- The Ducks need to become a more disciplined team and their coach is the first person to admit that, writes Curtis Zupke.
- The Thrashers’ home opener was a total success, writes Mike Knobler. It was really nice to see John Anderson get his first NHL coaching win in front of his mom last night.
- The Bruins aren’t exactly sure how severe Chuck Kobasew’s ankle injury is, but they know he is going to miss tonight’s game versus Minnesota. The Bruins may very well have three scoring lines this season.
- The Sabres don’t want to hear “it’s just one game” after their impressive victory over the Conference favored Habs. After his heart troubles last season, last night’s home game was extra special for Teppo Numminen. On the injury front, Tim Connolly was late scratch last night was a back injury.
- The Hurricanes demonstrated character in their comeback win over the Panthers on Friday. It was nice to see Dan LaCouture returns to the NHL and score the game-winning goal for Carolina.
- Adam Foote will play in his 1000th NHL game on Sunday when his team faces off against the Oilers.
- Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun spreads the blame around for the Flames horrible opening night game. The return of new dad Robyn Regehr should help the Flames immensely, writes Eric Francis.
- The Blackhawks “didn’t do the things we had to do to win,” said captain Jonathan Toews after their season opening loss at MSG.
- The Blue Jackets recorded a confidence building win on the road in Dallas last night, writes Aaron Portzline. The Jackets play in Phoenix tonight in yet another home opener. Here are the Jackets’ lines for tonight’s game.
- Steve Buffery tells Leafs fans they won’t have a speed edge against the Habs tonight. Here are some things the Leafs can take from their victory over the Wings.
- It appears that Rob Schremp is headed for Springfield of the AHL. Meanwhile, Dustin Penner is taking to his new versatile role with the Oilers. Mathieu Roy would love to get picked up by another team while he’s on waivers. The Oilers are tired of sitting around and just want to start the season already.
- Bob Sansevere profiles Owen Nolan for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Star Tribune has a rundown of what every expert thinks of the Wild’s chances this season. Here is a Wild season preview from Michael Russo.
- Dave Tippett wasn’t very happy with the play of his team in their opening night match up with the Jackets. Fabian Brunnstrom is handling his healthy scratch like a seasoned veteran.
- The Habs/Sabres opening game was a tight-checking goalie dual.
- Dany Heatley is going to be the Senators’ interim captain while Daniel Alfredsson rehabs from knee surgery. The team lost Alfredsson to injury but they are getting back Mike Fisher tonight after he missed the team’s first two games.
- The Canucks secured the services of Alex Edler for another four years on Friday.
- The Red Wings are excited for their trip to the White House.
- Panthers coach Peter DeBoer says his team has a lot to work on after this season opening loss in Carolina. Tomas Vokoun put the weight on himself after what he considered a poor performance last night. Linda Robertson was impressed with the play of David Booth.
- There is a really different feel in the Kings dressing room this season, writes Rich Hammond. Over the past couple seasons, the maturation of Dustin Brown has been very apparent.
- The Predators surrendered a whopping four power play goals last night in St. Louis, writes John Glennon. Nashville is working on getting production out of the available wing spots on their top two lines.
- Surprise, surprise; Martin Brodeur was one of the main reasons the Devils won last night.
- Kyle Okposo found out last night why Martin Brodeur is arguably the greatest goalie of all-time. New Islanders coach Scott Gordon surprised the masses by not starting Rick DiPietro.
- The Rangers’ second line looked sharp last night. It was quite a home debut for Aaron Voros at MSG. Larry Brooks of the NY Post thinks it is a good sign for the Rangers if their first line struggled so much and they still came out on top.
- Martin Biron is geared up to get the season underway for the Flyers.
- The Coyotes have switched up their lines a bit but the Carcillo-Turris-Porter line remains intact.
- Mike Zigomanis realizes his job in Pittsburgh is to win some face-offs and help out on the depth lines. Sergei Gonchar says he was injured on a late hit.
- David Pollak is impressed with the way Todd McLellan has the Sharks playing.
- The veterans led the way for the youngsters last night in St. Louis.
- Barry Melrose shuffled his first two lines, writes Brian Landman. They have a lot in common, so Vincent Lecavalier is trying to ease Steve Stamkos’ transition to the NHL.
- Jose Theodore was anything but impressive in his first game with the Capitals on Friday night
For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.
