Predators want Radulov back

From John Glennon of the Tennessean:

Both Predators Coach Barry Trotz and team captain Jason Arnott say they want Radulov to return for the coming season, but they are aware some baggage might come with him.

"When you back out on your deal and you let your teammates and the whole organization down like that, it's hard to swallow — no question,'' Arnott said. "I can't sugarcoat it any better. It's disappointing.

"But if he does come back and play with us, hopefully he comes back with a good mind and be ready to play. If he does that, I think guys will forget about it. If he comes back with the attitude that it's his last year here and he doesn't really care, then it's going to be a long year. It's going to be tough.''

Read the entire article here.

This feels like a Sopranos episode where Tony wants to talk with someone that has really pissed him off. So, he plays all nice to get him to come to meet him and then lets him know how he really feels.

NHL Morning Papers (Tuesday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• As Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail tells us, Leafs' coach Paul Maurice has made a number of line adjustments in an effort to spark some more offense out of his club.
• Jack Todd of the National Post gives a summary of Larry Robinson's retired number ceremony in Montreal last night.
• The USA Today has a Q & A with veteran Ducks' defenseman Mathieu Schneider in this morning's paper.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Not only did the Ducks acquire a new fourth line center yesterday but they are also hoping to have both Todd Bertuzzi and Mathieu Schneider back in their lineup for Wednesday's game against Dallas.
• Mike Keenan finally cracked the whip yesterday at practice writes Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun. After taking a puck to the head from Canucks' defenseman Lukas Krajicek, Robyn Regehr is going to tough it out and will be in the lineup tonight versus Colorado.
• Hawks' winger Jason Williams is listed as questionable for the team's next game later this week with a strained groin. In positive Hawks' news, oft-injured forward Martin Havlat is expected to return to the team's lineup next week.
• Jose Theodore is slated to get the start tonight for the Avalanche as they take on the Flames in Calgary.
• Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch suggests Blue Jackets' GM Scott Howson is in the market to improve his team's secondary scoring. Meanwhile, the Jackets are hoping to have Mike Peca return to the lineup in the near future after the center has missed the past five games with a groin injury.
• The Stars are starting to turn their season around as they were able to exact their revenge on the Kings last with a 3-0 victory in Dallas. A move to Mike Modano's wing has sparked Jeff Halpern who now has three points in three games playing with the all-time leading American scorer.
• Wings' coach Mike Babcock is hoping Johan Franzen's shootout winner over the weekend will help him get out of his huge slump.
• Oilers' defenseman Mathieu Roy was back at practice yesterday attempting to rehab his injured shoulder. Meanwhile, Kyle Brodziak's knee is almost back to normal and the checking winger is expected to play tonight against the Canucks.
• Last night's 3-0 shutout at Dallas marked the first time the Kings had been shutout in two consecutive games since the 2001/02 season.
• Wild goaltending coach Bob Mason likes to make sure both of the netminders he works with keep an even keel writes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune.
• The Predators were defeated last night by their ex-teammate Paul Kariya and the St. Louis Blues 3-0. Jason Arnott missed last night's game for the Predators with an injured neck.
• Coyotes' coach Wayne Gretzky doesn't want rookie Peter Mueller to get down about his lack of ice-time last game writes Jim Gintonoio of the Arizona Republic.
• Anyone hoping there was steam to that Patrick Marleau to the Flames rumors, shouldn't get too excited as David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News reports that no one from the Calgary front office has even called about the former Seattle Thunderbird.
• The Blues have won four straight games, but Blues' winger Paul Kariya thinks the team can play much better than it has in its last two contests. In other Blues' news, winger Martin Rucinsky has seen his offensive opportunities greatly reduced in recent games.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Capitals lost 4-3 to Florida last night and their struggles are reaching the point of no-return with only 13 points registered in 20 games played.
• The Leafs are hoping to play a lot better in Boston this time around than they did in their first trip to Massachusetts. Mark Zwolinkski wonders if former Leafs' prospect Tuukka Rask will get the start tonight for Boston.
• The Lightning were not happy with the officiating in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Thrashers last night in Atlanta. John Tortorella thinks the key to Jan Hlavac scoring on a consistent basis is a matter of confidence.
• Sidney Crosby was busy shooting a commercial and some pictures for ESPN the Magazine yesterday writes Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "That's a luxury," defenseman Mark Eaton said in reference to the Penguins extra time available to practice.
• "Physically, I feel pretty good, but the symptoms are still there," said Flyers' winger Simon Gagne in reference to his recent concussions.
• The Senators played the role of spoiler in their 4-2 victory last night over the Habs on Larry Robinson night. James Duthie thinks that Senators fans are dreaming if they think that the market is there for a Ray Emery trade. Meantime, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun has an interesting piece on Senators' forward Chris Kelly.
• The Islanders made it three straight over the Rangers last night with a 2-1 at MSG writes Greg Logan of Newsday.
• "We allowed them to frustrate us and we got away from our structure that's been successful," NYR winger Brendan Shanahan said after last night's loss. Off-season acquisition Chris Drury is starting to become frustrated that he has been unable to develop chemistry with any of his linemates.
• Brent Sutter has gone with his gut in moving Patrik Elias to the middle to play center for first time since he was a child back in the Czech Republic.
• The Senators proved last night in Montreal why they are 1st in the Eastern Conference writes Pat Hickey in this morning's Montreal Gazette.
• The Panthers got some confidence after finally holding on to a third period lead on Monday writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Additionally, winning in Washington allowed for the Cats to put an end to their road woes.
• It has come to a point where the Hurricanes can't even get through a practice without sustaining an injury writes Luke Decock of the News Observer.
• The Thrashers have gotten all the way back to .500 after their overtime victory over the Lightning last night.
• Bruins' coach Claude Julien is out to fix the defense in front of goalie Tim Thomas writes Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

