• Kari Lehtonen was on the ice for the Thrashers, reports Chris Vivlamore.  Goaltending hasn’t been the problem in Atlanta, so if Lehtonen does return in the next month or so, I’d expect him to be available in a trade.
• Milan Lucic hopes to be back for the Winter Classic.  As hard working as Steve Begin is, I’m sure Bruins fans will be happy to see Lucic back on the top line.
• Tyler Myers and Patrick Kaleta both missed practice today.  Both players are extremely valuable to the Sabres’ cause.
• Shockingly the Hurricanes have not called this season “lost.” What else do they expect Maurice to say?  In reality though, a turnaround for next year is certainly feasible and that top five pick should pay dividends down the road.
• The Hawks know the Sharks will be looking for revenge tonight when they visit the United Center.  After I hyped up the last match between these two teams on the IC Radio Show, I’ll hold judgment until tomorrow morning.
• Craig Anderson starts tonight for the Avalanche.  The Avs fans need to take notice of this team because it doesn’t appear to be going away.
• Did you know Tomas Plekanec is sixth in the entire NHL in points?  When Brian Gionta returns, we will be able to see what this team is capable of.  Also, expect the trade of Halak to bring in another forward.
• If the Predators continue at their current pace, they will not qualify for revenue sharing this season.  That doesn’t mean they get nothing, it just means they get 75% of revenue sharing money.  Also, the team is playing tremendous hockey, so later games should garner more interest due to playoff implications.
• Brian Boyle and Brandon Dubinsky got into a tussle at practice today.  Probably something the Rangers need.  I bet Tortorella doesn’t mind this at all.
• Rick Carpiniello thinks Wade Redden played okay last night in his return to the lineup.  Obviously okay isn’t good enough at that salary.
• Pavol Demitra skated for the Canucks today.  He’s always injured so you almost forget him if you aren’t a Canucks fan.  That said, a late January return would be hugely beneficial for this club’s secondary scoring.
• Semyon Varlamov is slated to return next week.  His Calder Trophy aspirations fall off a bit with this injury, but he has time to make that up.

• The Sharks proved to be too much for the Ducks, and coach Randy Carlyle said “I don’t think it was the energy issue. I didn’t think we were emotionally involved in the game until later” writes the OCC’s Eric Stephens.
• The Buffalo Sabres Ryan Miller has been dominant for most of the season, but he has been especially lethal against the Leafs.
  

  (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

• Jackets general manager Scott Howson said it’s a maintenance day for captain Rick Nash and defenceman Fedor Tyutin who were not at practice this morning.
• The injury parade in Detroit continues as they won last night’s game over the Bolts 3-0, but lost one part of their dynamic scoring duo, as Henrik Zetterberg will be out for two weeks.
• The Edmonton Journal’s Dave Staples writes about the difficulties for young centers in learning the position especially Sam Gagner and the Oilers’ other young struggling centres.
• Former Montreal Canadiens winger Guillaume Latendresse said the key for the Wild would be to get a two-goal lead because frustrated Habs fans would turn on their own.
• Rehabbing Brian Gionta skated with Canadiens head athletic therapist Graham Rynbend for at least a half-hour in Brossard this morning before the team’s scheduled 11:30 a.m. practice.
• The New York Rangers appear to have taken coach John Tortorella‘s message to heart as they beat up cross-town rivals 5-2, although at one point the Islanders did hold a 10-1 advantage in shots. 
  

  (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

• The Pittsburgh Penguins keep doing all the little things correctly, and now just two games into a new and improved power play, it appears that this is working better as well.
• Tampa Bay Lightning assigns defenseman Lukas Krajicek to AHL Norfolk and removes his $1.475 million off the books.
• The Toronto Star’s Damien Cox hadn’t yet published his Thursday Leafs mail bag in time for yesterday’s On the Beat, so here it is including questions on; Leafs making playoffs, Luke Schenn being sent down, why the fans in Toronto are so quiet, the poor penalty kill and many other Leaf related items.
• Looks like Canucks coach Alain Vigneault is going to switch up the lines for the game against the Capitals and it appears that Wellwood is getting back into the lineup.
• The Capitals roll into Vancouver and local product Karl Alzner is excited to play his first NHL game at GM Place although he continues to focus on playing hockey with a clear mind.

• Looks like the Hurricanes will finally have the services of Jiri Tlusty as it appears his immigration status has been cleared up.
• The Dallas Morning News Mike Heika previews the Stars next challenge as the Atlanta Thrashers, who are also coming off a dissapointing loss, roll into town.
• The Wings will go at least one more game without the services of speedy Darren Helm, who is out at least one more game with a sore wrist, and his spot will be taken by Kris Newbury.
• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal wonders if it is time that the Oilers trade for an experienced goalie?
• You have to love the NHL schedulding this season, that is unless you are the L.A. Kings who have been one of the hottest team’s this year but now have to endure an eight day layoff after tonight’s game against the Flames.
• Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette is reporting that Price, Weber in, Hamrlik out, Gionta skates and Markov to see an MD tonight as well as tonight’s expected lines.
• In a quest to end Zach Parise’s scoring drought, Devils coach Jacques Lemaire has inserted Brian Rolston on the top line with Travis Zajac and Jamie Langenbrunner at practice today.
• With fan attendance down more than 6% this season, the Ottawa Senators franchise is doing whatever it can to lure fans back to the stands, including offering free parking and price reductions.
• The Pittsburgh Penguins will be marching into the Wachovia Center to take on cross-state rival Philadelphia tonight and Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a preview.
• Elliot Pap of the Vancouver Sun says that last night’s contest between the Canucks and Ducks had the right score but the wrong winner and wrong time.

• Bruins coach Claude Julien is reporting that Mark Stuart will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken sternum that was sustained on Monday against Philadelphia.
• It appears that despite all that natural gas in Alberta, the Flames have run out of gas lately and coach Brent Sutter thinks it has alot to do with the team’s mentality.
• The Hurricanes could be opening next season in Finland as part of the 2010 NHL Premiere in Europe, general manager Jim Rutherford said today.
• The Blue Jackets have found every different way to lose this season, demoralizing blowouts, marathon shootouts, third-period flameouts and now they can add last-minute goal to the list.
• While all the injury news for the Wings has been bad, they finally got some good news as Filppula, Kronwall, Franzen got some ice time.
• Edmonton coach Pat Quinn was busy promoting the use of “magic herbs” to help you lose weight and feel great.  What did Kevin Smith do to the Oilers?
• The Pre­da­tors reca­lled defen­se­man Cody Fran­son from the Mil­wau­kee Admi­rals of the Ame­ri­can Hoc­key Lea­gue on Wednesday.
• Devils forward Zach Parise isn’t worrying about his goal scoring drought but he does get a chuckle about “What’s wrong with Zach Parise?” questions.
• Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gives us another Mellon Arena memory with Joe Mullen.
• It appears that the majority of Caps fans (at least those who responded to the poll) don’t think the team needs to bring in an enforcer.

• Bad news out of Anaheim, as Joffrey Lupul may need back surgery.  The Ducks can’t really afford to lose Lupul with Selanne out until Mid-January.
• Maybe Thomas Vanek isn’t producing offensively but Lindy Ruff is happy with his game.  Are we sure the guy behind the Buffalo bench for 2009-10 is really Lindy Ruff?  I know he’s made a point of being calm, but I am starting to get worried he may be an impostor.
• Miikka Kiprusoff gets the night off tonight for Calgary.  Good move by coach Sutter.  The Flames are going to make the playoffs and he needs some rest.
• Aaron Ward has cleared waivers and the Hurricanes have lost Michael Leighton to Philadelphia.  They didn’t want Leighton because they chose Legace over him and Ward isn’t getting claimed at his straight up salary.
• Apparently Nikolai Khabibulin is undergoing surgery on his back.  Not a good sign, as back surgery almost never means a quick return.  Some Oilers fans are suspecting that he will be out for the season.
• No Jarret Stoll tonight for Los Angeles.  He has a groin injury but it doesn’t seem serious.
• Alex Tanguay and Jeff Halpern are healthy scratches tonight for Tampa Bay.  Coach Rick Tocchet has to do something as this team cannot score.
• The Wild game isn’t on television tonight in Minnesota.  Blame Versus.
• Jaroslav Halak won’t say whether he did or did not request a trade from Montreal.  That almost always means he did.  Gainey is said to be asking for a fair return–nothing too exorbitant, so something should get done soon.
• P.A. Parenteau has cleared waivers for the Rangers.  He’s headed back to Hartford and will probably be the first call-up if need be.
• Jason Spezza’s knee injury last night in Toronto was worse than Sens fans hoped and the center is slated to miss about 4-6 weeks.  Now, it wasn’t like Spezza was having a good season but he’s still the team’s most talented passer and centerman.  Without Spezza, the importance of Alexei Kovalev continuing to turn it around is magnified.

Note: Tomorrow’s guest on the IllegalCurve.com Radio Show: Agent Jay Grossman

• It looks like Tim Thomas will get the start tonight for Boston.  The Bruins really cannot go wrong with either goalie these days.  It is a luxury the Rangers would love to have…
• The Hurricanes have waived Aaron Ward.  As Bob says, recall waivers seems like a more likely time for him to be claimed.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post wonders where all the Avalanche fans are?  Quite the embarrassing total for last night’s first place tilt.
• Mike Heika tells readers that if the Stars are to make any moves that they will have to be within the team’s budget.  There is room to make a move if you want to trade Ribeiro or even Turco, as Heika mentions, because Turco is a UFA at season’s end.
• Jordin Tootoo is going to be out of the Predators lineup for 3-4 weeks with a broken foot.  Unless you are a Predators fan, you probably didn’t realize how productive of a season Tootoo was having.
  
