Here are the morning papers for Monday the 29th of September:
- Big defenseman Adam Pardy has really stood out at Flames training camp, writes Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun. Newcomer Rene Bourque doesn’t know how to take it easy on the ice and sometimes that makes him more susceptible to injury.
- Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune runs down the performance of the fringe roster players on the Blackhawks.
- John-Michael Liles luckily escaped serious injury after getting the butt-end of Dustin Brown’s stick right under his eye. The Avalanche sent five players to the AHL on Sunday.
- Craig MacTavish is unhappy with the play of his third line so far in camp. Andrew Coglianobelieves his line (with Robert Nilsson and Sam Gagner) will continue to improve heading into the season.
- Marian Gaborik could be ready to play on Tuesday, writes John Shipley. Teammates can’t say enough about Wild 18 year old Tyler Cuma.
- Senators coach Craig Hartsburg is certainly not afraid to play the “Big 3” together.
- With Cliff Fletcher’s pre-season comments, he really can’t lose, writes Gary Loewen of the Toronto Sun. With the season just over a week away, the Leafs have been lucky enough to avoid the injury bug. Meanwhile, coach Ron Wilson wants to make sure his team continues to block shots and limit opposing scoring chances.
- Kyle Wellwood is trying to make an impression for the Canucks and was solid last night versus Anaheim. The Canucks have some tough decisions to make when it comes to which youngsters will make the team’s roster.
- Brian Burke signed Teemu Selanne to a two-year contract which means he may actually be in Anaheim longer than the GM.
- Zach Bogosian’s parents drove a ways to see their son play his first NHL exhibition game.
- Coach Claude Julien feels like the Bruins have generated more scoring chances this year than they did at this time last season. Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald thinks the Bruins are considered by many to be an Eastern Conference playoff cinch.
- Craig Rivet is the kind of player you want setting an example for your team’s youngster, says Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.
- Even though it is just the pre-season, the Hurricanes got a much-needed victoryon Sunday. Rod Brind’Amour says he will be in the Hurricanes line-up when the games matter.
- The Rangers are getting readyto play their exhibition games in Europe, writes Steve Zipay.
- The Devils sure aren’t going to overplay Martin Brodeur during the exhibition season.
- The Islanders are playing a different system than they did last season, and the players seem to be enjoying it.
- Chris Bourque, son of Ray, has been impressive at Capitals camp so far, writes Corey Masisak.
- Simon Gagne got past one hurdle on the weekend but there a couple more still to go.
- Wayne Gretzky has really liked the play of Coyotes forward Garth Murray through the team’s first four exhibition games.
- The Blues are considering using Roman Polak on the power play after the injury to Erik Johnson.
- New coach Todd McLellan has made a point of not suffocating Partick Marleau and giving him more space.
- Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette breaks down the entire Penguins roster from top-to-bottom. Coach Michel Therrien is happy to have players with such versatility on his roster.
- The Lightning won its exhibition game on Sunday but it wasn’t before a bunch of travel delays and the game being pushed back half an hour. Good news for Bolts fans, Vincent Lecavalier felt goodafter his first game back from his shoulder injury.
- John Glennon with his observations about the Predators this training camp.
- George Richards of the Miami Herald has the initial cuts for the Panthers.
- Mike Heika with the details on the Stars exhibition game on Sunday.
- The Blue Jackets are hoping one of their defensemen take the bull by the horns and earn the power play quarterback role. Meantime, Raffi Torres is expected to make his Blue Jackets debut tonight.
- Did Mike Babcock know Marian Hossa was going to end up in Detroit? Nicklas Lidstrom is hoping to be back in the Wings’ line-up by the weekend.
For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.
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