NHL Morning Papers (Monday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail wonders if the Leafs can build on their impressive victory over the Senators on Saturday night.
• Andrew Lupton of the National Post has a selection of some of the best takes in Bob McCown's new book the 100 Greatest Hockey Arguments.
• A.J. Perez of USA Today tells us that Sandis Ozolinsh is having the most fun of his NHL career in his second go-round with the San Jose Sharks.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal takes an inside look at the Oilers blogosphere in this morning's paper.
• The Flames got off to a bad start and it cost them last night in their 4-1 loss at Vancouver. The Flames own the worst powerplay in the league, at less than a ten percent success rate, writes Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun.
• For a very young team, the Blackhawks are sitting pretty at the quarter-point of the season writes Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. However, it's not all good news for the Hawks as they lost Rene Bourque to a broken thumb over the weekend and he'll be out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks.
• The Avalanche were easily defeated by the Wild 4-1 on Sunday night and, after the game, Joe Sakic said the Avs need to get back to the skating game that makes them most effective.
• The Blue Jackets were extremely satisfied with their performance last night versus the Red Wings, even if they did lose the game in a shootout writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. The Jackets received a terrific performance from Nikolai Zherdev last night.
• The new two-headed GM in Dallas has begun to clear ice-time for the organization's youngsters, starting with the waiving of veteran fighter Todd Fedoruk on Sunday.
• The Red Wings weren't happy with their performance in their own zone, but they still found a way to pull out the win over Columbus last night.
• "He's always doing cheap stuff like that (going after light-weight Michal Handzus). I'm kind of sick of that, seeing Pronger be that guy," said Kings' injured tough guy Raitis Ivanans in this morning's L.A. Times.
• Matt Foy slept in on Sunday and was late to a team meeting, so the youngster was surprised to be in the lineup last night; however, his inclusion paid off as Foy scored once and added an assist in his team's 4-1 victory over Colorado.
• Predators' captain Jason Arnott believes the key to the team's turnaround in the standings has been the team's improved work ethic.
• With the Predators facing the Blues tonight, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch details the Predators and their new-found identity.
• Apparently the Canucks don't need three of their top six defensemen as they handled the Flames 4-1 on home-ice last night.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Thrashers' goaltender Kari Lehtonen returned to practice with his teammates yesterday, however, coach Don Waddell doesn't foresee Lehtonen returning to the lineup for approximately two weeks.
• Bruins' coach Claude Julien gave his team Sunday off after their frustrating game at Montreal on Saturday night. In other Bruins' news, it looks like Boston will be without defenseman Andrew Ference for a few weeks with a sprained knee.
• The Sabres powerplay has struggled since Tim Connolly went down to injury writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.
• According to Panthers special assistant to the general manager Joe Nieuwendyk, the Panthers need to change their mentality when they have a late game lead. After getting off to a slow start, Panthers' center Stephen Weiss is finally playing at the level he is paid to play at.
• There will be some tears in the building tonight as legendary Habs' defenseman Larry Robinson will have his jersey raised to the Molson Centre rafters tonight. Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette opines that Robinson and Habs' GM Bob Gainey were his two favorites Canadiens when the team was churning out Stanley Cups in the 70's.
• Martin Brodeur continues to be his modest self, even after winning his 500th NHL game over the weekend.
• Larry Brooks says Daniel Girardi's star is rising fast as the youngster has become a top-pair defenseman for the Rangers this season.
• Islanders' coach Ted Nolan has switched up his lines again in an effort to increase his team's offensive output.
• Dany Heatley is trying his best to practice his way out of his goal-scoring slump writes Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun. Meanwhile, Senators' coach John Paddock has threatened to reduce ice-time for players who continue to give the puck away.
• Flyers' winger Simon Gagne was on the ice yesterday for a skate, but still remains a ways away from returning to the lineup.
• Penguins' winger Colby Armstrong is staying positive even though he has been a healthy scratch for six of his team's last eight games. Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders if coach Michel Therrien will start employing Sidney Crosby on the penalty kill more often.
• Brad Richards has had a very impressive start to the season writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• The Leafs have discovered a reliable shutdown line writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. As Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun tells us, veteran Boyd Devereaux has carved a niche for himself on the Leafs' penalty kill.
• Alexander Semin is expected to return to the Capitals lineup tonight when they face the Florida Panthers.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

