NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition): Wild fans are losing patience, Penguins call players-only meeting and Coyotes CEO denies Globe & Mail reports

Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 31st of December:

• Even without Teemu Selanne, the Ducks’ second line has been rolling as of late, writes Curtis Zupke.
• Johan Hedberg was pretty much the only reason the Thrashers left Toronto with one point last night.
• Marc Savard and Phil Kessel got the wake up call that Claude Julien sent to them and responded well on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.  With the Bruins controlling the play more this season than last, the Bruins’ netminders are getting more rest during games.
• The Sabres were just horrible last night but Lindy Ruff is sick of words and explanations and wants to see action, writes John Vogl.  If Jochen Hecht and Derek Roy don’t start playing better, they will find themselves in the press box.
• Heading into tonight’s Battle of Alberta, Flames defenseman Robyn Regehr says Oilers coach Craig MacTavish always complains.  Curtis Glencross will return from injury tonight to face his old teammates.
• The Brandon Sutter-Ryan Bayda-Patrick Eaves line knows its role for Carolina.
• The Wings brought the Blackhawks back to earth last night with a 4-0 shutout of the high-flying youngsters.  Patrick Kane turned his ankle yesterday but he is okay.
• Instead of Stastny, Forsberg, and Sakic the Avalanche are using Arnason, Hensick and Guite as its top three centers.  Paul Stastny’s surgery was successful.
• Steve Mason has sure earned the trust of his teammates with his terrific play this season.  If you didn’t know, Manny Malhotra is terrific at taking faceoffs.  Here are the Blue Jackets’ projected lines for tonight’s game.
• Steve Ott has really fit in on the Stars’ top line.
• Ty Conklin recorded the shutout on Tuesday and has been named the starter for Thursday’s outdoor game.  Last night’s 4-0 win over Chicago sure sent a message to the streaking Blackhawks that Detroit was still the team to beat.
• The Oilers lost Marc Pouliot and the game yesterday at home to Ottawa.  The Oilers played versus Ottawa without Ales Hemsky.  Meantime, Robert Nilsson says he won’t miss any more optional skates.
• Coach Pete DeBoer has yet to name his starting goaltender for today’s matinee versus the Islanders.
• The fans have grown sick and tired of the same old with the Wild, writes Michael Russo.
• Carey Price was terrific last night at Tampa and showed some rare emotion after picking up the victory.  The Habs sure don’t mind having the snowbirds from Canada cheering them on in Florida.
• It seems Kevin Klein and Ville Koistinen are sick of being the only odd men out in Nashville.
• Does anyone really know the true details of Rick DiPietro’s injury?
• Petr Prucha has remained professional even though he’s been a healthy scratch for much of the season.  Meanwhile, Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist is looking towards the change of calendar tonight, so he can forget the month of December once again.  Nigel Dawes is starting come into his own.
• The Senators picked up an important win over Edmonton, on the road no less, writes Ken Warren.  Former Oilers defenseman Jason Smith has been happy with his decision to sign with the Senators.
• Daniel Briere is back on the ice for the Flyers but is unsure when he’ll return.  The Flyers won last night without Briere and Simon Gagne, who left the game after getting hit by Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa, by a score of 3-2.
• Coyotes CEO Jeff Shumway says reports that the Coyotes are receiveing financial help from the NHL are not true.  On the ice, Coyotes netminder Ilya Bryzgalov has a sore back and he may not suit up today.
• After last night’s loss to Boston, the Penguins called a players-only meeting.  “It’s about time they called (it),” said coach Michel Therrien.
• Claude Lemieux is officialy a member of the Sharks organization.
• The Blues continue to lose games in the same old fashion, writes Jeremy Rutherford.
• The Bolts were disappointed to take the loss last night but at least they recorded a point against the Habs.  Andrej Meszaros still has not scored a goal this season.
• Last night’s victory was Curtis Joseph’s 450th of his NHL career.  It appears Joseph is getting close to packing it in.  It looks like Niklas Hagman has turned into a pretty good signing for the Leafs.
• The Canucks lost the game and Curtis Sanford to a groin injury on Tuesday when they hosted Philadelphia.  During last night’s game the Canucks traded for Jason Labarbera.  Mats Sundin talked to the media on Tuesday and said he won’t debut for at least a week.
• It looks like Jose Theodore is becoming the number one netminder in Washington, as he won his fourth game in a row last night.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.