James Sheppard looking to take the next step for the Wild

From Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

"I can handle it, but it's not going to come in one year," Sheppard said.

"Next year I'm not going to have the best year of my career. It's going to come in little increments. I'm not going to try to be better than Mikko Koivu. I'm not going to try to be better than Marian Gaborik.

"But I'm going to try the best I can to improve and take charge, and I know that's going to create more goals, create more assists and get my ice time up."

Read the entire article here.

The Wild is certainly going to need Sheppard to improve on his 2007/08 campaign. The team is in dire need of production down the middle, so if Sheppard provided them with some unexpected production, the team may not have to look elsewhere during the season for center reinforcements.

Mattias Ohlund Slash

For those of you who did not catch it, Canucks' defenseman Mattias Ohlund took a baseball-like swing at Mikko Koivu's ankle late in last night's Canucks/Wild game.

Here was the reaction of Wild enforcer Derek Boogard after the contest:

“Obviously a slash like that, you expect to see at least a five-game suspension,” he said. “We’ll see how things play out on Wednesday. Their so-called agitators were taking liberties but as soon as I step on the ice, they scatter to their holes. I’m not going to stand for it. Maybe I go out and slash [Markus] Naslund or Pinky and the Brain twins.”

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Morning Musings

Here are the morning papers:

• The Wild played an uncharacteristically undisciplined game and fell to the Kings 4-3 in a shootout last night. Meanwhile, Wild coach Jacques Lemaire says that he has "extreme confidence" in Mikko Koivu right now.
• The Kings finally got their first win in North America writes Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times.
• The Avalanche stormed back from down 4-0 and defeated the Flames 5-4 in a shootout last night. Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk missed last night's game with a back problem and is now listed as day-to-day.
• The Flames know the Avs got a few lucky breaks but as Flames' forward Craig Conroy said, "you make your own breaks." The Flames road trip was going to be labeled a complete success until they blew the 4-0 lead writes Jean Lefebvre of the Calgary Herald.
• Tomas Vokoun was tremendous for the Panthers in their 2-1 come from behind shootout victory over the Habs. According to Panthers defenseman Mike Van Ryn, the Panthers "had no business winning that game."
• Many of the Habs believed this was their most well-played game to date, yet they let it slip away; Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette has the story. Coach Guy Carbonneau needs to improve on his communication skills with his players writes Pat Hickey of the Gazette.
• A rejuvenated Jeff Carter scored for the fourth time this season and led the Flyers to a 4-0 victory over Atlanta on Tuesday.
• The Thrashers are still without a single point to show for this season and they have already played six games.
• Unheralded Kent Huskins has turned himself into a consistent NHL defenseman in Anaheim writes Curtis Zupke of the Orange County Register.
• As Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe explains, Zdeno Chara is playing less than last season but is hitting more. Also in the Globe this morning, Dupont wonders if the Bruins are in on the Danny Markov sweepstakes. Over at the Boston Herald, Rich Thompson looks at the relationship between new defensive partners Aaron Ward and Zdeno Chara.
• With Chris Drury and Daniel Briere out the door, the Sabres have decided to abandon their "no negotiating extensions during the season" policy and yesterday they signed Jochen Hecht to a four year contract extension.
• Both of the Hurricanes off-season acquisitions have made terrific contributions so far this season; Luke Decock of the News Observer has the story.
• Hawks' coach Denis Savard has been very happy with his team's play so far, but is still reminding everyone that it is very early on in the season.
• The Blue Jackets have a number of players with groin injuries currently on their roster including Rick Nash and Fredrik Modin. Here are the Blue Jackets' projected lines for tonight's game versus Dallas.
• In order for the Stars to improve on their goal scoring output, Jere Lehtinen needs to pick up his game and nobody knows that more than Lehtinen himself.
• Ken Holland is looking to sign long-time Red Wings Kris Draper and Nicklas Lidstrom to extensions writes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.
• As Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal tells us, both Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner are one-two in the rookie scoring race so far this season. The Oilers have remained positive through their early season slump writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.
• As Jessica Hopp explains in this morning's Tennessean, when it comes to goaltending, it is all about the mindset.
• Until his stats are good, Martin Brodeur won't be taking a look at them. Brodeur will be in between the pipes for tonight's game versus Pittsburgh.
• The Rangers are working to gain consistency writes Don Tomasino in this morning's NY Post. It may be only a matter of time before youngster Marc Staal moves up to the Rangers' top defense pairing this season.
• Ted Nolan has decided to flip-flop Bill Guerin and Trent Hunter in the Islanders' lineup.
• After signing Randy Robitaille, Sens' general manager Bryan Murray says this acquisition does not end his quest to add a top-six forward. Jason Spezza is among the league leaders in points, yet the star centerman has not recorded a goal this season.
• Coyotes' rookie Peter Mueller was a healthy scratch over the weekend and is going to use the benching as motivation to play harder writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• Darryl Sydor has admittedly struggled during his first few games with the Penguins, but he understands that it takes time to adjust to a new system and new surroundings.
• The Sharks appear to be planning their second home opener writes David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News.
• It looks like Jay McKee will return to the Blues' lineup for tonight's game versus the Blackhawks reports Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch.
• Lightining superstar Vinny Lecavalier, turned into a superstar off the ice by giving a more than generous three million dollar contribution to the construction of a new Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.
• Darcy Tucker stood up for his longtime teammate Bryan McCabe to the Toronto media after practice yesterday. Lance Hornby sure doesn't hold back on his criticism of McCabe in this morning's Toronto Sun. Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says that the Leafs don't have an identity.
• The Canucks have demoted youngster Mason Raymond to Manitoba of the AHL.
• Joe Motzko could find himself playing alongside superstar Alexander Ovechkin writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Morning Musings: Public criticism of Hockeytown