NHL Morning Papers (Friday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• William Houston of the Globe & Mail wonders what the NHL would be like with two Canadian divisions and a European division.
• Jim Matheson examines the obstacles that the city of Buffalo faces in preparing for its outdoor game versus Pittsburgh on New Year's day.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today uses numbers to give fans some tidbits about the 2007/08 NHL season.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• After defeating the Flames 3-2 last night at the Saddledome, the Canucks are now a perfect 5-0 versus Northwest division foes. Prior to the game last night Mike Keenan warned his team about facing teams with a lot of injuries being dangerous and boy was he right as the Canucks dominated the first two periods of action and just hung on in the third.
• Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Central Division has become one of the more competitive divisions in the NHL.
• Ryan Clowe of the Sharks is not going to let his knee injury take him away from conversing with his teammates and being apart of the total team atmosphere as he rehabs for his return.
• The Coyotes won their first game at home in 36 days last night as they defeated the Stars 5-2.
• John Glennon has an interesting piece on the maturation of Jason Arnott as a leader in Nashville.
• Wes Walz has not yet decided whether he wants to keep playing in the NHL, but the Wild is being a classy organization by not suspending him without pay while he takes time away from the rink to make his decision.
• Michal Handzus may not be posting high point totals to start the season, but he is helping the Kings out in a variety of different ways writes Lonnie White of the L.A. Times.
• Craig MacTavish defended his choice of Marty Reasoner for the shootout on Wednesday night when the Oilers were in a must-score situation. As Joanne Ireland writes in this morning's Edmonton Journal, the next six games for the Oilers are within their division, and are crucial if the Oilers want to get back into playoff consideration.
• Both Niklas Kronwall and Dominik Hasek will return to the Red Wings' lineup tonight as they face the Columbus Blue Jackets.
• After defeating the Sharks the on Wednesday night, the Stars were beat by the Coyotes last night by a score of 5-2. "They just outworked us; it's as simple as that," said Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas.
• If the Blue Jackets think they can simply out-muscle the Red Wings they are wrong writes Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch. Here are the probable Blue Jackets' lines for tonight's contest.
• Jose Theodore is slated to get the start tonight for the Avs, as coach Joel Quenville continues to swap him and Peter Budaj every other start.
• Once the injured Martin Havlat is ready to return to the lineup, he will be placed on a line with Jason Williams and Robert Lang writes Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune.
• The Flames have now last four in a row, after last night's 3-2 loss to the Canucks, and are now a below .500 team. When asked why the team can't put together a full 60 minute effort, Mike Keenan said, "I have some ideas, but I'm not prepared to share them right now."
• Dan Wood of the Orange County Register touches on the rumors of a Scott Niedermayer return to the Ducks mid-season.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• It looks like Ilya Kovalchuk will be suiting up for the Thrashers tonight after leaving Tuesday's game with back spasms. Additionally, rookie Ondrej Pavelec will get his second consecutive start between the pipes.
• The Bruins hardly took advantage of a long third period 5-on-3 opportunity and ended up only getting one more shot on net during the penalties than did the Habs, as they were defeated by Montreal 2-1. Glen Murray's slump is partially due to the lack of shots he's getting on net. Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald has a very well-written piece about having to see Patrice Bergeron struggle at the most basic things during yesterday's press conference in Boston. The Bruins lost yet another player to a concussion last night as Aaron Ward collided with Francis Bouillon during last night's contest.
• Thomas Vanek believes that his offensive and defensive struggles are one of the main reasons that the Sabres are below .500 at the moment.
• The Hurricanes got into a hole last night and then couldn't get out of it due to the terrific play of goaltender Johan Holmqvist for the Lightning. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have not yet set up a timeline for Andrew Ladd's return to the lineup.
• Jacques Martin questioned the Panthers intensity yesterday writes Jackie Friedman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Defenseman Bryan Allen not only have a facial injury, but he also sustained a concussion against the Lightning earlier this week and is listed as day-to-day.
• Carey Price is seemingly unfazed by everything around him, as the rookie netminder exhibited that trait again last night, turning aside 28 of the 29 shots he faced.
• The Devils dominated the Flyers last night in a 4-1 victory, and let's just say it had something to do with the talking to and hard practices dished out by coach Brent Sutter earlier this week.
• The Rangers were able to put together a solid defensive contest that included a significant offensive output in their 4-2 win over Pittsburgh last night writes Larry Brooks of the NY Post. Sean Avery scored his first goal of the season and got under the opponent's skin as per usual.
• Mark Hermmann of Newsday has an interesting piece about the maturation of Charles Wang as owner of the NY Islanders.
• In a battle of two teams heading in opposite directions, the trends stopped last night as the slumping Capitals defeated the streaking Senators 4-1. The Senators were poor in all aspects of the game writes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. The Senators sure could have used Jason Spezza versus the Capitals writes Chris Stevenson of the Sun.
• "They were quicker to the puck, stronger around our net," said Flyers' coach John Stevens about is team's loss to the Devils on Thursday night. Simon Gagne was held out of last night's game after it appears like he suffered another concussion.
• The Penguins just can't seem to get their offense going as they lost to the Rangers 4-2 last night at MSG.
• The Lightning eliminated all the talk about their road struggles last night with a 5-1 victory at the division leading Hurricanes. It looks like Ryan Craig is ready to return to the lineup for the Bolts.
• The Maple Leafs will have a new look, yet familiar, first powerplay unit in place for tonight's game versus the Sabres writes Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star.
• The Capitals finally got a victory last night, and boy was it impressive, as they knocked off the top team in the NHL 4-1 on the road.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Morning Musings: Don't overreact

