NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition): Reaction on the Avery comments/suspension, Luongo says he is ahead of schedule and Martin Havlat has been demoted to the third line in Chicago

Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 3rd of December:

• Ducks defenseman Brett Festerling is learning quickly just how difficult it is play against the top snipers in the NHL.
• The Thrashers rallied to tie the Habs in the third period last night but they still ended up losing 5-4 and as a result, they are now in sole possession of last place in the NHL.  Here is an interesting quote from Ilya Kovalchuk.
• Kevin Paul Dupont has the latest on Claude Lemieux’s comeback attempt.  The Bruins are doing a good job of getting in the shooting lanes this season, writes Fluto Shinzawa.
• The Sabres are heading to Florida with a new mindset, writes Mike Harrington.
• The Flames and Stars both agree that Sean Avery’s comments were uncalled for.  Bruce Dowbiggen of the Calgary Herald thinks the league should have left the Stars handle the situation in-house.
• With Cam Ward out of the line-up with a groin injury, Michael Leighton is looking forward to the opportunity to play.  In other news, Tim Gleason has been placed on IR.
• Hawks coach Joel Quenneville has moved Martin Havlat to the team’s third line.
• Terry Frei examines how much Tony Granato has changed since his first time coaching the Avalanche.  Meanwhile, Marek Svatos is finally starting to feel like his old self again, after he underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL last season.
• Apparently prospect Stefan Legein wants back in with the Blue Jackets.  In other news, Steve Mason was awarded rookie of the month for November.  Raffi Torres is worried his knee may require another surgery.
• Marty Turco was terrific last night, as the Stars defeated the Flames with what can only be labelled a makeshift line-up, writes Mike Heika.  Tim Cowlishaw thinks the NHL reacted too quickly to Avery’s comments and that the league should have let him play against the Flames last night and answer for his comments.  The Stars organization and players have clearly had enough of Avery’s antics.
• Wings winger Tomas Holmstrom won’t be playing Thursday against Vancouver.  Kris Draper has been tremendous on faceoffs this season.
• The Oilers are focused on getting off to a hot start tonight against Dallas.
• With last night’s win, the Panthers are only six points back of the Capitals for first place in the Southeast Division.  Meantime, youngster Shawn Matthias is trying to prove he is ready to stick in the NHL.
• The Wild needs to stop acting so comfortable at home and start playing smart hockey with an edge, writes Brian Stensaas.
• The Habs blew a three-goal third period lead but were able to persevere and comeback with a 5-4 home victory, writes Pat Hickey.  Both Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec were productive for the Canadiens on Tuesday.
• The Predators’ defense has probably been the most important part of their team to date, writes Jessica Bliss.
• Islanders netminder Rick DiPietro was back on the ice yesterday, but he has no idea when he will return to the line-up.
• Tom Renney has reunited the Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev line.  The new lines also allow for Chris Drury to move back to center.
• Martin Gerber is not complaining about being the back-up in Ottawa.  The Senators are hoping the union of Fisher and Vermette will get both players out of their prolonged season slump.
• Scott Hartnell threw his glove at Ryan Malone on a breakaway, so Martin Biron actually had to stop Malone twice, as he led the Flyers to a 4-3 overtime victory.  Here are Steve Downie’s comments on his trade from Philadelphia.
• The Coyotes used the second intermission as a chance to turn their game around and they came out in third and played some great hockey.  In other Coyotes news, Martin Hanzal is starting to come into his own.
• You wouldn’t know it by his play, but Brooks Orpik has been battling a walking pneumonia.  Both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby dominate the opposition on the road.
• Ron Wilson was given a nice ovation upon his return to the Shark Tank last night.  His team wasn’t given the same nice ovation, as the Sharks pretty much had this game won after the first period.  Yesterday was Joe Thornton’s three year anniversary with San Jose and he celebrated with four points.
• The Blues have received nice contributions from their AHL players since the injury bug hit the team.
• Radim Vrbata was a healthy scratch last night for Tampa Bay.  The team’s game against Philadelphia was sure quirky, unfortunately the Bolts were defeated in overtime and only left town with one point.
• Ron Wilson says his team’s best players were completely outclassed by San Jose’s on Tuesday.  Even with San Jose playing so well, Ron Wilson says he is happy to be managing hockey’s version of the Yankees.
• Roberto Luongo says he is ahead of schedule with his rehab.  Meantime, a couple Canucks players will no longer charge money for their autographs.
• The Capitals played with a lack of energy last night against Florida and that’s why the team came out on the losing end, writes Tarik El-Bashir.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.