NHL Morning Papers–Conference Finals!

Eastern Finals

Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia

—Setting a new record for putting the cart before the horse, Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette says it’s not too early for the Pens to be talking sweep

—According to someone smarter than Ron Cook, Bob Smizik resisted the urge to make bold outlandish predictions, and instead said that the best two players on the ice last night were Gene Malkin and Sid Crosby

—Yet another columnist smarter than Ron Cook, Shelly Anderson astutely pointed out that the Flyers have much experience in these playoffs responding

—Tim Panaccio of the Philly Inquirer, says that the Flyers knew how important it was to play a clean, turnover free game

—Ray Parrillo of the Inquirer seems to be calling out for a replay of the Bobby Clarke-Valeri Kharmalov slash from the 1972 Summit Series, in saying that the Flyers were unable to stop Malkin last night

—Phil Sheridan said that the emotion the Flyers used as momentum to begin the game, only took them far enough to lose last night, and at some point, skill overtakes emotion

Western Finals

Detroit vs. Dallas

—JJ Taylor of the Dallas Morning News reports that Stars head coach Dave Tippett has scrapped his game 1 defensive pairings

—Mike Heika has all the intricate news and notes hockey junkies crave in his game-day notebook

—In an impressive bit of ironic writing, Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press, says that “Hockeytown is back” because there were higher TV ratings and fewer empty seats

—For all those who have been demanding more information

For Illegal Curve, I’m Drew Mindell