To all fans and poolies out there, I have just one suggestion: Don't overreact! While some teams haven't even played their first games yet, other teams' fans are already calling the season a write-off. Yes, I am talking to you Leaf fans. But honestly, if a player scored a hat trick in the thirty second game of the season on a random Wednesday night, would you be starting to pencil him in for 80 goals? The fact of the matter is that games in the beginning of the season are the same as games during the middle/end of the season. Just because Jason Arnott scored twice on Thursday night doesn't suddenly mean he is in for some crazy career year. Fans need to take everything in stride and exude at least some semblance of patience during the early part of the season. And to Leaf fans, do you think every team in the league is as good as Ottawa? Thought so.

On to the morning papers:

• After the Oilers' come from behind victory on Thursday night, the team is feeling great about itself writes Dan Barnes in this morning's Edmonton Journal. The Oilers' youngsters really handled themselves well and weathered the storm after Joe Thornton tied the score in the dying seconds. One of the aforementioned youngsters, Kyle Brodziak, was happy to get the monkey off his back early in the season by scoring the Oilers' second goal.
• While there was lots of excitement surrounding the Oilers' performance, Sharks' coach Ron Wilson felt the his team is capable of playing a lot better than it did on Thursday night. (Writer's note: I am wondering how long Ron Wilson will leave Patrick Marleau on the first line. The line creates a ton of chances but it really hinders the team's secondary scoring capabilities.)
• The Flames shoddy first period was the difference in the team's 3-2 loss to the Flyers last night. Even though the team only scored two goals, Craig Conroy is very confident in the Flames' offensive skill level. Enforcer Eric Goddard did his best to try and change the momentum of the game last night by taking on Jesse Boulerice in a big-time showdown that left many in the arena awfully impressed.
• On the Flyers' end, Daniel Briere is already proving to be worth all the money the team threw at him this past summer. While R.J. Umberger is out of the lineup, 22 year old Denis Tolepko will occupy his spot in the lineup.
• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says the Leafs let yet another game slip away last night in their 3-2 loss to Sens. Coach Paul Maurice is concerned the team is taking too many stick penalties writes Kevin McGran of the Star. While Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun believes that Maurice is handling the team's goalie situation improperly.
• Sens' coach John Paddock was happy with the way his team battled and gutted out the victory versus the Leafs writes Chris Stevenson of the Ottawa Sun. Meanwhile, Bryan Murray and Jason Spezza's agent have already had talks regarding a contract extension for the team's star center.
• The MSG faithful booed the Rangers off the ice after the second period of the team's home opener on Thursday night. It sure woke up the Broadway Blueshirts as they went on to score four goals in the third period and defeat the Panthers 5-2 in their home opener.
• Tomas Vokoun's debut for the Panthers was anything but pretty writes Ethan Skolnick of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
• The Avalanche were shutout 4-0 by the Predators on Thursday night, meaning another pointless game for the top line of Sakic-Smyth-Hejduk. Nonetheless, coach Joel Quenville is not in the least bit worried about his top line's early season struggles; Adrian Dater of the Denver Post has the story.
• Nashville netminder Chris Mason was nervous and excited to get the opening night start versus the Avs on Thursday and did not disappoint writes John Glennon in this morning's Tennessean.
• The Lightning were very happy with the play of Johan Holmqvist in the team's 3-1 opening night victory versus the Devils.
