Here are the morning papers for Saturday the 15th of November:
- In his weekly notebook, Eric Duhatschek primarily discusses Brian Burke and then provides readers with many other interesting hockey tidbits.
- Pat Hickey isn’t convinced the NHL’s attendance is as rosy as Gary Bettman makes it out to be.
- The Ducks didn’t exactly change their play on the ice last night even though they had a new GM watching from up above, writes Helene Elliot. The Ducks just made too many mistakes to get a victory over Nashville.
- The Thrashers extended their winning streak to five games on Thursday with a 3-2 victory over Carolina.
- With the way Manny Fernandez is playing, the Bruins can’t go wrong in net, writes Matt Porter. Meanwhile, Shawn Thornton isn’t only helping the Bruins in the fighting department, he can play a little too.
- Patrick Lalime wasn’t very good in between the pipes for Buffalo on Friday, but his team didn’t exactly give him much help, writes John Vogl.
- The Flames played so poorly against San Jose on Thursday that their trip time in the Bay Area was cut short.
- The Hurricanes lost their third consecutive game last night when they faced off in Atlanta, writes Chip Alexander.
- The Blackhawks got into a bit of a hole last night, battled back to take the game into overtime but Andy McDonald’s overtime marker sent them home disappointed.
- The Avalanche’s power play has been horrible lately, writes Rick Sadowski.
- The Blue Jackets tossed six goals on the board for Pascal Leclaire’s return to the net and Columbus walked away from Buffalo with a 6-1 victory. The Jackets didn’t mind not facing Ryan Miller last night. Here are the Jackets’ probable lines for tonight’s game versus Minnesota.
- Brett Hull says the Stars aren’t going to start blowing things up only a month into the season. Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News isn’t overly optimistic about the Stars’ chances this season.
- Detroit winger Johan Franzen scored his second game-winning goal in his last two games in Florida last night. Marian Hossa’s contributions sure didn’t hurt either.
- Craig MacTavish won’t be afraid to bench one of his underachieving forwards. Coach MacTavish didn’t want to talk about his goaltending situation on Friday.
- Panthers winger David Booth was very excited to play against the Red Wings last night, as they were his favorite boyhood team. The Panthers played a very strong second half of the game on Friday, the problem is that you cannot play only half a game against the defending Cup champs.
- Erik Ersberg will get another start in net for the Kings, his sixth in a row, tonight against Nashville.
- Brent Burns looks like he will continue to play right wing on a line with Eric Belanger and Andrew Brunette.
- Montreal defenseman Mike Komisarek (hand) will miss tonight’s game against Philadelphia. Georges Laraque tried to fit Milan Lucic and Shawn Thornton but both refused his invitation to fight.
- With their win last night in Anaheim, the Predators have a chance to go .500 on their six-game road trip with a win over Los Angeles tonight. Coach Barry Trotz split up J.P. Dumont and Jason Arnott for Friday’s game.
- The Devils lost their fourth straight game last night but Lou Lamoriello remains steadfast in his claims that he isn’t planning on trading for a goaltender.
- Islanders defenseman Thomas Pock has been suspended five games for his elbow to the head of Senators forward Ryan Shannon.
- Rangers defenseman may not see himself as an offensive defenseman, but he has recorded 14 points so far this season. Larry Brooks provides readers with the greatest line combinations in Rangers history.
- Bryan Murray is extremely unhappy with the play of the team he constructed and some wonder if changes are around the corner. Don’t expect a reunion of Ottawa’s big three tonight, says coach Craig Hartsburg.
- John Stevens isn’t sure why his team has struggled in shootouts. In roster news, Lasse Kukkonen didn’t get claimed on waivers and will probably be back with the Flyers this weekend.
- The Penguins games sure have not been boring this season, writes Shelly Anderson. The Penguins will unveil their third jerseys tonight.
- The Sharks begin their annual father-son trip this weekend, writes David Pollak.
- The Blues started well and finished well in Chicago and that resulted in a 4-3 overtime victory over their division rivals. On the injury front, Paul Kariya missed his fourth straight game with a foot injury on Friday in Chicago.
- Apparently Barry Melrose’s record was not the main reason for his firing. Considering Brian Lawton didn’t hire Barry Melrose, Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune says the decision was doomed from the start. “They just didn’t like the way the players responded to me,” said Melrose after being let go. Vincent Lecavalier wants his teammates to stay positive.
- If the Leafs hire Brian Burke, he’d probably blow the entire team up, writes Damien Cox. Did you know that Matt Stajan is playing at a point-per-game clip so far this season?
- Kyle Wellwood will be extra motivated to face his old teammates tonight. Sami Salo (shoulder) will dress against the Leafs tonight.
- The Capitals received another strong performance from Jose Theodore and recorded a 3-1 home victory over the Devils.
For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.
