NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition): Gainey makes bold moves, Johan Franzen returns tonight, and should the Panthers hold onto Jay Bouwmeester?

Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 18th of February:

• The Ducks showed up to practice yesterday sitting outside of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, writes Curtis Zupke.
• The Thrashers like their young defensive pairing of Zach Bogosian and Nathan Oystrick.
• The Bruins are heading into their short Florida vacation on a high from defeating the Hurricanes 5-1 on Tuesday, writes Kevin Paul Dupont.  Last night the Hurricanes honored former Bruins defenseman Glen Wesley by raising his number to the RBC Center rafters.  Last night’s victory was the Bruins’ 40th of the season.  Maybe more importantly, Patrice Bergeron got on the board last night.
• Ryan Miller played well and the Sabres got off to an early 3-0 lead, as they went into the ACC and defeated the Maple Leafs 4-1.
• Miikka Kiprusoff was incredible on Tuesday versus Vancouver, but Roberto Luongo was one shot better, as the Canucks defeated the Flames at the Saddledome 4-3 in a shootout.  Lots of milestones were reached yesterday.
• If the Hurricanes want to make the playoffs, they need to start talking less and winning more, opines Chip Alexander.  Glen Wesley sure had a positive effect on the Raleigh community.
• Jordan Leopold is trying not to let the trade rumors affect his play for the Avalanche.  John-Michael Liles is now out indefinitely for the Avalanche with a hand injury.  By the way, the Avalanche won at home last night versus the Senators 3-2 in overtime.  Meanwhile, Peter Forsberg may be retiring from the game of hockey.
• Aaron Portzline tells readers why Ken Hitchcock is one of the best coaches around.  Hitchcock is not happy that his top line is playing a fancy style.  Here are the Jackets’ projected lines for tonight’s game.
• Brad Richards is going to work as hard as Brenden Morrow has in rehabbing his recently injured wrist.
• Johan Franzen (hand) is expected to be in the Wings lineup tonight when they host Nashville.  Brad Stuart was back on the ice for the Wings yesterday and knows he is lucky he didn’t get more seriously injured last month in Phoenix when he lost his balance and was pushed into the boards.
• The Oilers battled last night in San Jose, but it wasn’t enough as the powerful Sharks defeated them 4-2.  Theo Peckham is proving to be a tough customer on the Oilers blue line.
• The Panthers proved a point last night by handing the visiting Devils a 4-0 loss in Sunrise.  David J. Neal of the Miami Herald says the Panthers cannot trade Jay Bouwmeester.  Meantime, Rostislav Klesla is back skating again.
• Benoit Pouliot appears to be maturing while playing for the Wild’s AHL affiliate.  Cal Clutterbuck leads the NHL in hits this season.
• Don’t be surprised if Alexei Kovalev has played his last game for the Habs, writes Pat Hickey.  Red Fisher with his take on what is going on in Habs Country.
• Steve Sullivan wants to get his offensive game going for the offensively-starved Predators, writes Jessica Bliss.
• The Devils lost last night in Florida, and there is also word that Martin Brodeur’s return to the nets may be pushed back just a couple days.
• Frans Nielsen is making a good impression on coach Scott Gordon.
• The Rangers face a big game against the Islanders tonight.  The Rangers need a win tonight.

I’m not able to complete the papers right now, but I’ll update the remaining teams later on today.

My apologies,

Richard