News You Can Use Late in the Day

1. Brian Lawton is rumoured to be in the running for the GM job in Vancouver.
2. The schedule and results for the 2008 Allan Cup.
3. Memorial Cup history, 1925 edition.
4. Orlando Kurtenblog declares Scott Stevens on Slava Kozlov the greatest NHL hit ever.
5. Covered in Oil discusses the force at which the puck hit Patrick Thoreson's balls.
6. Elliotte Friedman writes that Ottawa should take a few days off before making any personnel decisions.
7. Japers' Rink asks for a little Papal intervention.
8. A look at draft prospect Jake Gardiner.
9. The Junior Hockey Report from the NHL.
10. Jim Kelley correctly notes that the NHL has more to worry than what Sean Avery is doing.
11. Check out www.hockey-reference.com.
12. 5 Things we learned Tuesday night.
13. NHL Heavyweights respect UFC Fighters.
14. The Parise's hate the Rangers.
15. Scott Cullen with a very comprehensive list of NHL free agents.
16. Is Barbara Jr. dating a Ranger?
17. Check out this website, which offers interesting insight on who will win each series based on probabilities.
18. Funny story about Jordan Staal.
19. A look back at this day in Stanley Cup playoff history.
20. The Top Ten MIA players.
21. Mike Brophy's observations on the First Round.
22. Canada loses to Russia at the World Under-18's.
23. Out of Left Field points out the Canadian companies are buying a lot of board signage in American arenas.
24. Was Mark Kiszla right?
25. Jeff Marek says that the NHL needs Sean Avery.

NHL Morning Papers: Playoff Teams (Sunday Edition)

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

Montreal versus Boston:

• "We were trying to get him off the ice, but he's like a pitcher who wants to be out there in the ninth inning," said Habs coach Guy Carbonneau about his plan for Alexei Kovalev right before he scored the overtime winner. Last night's overtime winner broke the Habs' 0-for-6 powerplay streak. The Habs brass has been very impressed with the play of their energy line. Meanwhile, the Bruins were furious that the Canadiens were even on the powerplay at the end of the game, writes Herb Zerkowsky.
• The Bruins know it was a tough loss last night but they are staying positive, writes Fluto Shinwaza. After last night's game, the Bruins were still angry about the delayed call at the end of the game. Kevin Paul Dupont has a terrific article about the atmosphere of a playoff hockey game in Montreal.

Pittsburgh versus Otttawa:

• Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette attributes much of the Penguins' 2-0 lead to the play of superstar Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins offense will be pretty scary when Marian Hossa decides to start scoring. Sidney Crosby had four assists in Game 2 and wasn't even one of the game's three stars.
• The Penguins' top players have been better than the Senators' top players, writes Chris Stevenson. Erin Nicks of the Ottawa Sun wonders what Martin Gerber has to do to get a little bit of respect. It doesn't look like Daniel Alfredsson is coming back anytime soon.

Washington versus Philadelphia:

• Capitals defenseman Mike Green was admittedly nervous to start Game 1, but he settled in after the first few shifts. Even writers are jumping on the Capitals bandwagon.
• The Flyers need to do a better job of slowing down the aforementioned Green, writes Tim Panaccio. The Flyers coaches were happy with the game-plan in Game 1, it was the execution that was the issue. Injured Patrick Thoresen may be available for today's game.

New Jersey versus New York Rangers:

• The Rangers don't really compare this season's playoff series with their series against the Atlanta Thrashers last season. Devils forward Zach Parise is still seething over Christian Backman's cross-check to his face. Meanwhile, Dainius Zubrus knows the Devils can comeback from their 2-0 hole, writes Rich Chere.
• "We can't go into this game trying to put on a show for the people; we can't be thinking that way," said Jaromir Jagr about his team's game tonight at MSG. That being said, the Garden house is going to be rocking tonight.

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

Detroit versus Nashville:

• The Wings are a little bit lucky to be up 2-0 in the series, writes Steve Schrader. Schrader also thinks Nashville defenseman Greg Zanon lacks respect. Meanwhile, Mitch Albom has a nice article about Darren McCarty's first goal back last night.
• The Wings' top line has bested the Predators' top line, writes John Glennon. The Predators have shifted their focus to winning Game 3, and if they do that, they will be back in the series. Usually calm Predators GM David Poile was furious that there was not video review of a shot that he believed was a goal early in the game.

San Jose versus Calgary:

• Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News tells readers how intense the City of Calgary is about the Flames. Ryane Clowe is going to have a little bit of a fan club at tonight's game. On the injury front, Christian Ehrhoff may be able to return to the line up for tonight's game.
• Warren Sterlow is surely looking down on both Evgeni Nabokov and Miikka Kiprusoff and is feeling very proud. The Flames are finally happy to be back on home-ice, since they haven't been there in over two weeks. "I haven't played in front of it. I expect it to be loud and it's going to be exciting. Should be a lot of fun," said defenseman Jim Vandermeer.

Minnesota versus Colorado:

• The Wild need to start getting shots through to the net, writes Michael Russo. Branko Radivojevic played the third period of Friday's game with an apparent leg injury.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post has called out Paul Stastny to improve his play. Remember when Brian Rolston played for the Avalanche? Terry Frei does.

