Marc Staal happy about Rangers summer

From Steve Zipay of Newsday:

"I'm excited about the guys we got," he said. "Redden's an All-Star, a great player, he'll really be good. I know Naslund from watching him when I was growing up [in Thunder Bay, Ontario]. He's got experience, he's been on the power play." Asked about the critics who believe Naslund, at 35, is no longer the force he once was, Staal said, "Maybe a change of scenery will be good for him."

Staal also was pleased with the return of defenseman Michal Rozsival. "I got pretty comfortable playing with him last year," Staal said, noting that he had no preference for a pairing with either Redden or Rozsival. "It's not up to me, but I want to play as much as I can, so I can probably get the minutes with either of those guys."

Read the entire article here.

We should set up a back and forth between Larry Brooks and Marc Staal debating the merits of each NYR off-season move. You can't tell me that wouldn't be a hoot!

NHL Morning Papers: Playoff Teams (Tuesday Edition)

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

Montreal versus Boston:

• You can expect to see rookie defenseman Ryan O'Byrne dressed for the Canadiens tonight, writes Pat Hickey. If the Habs want to take control of this series tonight, they are going to have to improve upon their struggling power play. The Bruins love having Milan Lucic on their side, writes Hickey. Amazingly, the last person on the Canadiens who is going to panic is rookie netminder Carey Price.
• The Bruins' penalty killing has been terrific, writes Fluto Shinwaza. "He's been their best player by a long shot," said Habs coach Guy Carbonneau about Bruins rookie Milan Lucic. It appears unlikely that Patrice Bergeron will be able to get into a game if the Bruins do not advance past the first round.

Pittsburgh versus Ottawa:

• The Penguins did not panic at all last night, and it helped them as they cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Senators. Marc-Andre Fleury has matured since last year's playoffs and that has been and will be an important part of the Penguins' success. The Senators pulled out all the stops last night and it still wasn't enough to avoid being in a 3-0 hole in the series, writes Chuck Finder. To their credit, the Penguins have not made a big deal of a picture of their team shaking hands with the Senators from last year's playoffs that happens to be right outside their locker room.
• "We've got to keep our head up. Teams have done it. Nobody has any faith us in any way. We all believe we can still do it," said Cristoph Schubert after his team went down 3-0 to the Penguins last night in their playoff series. Daniel Alfredsson's return to the line up just was not enough last night, writes Chris Stevenson. You cannot question Alfredsson's character.

Washington versus Philadelphia:

• Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau expects Alexander Oveckin to have a bounce back game against the Flyers in Game 3. Corey Masisak tells readers how important Mike Richards is to the Philadelphia cause. "We are looking for a big response here in Game 3, and hopefully we can get it," said Capitals forward Brooks Laich.
• Flyers winger Scott Hartnell knows his job is to go to the net and he does that well, writes Sam Donnellon. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren has been happy to see his old roommate Bruce Boudreau succeed in his NHL pursuits. Meanwhile, the Flyers who remain from the 2006 squad want to make amends for their awful home showing that season.

New Jersey versus New York Rangers:

• The fact of the matter is, Brent Sutter loves John Madden, writes Colin Stephenson. The Devils need not worry about Sean Avery pulling off his Game 3 in front of their net anymore, now that the NHL has amended its rules to hand out penalties for such behavior.
• Jay Greenberg of the NY Post has been awfully impressed with the play of rookie defenseman Marc Staal. The Rangers need to cut down on their penalties, writes John Dellapina. It is safe to say that Sean Avery sure didn't make any friends with his antics on Sunday.

The morning papers for the Western Conference playoff match ups are soon to follow...

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

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

Morning Musings: Hockey Night in Canada

Tonight is the first real night of HNIC in Canada this season and I couldn't be more excited. As written about it before by Illegal Curve's Neil Rockman, the CBC has made a variety of changes this season. Ron MacLean will be stationed at the CBC headquarters with Don Cherry in order to allow for the duo to pay closer attention to all the other games going on on a Saturday night. Additionally, the pregame show has been re-worked and the Satellite Hotstove has been tweaked. Regardless of all these changes, when I turn on the television at 6pm CST time this evening I will hear the classic HNIC theme song and just sit back and enjoy the best night of the week for hockey. With the Leafs/Habs and Flames/Canucks being the doubleheader, I recommend you do the same.

