NHL Morning Papers (Friday Edition)

Here are the morning papers for Friday the 3rd of October:

• If Sergei Fedorov is asked to play defense, he doesn’t mind, writes Tarik El-Bashir.
• Tonight is the last night for Flames players to prove their worth in exhibition play, writes Randy Sportak.  The flu bug is currently making its way through the Flames’ dressing room.
• Avalanche coach Tony Granato says the players that play best in the final two pre-season games, will earn the spots that are up for grabs at camp.  In between the pipes, Avalanche fans get their first look at Andrew Raycroft tonight.
• Vinny Prospal is very, very excited to play a regular season NHL game in his home country.  With the team constantly on the move in Europe, the Lightning equipment managers are the MVPs of the trip, writes Damian Cristodero.
• The Predators have to make sure they start games with more intensity, writes John Glennon.  The Alexander Radulov issue is still not settled, as the NHL is hoping to stage a binding arbitration in Switzerland.
• Could the Penguins be in store for a Cup finals hangover?  Not if Marc-Andre Fleury has anything to say about it.  Evgeni Malkin and Brooks Orpik were sporting the “A”s on their jerseys when the Penguins took on Jokerit on Thursday.
• Josh Harding says he’s okay and ready to roll after suffering a scratched cornea two days ago.
• Ales Hemsky finally has some credible offensive help surrounding him, writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.  With Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers having to be kept up with the Oilers to avoid waivers, that means the Oil will only keep 13 forwards to begin the season.
• Habs enforcer Georges Laraque is bothered by a groin injury but hopes to be in the line-up next week when the season starts.
• Rob Blake is happy to be back on the point where he feels most comfortable on the power play.
• Jay McClement is in tremendous shape for the Blues to start the season and he hopes he can put 2007/08 behind him.
• Mike Fisher re-aggravated his tender groin yesterday versus Frolunda and is now questionable for the Senators’ first regular season game tomorrow.  Meanwhile, Eugene Melnyk wants Daniel Alfredsson to be a Senator for life, writes Chris Stevenson.
• Josh Bailey signed his first NHL contract with the Islanders on Thursday and may still start the season with the Isles, writes Greg Logan.
• It looks like the Devils will be better defensively this season than they were last season.
• The Canucks pushed their pre-season record to a flawless 6-0 last night with a victory over the Sharks.  The Canucks still need to make some roster moves as the team is seven players over the roster limit.
• Is Tom Renney about to name Scott Gomez and Chris Drury co-captains of the Rangers?  There are lots of questions surrounding the Rangers this season.
• Flyers rookie Claude Giroux is slated to begin the season with the Phantoms of the AHL.
• Craig Anderson wants to prove that he can be a starter in the NHL and is hoping to perform well when Tomas Vokoun gets a break for the Panthers.  In front of Anderson, the Panthers have tough guy Wade Belak to patrol the ice.
• George Sipple has the details on the leg injury Chris Chelios suffered earlier in the week.  As a result of this injury, Ken Holland may choose to start the season with one skater under the roster limit, explains Dave Dye.
• Last year’s conference finals success has helped the Stars sell some tickets this season.
• Taking his possible bonuses into account, the Ducks may send Bobby Ryan down to the AHL to start the season, writes Dan Wood.
• With the Ron Hainsey signing, and the acquisition of Mathieu Schneider from the Ducks, the Thrashers are suddenly deep on the blueline.
• Manny Fernandez was happy with the way he played against Montreal the other night.  When it comes to special teams, the Bruins want to replicate their penalty killing performance from last year’s playoffs, writes Rich Thompson.
• The Blue Jackets are going to finalize the roster on Monday.  It wouldn’t be a normal day without some Russian transfer issues surrounding the Blue Jackets; this time in respect to the CHL.
• The Hurricanes played the style they wanted to last night in their 4-2 win over the Predators, writes Chip Alexander.
• The Sabres defeated the Blue Jackets 5-2 last night.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.