Earlier this week I wrote my preamble on the myth of Detroit being "Hockeytown USA" and interestingly enough, Drew Sharp took the opportunity to call out Red Wings fans for their lack of passion in this morning's Detroit Free Press. Red Wings' star defenseman, Nicklas Lidstrom wasn't impressed at all, calling the lack of fans at Wednesday's home opener, "more than a little disappointing." There are lots of great hockey towns in the U.S., and Detroit is still one of them, but the title of Hockeytown USA just can't go to a team that has trouble selling out home openers and playoff games. I bet fans in Colorado, New York and San Jose have just as good, if not a better claim to that title.

Update: Apparently Colorado couldn't sell out its home opener either. WOW. Can Gary Bettman please stop calling the game as healthy as it has even been?

In any event, it was great to have regular season hockey back last night, and the action didn't disappoint with three games going into overtime. Looks like we have a great season of hockey ahead of us.

On to the morning papers:

• It is not so much what's on top of the jersey, but rather what's under it says Ilya Kovalchuk in this morning's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• The Ducks were outshot a staggering 42-15 last night in their 3-2 shootout loss to the Red Wings. Jiri Hudler explains his thought process during his shootout winning goal on Iyla Bryzgalov on Wednesday night. While, Mike Babcock says that is exactly what Hudler has to do to contribute to the team.
• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says the Leafs need more saves. Period. While they were defeated by the Sens 4-3, Mats Sundin doesn't believe there was any aspect of the game that they were outmatched.
• Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe previews the 2007/08 season in this morning's paper.
• Craig Julien believes P.J. Axelsson can be a calming force on his young linemates writes Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald.
• The Flames are beginning the season at the Saddledome for the first time in five years and hope the friendly confines gives them a jump start to the season. According to Steve Macfarlane of the Calgary Sun, Flames' players shouldn't become too comfortable with their linemates. Here are the Flames' lines heading into the season opener versus Philadelphia.
• With the loss of both Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, Dan Vogl of the Buffalo News says that Tim Connolly and Drew Stafford have pressure on them to fill the void. Meanwhile, the Buffalo News provides readers with five reasons to be optimistic about the Sabres and five reasons to be pessimistic.
• The Canes got a great performance from Cam Ward and had more than enough chances but were defeated by the Habs 3-2 in overtime last night. Cory Stillman was a late scratch for last night's contest because he injured his torso in a car accident Tuesday afternoon.
• Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch has a terrific piece on the road Scott Howson took to become an NHL general manager. On the ice, it appears Mike Peca will be held out of game action through this weekend because of an ailing back.
• Denis Savard is not worried about throwing Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews into the fire writes Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune.
• The Stastny-Brunette-Hlinka line demonstrated terrific chemistry in leading the Avs to a 4-3 victory over the Stars Wednesday night. Coach Joel Quenville was happy with Peter Budaj's play when it counted writes Terry Frei of the Denver Post.
