NHL Morning Papers--Conference Finals!

My apologies for the delay in getting these posted, but my sleep was more important. If you wanna crown my ass for that, then go ahead and crown it. I am who I thought I was. And that is lazy.

Eastern Finals

Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia

---Setting a new record for putting the cart before the horse, Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette says it’s not too early for the Pens to be talking sweep.

---According to someone smarter than Ron Cook, Bob Smizik resisted the urge to make bold outlandish predictions, and instead said that the best two players on the ice last night were Gene Malkin and Sid Crosby.

---Yet another columnist smarter than Ron Cook, Shelly Anderson astutely pointed out that the Flyers have much experience in these playoffs responding to 1-0 deficits.

---Tim Panaccio of the Philly Inquirer, says that the Flyers knew how important it was to play a clean, turnover free game, and in not doing so, they ended up losing.

---Ray Parrillo of the Inquirer seems to be calling out for a replay of the Bobby Clarke-Valeri Kharmalov slash from the 1972 Summit Series, in saying that the Flyers were unable to stop Malkin last night.

---Phil Sheridan said that the emotion the Flyers used as momentum to begin the game, only took them far enough to lose last night, and at some point, skill overtakes emotion.

Western Finals

Detroit vs. Dallas

---JJ Taylor of the Dallas Morning News reports that Stars head coach Dave Tippett has scrapped his game 1 defensive pairings and is going back to the drawing board to find the right mix.

---Mike Heika has all the intricate news and notes hockey junkies crave in his game-day notebook.

---In an impressive bit of ironic writing, Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press, says that “Hockeytown is back” because there were higher TV ratings and fewer empty seats at a CONFERENCE FINALS PLAYOFF GAME, then there had been at previous years.

---For all those who have been demanding more information about Wings D-man Niklas Kronwall, Helene St. James has the goods for us all.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Drew Mindell

If you have any thoughts, questions or ideas, please post them in the Comments!

Red Wings Win at the Joe, nobody is there to see it

• Last night the Dallas Stars were not even close to the level of performance of the Red Wings. I wouldn't put much stock in the Game 1 result. Game 2 and 3 should be more telling of the direction the series is headed.
• The Stars were unable to stay out of the penalty box, taking seven penalties. Detroit followed up by scoring on three of them. Brenden Morrow felt that his team "stood around and watched too much"
• Niklas Kronwall is throwing the body around these playoffs, with great timing, he has been making impact body checks. The Detroit Free Press feels he is not getting enough respect.
• The Red Wings showed no effects of a week off, Bob Wojnowski called them "borderline abusive".
  
• Mitch Albom calls out the "Hockeytown" fans for not coming to the game. Many of the seats appeared empty in all sections. As of 9:23AM (Central) I was able to find 2 seats in the 200 section on ticketmaster. How are these games not selling out? Comments on the Detroit free press have indicated that the high Michigan unemployment rate and the low economy are reasons for low attendance.

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.