NHL Morning Papers (Saturday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail says you can expect a lot of trades prior to the February 26th trade deadline.
• Allen Panzeri profiles recent Senators acquisition Mike Commodore in this morning’s National Post.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Thrashers recorded a big come-from-behind victory last night; when Marian Hossa scored to tie the Devils with less than 30 seconds remaining and Atlanta eventually went on to win in Round 10 of shootout. Prior to yesterday’s game coach Don Waddell admitted that Ilya Kovalchuk has been playing at less than 100% with a bum knee. Also, Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution previews the trade deadline, providing the Thrashers perspective.
• Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward is just happy he is okay, after not be able to breathe properly for some 20 minutes after he was hit by Sergei Gonchar earlier this week. In roster news, Chuck Kobasew (back) may play tonight, while Peter Schaeffer (shin) is still not ready to return to the line-up.
• It will be a playoff-like atmosphere this weekend for the Sabres as they play a home-and-home with the desperate Rangers. John Vogl provides readers with all the details about the Sabres’ injuries.
• There is no doubt that the Hurricanes will sorely miss the presence of Rod Brind’Amour both on and off the ice, but the team has no choice but to pick up the slack for the injured centerman and continue their playoff push. The Canes would love to see more production from Trevor Letowski.
• Henrik Lunqvist will make his first start since February 7th today when his team takes on the Sabres in an intense battle for a playoff spot.
• The slumping Flyers need better performances from their defensive corps, writes Ray Parrillo of the Philadelphia Inquirer. On the injury front, Simon Gagne is headed to Denver to meet with a concussion specialist and get a diagnosis on if he can return this season.
• The Penguins have re-configured their power play to be more basic, and it has worked, writes Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. With Kris Beech having suffered a broken wrist last game, the team now needs a replacement forward.
• “We gave them four goals,” said Washington coach Bruce Boudreau after his team’s 4-2 loss at Florida last night.
• With last night’s 4-2 victory over the Capitals, the Panthers moved to just two points out of first place in the Southeast Division. In more important news, Richard Zednik has been released from the hospital.
• Habs captain Saku Koivu feels good about his team’s play going forward, writes Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette. Here is the legend Red Fisher’s notebook from the Saturday Gazette.
• The Devils feel like they should have gotten two points out of last night’s game versus the Thrashers, writes Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger.
• Cory Stillman will play on a line with Chris Kelly and Antoine Vermette tonight versus the Devils. Cory Stillman is a lot different than the player he was traded along with, Mike Commodore, and he has no trouble explaining the differences.
• The Lightning wonder what their season could have been like with a healthy Dan Boyle.
• With the trade deadline a mere ten days away, Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says that Cliff Fletcher’s reputation is on the line. Mary Ormsby profiles Fletcher in this morning’s Toronto Star.

Well, my internet explorer just kicked out (Microsoft Vista is terrible) and I lost the entire Western Conference morning paper run-down. I apologize for the omission, the regular format will return tomorrow.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.

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