• It doesn’t sound like Brandon Dubinsky will return to the Rangers lineup tonight. Although Andrew Gross guesses he will.   The Rangers are fading fast.  Sure they miss Dubinsky but he isn’t the fix for all their problems.
  
• The Capitals have recalled Karl Alzner from the AHL.  With Nylander off the books, Alzner may be up to stay.

• Three reasons why the Ducks will make the playoffs and three reasons why the Ducks won’t make the playoffs, courtesy of Curtis Zupke of the OC Register.  They have certainly dug themselves a mighty big hole, but I think it’d be too soon to write them off just because of the high talent level.
• Brian Campbell doesn’t want to be booed in his return to Buffalo but we will see tonight.  The fans should cheer Campbell because had they re-signed him, they’d be in cap trouble.
• Erik  Cole is expected to miss 2-3 weeks and Chad LaRose is expected to miss 3-4 weeks both with injuries.  To categorize this season as a disaster of Hurricane proportions would be too easy…Or did I just do that?
• The Jackets have waived Derek MacKenzie.  Luckily for Columbus, there is lots of depth up front, something they never used to have, so that forced Scott Howson’s hand here. (Registration is required here but Aaron Portzline says they are trying to get that fixed.)
• Apparently Andrei Markov looks strong at practice.  Habs fans have to be encouraged that the team has struck around the playoff pack without arguably their best player.
• The Predators have sent Cal O’Reilly back to the AHL.  Predators are quietly moving up the Western Conference standings–take notice.
• Check out how this New Yorker decorated his house.  Unbelievable!
• The Bolts have waived Lukas Krajicek.  Don’t expect him to be claimed.
• Mike Knuble returns tonight for Washington, but Semyon Varlamov will be out for a week and Brian Pothier hurt his ribs.  Just ask the Flyers how important Mike Knuble is to a lineup…

• The Ducks opened a new rink, with the aim of spreading the game of ice hockey to local communities and help popularize the sport, and they had Ryan Getzlaf and Jonas Hiller greeting visitors.
• If you ever wanted a tour of the Thrashers practice facility Chris Vivlamore gives you on an inside look.
• Fluto Shinzawa is reporting from practice that Bruins coach Claude Julien says that Dennis Wideman will be a game time decision.  Usually first goalie off will be the one starting but the entire Boston team left the ice at the same time so it isn’t clear if Tuukka Rask or Tim Thomas will be starting against the Leafs.
• Perhaps it was his familiarity with the Thrashers or the fact that he’s been playing great the last month, but the Calgary Flames Olli Jokinen played really well last night against Atlanta.
  

  Photo Courtesy of the Hockey News

• In somewhat bizzare news, the New York Yankees took Jamie Hoffman, a former Canes pick who had been selected in the 8th round of the 2003 draft but ditched hockey for baseball.
• It looks like the injury woes will continue for the Red Wings as they will be without Dan Cleary for one month due to a seperated shoulder.  Former Red Wings defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov is expected to play for CSKA Moscow in a competitive game in the Continental Hockey League on Friday.
• Ironic that when the calls to blow up the team are at their loudest, the Edmonton Oilers are playing their best hockey of the season as they won again last night, with Zach Stortini playing the best game of his career.
• The Habs got some good news nn the injury front as Jaroslav Spacek will play tonight against the Penguins and despite Halak’s hot play last game, it appears that Carey Price will get the start.
• Nashville’s defenceman Dan Hamhuis, who guest contributes for the Tennessean, with a little insight into the Preds raising awareness for pros­tate and tes­ti­cu­lar can­cer by growing mustache’s.
• With so many injuries and a new system to learn the New Jersey Devils could not have gotten off to a better start suggests coach Jacques Lemaire.  Today was another day of light skating although enforcer Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond is back on the ice after finishing his conditioning stint at Lowell (AHL).
  

  Photo Courtesy Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger

• Word from the Tampa Bay Lightning is that the injuries sustained Wednesday night by Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone are not serious.
• Damien Cox has his usual Thursday Mail Bag which this week delves into such Leaf issues as; UFAs, in-game entertainment at Leaf games, improved goaltending, CBA, whether the Leafs have just one top-six forward and many other Leaf related questions.
• Early indication out of Vancouver is that the Canucks will be without Alex Edler for about two weeks due to the arm injury he sustained against Nashville.
• The Washington Capitals had a few streaks broken in last night’s shutout loss to the Sabres as the team’s six-game winning streak as well as a streak of holding a lead in 30 straight games were both snapped.

Word from the team beat writers.

• John Down of the Calgary Herald gives a preview of tonight’s Flames and Thrashers game.  Good news for Flames fans, Robyn Regehr is expected back in the lineup for Thursdays game.
• Hawks coach Joel Quenneville won’t give Antti Niemi starts in consecutive games and it will instead be Cristobal Huet between the pipes tonight, when the New York Rangers visit the United Center.
• The condition of Colordao Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson is cloaked in some mystery writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post. 
  

  Photo Courtesy: CBC

• Each Wednesday at noon during the NHL season, Dispatch.com and BlueJacketsXtra.com readers can chat online with either Aaron Portzline or Tom Reed, The Dispatch’s Blue Jackets beat writers.  Here’s a transcript of today’s chat with Aaron.
• Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News suggests that leadership is a challenge for the inconsistent Dallas Stars.
• Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock is quite happy with the play of young Justin Abdelkader and rewarded him with time on the 2nd line during the Wings 3-1 victory over the Rangers.
• Despite all the winning the Oilers have been doing lately David Staples of the Edmonton Journal is just not convinced that Edmonton’s management is on the right track. 
  

  Photo Courtesy: Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

• Other than Erik Ersberg starting in goal, the Kings are expected to go with the same lineup tonight (Drewiske and Harrold scratched).
• Join Michael Russo and Wild fans at 3 p.m. for a chat about the state of hockey — with the Wild and elsewhere in the National Hockey League.
• Jeff Gordon of St. Louis Today feels that the Blues added some scoring depth up front while subtracting some significant depth from its blue line when they traded defencemen Brendan Bell to the Columbus Blue Jackets with failed center prospect Tomas Kana for center Pascal Pelletier.
• The Vancouver Canuck are bringing in former player Dave Babych as an assistant to director of player personnel Dave Gagner, paying particular attention to defencemen writes Jim Jamieson of the Province. 

Word from the team beat writers.

• Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution shows that the Thrashers clearly improve each period (both shots and goals for).
• Derek Morris was back on the ice for the Bruins after missing the last two days with an undisclosed injury while Dennis Wideman remains questionable.
• The Buffalo Sabres have called up Nathan Gerbe from Portland although coach Ruff hasn’t said if he will be playing tonight against the Capitals.
• The News and Observer’s Chip Alexander is reporting that both Cam Ward and Rod Brind’Amour will be in tonight’s lineup.
• Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette wonders what would have happened if Ryan White had scored a point last night as the Habs won 4-1 but because neither Canadiens GM Bob Gainey and Habs VP hockey operations Julien BriseBois notified the NHL, he was ruled ineligible and was forced to leave the game.
  

  Photo Courtesy: CKLQ Radio in Brandon

• The Devils held an optional practice this morning with only 5 players showing up and even coach Jacques Lemaire played hookey.
• The New York Rangers are off to Chicago and Andrew Gross will be at practice today where he will get a sense of what the Rangers’ lineup will look like – if Wade Redden and Donald Brashear are back in, then who sits.
• Bruce Garroch of the Ottawa Sun is waiting for Daniel Alfredsson and Alexi Kovalev can step up anytime as both are showing an aversion to scoring.
• While last night’s victory over the Islanders was nice, the Flyers Chris Pronger knows the team needs to build upon this and with them playing 6 games over the next 11 days, they will have that opportunity. 
  

  Photo Courtesy: Len Redkoles/Getty Images

• Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is ahead of his usual scoring schedule, writes Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, as he reached the twenty goal mark for the fifth consecutive season.
• Todd Fedoruk will be back in the lineup for the Tampa Bay Lightning after nine straight scratches reports Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersburg Times.
• It appears that the Washington Capitals will be without the services of Semyon Varlamov, who has suffered from a history of lower body injuries, and is currently listed as day to day.

• It seems like just yesterday that the Ducks were raising the Stanley Cup but that was a long time ago says Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register and if your not panicking, you haven’t been paying attention.
  

  Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images

• Flames captain Jarome Iginla felt the defence played great last night in L.A. but remains positive as the team is 11-3-3 on the road this season.
• Former NHL goalie Dan Cloutier, who is trying to make a comeback with the Hawks AHL team the Rockford Ice-Hogs, got tossed out of  his first game.
• The Dallas Stars just saw the Ducks on Thursday so they are pretty familiar, but much has happened to Anaheim since then, writes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
• The Detroit Red Wings, for the fourth consecutive year, will be ringing bells for the Salvation Army tonight.
• The Oilers are rolling on this road trip as they achieved their third straight win last night in Florida and David Staples of the Edmonton Journal gives Deslauriers and Visnovsky top marks.
  

  Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

• Looks like Kings coach Terry Murray wasn’t happy with Randy Jones as he kept him out of 3rd period action and GM Dean Lombardi says that Oscar Moller will be sticking with the team.
• Predators coach Barry Trotz is pulling Cody Franson out of the lineup due to his game falling off and has inserted Alexander Sulzer.
• It is bad news for both the Canucks and Team Canada’s World Junior team as it appears that Cody Hodgson will have to skip the World Juniors due to his ailing back.

• Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe is reporting that initially the Bruins were missing two defencemen, Dennis Wideman (upper body) and Derek Morris (undisclosed) although he’s updated his report saying Wideman has taken the ice for solo practice.
  