On to the morning papers:

• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star tells readers who he'd choose between Darryl Sittler and Mats Sundin.
• The Globe & Mail's Eric Duhatschek with news and notes from around the NHL.
• The Canes received great performances from Eric Staal and Cam Ward, leading the team to a 4-1 win over the Pens on Friday night. Carolina is anxiously awaiting the return of Cory Stillman to the lineup so they can have their entire number one line in order.
• According to Ryan Whitney, the Penguins "didn't show up to play" versus the Canes last night.
• The Capitals debuted with an impressive 3-1 victory over Atlanta on Friday night. According to Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post, there is no reason to read into the team starting Brent Johnson over Olaf Kolzig.
• The Thrashers can't be any worse tonight in Tampa on Saturday than they were Friday night writes Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. While in Atlanta, Gary Bettman answered questions the state of the Thrashers and the NHL.
• The Stars needed a win and a bounce-back game from Marty Turco and they got both writes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
• The Bruins were defeated 4-1 by the Stars on Friday night and coach Claude Julien explains that, "It's not about systems. It's about breakdowns and concentration." As Fluto Shinwaza tells us in this morning's Boston Globe, Manny Fernandez believes he has to work on his mental focus in order to perform better on the ice. Meanwhile, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Globe tries to get a few laughs from readers with this piece.
• Jeremy Roenick lead the Sharks to a 3-1 victory over the Canucks on Friday night. When asked whether he preferred his two goals over the steak he purchased last year at The Keg in Vancouver after being a healthy scratch he answered, "That steak at The Keg was really good, there's no question about that. But I'll take the two goals instead."
• The Canucks performance wasn't pretty last night writes Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province.
• The Islanders' off-season acquisitions made GM Garth Snow look very smart after the team defeated the Sabres 6-4 in their season opener on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Islanders have re-signed Radek Martinek to a three year contract extension worth $4.5 million.
• As Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News explains, the Sabres have the talent, however, they need to improve on their work ethic. Coach Lindy Ruff was very unhappy with many aspects of the Sabres' game including the large amount of turnovers, 30 by Ruff's count.
• As Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch explains, the Blue Jackets were just full of energy in their impressive 4-0 victory over the defending Stanley Cup Champion Ducks. We can expect a whole new attitude from this Blue Jackets team than past versions writes Bob Hunter of the Dispatch.
• Dan Wood of the Orange County Register provides readers with the Anaheim perspective as the Ducks fell behind early to the Blue Jackets on Friday night and never could recover.
• The good news out of Chicago is that Martin Havlat will not need surgery on his injured left shoulder, the bad news is that it will be weeks before doctors can determine a course for rehab. Chris Kuc provides readers with more injury news out of Chicago and is reporting that Jonathan Toews will not dress tonight versus Detroit.
• With a four game road swing on the horizon, the Flames are emphasizing the importance of tonight's home game versus the rival Canucks; Randy Sportak of Calgary Sun has the story. If you look at the statsheet from the Flames' first game you will see Dion Phaneuf over the 30 minute mark in ice-time writes Sportak.
• The Red Wings face-off in Chicago tonight marking the team's first time facing former teammate Robert Lang.