Anaheim versus Dallas:

• The Ducks had their chances to win last night's game but just could not score when it mattered most, writes Dan Wood. The Ducks are following the script for past Stanley Cup Champions, writes Randy Youngman. Veteran Stars forward Mike Modano is still making a difference.
• Mike Ribiero was terrific last night in leading the Stars to a 5-2 victory over the defending champions. "It's encouraging, because we are getting rewarded for our work and our belief," said Stars netminder Marty Turco.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

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

Morning Musings

Here are the morning papers:

• Matthew Lombardi led the Flames out of their early season slump with two goals, including the overtime winner, in his team's 3-2 overtime victory over Dallas. Steve Macfarlane of the Calgary Sun provides readers with the three stars and other notes from the Flames/Stars game.
• "It was no one's fault but my own," said Brenden Morrow after his lazy drop pass was picked off easily by Matthew Lombardi leading to the Lombardi's overtime winner.
• Calling up Rick Rypien from Manitoba of the AHL appeared to be the right decision for the Canucks after the feisty forward tallied a goal and an assist in the Canucks' 5-2 victory at Edmonton last night.
• Whereas the Canucks got all-star goaltending from Roberto Luongo, the Oilers received suspect goaltending from both their netminders in last night's loss to the Canucks. Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal provides readers with notes from around the Oilers after last night's contest. Oilers' fan favorite, Fernando Pisani has been through some difficult times recently but after taking a new medication things are starting to look up for the team's heart and soul player. In less serious news, Robbie Schremp has been called up by the Oilers and will get his opportunity to prove his worth tonight in Vancouver.
• After blowing a 4-1 lead, the Bruins, on the backs of Marc Savard and Phil Kessel, ended up prevailing 8-6 over the Kings in one the craziest NHL games this young season. As Fluto Shinwaza of the Boston Globe points out, Bruins' winger Glen Murray is finally starting to get back into his groove after his 2006/07 season ended prematurely with groin problems. While Boston scored eight goals last night, coach Claude Julien was unimpressed with the team's defensive play.
• Since their impressive victory in London over the Ducks, the Kings have now dropped four straight games writes Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times.
• It looks like Jean-Sebastien Giguere will make his first start of the season for the Ducks on Sunday.
• As Craig Custance writes in this morning's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Don Waddell says it's too early to panic in Atlanta. The Thrashers may move Ilya Kovalchuk to the point on their powerplay in order to jump start the slumping unit.
• Drew Stafford has been placed on the Sabres' number one line alongside Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy because coach Lindy Ruff thinks Stafford's "bang and crash" style may be a better fit than Maxim Afinogenov in the number right wing spot.
• The Hurricanes have gotten off to a great start, and Lorenzo Perez of the News Observer thinks the team may be one puck moving defenseman away from putting itself into a terrific position to contend. The Canes visit Montreal tonight in what is the Habs' home opener.
• Robert Lang continues to make his old team regret letting him go, as the veteran Czech center had a big goal in his team's 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Red Wings on Friday night.
• The Wings outplayed the Hawks in the first two periods but unfortunately for Detroit, the game was still tied at two at the second intermission. Meanwhile, Chris Chelios reacted to Steve Yzerman's Notre Dame comments in this morning's Detroit Free Press.
• The Avs were stoned by Manny Legace and the Blues last night in a game that was closer than the 4-1 score indicated.
• As Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch tells readers, David Vyborny is one of the few NHL'ers who still uses a wooden stick. With Jared Boll out of the lineup for tonight's game with a knee injury, Jody Shelley may see some action on one of the Jackets' checking lines tonight as the team faces off against the Avs.
• Panthers' coach Jacques Martin has been quite happy with the play of his team's third line writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Panthers also need to improve on their even strength play.
• The Wild want to get off to a better start on the road this year than they did last year writes Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.
• The Habs don't have the firepower to get into an end-to-end game with the Canes says coach Guy Carbonneau.
• Stephanie Myles of the Montreal Gazette has a review of the book King of Russia written by Dave King with the Globe & Mail's Eric Duhatschek.
• John Glennon of the Tennessean reports that Steve Sullivan's injured back is improving, however, no timeline has been placed on when he will return to the Predators' lineup. Apparently Jim Balsillie is now back in the picture in Nashville.
• Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger profiles the similarities between Zach Parise and his father, former NHL'er, J.P. Parise. In unfortunate news, Devils' defenseman Colin White still has blurry vision in his right eye and is not even thinking about playing hockey right now.
• The Rangers rode the success of their powerplay to a 3-1 victory over the Capitals on Friday night. With the high shot totals they were posting in their previous games, the Rangers knew it was just a matter of time before some pucks starting finding their way into the net writes John Dellapina of the New York Daily News.
• According to Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post, the Capitals lost because they couldn't stay out of the penalty box.
• Chris Simon's 25 game suspension for stick-swinging last season is over and he will make his season debut tonight, against the new suspension capital team of the NHL--the Philadelphia Flyers.
• John Paddock doesn't believe there is such thing as a "good loss" writes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. In other Senators' news, the team is looking to sign forward, and Ottawa native, Randy Robitaille to a one year contract.
• While the official hat trick came a day later, Fredrik Sjostrom will take it anyways writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• English is not that foreign to Evgeni Malkin anymore writes Shelly Anderson in this morning's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Penguins coaches are happy that the weather has cooled down in Pittsburgh, because the recent hot weather was cutting down their practice time.
• Joe Thornton will be playing against the Bruins for the second time in his career tonight in the Sharks' home opener.
• Manny Legace continued his domination of the Avalanche last night in the Blues' 4-1 win. Some good news for the Blues, as the team expects injured defenseman Eric Brewer back in the lineup this upcoming week, and maybe as early as Wednesday.
• Martin St. Louis has to guard against over-passing writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• Matt Stajan has been quite impressive so far this young season writes Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star. Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun explains that the Leafs understand they need to stay out of the penalty box against the offensively dangerous Penguins tonight.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.