• The Sabres were not on the ice at 11:30 this morning for their usual practice time as coach Lindy Ruff has them watching video after last night’s 3-0 loss.
• Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said today that the decision to make Rod Brind’Amour a healthy scratch would be made on a game-to-game basis and that no far-reaching decisions — such as Brind’Amour giving up the captaincy or possibly retiring — had been discussed.
• Only days after being sent down to the Hamilton Bulldogs, Ryan White has been recalled by the Canadiens on Tuesday.
• It’s difficult to tell who was more excited to be part of history last night in Jersey, Martin Brodeur who tied Terry Sawchuk for most shutouts, or his teammates who were happy to be part of the milestone.
  
• Katie Strang of Newsday is reporting that Brendan Witt was hit by a car this morning, but thankfully is fine and will play tonight. (registration required).
• The Penguins demoted forward Mark Letestu to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, writes Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• The 29th-place Maple Leafs still have to pay for past sins, but they’re slowly getting some redemption in the standings.
• Capitals defenceman Mike Green took a hit to the head which left him woozy, but coach Bruce Boudreau says “he’s fine”.  Matt Bradley‘s wife gave birth to a boy early this morning although the team isn’t sure if Bradley will join the team in Buffalo for tomorrow’s game.

• The Anaheim Ducks blew a lead to the Senators last night and Curtis Zupke of the Orange County Register takes a look at the numbers.
• Flames coach Brent Sutter confirmed that Miikka Kiprusoff will start against the Kings and Robyn Regehr, who played reduced third-period minutes Saturday, will suit up as well.
• It was to have been a first — the first time teams from the National Football League and the National Hockey League had come together in a joint marketing effort but it appears that the Bears-Blackhawks ads have been sacked by the NFL.
  
• Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reports that big changes are in store for the Blue Jackets line-up at today’s practice.
• The Dallas Stars are one of only two teams in the Western Conference that have still not put together a three game winning streak and Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News wonders what is wrong with this team?
• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal takes an in-depth look at L.A. Live and AEG, the sports company hired by Oikers owner Darryl Katz to help build the Edmonton arena district.
• The Kings are taking on the Flames tonight and Rich Hammond gets word from Kings coach Terry Murray about his assessment of Calgary.
• John Glennon of the Tennessean is reporting that defen­ce­man Ale­xan­der Sul­zer, who’s boun­ced bet­ween Milwau­kee and Nash­vi­lle regu­larly this sea­son, has once again been reca­lled by the Pre­da­tors.
  
• When Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa is playing with an edge and jumping up into the play, it can work both ways for the Canucks.  Ryan Kesler often claims to not pay attention to much of anything but he knows that he’s gone 14 games without a goal.

• Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution is reporting that Angelo Esposito will have surgery tomorrow on his re-torn ACL.
  
• The Buffalo Sabres will be without Mike Grier as he is spending time with his mother who is sick and coach Lindy Ruff says “We’ll give him as much time as he needs”.
• Despite the fact that they will be coaching against them, the Carolina Hurricanes seem happy for the new positions of Peter Laviolette and Kevin McCarthy.
• Carey Price is the expected starter for the Habs tonight and the team got good news on the injury front as the ankle injury sustained by Sergei Kostitsyn was minor.
  
• The Islanders have two more road games, tomorrow in Philly and Wednesday in Toronto, before they complete their exhaustive 14-in-17 road stretch. (registration required).
• The New York Rangers Chris Drury says that he took the time off from playing as a good opportunity to watch and learn. (registration required).
• The Ottawa Senators prevailed last night over the Ducks and the Ottawa Citizen’s James Gordon breaks down the results.
• Sam Carchidi suggests there is so much inconsistency in the penalties, suspensions and explanations that it’s hilarious and wonders if the NHL should be renamed the National Hilarity League.
• Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders why the league failed to take action against the Hawks Duncan Keith on his high hit on Matt Cooke.
  
• Maple Leafs goaltender Jonas Gustavsson acknowledged this morning he was scared last week when his heart troubles resurfaced during a game in Montreal.
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post is reporting that Karl Alzner has been reassigned to Hershey and that Matt Bradley has gone back to Washington to be with his wife, who is having a baby.

• The Ducks have recalled right wing Dan Sexton from Manitoba of the American Hockey League in the wake of Teemu Selanne’s hand injury which is expected to put him on the IR.
• Bruins beat writer Fluto Shinzawa is reporting that Tim Thomas was first off the ice today at practice so he will likely be the starter tonight against the Habs.
  
• They don’t have 100 years of history, but the Buffalo Sabres are celebrating 40 years in Western New York and the ties they have to the community are paying off dividends.
• Flames coach Brent Sutter was less than pleased with “but we didn’t work smart, there were too many mistakes. I thought we were sloppy with the puck tonight” and he was surprised by the mistake by the usually reliable Mark Giordano. 
• Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News loads up his Friday tidbits covering how Sergei Zubov is doing in the KHL, Stars numbers for November, a look at the team’s prospects as well as some other Dallas topics.
• The Red Wings recalled Jakub Kindl from the Grand Rapids Griffins and he made his NHL debut Thursday night against Edmonton because Brian Rafalski was sidelined by a stiff back and he had plenty of problems falling asleep the night before his NHL debut.
• While everyone seems to think its time to blow up the Oilers, they sure showed some spine as they rolled over the Wings at Joe Louis Arena last night.
• The Minnesota Wild have been dealing with sickness throughout the past season and it appears that Cal Clutterbuck might be the latest victim, which was likely a result of his shaving his mustache.
  
• The 100 year celebration of all things Montreal Canadiens comes to a close as they battle Original 6 rival Boston tonight and Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette has some game day reading.
• Devils coach Jacques Lemaire said that both Jay Pandolfo and Johnny Oduya took part in Friday’s optional morning skate at the Prudential Center, but neither will play against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
• The Ottawa Senators played well enough to win, writes James Gordon of the Ottawa Citizen but their road woes continued as they fell to the Kings.
• The Islanders celebrated their dad’s trip and Paul Park of Seoul, South Korea had the opportunity to watch his son Richard Park, play in his 631st game in the National Hockey League which may have had him reflecting on his American journey.
• It was hard to discern if the Flyers faithful were cheering goalie Brian Boucher or booing the effort of the rest of his teammates, writes Anothny Sanfilippo of the Delaware Times.
  
• The Coyotes have confounded the experts who didn’t expect much from this team but apparently they still can’t fool the fans into attending the game, as can be seen in Richard’s Morning Take: Pictures from Phoenix.
• Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette brings another installment of the Mellon Arena memories, this time focussing on Pens tender Brent Johnson.
• Reporting from the Capitals practice, Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post suggests that the lines for Saturday’s contest should remain the same as those from yesterday’s 6-2 blowout of Florida.

• The Ducks were without two stars today for practice, although for very different reasons, as Teemu Selanne is suffering from the flu and Ryan Getzlaf was taking time off, writes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register.
• Some are wondering what has happened to the mastery in the shootout of the Avalanche’s Wojtek Wolski, who previously dominated the area but this season is a woeful 0-6.
  
• The Calgary Flames, 10-1-3 on the road, a club-record 10 consecutive road games of garnering at least a point are loving the hot road streak, but don’t ask them to explain it.
• Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Blue Jackets winger Raffi Torres might miss tonight’s game to be with his wife as they anticipate the birth of their first child.
• Dallas will be going with Marty Turco in net tonight as Anaheim comes to visit and Mike Heika has the Stars expected lineup for the contest.
• The former lawyers for ex-Detroit Red Wings star Sergei Fedorov are asking a judge to dismiss his civil lawsuit against them.
• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal makes no apologies when he suggest that it is time for the Oilers to blow up this team and trade for expiring contracts and draft picks.
• Rich Hammond of Kings Insider has an excellent feature on the Kings Wayne Simmonds highlighting some of his phenomenal play of late.
• Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo won the battle last night between the two most likely starting goalies for Team Canada this February but the performance of both last night might leave Steve Yzerman a bit concerned.
  

• Bruins beat writer Fluto Shinzawa reporting from practice today says that Boston is holding a rare downtown practice and the only player not on the ice is Zdeno Chara.
• Despite the fact that Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was noncommittal about his playing status for Buffalo’s game tonight against Montreal, Craig Rivet says he is ready to play.
• It seems that the Florida Panthers Keith Ballard has become enemy #1 to goalies across the NHL these days as he took out Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson last night and George Richards of the Miami Herald wonders if he will go 3/3 tonight against the Capitals.
  
• It appears that Jacques Martin will finally give Carey Price a break in net (he had gone 9 consecutive times) and will start Jaroslav Halak for the Habs game in Buffalo tonight.
• It wasn’t quite the showdown of two Team Canada #1 hopefuls last night in New Jersey as Devils coach Jacques Lemaire felt the two goalies weren’t really factors his team’s loss.
• The New York Rangers have called up Chad Johnson from Hartford to be the new backup goalie although due to restrictions he won’t be able to practice with the team until noon.
• Apparently the Senators farm team really teaches their young players how to celebrate as Binghamton Senators rookie Erik Condra has been charged with disorderly conduct after police say he urinated on a police car.
• Perhaps the Mellon Arena isn’t quite doomed as some folks in Pittsburgh have put together a proposal to keep the old arena alive.
  
• It is Thursday which means more Leafs Mail Bag with the Toronto Star’s Damien Cox who this week delves into a number of topics, namely; the need to be anti-Brian Burke, changing Leaf uniforms, should the Leafs pick up the Flyers Daniel Briere, whether the the Leafs will go younger next season and many more.
• The Caps go for their fourth straight win against the Panthers and it appears that Semyon Varlamov, who came off the ice first this morning at KCI, will likely be between the pipes at Verizon Center, writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post.

• The Ducks’ 4-3 loss to the Kings dropped them 10 points behind their neighbours in the Western Conference standings and it looks like fans think only the Kings will make the playoffs this season.
• Although Nigel Dawes‘ has struggled with confidence and consistency during his first couple of seasons in the NHL, he seems to have his hubris at a high point.
• Marian Hossa is driven to win a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks and despite his incredible abilities, he remains humble and lacks pretense which hasn’t gone unnoticed by his Hawks teammates.
  
• Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson returns to south Florida to face off against his former team the Panthers as he makes his 27th of 29 stars for Colorado.
• Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Blue Jackets defenseman Rusty Klesla will have surgery Friday to repair a stomach muscle tear.
• Stars coach Marc Crawford did some line juggling on Tuesday, and it looks like these could be the lines he tries on Thursday vs. Anaheim.
• While the Oilers do lose too many physical battles, writes David Staples of the Edmonton Journal, he feels their biggest problem on defence, the one that costs the team the most goals against, is mental errors.
• Helenne Elliot of the L.A. Times writes that the Los Angeles Kings were able to take Round 1 of the Battle of California by keeping it simple.
  
• The Minnesota Wild just finished practicing, writes Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and for the first time since Oct. 24, the Wild will have two healthy scratches tonight.
• In the past five days, the Sharks Dany Heatley faced the team he demanded a trade from and the team he refused to go to and came out on the winning end both times.
• The St. Louis Blues took their fans on quite the wild ride last season and they know that playing well this December is pivotal if they hope to avoid the same drama they faced last season.
• Willie Mitchell may not be willing to talk about his future, but his coach didn’t hesitate Tuesday to emphasize Mitchell’s importance to the Vancouver Canucks.

• Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, who will be a guest on tonight’s Illegalcurve Radio Show, writes that despite only being a third of the way thru the season, people are suggesting that Sabres goalie Ryan Miller is the best in the world.
  
• The Florida Panthers made some line-up moves this morning, writes George Richardson of the Miami Herald.
• The Montreal Canadiens continue to tinker with their line-up as they traded Kyle Chipchura to the Anaheim Ducks for a fourth-round draft choice in 2011.
• The amount of ice time for the Devils Jamie Langenbrunner is likely to decrease now that the Devils are getting some players back from the injured list, which is good news because his nagging injuries are likely a direct result of playing too many minutes.  In other Devils news, goalie Martin Brodeur is now a U.S. citizen although that shouldn’t lead to panic in Canada.
• Despite the fact that the Rangers sent Bobby Sanguinetti down to the AHL as it was expected that Wade Redden would be ready to go for New York’s next game, he was absent from practice today, writes Steve Zippay of Newsday.
  
• James Gordon of the Ottawa Citizen breaks down last night’s Senators/Sharks games and feels that despite the Sharks winning, the jury is still out on who won the summertime deal.
• Flyers captain Mike Richards does what good leaders do which is to take responsibility and not blame others for the team’s recent funk.
• The city of Pittsburgh might be the city of champions but it appears that the Steelers and Penguins still have some learning to do when it comes to making a winning commercial.
  
• Their starting goaltender wound up in an ambulance with an elevated heart rate last night, Tomas Kaberle went ahead of Tim Horton and the Maple Leafs ended the night in seventh heaven.
• While he was suspended for two games the good news in Washington is that Alex Ovechkin was back on the ice today practicing with the team and the Washington Post’s Tarik El-Bashir has the new lines sans AO.

• Chris Vivlamore writes about the remarkable season that the Thrashers Maxim Afinogenov is having this season including some his more noteworthy accomplishments.
• It seems like Marc Savard has been on the verge of signing a contract extension with the Bruins for a few weeks now and Kevin Dupont of the Boston Globe writes it appears that he is now on the verge of putting his name on the dotted line although TSN is reporting that the deal is done.
  
• The Sabres continue to play well and they can thank goalie Ryan Miller who made 38 saves to earn his third shutout of the season yesterday over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
• The Flames continued to roll last night defeating the red hot Predators 5-0 and Curtis Glencross attributes his 190 foot empty netter to “practice in the bag skates when I was suspended”.
• The news just keeps getting worse in Carolina as Chip Alexander of the News and Observer reports that the Hurricanes lost Joe Corvo for 2-3 months after he took a slash in last night’s loss.
• The Blackhawks will unveil their new alternate jerseys tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the United Center.
• Colorado Avalanche rookie Matt Duchene had his first two goal game last night against the Bolts and Adrian Dater of the Denver Post has some optimism for the future of the franchise.
• After last night’s 4-1 loss to Detroit, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News wonders if eight games in 13 days became too much for the Dallas Stars and Marty Turco, and he questions if the goalie plan has brought him to a place where he can dominate.
  
• Ignorance might be bliss for the Edmonton Oilers writes Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal and it would appear that defenceman Tom Gilbert agrees, saying “that the team must ignore the NHL standings, ignore their abysmal road record, and ignore the team’s remaining games”.
• Kings Coach Terry Murray looks at the Ducks and sees a team that still has the heart of a champion and is capable of world-class efforts when the moment demands them.
• Wild forwards Martin Havlat and Antti Miettinen returned to practice this morning, a very short practice because coach Todd Richards only had three defensemen at his disposal and the team lacked energy writes Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
• The Habs will continue to ride Carey Price as coach Jacques Martin gives him the call to make his ninth consecutive start for Montreal.
• After missing 13 games, Devils defenceman Johnny Oduya, sidelined with a lower body injury, rejoined the Devils and practiced Tuesday morning at the Prudential Center.
• Steve Zipay of Newsday is reporting that the New York Rangers will be returning Bobby Sanguinetti returned to Hartford as it appears that Wade Redden is back and ready to play.
• It would appear that the one person hurt most by the trade of Dany Heatley to the San Jose Sharks has been the Senators Jason Spezza.
• Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that last night’s victory in New York was the first for the Penguins in quite some time and he takes a look at the last win for the Pens in the 29 other NHL arena’s.
• The Blues rookie Alex Pietrangelo remains in limbo, awaiting his assignment to the World Junior Championships and perhaps a return to major junior hockey and St. Louis Today’s Jeff Gordon thinks its a mistake not keeping him with the club this season.
  
• The Toronto Star’s Damien Cox writes that nobody would disagree any more that the Maple Leafs are a lousy hockey club this season, destined to finish in the lower rungs of the NHL.
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post wonders if it is time for Alex Ovechkin to tone it down and start to focus on scoring after last night’s knee on knee forced him to leave the game early but it would appear Caps fans are mixed on what AO should do.

• Patrice Bergeron missed practice today for Boston but will definitely play on Wednesday.  Important news for Boston fans, as Bergeron has been the team’s best forward this season.
• Michael Leighton gets the start tonight for Carolina.  Taylor Hall better start taking an interest in college basketball….
• Milan Hejduk will not play tonight when the Lightning faces Tampa Bay.  The injury isn’t serious but he still isn’t ready to go.
• Martin Havlat was skating at Wild practice this morning.  Good sign for Wild fans, as Havlat has been out for a while with a hamstring injury.  No timetable on his return though.
• Scott Gomez is at Habs practice today centering the second line.  I liked what I saw from the top line on Saturday, so no reason to switch that unit.  I also liked what I saw from Pacioretty, aside from the two minor penalties, so putting Gomez alongside him seems like a good plan to me.
• Mike Lange’s goal calls from Saturday courtesy of Seth Rorabaugh.  He’s one of the best.
• Alyn McCauley is now a pro scout for the L.A. Kings and David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News caught up with the one-time Sharks center.  McCauley’s name shouldn’t be ignored when the NHL decides to seriously discuss the issue of concussions.
• Does the Blues’ recall of Jonas Junland mean Alex Pietrangelo isn’t going to play his tenth game of the season?  Seems likely and is probably the best move for the still developing youngster. 

• Milan Lucic will be out for two-to-four weeks with a sprained ankle.  I think his Olympics chances are no longer real.
• Prior to today’s afternoon tilt, Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters that Tim Thomas may start tomorrow.  Obviously Thomas is an important cog on the Bruins but Rask has been pretty, pretty, pretty good.
• Tuomo Ruutu returns to the Canes lineup tonight and Manny Legace gets the start.  I have to say, I have been impressed with the play of Brandon Sutter having watching the Canes on a couple of ocassions.  The way he plays, you can tell which family he’s from and the Canes need that type of grit and determination.
• Here is what Panthers GM Randy Sexton and coach Pete DeBoer had to say about Ville Koistinen’s demotion to the minors.  I could see a team claiming him off re-entry waivers. 
• Andrei Markov did not skate for the Habs today.  Not surprising, remember that he is targeting a return for January.
• John Glennon talks about the Predators’ decision to bring Dave Scatchard back up from the AHL.  Dave Scatchard? Like the forward from Vancouver?  I kid.  Scatchard should help bring a calming influence to that line and he is willing to sacrifice his body to stick around.
• Penguins/Islanders starts in just over an hour, so here is your comprehensive preview.  Tavares versus Crosby.
• The Capitals have recalled Alex Giroux and are placing him on the top line.  Love this move.  Giroux is a natural goal-scorer, so calling him up and throwing him on a depth line makes little sense.  He has terrific hands, so let’s see what he can do with time and space playing alongside Ovechkin and Backstrom.

• The Ducks beat the Hurricanes 3-2 last night and the Orange County Register’s Curtis Zupke breaks down the victory by the numbers.
• The Blackhawks laid a beat down on the San Jose Sharks and from the moment they took the ice together, it was clear Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were going to be something special together.
  
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post feels that with the effort the Avalanche put forth against the Predators they should be happy to have escaped with one point.
• The enshrinement continues for the Dallas Stars’ Brett Hull as the team honored him by making him the first member of the Stars’ new ‘Walk of Legends’.
• The Wings Kris Draper either must be very generous or he lost a bet as he will be hosting teammates Todd Bertuzzi and his family, Dan Cleary and his family, rookies Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader, and relative newcomer Patrick Eaves for Thanksgiving.
• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal doesn’t mince words when he says “If the Oilers don’t make the playoffs, Kevin Lowe and Steve Tambellini will have to resign”.
• Looks like it’s pretty quiet at the Habs practice facility although Andrei Markov skated for ten minutes today and will be speaking with reporters on his condition.
  