• Speaking of playing your former teammates, Joffrey Lupul returns to Edmonton tonight for the first time since his off-season trade; suffice to say that Jason Smith's return will generate far more positive fan reaction. The fact is, Smith is just one of the good guys in the NHL that teammates gravitate towards writes Derek Van Diest of the Edmonton Sun.
• Another member of the Jason Smith trade, Geoff Sanderson is now 35 years old, but that doesn't mean he doesn't still have to go out and prove himself writes Joanne Ireland in this morning's Edmonton Journal.
• Coach Jacques Martin is a big fan of the Jay Bouwmeester/Brian Allen pairing as the team's number one defensive unit writes Kevin Clark of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. After a summer spent in the gym, Nathan Horton is ready to take the next step and become one of Panthers' top stars.
• Luc Robitaille is working on bridging the Kings with the Hollywood community hoping for similar results to the Gretzky days.
• Lisa Dillman of the the L.A. Times profiles the first NHL meeting of old friends David Perron and Jonathan Bernier in tonight's Blues/Kings contest.
• After reading this article by Kent Youngblood in the Star Tribune it is probably fair to call Jacques Lemaire a perfectionist.
• There is nothing better than a Red Fisher article and the legend doesn't disappoint in this morning's Gazette with an article about the terrific job the Habs' community-relations group has done raising money for worthy causes. Fisher provides readers with yet another article this morning, this time with a focus on the story of Kirk Muller and his road to Montreal.
• According to Brent Sutter, Kevin Weekes may get the call in goal tonight versus the Panthers. In other Devils' news, John Madden and Jay Pandolfo have been reunited on a line together, however, don't expect them to be matched up exclusively against the Panthers' top line.
• According to Larry Brooks of the NY Post, Rangers' coach Tom Renney is considering giving his youngsters Marc Staal and Brandon Dubinsky the night off versus the Senators on Saturday night. You have to wonder why the Garden faithful take to booing Marek Malik considering the big rearguard is a phenomenal +63 in his two plus years with the Rangers.
• The Predators will be without Shea Weber, their best all-around defenseman, for 3-6 weeks. Finnish rearguard Ville Koistinen will replace Weber on the blueline.
• Senators' winger Daniel Alfredsson has averaged over 25 minutes a game during the team's first two regular season contests. Hometown boy Luke Richardson is expected to make his Senators debut tonight versus the Rangers on HNIC.
• After an impressive win in Calgary, the Flyers now face the task of playing against the young and speedy Oilers writes Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer. (Writer's note: I am interested to see how the Oilers' youngsters will respond after their impressive victory over the Sharks Thursday night. Either way, the Oilers' foot speed should cause lots of problems for the rather slow Flyers' defense.)
• The past few days have been a whirlwind for Ryan Caldwell of the Coyotes writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• Eric Brewer injured his shoulder in a fight on Thursday night and has been placed on ,will which will result in him missing at least the next seven days of action.
• You can't help but love Chris Gratton's passion for the game and willingness to stand up for his teammates.
• Leafs' forward Matt Stajan is in much better shape after his off-season training program writes Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star. After going 0-for with the man-advantage in their first two games, the Leafs concentrated on their powerplay in practice on Friday.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Morning Musings: My late take on the McAmmond hit

