake for the Leafs (2 goals). Blackhawks 6 - Maple Leafs 4. Chicago's second third period comeback in a row. Chicago looks like they will be able to compete this year and may begin to fill the United Center, a playoff spot may be in sight
  
• Eric Staal and Justin Williams are able to beat red hot Marty Biron. The Canes are able to take the Flyers to overtime but bow out to Simon Gagne's winner. Philadelphia 3 - Carolina 2 (OT) Justin Williams only has 3 goals on the year now, but they have been snipes, in his age 26 season he is on his way to a career year
  
• Tampa Bay beats up on Atlanta for the second time of the year. The Lecavalier/St. Louis/Prospal line combines for 8 points. Lightning 6 - Thrashers 2.
  
• Edmonton continues to be the bitch of the Northwest Division going 0-4 against their rivals. Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla were the first two stars with 3 points each and Kristian Huselius rounded up the back end with 2 points. The Flames show the Oilers who owns Alberta 4 - 1.
• In a rematch from last years playoffs San Jose shuts out Nashville 3-0. The Legend of Jeremy Roenick lives on, he scores his 3rd goal of the year and is two away from 500.

Tomorrow's Match Ups (All Times Eastern)
5:00pm VAN@CLB
7:00pm COL@MIN

Morning Musings: Bruins/Rangers game moved up

If any of you are craving for hockey later this afternoon, the Bruins/Rangers game has been moved to 4pm EST from 7pm EST in order to avoid a time conflict with tonight's Red Sox/Indians ALCS game six.

On to the morning papers:

• Reports that the Leafs were going to get Kyle Wellwood and Carlo Coliacovo back in the lineup for tonight's game were untrue as both players have encountered setbacks in their rehabilitation. Leafs' coach Paul Maurice doesn't think Vesa Toskala has had an off-game yet writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. It is expected that, once again, the Leafs will be facing a backup goaltender on Saturday night as Patrick Lalime is expected to get the call in net for Chicago.
• The whole hockey world would benefit if the Blackhawks became a team people cared about again opines Damien Cox in this morning's Toronto Star.
• The Canucks can't seem to put a complete game together, and a poor second period cost them against the Kings as Vancouver lost last night's game 4-2.
• According to Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times a mid-second period save by Kings' goaltender Jason LaBarbara may have been the game's turning point.
• Alexander Ovechkin faces off against Sidney Crosby tonight, but the Capitals are less concerned about the matchup and more concerned about getting their powerplay in order writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post.
• The struggling Lightning take on the new-look Thrashers tonight in a divisional matchup.
• The Thrashers have placed goaltender Kari Lehtonen on the IR and he is expected to miss an extended period of time with what is being termed an upper-leg injury.
• The Ducks are heading back out on the road for the first time since returning from their long European road trip to start the season; Curtis Zupke of the Orange County Register has the story.
• As Fluto Shinwaza of the Boston Globe tells us, Bruins' coach Claude Julien is instructing his players to cut down on their long shifts. In other Bruins' news, coach Julien has no problem with the time change of his team's game today versus the Rangers.
• Last night 3-0 loss to Columbus was the Sabres' first time being shutout in their last 95 regular season games.
• The Flames' summer acquisitions get their first taste of the Battle of Alberta tonight as the Oilers visit Calgary in the second half of HNIC's Saturday night double-header.
• Scott Walker injured his torso and moments after he was taken off the ice the Hurricanes surrendered their lead to the Penguins and ended up losing to the Pens 4-3 in a shootout. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have yet to announce who their starting netminder will be tonight as they visit Philadelphia to take on the Flyers.
• Forget the Blackhawks victory over the Avalanche all anyone wanted to talk about after the game was Jonathan Toews and his gorgeous goal. (Illegal Curve's Michael Remis linked the goal through youtube as part of his nightly recap which can be found here)
• Even though they mounted a comeback, the Avalanche feel as though they lost last night's game in the early going writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• The Blue Jackets' Pascal Leclaire recorded his third shutout of the season last night over the Sabres and he has only started four games. Jackets' forward Dan Fritsche was a healthy scratch for last night's contest.
• Stars' forward Todd Fedoruk needs to get back to his fighting ways in order to move down from the press-box and back on to the ice; Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has the story.
• As Helene St. James of the Detroit Free press tells readers, the Red Wings have loved the play of tough guy Aaron Downey so far this season.
• The Oilers have been continually mixing and matching their lines but may have finally come upon a combination that works. Robbie Schremp was demoted back to the AHL yesterday and after reading Craig MacTavish's comments about the youngster's game, it would probably be safe to say, that barring injuring, he won't be back up in the NHL in the near future.
• Nobody is more excited to face the Senators than Cory Murphy (well, aside from his family) writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Panthers are not yet sure whether Tomas Vokoun can start tonight's game and will make that decision later this morning says coach Jacques Martin.
• There is no love lost between the Wild and the Blues heading into tonight's contest writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It should be a physical game tonight writes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune.
• The Penguins were resilient last night coming back on a number of occasions to defeat the Hurricanes 4-3 in a shootout.
• The Sharks have to stop getting bloated egos from listening to all the lofty predictions and start working hard says goalie Evgeni Nabokov.
• When asked what problems the Red Wings present to the Coyotes heading into tonight's contest in the desert, coach Wayne Gretzky responded, "Well, you got enough room on paper?"
• Tonight will serve as a good measuring stick for the revamped Flyers as they take on the one-loss Hurricanes.
• The legendary Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette has a great article this morning on Alexei Kovalev's controversial comments earlier this week.
• Steve Sullivan's doctors say the X-rays show improvement in his back injury, unfortunately for Sullivan he doesn't feel any better.
• Greg Logan thinks it was the Islanders' penalty killing, not Bill Guerin's hat trick, that was the key to the Isles' victory over Washington on Thursday night.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.