NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition): Gaborik back at practice, Sundin will be in NY this weekend and Olli Jokinen returns

Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 10th of December:

• Curtis Zupke has a touching article about J.S. Giguere and how he’s been affected by his dad’s current illness.
• Eric Boulton certainly knows what his role is in Atlanta, writes Mike Knobler.
• Vladimir Sobotka could be taking Stephane Yelle’s spot in the Bruins line-up tonight.  Meanwhile, David Krejci holds himself to a very high standard of play in Boston, writes Steve Conroy.
• Apparently one of the referees during Monday’s game versus Pittsburgh told Ryan Miller to “go (bleep) himself.”  Their road play has not been an issue, instead it is the Sabres’ play on home ice that needs to improve.
• Alex Tanguay got his revenge against his former team last night in Montreal, writes Scott Cruickshank.  Both Guy Carbonneau and Alex Tanguay have talked about playing for Mike Keenan.
• Ron Francis talks about how surprising it was when Jim Rutherford asked him to be the Hurricanes’ associate head coach.  Meanwhile, if you are a fan of hockey in Carolina, FOX Sports has taken responsibility for accidentally changing to commercials during game-action.
• Kris Versteeg was classy in his response to comments Wayne Gretzky said about him.
• The Avalanche came out last night and just dominated the Kings, writes Adrian Dater.  In injury news, Marek Svatos left last night’s game with back spasms, but the injury is not thought to be serious.  Ian Lapperierre made sure to hold Brad Zeiler accountable for his actions last night.
• In Columbus, Ken Hitchcock arranged face-to-face meetings with his players for the second time this season.  In between the pipes, Steve Mason will start for the Jackets tomorrow night.
• Mike Ribeiro is helping the Stars by not only producing on the scoresheet, but doing the little things as well, writes Mike Heika.
• Mike Babcock is switching up his team’s lines to generate a renewed enthusiasm on the ice for the Wings.  Ty Conklin is expected to get the start tonight versus Calgary.
• Oilers forward Marc Pouliot has found some chemistry with Andrew Cogliano and Rob Schremp and as a result, he has gained some confidence.  The Oilers need to improve their penalty killing.
• Richard Zednik is hoping to return to the Florida line-up soon.
• Marian Gaborik was back at practice yesterday with the Wild, but coach Jacques Lemaire says he is not going to return for the team’s upcoming road trip.
• Guy Carbonneau’s new lines worked wonders last night, writes Pat Hickey.  On the injury front, Mathieu Dandenault is out with a broken arm.
• The Predators just couldn’t kill every penalty off last night, and there were a lot of them, writes Jessica Bliss.  The Canucks laid three dirty hits last night and Jason Arnott was not happy about it.
• Scott Clemmensen acts like a veteran on the ice and Brent Sutter likes that.
• Scott Gordon started Yann Danis and broke up Doug Weight and Bill Guerin but the Islanders still lost to the Flyers last night.
• Mats Sundin is going to be in New York this weekend for a Poker Stars promotion.  Henrik Lundqvist wouldn’t mind if he stayed a while.  In other Rangers news, the team needs to improve its power play.
• Senators netminder Martin Gerber gets the start in goal tonight versus the high-flying Blackhawks.
• Forget the Rangers, the Flyers wouldn’t mind having Mats Sundin in their line-up either.  On the ice, enforcer Riley Cote fired up the troops last night en route to a 4-3 victory over the Isles.  The Flyers have been playing very good hockey since their slow start.
• The Coyotes will get a big boost when they face Dallas tonight with the return of Olli Jokinen.  Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic says the city of Glendale needs to make the Coyotes’ lease more favorable to the team.
• If the Penguins power play is to improve, Michel Therrien thinks more Penguins players have to position themselves in front of the opposition’s net.  The team also has to improve its defensive mindset.  On the injury front, Phillipe Boucher returned to practice.
• Dan Boyle didn’t talk up his team’s tremendous start to the season when he was interviewed by media from around North America on Tuesday.
• Alex Steen pulled out an old move on Monday night, one that his head coach had seen in Winnipeg 14 years ago.  (Writer’s note: A must-read article for all Winnipegers)
• Tom Jones analyzes Barry Melrose’s comments about the Lightning in this morning’s St. Petersburg Times.  Meantime, the Bolts are unsure of Chris Gratton’s plans.
• Damien Cox examines the possible moves Brian Burke can/will make with his new Leafs roster.  Also, the Leafs finally want to honor Dave Keon.
• The Canucks, unlike the Predators, saw nothing wrong with the hits they laid on Tuesday.  Suffice it to say, last night’s game was very heated.
• In Washington, Brian Pothier is still dealing with post-concussion issues.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.