• The Devils kept the big line of Lecavalier-St. Louis-Prospal at bay until the final minutes of the third period writes Rich Chere of the Newark Star Ledger. Devils' fans may have been caught off guard by the fact that John Madden was not matched up against Vincent Lecavalier all night. Meanwhile, Devils' defenseman Richard Matvichuk was stunned when he found out he would be a healthy scratch.
• The Blues played a poor first forty minutes in the desert last night leading to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Phoenix Coyotes. After playing in his first NHL game last night, Erik Johnson became just the eleventh teenager to ever suit up for the Blues; Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch has the story. Although the team struggled in its season debut, Jeff Gordon of the Post Dispatch explains that front office teamwork has been the key to the organizational turnaround that has taken place in Missouri.
• Coyotes' coach Wayne Gretzky was very impressed with the play of his backstop Mikael Tellqvist saying that the goaltender played with great confidence.
• If not for the tremendous play of Niklas Backstrom on Thursday night, the Wild would not have escaped their home opener with a victory. The Finnish netminder turned aside 27 shots to lead the Wild to a boring 1-0 victory over the Blackhawks.
• While Blackhawks coach Denis Savard was pleased with his team's performance versus the Wild, but he is very concerned about the injury status of Martin Havlat who left the game in the third period with a shoulder injury.
• As Dan Wood of the Orange County Register writes, it has been a whirlwind past few weeks for the Ducks as they face-off in Columbus tonight in the second of three consecutive home openers.
• Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides readers with five issues surrounding the Thrashers heading into 2007/08.
• Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald has a preview of the Bruins heading into Friday's opening night contest. You'll be interested to read that Phil Kessel of the Bruins continues to use a lightweight junior shaft in the NHL.
• After undergoing his third medical procedure on his heart, it has been an extremely emotional time for Sabres' defenseman Teppo Numminen writes Tim Graham of the Buffalo News. (Writer's note: Illegal Curve wishes Teppo all the best)
• The Hurricanes' brass want to see more consistency from Cam Ward and will be watching him closely as the team takes on Sidney Crosby and the Penguins Friday night. In other Canes' news, former star Ron Francis has been named the team's assistant general manager.
• Without any expectations upon them this season, the Blue Jackets are looking to prove all the prognosticators wrong writes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.
• According to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, the Stars are not expecting a sellout for tonight's home opener versus the Bruins. (Writer's note: It is just getting worse and worse for the NHL. )
• Henrik Zetterberg is encouraging youngster Jiri Hudler to shoot more writes George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press.
• The Kings may have a goalie problem on their hands, and as Lisa Dillman writes in this morning's L.A. Times, that is definitely not a bad problem to have.
• As Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette tells us, Guy Carbonneau intends to go with a four line rotation this season.
• It is time for Miroslav Satan to fill the gap left by Jason Blake opines Greg Logan in this morning's edition of New York Newsday.
• The new RBK jerseys have garnered much league attention apparently are going to undergo some changes. It appears that when Sidney Crosby complains, people listen.
• The Canucks will finally be playing in a game that matters tonight, for first time since May writes Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.