NHL Morning Papers (Thursday Edition)

Here are the morning papers for Thursday the 16th of October:

• Miikka Kiprusoff is not what he used to be, writes Steve Macfarlane.   Todd Bertuzzi seems to be having fun again playing hockey in Calgary.
• The Blackhawks finally broke out and recorded their first victory of the season at home last night versus Phoenix.  New team captain Jonathan Toews did a good job of getting his teammates to relax prior to last night’s contest.
• Andrew Raycroft gets the start for the Avalanche tonight versus Philadelphia.
• When the Oilers took the lead last night, they could feel the tide turn and their play vastly improve.  Let’s be honest, the Oilers were fortunate to not be out of last night’s game by the midway point.
• The Habs defeated the Bruins in a shootout last night, but it should have never reached that point.  The Habs were celebrating their history on Wednesday and there is no one who has seen the Habs make history over the years more than the Gazette’s Red Fisher.
• Daniel Alfredsson is close to returning to the Senators line-up but they are not yet sure if it will be this weekend or not.  After getting so much time off since returning for Sweden, the Senators are ready to start playing some games.
• Rick Rypien of the Canucks may be tough, but you should see how tough his dad is.
• The Ducks are off to a very slow start and Dan Arritt of the L.A. Times says what makes matters worse is the success of former Ducks elsewhere this season.  At 0-4, the Ducks are frustrated but continue to remain positive.
• The Bruins lost their 12th straight game to the rival Habs last night.  It was a bad first period for the Bruins but they didn’t quit and that allowed them to earn a point on the road.
• Buffalo looked like a well oiled machine on Wednesday at MSG.  Sure it’s early, but Ryan Miller’s numbers so far this young season are lights out.
• The Hurricanes have decided to ditch the traditional pre-grame skates on the gamedays.
• Nikita Filatov has been called up by the Blue Jackets but he is going through a difficult time right now after the death of his friend Alexei Cherepanov.  The Jackets have been allowing too many goals but Ken Hitchcock isn’t playing the blame game.
• Fabian Brunnstrom had about as good an NHL debut as one could have last night when he tallied a hat trick in his team’s 6-4 victory.  Jere Lehtinen (groin) is getting closer to returning to the Stars line-up.
• Henrik Zetterberg’s groin is bothering him so he may not play tonight.  Chris Chelios didn’t like what Joe Elliot of Def Leppard did with the Cup.
• The Panthers almost have their entire line-up back and ready for the team’s next game.  New Cats coach Peter DeBoer wants his team to be better at home this season.
• Terry Murray wants Alexander Frolov to try and check more, writes Helene Elliot.
• Brent Burns has been playing a ton in Minnesota and he will probably continue to get lots of ice-time with Marek Zidlicky injured on the sidelines and Martin Skoula struggling.
• The Predators struggled with their defensive coverages last night and that’s the main reason the left Dallas without a point.
• Brent Sutter wants the Devils’ power play to play a more simple game.
• It looks like Rick DiPietro’s season debut is around the corner, writes Mark Herrmann of Newsday.
• The Rangers came back to earth on Wednesday with a loss to the Sabres.  Paul Mara took a major and a game misconduct but Tom Renney didn’t have a problem with it.  The Rangers could have had better results if they all had Mara’s passion last night, writes Larry Brooks.
• Simon Gagne is off to a terrific start in Philadelphia with three goals in his first three games.
• The Coyotes picked up their first loss of the season in Chicago on Wednesday.
• Don’t panic about Sid’s slow start, writes Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  If anything’s going to get Crosby going it is tonight’s game against Ovechkin and the Capitals.
• Patrick Marleau loves playing on Joe Thornton’s wing, explains Mark Purdy.
• The Blues don’t want to fall behind the Stars tonight, writes Jeremy Rutherford.
• The Lightning need their top scorers to be just that.
• Matt Stajan has to play better if he wants to get back into the line-up, says Leafs coach Ron Wilson.  Meanwhile, Ryan Hollweg agrees he needs to simmer down on the ice.
• The Capitals are gearing up for the Penguins tonight.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.