• John Glennon of the Tennessean reports that the Predators 7 game win­ning streak is sur­pri­sing enough on its own, but when you com­pare the ros­ter of this team with that of the 2005-06 squad (franchise record of eight straight wins), things get even more eye-opening.
• The New Jersey Devils Niclas Bergfors is still not out of coach Jacques Lemaire doghouse, despite scoring last night against the Senators.
• Bobby Sanguinetti, the AHL’s top scoring defenceman, was called up by the New York Rangers writes Newsdays Arthur Staple.
• James Gordon of the Ottawa Citizen takes a look back at the Senators losing effort last night against the New Jersey Devils.
• Despite the Flyers going 2-3 on the recent road trip backup goalie Brian Boucher gets Sam Carchidi’s vote as Philadelphia’s best player.
  
• If you are a Pittsburgh fan and want to give thanks for your Penguins, then tune into FSN Pittsburgh which will be broadcasting a bunch of games from last season.
• The Toronto Star’s Damien Cox brings you his usual Thursday Mailbag with questions ranging from Phil Kessel, to fans staging a walkout, Leafs making playoffs, players not improving under coach Wilson, lack of a team captain and more.
• One game at a time is perhaps the most tired cliche in sports, but one that Vancouver Canuck centre Ryan Kesler apparently takes quite seriously.

• Geopolitical concerns aside, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle had no problems when his two star Finns, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu requested the Russian Evgeny Artyukhin for their line.
• The Boston Bruins are looking to go a perfect 4/4 on this road swing writes Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe and coach Claude Julien is going with Tuukka Rask for the fifth straight time.
• The Canes finally got some good news as Eric Staal was activated from injured reserve this morning and is expected to play tonight against the Anaheim.
  
• Things haven’t gone too well for the Colorado Avalanches’ T.J. Hensick who was placed on waivers today by the team.
• Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News reporting from practice says the lines have been set and it looks like Marty Turco will be making his fourth straight start in goal.
• If there is one guy who is feeling the pressure to produce in Detroit, it is Todd Bertuzzi, as the rugged forward has only 3 goals in 22 games and he knows he needs to step up his production.
• Edmonton Oiler Patrick O’Sullivan shrugged off the public flogging from former NHL goalie Kelly Hrudey and one-time coach/GM Mike Milbury on Hockey Night in Canada last Saturday.
• The Kings will be going with some AHL talent tonight as they will be without both Rob Scuderi and Jarret Stoll both skated this morning, but won’t be ready to play.
• A.L. MVP Joe Mauer will be dropping the ceremonial puck tonight at the XCel Energy Center writes Michael Russo, which he hopes will get the crowd going after the Wild had four days off, and Chuck Kobasew will return tonight to the lineup in time to face the team that traded him.
  
• Despite last night’s thrilling victory over Columbus it didn’t come without a cost as Andrei Kostitsyn is a doubtful starter for tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins after he came up limping blocking a shot in the Blue Jackets game.
• Occassionally the Nashville Predators players will take some time off to help write a column for the Tennessean and Pred Dan Hamhus writes about the current win streak that the team is enjoying.
• After taking part in Wednesday’s morning skate, Devils center Rob Niedermayer hasn’t ruled himself out for Friday night’s game in Boston.
• Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a great preview of the Penguins opponents from Montreal who they take on tonight at the Igloo.
• The Sharks Dan Boyle said tonight’s game against Chicago is “Too big of a game” and “Can’t miss that” writes David Pollak of the Mercury News and he will be in tonight’s lineup.
  
• The whirlwind week continues for Tampa Bay defenseman Mike Lundin, who was called back up from AHL Norfolk just one day after getting sent down.
• Channeling his best Tomas Holmstrom, will be young Leaf Christian Hanson, who says if you are looking for him tonight in Tampa, look to the front of the goal.
• It appears that Semyon Varlamov will start in goal and Karl Alzner will make his season debut tonight as the Caps attempt to snap a three-game slide against the Sabres.

• Curtis Zupke of the Orange County Register takes a look at the numbers following the Ducks 3-2 shootout victory over the visiting Calgary Flames.
• Looks like Thrashers coach John Anderson is mixing the lines up at practice this morning and has Ilya Kovalchuk lining up with Peverley and Armstrong.
• The Bruins won their third straight game which saw the return of Marc Savard who returned from missing 15 games with a broken foot and he offered a critique of his performance.
• The Flames tied up the Ducks late at the Honda Centre but for some curious reason coach Brent Sutter chose not to use Jarome Iginla, who tied the game and has been dominant lately, in the shootout.
  
• The climate surrounding the Blackhawks both in and outside of Chicago is that the team is amongst the elite in the NHL and that has some in the city quite worried.
• In case you were missing his tweets, Denver Post writer Adrian Dater has returned to Twitter and will continue to bring Avs fans updates from the game via this medium.  For all the latest NHL news via Twitter follow Illegalcurve.
• The Blue Jackets could not have scripted a better start or a more a spectacular collapse last night at Madison Square Garden writes Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch.
• After last night’s 2-0 victory over the Canes, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has some observations from the Stars win and whether they can keep the momentum alive.
• Former Red Wings tough guy Darren McCarty cleaned up nicely as he debuted his new role, as a studio analyst on Versus.
  
• The Edmonton Oilers came out flying last night in the first period against Phoenix and perennial whipping boys Ethan Moreau and Jeff Deslauriers came up big in the victory.
  
• Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette writes that you can add Jaroslav Spacek to the list of walking wounded with the Canadiens as he joins Scott Gomez on the list of Habs injured with a “lower-body injury”.
• Who are these Nashville Predators wonder the Tennessean’s John Glennon as the team that started the year 3-6-1 is now riding a six game winning streak (as well as 7 straight at home).
• Despite the Senators recent on-ice success they lost no. 1 goalie Pascal Leclaire who has a broken cheek bone, after being hit by an puck while on the bench during  the team’s overtime win over the Capitals.
• The New Jersey Devils are trying to get more from Niclas Bergfors and they are hoping that skating with Travis Zajac and Zach Parise will help him.
• The New York Rangers got some good news as team captain Chris Drury practiced fully today, centering Enver Lisin and Ryan Callahan, and pronounced himself ready to go barring a huge setback.
• The Philadelphia Flyers weren’t a happy bunch after last night’s loss to the Avalanche, and while the loss didn’t lead to any stick breaking from goalie Ray Emery who was pulled after giving up 4 goals on 17 shots, the bigger concern is possible injuries as a team doctor was seen examining x-ray’s in the room following the game.
  
• Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette takes a closer look at the Penguins power play which at one point went an anemic 0-30 but not surprisingly, has improved with the return of Sergei Gonchar.
• The Leafs lost centre John Mitchell for six weeks with a knee injury and have called up Christian Hanson from the Marlies to join the team writes the Toronto Star’s Paul Hunter although he wasn’t in today’s practice roster.
• A year after the Vancouver Canucks Alex Burrows breakout 28-goal season, the speedy winger has only one goal in his last 18 games.
• Despite not arriving home from Ottawa till 1:30 am this morning, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau put his players through a tough practice although a number of players were absent including Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Mike Knuble, Tom Poti and Boyd Gordon.

• Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution takes a look at the Thrashers season so far as they have roughly reached the quarter mark and the team is in the playoff mix.
• The Buffalo Sabres have two days before their next game, so the projected lines could still change as coach Lindy Ruff was busy tinkering with them.
• Flames coach Brent Sutter hasn’t decided who will be starting tonight in goal although it looks like the lines are set for Calgary as he is still raving about the performance of his captain Jarome Iginla after Saturday’s hat trick.
  
• Canes GM Jim Rutherford has stated that the team goal is to get back to .500 by Christmas and Chip Alexander of the News and Observer looks at the different scenerios that could see Carolina achieve that mark.
• It has been an exciting 36 hours for Chicago’s Bryan Bickell who hit the ice after trying to crunch the Oilers Dustin Penner, then he scored the game winner in Vancouver and then he was sent back to the AHL this morning to make room for Marian Hossa who is expected to return for the Hawks game against the Sharks.
• Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch is reporting that the Blue Jackets have placed winger Derek Dorsett on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 19.
• The Dallas Stars lineup has been set and it looks like it will be the same as it was on Saturday writes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
• Mike Babcock joked he went with geopolitical defense pairings this morning, as the Red Wings prepared for at least a month without Niklas Kronwall starting with tonight’s game against the Predators.
  
• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal has a big question regarding whether or not Nikolai Khabibulin is earning the huge amount of faith that GM Steve Tambellini put in him by signing him to a four-year deal, rather than going with one or two younger free agent goalies.
• If you are interested in seeing a quasi sneak peek at the new Panther colours, George Richards of the Miami Herald has this photo which was taken at this mornings skate.
• Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting from practice today that Brett Burns was diagnosed with a concussion and a number of other Wild players were out today.
• While the team had a fun encounter with The Score’s Cabbie, Montreal coach Jacques Martin was heaping lots of praise for his players including Carey Price, Mike Cammalleri, Andrei Kostitsyn, Tom Pyatt and Ryan White.
  
• John Glennon of the Tennessean is reporting that Pekka Rinne will go for a sixth con­se­cu­tive win in goal tonight when the Pre­da­tors play host to the Detroit Red Wings.
• NJ Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner believes the reason for so many injuries is because players are so much bigger, and composite sticks are creating harder shots that tend to break bones.
• New York Rangers coach John Tortorella has sloted Ryan Callahan as a center between Lisin and Kotalik and interestingly despite only scoring two goals Christopher Higgins is second on the team in terms of scoring chances behind Gaborik.
• The Flyers need their two marquee offensive players, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, to step up and lead the team out of their current funk.
• Looks like Semyon Varlamov will start for the Capitals as they take on the Senators tonight and Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post has the likely lines for tonight’s contest.