I know this issue has been discussed ad nausem for the last couple of days, but here are my quick two cents. Many around the game believe the pressure is on the NHL and Colin Campbell to make an example of Steve Downie and crackdown on head shots. I, however, somewhat disagree with this sentiment. The pressure in this instance, lies with the NHLPA. If the NHL gives a twenty game suspension to Steve Downie will things really change? Will players suddenly stop running at opposing players with reckless abandon? This writer doesn't believe so. Therefore, the pressure should be on the NHLPA to organize meetings and information sessions between all NHL players to discuss, not only, the repercussions of giving and receiving a head-shot but the lack of mutual respect in the game today. For me, that is the main issue. NHL players no longer have as much respect for one another as they once did. How can the NHL as a governing body encourage an increase in on-ice respect? In short, it can't. This is where the NHLPA comes in. It is for situations like this one that the PA was created. The leadership (however weak it is right now) has to gather the players together and preach the virtues of respectfully competing with your opponents without crossing the line. Without this message being delivered, the hits will keep on coming and, one day, a player may never get up from a brutal on-ice collision.

On to the morning papers:

• The NHLPA is beginning to consider names for a new union leader writes Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail.
• Stephen Brunt of the Globe & Mail examines the mixed messages that seem to be inherent in hockey in the wake of the Downie hit.
• Kevin Allen of the USA Today has a neat piece about what to watch for entering the 2007/08 NHL season.
• It appears that Marc Staal is going to make the Rangers writes John Dellapina of the New York Daily News.
• It looks like Islanders' forward Chris Simon will be held out of tonight's exhibition rematch with the Rangers writes Greg Logan of Newsday.
• According to coach John Paddock, Wade Redden and Mike Fisher looked alright on Thursday to be able to resume playing.
• Dean McAmmond is going to choose to believe Steve Downie's apology was sincere; Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun has the story.
• If a deal isn't reached on a new contract for Dany Heatley by the Sens' first regular season game, the two-time 50 goal scorer wants negotiations suspended until season's end.
• With a rash of injuries at Flyers' camp, Jim Dowd may indeed find himself on the opening day roster writes Tim Pannacio of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• The Coyotes were defeated by the Stars 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday.
• Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains that the Penguins' coaching staff wants to see Adam Hall lineup at center prior to deciding whether he will make the club or not.
• Apparently Joe Pavelski hasn't been reading Illegal Curve's rants about how meaningless the NHL preseason is, and is excited to see his name atop the exhibition scoring leaders.
• Jay McKee will be starting the season on the sidelines for the second consecutive season in St. Louis writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• As Lightning coach John Tortorella explains, team toughness is not all about fighting.
• Leafs' coach Paul Maurice will not make a decision on who his starting goalie will be until after Saturday's exhibition game writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. Doug Wilson, GM of the Sharks, believes Leaf fans need to relax about the play of Vesa Toskala; "He will be very good. You just watch," Wilson told the Toronto Sun.
• Good friends Matt Cooke and Brendan Morrison have a knack for knowing where each other are going to be on the ice writes Gordon McIntyre of the Vancouver Province.
• NHL ironman Brendan Morrison has been banged up a bit at training camp and his consecutive games played streak may be in doubt; Elliot Pap of the Vancouver Sun has the story.
• Markus Naslund lined up with the Sedin brothers on Thursday but there are no guarantees that he will lineup in that slot to start the season.
• Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides an inside look at the excitement of the four youngsters who cracked the opening day Thrashers' lineup.
• After injuring his shoulder early in the preseason, Bruins' defenseman Zdeno Chara is expected to be back in the lineup for the team's first regular season game next week. Meanwhile, expectations are high for Bruins' off-season acquisition Peter Schaefer, who will see himself lining up beside Marc Savard on the team's top scoring line.
• Even without playing a preseason game, Lindy Ruff seems confident that Tim Connolly will be ready for the Sabres' first regular season game a week today.
• Didn't take that long did it? Flames' coach Mike Keenan finally loses it on his team for its lack of work ethic. (Writer's note: A big deal is always made of Keenan getting angry, however, after watching the Flames float through much of last season, including the playoffs, I think this is exactly what this group of players needs.)
• Jason Karmonos, son of Canes' owner Peter Karmonos, announced his resignation for the organization on Thursday citing personal reasons.
• Luke Decock provides notes from around Canes' camp in this morning's News Observer.
• The Blackhawks players were given the day off on Thursday but Chicago GM Dale Tallon remained hard at work claiming Karel Pilar off waivers from the Atlanta Thrashers.
• As Terry Frei of the Denver Post tells us, Jose Theodore made his first appearance of the season at Avs' practice on Thursday.
• The Blue Jackets will be cutting down their roster by Sunday or Monday writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Meanwhile, Steve Mason, the Jackets' best player during its preseason contest versus Carolina on Thursday night will almost surely be sent back to London of the OHL in the next few days.
• Marty Turco rescues the struggling Stars and it's not even the regular season yet!
• Goaltender Jimmy Howard has been a pleasant surprise for Mike Babcock at Red Wings' camp writes George Sipple in this morning's Detroit Free Press.
• Joanne Ireland informs us that the Oilers spent all of Thursday practicing their powerplay in this morning's Edmonton Journal. The off-season additions of Sheldon Souray and Joni Pitkanen should increase the team's poweplay efficiency.
• Anthony Stewart, Kamil Kreps and Rob Globke are the three players still in camp fighting for the last remaining forward spot in Florida.
• Jonathan Bernier has impressed many at Kings' camp which is why the team was able to release Dan Cloutier.
• Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette explains that Cristobal Huet is undoubtedly the number one netminder for the Habs heading into the season. It looks like Huet is already in top form as he led the Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Bruins on Thursday night.
• Jacques Lemaire is going to give all of his youngsters who are fighting for a roster spot a chance to strut their stuff tonight versus St. Louis.
• The Predators are always chasing the Red Wings in the standings and, as John Glennon writes in this morning's Tennessean, this season appears no different.
• There is unfortunate news out of Devils' camp that Colin White has sustained damage to his right eye and specialists are still trying to determine the extent of it. Suffice to say that White is out of the lineup indefinitely.
• In other news at Devils' camp, coach Brent Sutter is no rush to hand out the captaincy.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.