• According to Stephan Robidas, the Stars have to have hunger the entire game.
• With all the young faces in the Oilers' lineup, nerves will be abound tonight versus the Sharks. Everyone and their brother is predicting the Oilers will miss the playoffs this season but the players themselves remain confident that the team can surprise some people writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.
• The Panthers have come to the realization that talk is cheap writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
• As Lonnie White of the L.A. Times explains, after the team's trip overseas, Saturday's home opener feels like the real start to the season.
• Michael Russo has a great piece about Wild youngster Mikko Koivu in this morning's Star Tribune.
• Meanwhile, Mikko's brother Saku was terrific in leading the Habs to their 3-2 victory over the Canes last night. Perhaps the Habs would have an easier time of it if they stayed out of the box writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette.
• As Rich Chere writes in the Newark Star-Ledger, Patrik Elias is handling the loss of his captaincy like a man. With Brent Sutter leading the ship, the days of the trap in New Jersey are in the rear-view mirror.
• Alexander Radulov will start the season on the Predators' number three scoring line. (Writer's note: It is only a matter of time before he is moved up to one of the top two lines. The article points to the fact that he didn't have great chemistry with either of the top two line combinations but once the Preds realize Jed Ortmeyer can't score, the logical switch will be made.)
• Larry Brooks previews the Rangers in detail in this morning's NY Post. Rangers' leader Jaromir Jagr realizes that games aren't played on paper.
• Dany Heatley loves Ottawa and with a new $45 million contract in hand, the back-to-back 50 goal scorer had 2 goals and 1 assist in his team's 4-3 victory over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. (Writer's note: For $45 million, I think I'd love Ottawa too.)
• Chris Stevenson of the Ottawa Sun speculates that the Heatley signing will be followed by a Jason Spezza signing which will be followed by Wade Redden's departure.
• Due to the fact that Bryan Berard was running the powerplay in practice yesterday, Greg Logan of Newsday believes he will be signed sooner rather than later.
• Mike Knuble hopes last year's struggles are motivation for the Flyers to not play that way again.
• Mikael Tellqvist has earned the start in between the pipes for the Coyotes' season opener against the Blues tonight. Unfortunately for the Coyotes, Zbynek Michalek broke his left hand at practice on Wednesday and will be out of the lineup 4-6 weeks.
• Sidney Crosby's Penguin counterparts are holding off on making statistical predictions for the reigning MVP. (Writer's note: I won't hold off. He'll get 140+ this season)
• Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Dispatch wonders whether the Blues are playoff bound. Here are the Blues' lines heading into the season.
• Patrick Marleau and coach Ron Wilson appear to be doing their best to improve their rocky relationship writes David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News.
• Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune gives his full preview of the Bolts heading into 2007/08.
• With a higher skill level on the roster than last season, Capitals' coach Glen Hanlon believes his team won't take as many penalties in 2007/08.
• Barry Macdonald of the Vancouver Sun believes the Canucks have a boatload of potential heading into the season.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.