• Despite the near brawl that happened after the game, when 1st star of the game Scott Niedermayer tried to give his stick away, the Ducks finally got something postive going last night as the special team’s play was very effective against the Lightning.
• Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution asked Thrashers coach John Anderson who has been the best off season acquisition for the team.
• Coming off a strong shootout effort which gave the Bruins the victory, Tuukka Rask may make a third straight start in the Boston net for the first time this season.
  
• The Sabres look to get a few more players back in the lineup, including both Roy and Connolly who took maintenance days yesterday, writes Mike Harrington in the Buffalo News.
• Flames coach Brent Sutter didn’t hold back when describing his team’s “deeper issues” using terms like “Too casual; not enough emotion; no sense of urgency”.
• Yesterday’s come from behind victory by the Carolina Hurricanes was signficiant on several fronts writes Chip Alexander of the News and Observer.
• There have been a lot of positives for the Blackhawks during their five-game winning streak, but the play of goaltender Cristobal Huet has been the biggest one.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post says goodbye to his Twitter account largely it seems as a result of the Flames incident which has spurned a “Where do you draw the line with twitter and journalism?” discussion.
• The Blue Jackets put together arguably their most complete effort of the season, outlasting the Stars 4-1 in a nasty and combative contest in Dallas including a vicious hit by James Neal on Derek Dorsett.
• Red Wings coach Mike Babcock wants to see more out of the forward line of Todd Bertuzzi, Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom.
• Some of the Edmonton Oiler big names are struggling on the powerplay, so perhaps it’s time for Nilsson and Potulny to take on bigger roles.
• Rich Hammond had a huge open forum for Kings fans to ask questions, and today he answers them, everything from Jonathan Quick not getting a new mask to why the Kings play Frolov on the third line and many more.
• Slowly but surely, the Predators’ big-name players are starting to produce some points and the team is looking good after they beat San Jose and followed that by edging New Jersey last night.
  
• Habs coach Jacques Martin has confirmed that Georges Laraque will play for the first time since Oct. 20 and so will defenceman Ryan O’Byrne whose been out with a knee injury.
• By scoring both Devils goals in Thursday night’s shootout loss to the Nashville Predators, Zach Parise tied a team record he already shared.
• The Rangers Chris Drury was cleared medically yesterday after his afternoon doctor’s visit to begin the next phase of his comeback after suffering a concussion.
• In 18 games this season, the eight defensemen currently on the Philadelphia Flyers roster have 57 points which compared to the 141 points they had all of last season is a significant upgrade.
• Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has some more Mellon Arena memories, today’s feature is Andrew Ference.
• It is the goal that everyone is talking about today, the one Bolts young star Steven Stamkos’ goal from his back that was part of the Lightning’s three-goal comeback and lucky for him Steve Yzerman was in attendance as part of his Team Canada duties.
  
• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star writes about the Leafs misfortunes this season but disagrees with the idea of sending Jason Blake down and wonder why Ron Wilson seems powerless to stop the slide.
• Playing in the first game of his NHL career, Capitals rookie John Carlson didn’t get much sleep last night as his team plays host to the Montreal Canadiens tonight writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post and he also has tonight’s expected lineup.

• The Ducks loaned center Erik Christensen to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League for condtioning purposes.
• Looks like Milan Lucic got over that stomach bug and will be arriving in Atlanta later today and is expected to play in the Bruins next game.
  
• John Vogl of the Buffalo News is reporting that Sabres Derek Roy and Tim Connolly each took maintenance days today and that Mike Grier‘s groin injury is still preventing him from practicing.
• Brent Sutter and the rest of the Calgary Flames were silent about what happened following the post-game “chat” held by the coach after the team’s loss to Colorado.
• The Carolina Hurricanes have a younger roster as they have added four players to their roster who began the season with the Albany River Rats of the AHL.
• Chris Kuc of the Chicago Herald writes that the Hawks are in for their biggest test of the season so far as they leave the friendly confines of the United Center and head off on a 10-day, six-game road trip.
• Despite just being activated from injured reserver, the Columbus Blue Jackets Raffi Torres missed practice due to the flu.
• In disalllowing Brad May’s goal last night the NHL’s ‘intent to blow the whistle’ play cheats Red Wings a point and hurts the NHL’s credibility writes George Malik.
• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal has an excellent piece talking about the NHL’s need to crack down on head shots, after the incident involving Oilers captain Ethan Moreau, who took a shot to the head from Colorado’s Ryan Wilson.
  
• The Florida Panthers are set to unveil the team’s 3rd jersey on Monday against the Penguins and I have to give them credit for a decent marketing ploy.
• With Ryan Smyth out for about a month, the L.A. Kings are trying a few different players on the first line, but it appears that the team isn’t happy with the play of Alexander Frolov.
• Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that Martin Havlat is missing from the Wild’s practice today.
• Montreal coach Jacques Martin has shuffled his lines again and Glen Metropolit described the new lines as if he has won the lottery.
• Goa­lie Pekka Rinne will match his sea­son high when he makes a fourth straight start tonight against the New Jer­sey Devils.
  
• Veteran center Dean McAmmond, signed to a minor league contract in October, will make his Devils debut Thursday night against the Nashville Predators.
• Flyers goalie Brian Boucher, making just his second start of the season and his first since Oct. 25, had a rough first period but rallied to make 37 saves and lead the Flyers to a 3-2 victory last night in the first game of a five-game road trip.
• The Penguins finally got some good news as they will be getting back Sergei Gonchar and Maxime Talbot for tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators.
• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star has a rather full Thursday mailbag answering questions on how the Leafs can salvage the season, NHL on graphite sticks, a Winter Classic game at BMO field, some Leaf prospects and many more questions.
• Washington coach Bruce Boudreau is keeping expectations for 2008 first-round pick John Carlson, called up from Hershey in check

And here is today’s word from the team beat writers:

• Randy Carlyle and the Ducks are trying pretty much anything to get the team out of its funk, and that includes having offensive star Corey Perry take some time on the penalty kill.
• Taking a look at the Thrashers special team lines from practice today Chris Vivlamore writes that Bryan Little and Pavel Kubina are back, and that Ilya Kovalchuk skipped.
• “We certainly need production from him” said Flames coach Brent Sutter in reference to Olli Jokinen, who is receiving 1st line minutes but has 4th line production so far this season.
  
• The Avalanche will be giving back-up goalie Peter Budaj his second start of the year against the Oilers tonight as Craig Anderson is given a rare night off.
• Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch, who will be a guest on the Illegalcurve radio show tonight, caught up with Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock and got his thoughts on Filatov returning to Russia.
• Speaking of back-up tenders getting the start, Alex Auld will be starting for the Stars tonight as they roll into Detroit to take on the red hot Red Wings.
• It was always clear that Dustin Penner had a decent offensive presence, but it appears that Pat Quinn and Tom Renney have certainly found a way to making him an ace penalty killer as well.
• Looks like the Los Angeles Kings will be without the services of Ryan Smyth for up to a month due to an ‘upper-body injury’ reports Rich Hammond.
• The Habs will be without right-winger Brian Gionta indefinitely with a broken bone in his left foot writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette.
  
• Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes about the Wild giving away free tickets, Woodbury resident Danny Irmen making his NHL debut and the new way in which Minnesota is making call-ups from Houston.
• Rookie defenseman Tyler Eckford, who was named the American Hockey League’s Player of the Week, was recalled by the Devils on Wednesday with Cory Murphy going the other way.
• David Pollak of the Mercury News, one of tonight’s guests on the Illegalcurve Radio show, offers a few final thoughts from Nashville.
• The Flyers first period dominance and ability to score the first goal has been the difference this season as they are 11-2-1 when tallying the first goal.
  
• The Tampa Bay Lightning are finding ways to win despite not playing its best writes Damian Cristodero and he is reporting that Mike Smith stays in net for Thursday’s game against Anaheim.
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post has updates on the status of Alexander Semin, Quintin Laing and Jose Theodore. 

• The ECHL is a long way from the NHL, but Ducks prospect Mark Mitera is hoping that by logging in big minutes with Bakersfield he can get to Anaheim.
• Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution writes that both Bryan Little and Pavel Kubina took the ice for practice but continue to be listed as day to day.  He also posted the morning lines from practice.
• The Flames lines have been set although noticeably absent was Staffan Kronwall who was sent to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat, for conditioning.
  
• The Canes are hoping that they have some good karma in their corner when they roll into Montreal for a date with the Habs as it is the annual “fathers trip” as well they are 7-0-1 at the Bell Centre since 2005-06 season.
• Red Wings center Valtteri Filppula made an on-ice appearance today after Detroit had practiced although he is still wearing the hard cast and isn’t expected back before mid-December.
• Kevin Mio of the Montreal Gazette previews the Canadiens/Canes game and writes that the Habs might be without Brian Gionta for awhile due to a foot injury.
  
• New Jersey Devils coach Jacques Lemaire put the team through a workout today after last night’s loss to the Flyers, to help ensure the team avoids a letdown.
• Steve Zipay of Newsday writes about the re-match in goal between Henrik Lundqvist and Semyon Varlamov, but the more important factor may be the Rangers ability to stay out of the penalty box suggests Ryan Callahan.
• Despite winning last night and spoiling the Devils chances to tie the record for the longest road winning streak, the Flyers ended up losing Arron Asham for 10-14 days to an oblique strain.
• Over at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette they run a feature called Mellon Arena memories and today they take a look back at the short career of Ron Tugnutt, but who could forget that 5 OT game against the Flyers.
  
