NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 1st of October:

• Helene Elliot of the L.A. Times provides readers with the details of the Sean O’Donnell trade to Los Angeles.  The trade not only frees up cap space for Anaheim, but it also sends a message to the dressing room, writes Dan Wood.
• O’Donnell is looking forward to his return to the Kings, writes Rich Hammond.
• After disappointing seasons from almost all their key players last season, the Devils’ scoring forwards are looking to have bounce-back seasons.
• Devon Setoguchi was moved to the top line in San Jose and the arrangement worked out quite well, writes David Pollak.
• It appears that Flyers prospect Claude Giroux is going to start the season in the AHL.
• Ray Shero says the Sergei Gonchar injury wasn’t the worst case scenario because Gonchar is slated to come back later in the season.  Tyler Kennedy has a new contract in hand and is expected to center the team’s fourth line.
• Michael Ryder enters the Bell Centre today for the first time as a non-Canadien, explains Fluto Shinzawa.  Are the Bruins shopping Marc Savard?
• The Panthers are happy with their AHL arrangement with Rochester.  Panthers d-man Noah Welch has agreed to donate his brain to a concussion study.
• Vincent Lecavalier played his second game since returning from shoulder surgery, and he was very happy with how the shoulder responded.  Here is another diary entry from Vinny Prospal.
• The Sabres are very happy with the amount of quality players they have at forward, so with Paul Gaustad out for a month, now is the time to prove how strong that depth is.
• You can’t help but love the toughness and sacrifice that Scott Walker provides for his teammates, writes Chip Alexander.
• The Wings third line of Cleary-Filppula-Samuelsson has some big expectations this season.  Young defenseman Jonathan Ericsson is almost a shoe-in to make the Red Wings’ defense in 2009/10.
• Stars defenseman Phillipe Boucher doesn’t feel like he’s 35.
• Capitals defenseman Mike Green has a lot of money to burn, and boy does he like electronics.
• The Jackets are going to miss the physical presence of Raffi Torres.
• Scott Gordon is giving young forward Steve Tambellini every chance to make a name for himself at Islanders camp, writes Greg Logan.
• The Rangers absolutely dominated Bern by a score of 8-1.  The Rangers should not split up their new line combinations for a more balanced attack, writes Larry Brooks of the NY Post.
• The Thrashers play their first exhibition game at home tonight.
• The Flames dominated the Oilers in the first Battle of Alberta this season.  Calgary youngster Dustin Boyd continued to impress last night, as he has all pre-season long.  Meanwhile, Flames assistant coach Jim Playfair thinks Robyn Regehr is arguably the best shut-down defenseman in the NHL. 
• The Blackhawks lost to the Wild last night, but more importantly, the team got Martin Havlat back in the line-up for the first time.
• Darcy Tucker is really enjoying his experience in Colorado so far, writes Terry Frei.  Meanwhile, Tony Granato wants his team to improve on special teams and is spending some extra time on them in training camp.
• Dwayne Roloson understands the fact that he is opening the season on the Oilers’ bench.  Rob Schremp is attending his fourth Oilers training camp, so as a result, he’s more relaxed.  With the regular season not so far away, the Oilers veterans need to start turning it up.
• Having not got into a fight since 2003, Marc-Andre Bergeron has fought an astounding three times the past three games.  Wild forward Stephane Veilleux is one of those players that teammates love to have on their side, writes John Shipley.
• You can’t help but be impressed at the performance of young Max Pacioretty so far this training camp, writes Dave Stubbs.
• No group is more excited to see Daniel Alfredsson play in Sweden than his family, explains Allen Panzeri.  It looks like a Daniel Alfredsson contract extension will get done sooner rather than later.  Meantime, expect the Pizza line to play together when the puck drops on Saturday.
• It didn’t take Roberto Luongo very long to accept the team captaincy, writes Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province.  Luongo is very excited about the opportunity, explains Elliot Pap of the Vancouver Sun.
• Kevin Klein is at Nashville training camp looking to prove himself and thus avoid a return trip to the AHL.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.