NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

 

• With the acquisition of Marian Hossa on Wednesday, Eric Duhatschek tells us the future is now in Pittsburgh.
• Stephen Brunt of the Globe & Mail says Cliff Fletcher did the best he could with the mess left to him by John Ferguson Jr.
• Tim Wharnsby of the Globe & Mail gives us his winners and losers from trade deadline day.
• William Houston recaps the television coverage of the trade deadline.
• Cliff Fletcher is clearly frustrated by the direction of the Maple Leafs, writes Dave Shoalts.
• Mark Spector of the National Post says the Leafs players are only looking out for themselves.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today provides his perspective on the deadline.
• Allen also lists 15 teams that made strides at the deadline.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• Craig Custance recaps the Marian Hossa trade and the players coming back to Atlanta in this morning’s Journal-Constitution. Apparently the Thrashers played a hockey game after the Hossa trade, but you wouldn’t have known after their performance in Montreal.
• The Bruins were apparently in the mix to acquire Marian Hossa before he was dealt to the Penguins. The Bruins demonstrated they may not have needed any deadline day tinkering, as they went out an easily defeated the Senators 4-0.
• John Vogl has the Buffalo perspective of the Brian Campbell trade. Mike Harrington has Campbell’s former teammates’ comments about the trade. Now that Campbell is a Shark, the Sabres need to get back to the business of making the playoffs.
• Carolina addressed its need at center yesterday with the acquisition of Tuomo Ruutu for Andrew Ladd. Not only did the Canes acquire Tuomo Ruutu yesterday, but he somehow made it to Carolina for the game, writes Luke Decock. The Canes got a big 2-1 overtime victory over the conference leading Devils last night.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post gives his take on the two Rangers deals yesterday. While John Dellapina of the NY Daily News also reviews the Rangers deals.
• Vinny Prospal is excited to be a Flyer, but isn’t looking to sign an extension just yet.
• The Penguins sent a serious message to the rest of the league yesterday, writes Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Penguins didn’t get Hossa without pay a price, and the players going the other way had a tough time saying goodbye.
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post reviews the three trades made by the Capitals yesterday and what affect the moves will have on the team’s playoff chances.
• Damien Cox thinks the Leafs need a GM like Bob Gainey. It is fair to say that Pavel Kubina is not long for Toronto, writes Dave Perkins. Lance Hornby captures Fletcher’s anger/disappointment in this article.
• The rumors were tossed around for a while, but the Bolts’ big four is now down to a big three after the team dealt Brad Richards to Dallas yesterday. Vincent Lecavalier was sad to see his best friend go, writes Erik Erlendsson.
• The Senators 4-0 embarrassing loss at Boston yesterday won’t do much to lessen the talk of John Paddock’s job being in jeopardy. Bruce Garrioch tells readers the Senators weren’t willing to pay top dollar for the big-time players and were limited to only trading for Martin Lapointe.
• Greg Logan recaps the top minor deals pulled off by the Islanders on Tuesday.
• The Devils lost yesterday at Carolina, but coach Brent Sutter was fine the team only made one deal and that was acquiring Bryce Salvador from the Blues.
• Cristobal Huet can’t lie and say he wasn’t surprised to be dealt yesterday, writes Pat Hickey. The newest number goalie in Montreal made a good first impression on Tuesday by leading his team to a 5-1 victory.
• Steve Gorten provides readers with the background on the two Panthers acquisitions.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• The Ducks made a few minor moves at the deadline yesterday but nothing earth shattering, writes Dan Wood.
• Now that GM Darryl Sutter has decided that his team has what it takes, the pressure is on the players to prove their worth, writes George Johnson. Meanwhile, Bruce Dowbiggin tells readers that time will tell whether Sutter was right to take a pass on the action.
• Aaron Portzline describes the craziness of trade deadline day from the Blue Jackets perspective. Michael Arace thinks the Jackets should have pulled the trigger on the Brad Richads trade.
• Tim Cowlishaw tells Dallas fans the Stars mean business.
• Detroit GM Ken Holland thinks that newest Wing Brad Stuart is a perfect number four defenseman.
• The Kings may have dealt Brad Stuart and J.S. Aubin, but the bigger news was that Rob Blake stayed put.
• Michael Russo has the details behind the Wild’s trade for Chris Simon.
• The Predators picked up a couple depth forwards for the stretch drive; John Glennon has the story.
• The Sharks organization is ecstatic to add Brian Campbell to its lineup, writes David Pollak.
• The Blues dealt off two of their defensemen yesterday, and there appears to be some confusion as to whether Bryce Salvador would have resigned with the club.
• The Blackhawks traded their longest tenured player yesterday, as GM Dale Tallon dealt Tuomo Ruttu to Carolina for Andrew Ladd.
• Peter Forsberg could be back in action by Saturday night, writes Adrian Dater. Forsberg must think he never left, as he will be coming back to a Colorado team that has Adam Foote back on its blue line.
• The Oilers see themselves building for the future, so they didn’t feel a need to make a move at yesterday’s deadline. In fact, Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun applauds Kevin Lowe’s decision to remain inactive at the deadline.
• Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic gives readers some information on the newest Coyote acquisitions.
• The Canucks made one small move on Tuesday and that has Jason Botchford wondering if the Canucks are a write-off.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.

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