• David Pollack of the San Jose Mercury News, who will be a guest on tomorrow’s Illegalcurve  Radio show, writes that both Brad Staubitz and Devin Setoguchi will be out of the Sharks lineup tonight.
• Not surprisingly an overwhelming number of Lightning fans feel the team got robbed last night against the Kings when an OT goal was called off.
• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star takes a Presidential view of Ron Wilson‘s first 100 days in office and it would appear that he doesn’t think Wilson will be around for a 2nd term in office.
• The Capitals just got off the ice and Tarik El-Bashir spoke with Bruce Boudreau and Alex Ovechkin and it appears that AO is more than likely going to be back on the ice tonight.
• Macleans Magazine had an interesting interview with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman which covered Canada, the ‘covenant’ with fans, Gretzky and on trying to do the right things.

• Ducks GM Bob Murray was less than pleased with his players and let them know it this weekend, and the question today is have the players gotten the message after taking Sunday off.
• Johan Hedberg has gotten three of the last four starts in goal for the Thrashers, missing only Friday’s game against Los Angeles and it looks like coach John Anderson will continue to ride his hot goaltender.
  
• The confounding thing about the Bruins is that they aren’t that far away from being a good team if only the team could put together a good defensive and offensive game plan in the same game.
• Canes coach Paul Maurice said today that center Eric Staal may be able to return to the lineup next week after missing the last six games with an upper-body injury.
• Former Chicago Blackhawk Jeremy Roenick is not happy about disarray NHLPA is in and no surprise, he is voicing his displeasure about its current state.
• Still no word on how Steve Mason is doing after feeling the ill effects of back spasms yesterday, but Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock has his plate full worrying about a Columbus killer in the form of Ales Hemsky.
• Mike Babcock stuck with his young defenceman, Jonathan Ericsson, despite some critical mistakes he made against the Ducks on Saturday night knowing that it helps to build character and is necessary for development.
• Sam Gagner, the Edmonton Oilers’ second-line centre, might not play Monday night against the Blue Jackets as he has a lower-body injury according to coach Pat Quinn.
  
• The newest member of the L.A. Kings, Randy Jones is settling in nicely with his new team, including scoring the game winning goal in his first game with the team. 
• The Canadiens are off until tomorrow morning, when they’ll skate in Brossard to prepare for tomorrow night’s home game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
• Andrew Peters might be the key to the Devil’s road winning streak as he was also a member of the 2006-07 Sabres team which set the record, a record the Devils could tie tonight in Philadelphia.
• Early in the season, Rangers coach John Tortorella had said the coaching staff wanted to push Staal on the offensive side of the puck, and take the power-play pressure away from Redden.
• Looks like fans in Ottawa will be seeing a lot more of country music star Carrie Underwood, but let’s hope she doesn’t have a Jessica Simpson like effect on Mike Fisher.
  
• Flyers rookie James van Riemsdyk will be back in the lineup tonight after missing Saturday’s game against Buffalo with a nasty case of the flu.
• The injury woes continue as Penguins coach Dan Bylsma announced defenseman Alex Goligoski will be out two to three weeks due to a “lower-body” injury.
• The San Jose Sharks don’t often give up leads and David Pollak of the Mercury News taks another look at the missed opportunities in last night’s OT loss to the Blackhawks.
• Leafs coach Ron Wilson is now threatening a less patient approach, saying he will base the ice time he allots to players on how they hit the ice in the first few shifts.
• Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau was coy when asked whether Alex Ovechkin would be back in the lineup tomorrow, saying: “As of today, he’s in.”

• Center Saku Koivu did not practice and remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury, according to coach Randy Carlyle and is questionable for tonight.
• The Thrashers held an optional skate prior to tonight’s game against Los Angeles and star Ilya Kovalchuk chose not to participate.
• The Bruins find themselves in a mighty unusual and highly frustrating predicament as they have been doing everything right but struggling to get two points, even in games they deserve to win.
• Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller noticed “media-driven” issues dominated the conversations in June while he wanted to talk about real problems plaguing the players.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post wrote this morning that Peter Forsberg might skip a return to the NHL and just play for his Swedish Elite team, Modo instead this season.
  
• The only thing Blue Jackey Fredrik Modin knows for sure is he will be back at some point this season but right now, there is no timetable.
• Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News talks about the latest rumour to come from the GM meetings, which is interest in the Stars Fabian Brunnstrom.
• If Bob Gainey can, he had best to whatever he can to re-sign Tomas Plekanec writes Dave Stubbs of  the Montreal Gazette.
• The Devils continued their roll as they won their 9th game on the road in large part due to Travis Zajac and Zach Parise shutting down Sidney Crosby.
• Balanced scoring and the addition of hard-shooting defenseman Chris Pronger have bolstered the Flyers’ power play and made it the NHL’s most successful unit.
• In today’s Q & A with Penguins Hall of Fame writer Dave Molinari, he answers the question as to whether there are plans to unveil a Statue or Mario Lemieux outside the new Pittsburgh arena.
  
• San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan was more philosophical than disappointed as two-goal lead evaporates, and his team lost in a shootout.
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post writes that Alexander Ovechkin won’t play tonight, but coach Bruce Boudreau said there’s a “possibility” that he’ll suit up tomorrow in New Jersey.

• The Ducks organization is ranked 14th among the most valuable teams in the NHL, according to the annual study by Forbes magazine.
• Ilya Kovulchuk is back to being a game-time decision, one that Thrashers coach John Anderson’s gut thinks will play, tonight against the Rangers.
  
• Boston’s Milan Lucic said everything went well during his 30-minute twirl with his teammates after participating in his first morning skate in just under a month.
• Sabres forward Mike Grier left Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over Edmonton with 12 minutes to play with what coach Ruff called a groin injury.
• Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman is doing what other GMs have done this season as star players drop seemingly one after another – nothing.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post writes about the Avs-Blackhawks game, wonders what Sacco was thinking with Tucker, poll question on shootouts and the greatest national anthem ever.
• Blue Jackets left wing Raffi Torres could miss a week, perhaps as many as two weeks, after getting hit in the mouth with a deflected puck in the first period last night.
  
• Those coming to tonight’s game against the Canucks will get a chance to cheer the Red Wings’ newest member of the Hall of Fame, as former captain Steve Yzerman will drop the ceremonial first puck.
• Should Edmonton experiment end with Patrick O’Sullivan on the point of the Oilers powerplay?
• Drew Doughty, some draft analysts said, was more “NHL ready” than some of his contemporaries which at the time, seemed a bit like a backhanded compliment.
• Two wins short of tying the NHL record for road victories at the start of a season– the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres set the standard– the Devils headed for Pittsburgh and their game Thursday night at Mellon Arena put Patrick Elias wasn’t feeling great after the Anaheim game so he hoping to play but isn’t 100%.
• Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said defenseman Brooks Orpik will be out for two weeks due to a “lower-body” injury he sustained after a Mark Stuart check in Boston.
• The Flyers are taking on the Senators tonight, Emery’s former team, and Jason Spezza was the first name Emery blurted out when mentioning the players he was looking forward to seeing.
  
• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star answers some question in his Thursday mailbag concerning the Phoenix Coyotes situation, Eric Lindros role behind the scenes at the NHLPA, James Neal’s season so far, Brian Burke’s effect on the Leafs (and other Leaf related questions) as well as the Ben Fanelli hit.
• Alex Ovechkin returned to practice this morning and easily had his best skate since suffering that strain near his left shoulder on Nov. 1 writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post. (article also has video of AO practicing).
• The NHL had its most profitable year in 2008-2009, Forbes magazine said, and team values rose $3 million to an average of $223 million despite a recession that curbed fan and sponsor spending.

• Even since Jean-Sebastien Giguere spoke his mind about either being the #1 on the Ducks or being traded the talk of the town is whether Anaheim should move him and it looks like Ducks fans think they should if the right deal comes along (and assuming he’d wave the no trade clause).
• The good news for Atlanta continues as it appears that Evander Kane is practicing without any pain in his foot after he took a shot on Sunday and Ilya Kovalchuk also took the ice this morning.
• Everyone in Boston, with the exception of referee Bill McCreary, saw the goal by Matt Hunwick but thankfully for Bruins fans the NHL review worked and declared it a goal, after the teams played an additional 1:20.
  
• Sabres backup Patrick Lalime, who has missed three games with a groin injury, skated with his teammates this morning for the first time since early last week.
• Canes defenseman Joe Corvo talks about how the twelve game losing streak is affecting the guys and discusses the things they need to do to break the cycle.
• Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa said today he is ready to take another step in his rehab from off-season shoulder surgery. The free-agent signee will begin contact drills in practice either Thursday or Friday.
• Looks like it will be the classic youth vs. age battle tonight as the oldest team (Wings) roll into Columbus (youngest team) in the NHL.
• If the Red Wings do get to the power play, the Jackets will be seeing more of Brad Stuart, who was moved to the 2nd power play unit as a result of the injury to Jason Williams.
• David Staples of the Edmonton Journal takes the Oilers to task for a bad line change which he feels is the most underrated screw up in hockey.
• L.A. Kings coach Terry Murray wasn’t happy with the play of his goalie Jonathan Quick and as a result has made that change as well as a few others.
• Looks like the ice at Brossard will be quite busy as the Flames stick around in Montreal before they head off to play in Buffalo and Toronto with the Canadiens practicing before they depart for Phoenix.
  
• The Devils aren’t saying what is wrong with veteran winger Brian Rolston, but he will not be in the lineup Wednesday night against the Ducks.
• Rangers forward Chris Drury, coming off the third recorded concussion of his NHL career, isn’t going to be available to play for the forseeable future.
• Recently inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in the writer’s category, Dave Molinari talks about his three favorite arenas in the NHL.
• The Flyers recalled Oskars Bartulis from the Adirondack Phantoms who will likely be in the lineup when they take on Ray Emery‘s former team.
  
• Phoenix Coyotes general manager Don Maloney plans on travelling to San Antonio Friday to scout 47-year-old defenceman Chris Chelios.
• The St. Louis Blues finally had that break out game that may be just what they need to get out of their funk and fortunately they also got revenge on the team that knocked them from last season’s playoffs.
• The Capitals begin a stretch of three games in four days tonight against the Islanders and the good news is that the team’s collective health is on the upswing.

• After a nagging groin-muscle injury kept him out for more than two weeks, Jean-Sebastian Giguere figures to return to the lineup this week as the Ducks go on a four-game road trip.
• If the Thrashers hope to get scoring from some forwards, the good news is that Ilya Kovlachuk returned to practice this morning writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
  
• The Bruins are hoping that Derek Morris, who is feeling a tad sick and skipped the morning skate, will be ready to play tonight against the Penguins.
• Looks like Adam Mair will remain with the Buffalo Sabres, as he wasn’t claimed off waivers and the team will keep him up with the NHL squad.
• Craig Conroy traded in the driver for a 5-iron last week and, so far, it hasn’t helped either as he continues his quest for his first goal of the season.
• The new look Carolina Hurricanes are throwing Manny Legace right into the fire as he will be starting Wednesday against the Kings.
• Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News writes about Brett Hull‘s passion for hockey which is as big as his achievements on ice.
• After last night’s speeches at the Hockey Hall of Fame, Red Wings Vice President Steve Yzerman is being hailed for his class, skill and remembering his roots.
  
• The Oilers Lubomir Visnovsky is averaging more than a point a game this season, at least if you take into account all the plays he has made that have led to goals being scored by the Oilers, and that only seems fair to me to do just that.
• Kings coach Terry Murray wants his young goaltender to continue making the spectacular saves, but he also wants him to make the routine ones.
• Canadiens forward Michael Cammalleri is paying tribute to Quebec-based soliders who have recently returned from Afghanistan by providing tickets to 21 homes games for the troops and their families.
• Nashville Predators defen­se­man Shea Weber prac­ti­ced with the team and may be ready to play tonight against San Jose.
• Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger is reporting from practice today that Brian Rolstron was missing for the second day in a row.
• Rick Carpiniello brings some Brian Leetch memories including when he first showed up to join the Rangers as a teenager, his teammates—I think Ron Greschner might have been behind it—nicknamed him “Norm” after the Cheers character?
  
• Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray is pleased with his team’s performance this season, but he isn’t done tinkering yet.
• Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos gave Bolts fans a scare when he fell yesterday but he is okay after his fall in practice and it appears that Victor Hedman has been cleared to play and could go against the Wild.
• Despite all the rumours that Michael Nylander is heading to Russia to play, the Washington Capitals haven’t confirmed this.

• The Ducks are about to embark on an important road trip, one which see’s the team currently sitting 13th in the West and they know the importance of every win early in the season.
• With the injury to Ilya Kovalchuk, it was understood that someone would have to pick up the slack and start scoring for the Thrashers, but I don’t think anyone expected it to come solely from the defence.
• After last week’s bout with the H1N1 virus, the Bruins David Krejci is back at practice for Boston as was Milan Lucic, who skated in full gear.
• The Flames were happy to talk about Jarome Iginla being voted player of the week but they were silent when it comes to talking about the hit Glencross put on Drury.  Update:  TSN reporting Glencross suspended 3 days.
  
• With all the injuries they have suffered, the worst being Cam Ward being sidelined for a minimum of 3-4 weeks, the Canes have signed goalie Manny Legace, which is filling the dressing room with former Wings.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post is still not happy with the crowds in Denver and is concerned that Avs super rookie Matt Duchene has been held pointless for the last four games.
• Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News takes a look at all things Brett Hull on the day he is to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
• Sticking with the always loquacious Brett Hull he was chatting with Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press this morning and offered her his thoughts on the Wings captain.
• In another tweet-gate incident, except this time involving team beat writers, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal caught a tweet by the Denver Post’s Adrian Dater about the Oilers which will, I’m sure, not leave Edmonton fans very happy.  Be sure to follow Illegalcurve on Twitter so you can receive all the latest NHL news.
• Rich Hammond is in Toronto for the Hall of Fame ceremony and is extensively covering former King Luc Robitaille’s day.
  
• Petr Sykora has been diagnosed with a concussion following that hit from Steve Ott the other night and he will not travel with the team today to Toronto.
• With the recent tweet from Halak’s agent which stirred up a hornet’s nest in Montreal, there has been some statistical analysis which breaks down October’s goaltending performances of Canadiens’ Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak.
• Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger takes a look at what sort of items the Devils players collected, now or as kids, as well as a look at  Lou Lamoriello receiving his Hall of Fame blazer.
• Chris Botta talks about the progress for Rick DiPietro, says all is quiet on the Biron front and that Trent Hunter is getting closer to returning.
• The St. Louis Blues are getting younger, more skilled which could allow the team to offload some vets if the young guns continue to prove themselves.
• Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman participated fully in practice but coach Rick Tocchet might hold Hedman out of Thursday’s game with the Wild as a precaution.
• Damien Cox of the Toronto Star offers some musings on Kessel, HHOF class, NHLPA, Kevin Weekes and Alexander Ovechkin.
• In what seems like quite the turnaround from what Alexander Ovechkin himself said, GM George McPhee said he wouldn’t be surprised if Alex Ovechkin returns in time for this weekend’s games.

• The Ducks Teemu Selanne’s two points last night pushed his career total to 1,221 as he passed legendary Montreal Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau for 38th place all time.
  
• Chris Vivalamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes a look at the numbers to see why the Atlanta Thrashers have been so good on the road (5-1-1), but terrible at home (1-5-0).  
• Boston, at heart, is a hockey town but with the Bruins playing so poorly out of the gate to start the season they are in danger of squandering a chance to re-establish their relevance on the Boston sports scene writes Christopher L. Gasper of the Boston Globe.
• John Vogl of the Buffalo News takes a look at the differing offensive philosophies of the Sabres, who rely on 4 lines and the Flyers who tend to rely on 2 lines for their production.
• The Flames Miikka Kiprusoff skated this morning in St. Louis but he is still only 50/50 to go tonight says coach Brent Sutter.
• With the Carolina Hurricanes set to host the equally disappointing Leafs tonight, the Hurricanes got some good injury news as both Tuomo Ruutu and Zach Boychuk are ready to play.
• The Hawks Tomas Kopecky learnt how to screen a goalie from one of the best in the business, Tomas Holmstrom of the Wings, and he is bringing those skills to Chicago this season.
  
• Denver Post columnist Adrian Dater sure heard from Avalanche fans after he called them out after Wednesday’s poor crowd.
• The Jackets won a sloppy game last night but only care that they escaped with two more points, good enough to give them 1st place in the central.
• The Dallas Stars coach Marc Crawford said James Neal has a groin pull and will not play tonight and probably will not make the trip to Minnesota on Saturday.
• Mike Mouat of the Examiner takes a look inside the Wings media guide and lets readers in on the players favorite off ice activities and personalities.
• The Edmonton Oilers played a less than stellar game against the New York Rangers last night and David Staples of the Edmonton Journal and he felt from the coaching staff to the players should be held accountable.
• Kings coach Terry Murray talks about his raised expectations for the sniper Anze Kopitar as he continues to lead the league in scoring.
  
• The Canadiens today claimed defenceman Jay Leach, 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, from the New Jersey Devils organization.
• With the injury to center Rob Niedermayer, Devil Patrick Elias is not going to have a slow transition back to playing and coach Jacques Lemaire feels he will play 17-19 minutes tonight.
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post writes that based on the morning skate, it looks like Jose Theodore will get the nod in net tonight at BankAtlantic Center against the suddenly surging Panthers.

• Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register wants to know which is the most disappointing team so far this young season, and it appears that Ducks fans are looking no further than Anaheim.
• It looks like the H1N1 is continuing to spread further throughout the NHL as the Boston Bruins David Krejci has come down with it and as a result he won’t be playing tonight.
• The Flames Jarome Iginlais finally playing with a chip on his shoulder and this showed in his three point performance last night against the Stars.
  
• It appears that the Carolina Hurricanes are the south of the border version of the Leafs and Chip Alexander of the News and Observer wonders when the team will win again.
• Adrian Dater of the Denver Post says the real attendance figure last night was around 8,500 and he calls out Avalanche fans for not showing up to support the team.
• Columbus Blue Jackets president Mike Priestexpressed his appreciation to the Columbus Chamber and Dr. Buser for their efforts and for recognizing the role the Blue Jackets and Nationwide have played in turning a once blighted area into Nationwide Arena and the Arena District.
• The Red Wings aren’t using injuries as an excuse for their relatively slow start – 15 points after 13 games; third place in their division.
  
• George Richards of the Miami Herald writes that you won’t see “Brought to You By RRA” anymore as a scandal hits Panthers as well as discussing giving away free tickets to last night’s game against Carolina.
• Looks like the Minnesota Wild have had their batteries recharged and for the first time since training camp, smiles and laughs and downright fun ensued during another loose, yet hard-working Wild practice writes Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
• It appears that Jacques Martin has no choice but to show confidence in Carey Price when the Habs visit Boston tonight as Jaroslav Halak is not 100% ready to go.
  
• With their big win over the visiting Capitals last night, have the New Jersey Devils finally figured out what it takes to win at the Prudential Center.
• Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was looking into the Pittsburgh Penguins poor record in California and then expanded that to look at the Pens record in every state, province or even country in its 42 years of existence.
• Damien Cox, the Star’s hockey columnist’s mail bag this week covers the play of Ian White, whether White should be given the ‘C’, whether MLSE is on the decline, sale of the Yotes to the NHL, Kessel’s impact, if the Leafs should have kept McCabe and are the Leafs trying to get Giggy.
• The Vancouver Canucks Ryan Kesler is getting some love for his excellent play as the guys over at Orland Kurtenblog break down their top 10 things around the NHL.