NHL Morning Papers (Saturday Edition): Saku Koivu and Paul Kariya not close to returning, the Blue Jackets are talking trade and the weather leading into the Winter Classic may be “too nice”

Here are the morning papers for Saturday the 27th of December:

• Johan Hedberg took responsibility for the Thrashers’ loss last night to Carolina.
• With Patrice Bergeron on the mend, Stephane Yelle will be seeing increased responsibility for the Bruins.  Did you know Martin St. Pierre uses the second longest stick on the Bruins?
• The Sabres have been playing better of late, but an Alexander Ovechkin highlight-reel marker on Friday gave Buffalo its third game in a row without a victory.  Meantime, Lindy Ruff has broken up Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville on the team’s second line.
• Flames veteran Craig Conroy has not taken one penalty in his last 17 games.  Right now, all three of Curtis Glencross, Jim Vandermeer and Brandon Prust are out of the Flames lineup with various injuries.
• Eric Staal was the reason the Hurricanes kept coming back and eventually picked up the victory yesterday, writes Chip Alexander.
• If the Blackhawks were in fear of losing momentum after Christmas break, last night’s performance sure helped erase those worries, as the team dominated Philadelphia 5-1.  Meanwhile, Brent Seabrook is trying his best to become a more consistent rearguard.  It appears that nice weather may make the task of perfecting the ice for the Winter Classic more difficult.
• Tyler Arnason and T.J. Hensick have become the top two centers respectively for the Avalanche.
• Apparently the Blue Jackets are in talks with six or seven teams about making a deal, presumably for forward.  RJ Umberger gets to play against his old teammates tonight from Philadelphia, as the Flyers visit Nationwide Arena tonight.  Here are the Jackets’ projected lines from tonight’s game.
• If the Stars are going to qualify for the 2009 playoffs, the team will need Marty Turco to be its best player.
• The Red Wings lost in Nashville on Friday and lost Nicklas Lidstrom in the process, although the veteran’s ankle injury isn’t looking serious.  Wings GM Ken Holland remains a very influential person, according to the Hockey News.
• It took some 5-on-3’s and some great netminding from Dwayne Roloson, but the Oilers got out of Vancouver with a win last night, writes Joanne Ireland.
• George Richards tells readers that the Panthers/Lightning rivalry is getting heated, as the Bolts were the victorious ones last night.  The Panthers haven’t been doing much losing lately and that is in large part due to their tremendous goaltender duo.
• The Wild surprised Jacques Lemaire with a crisp, hard practice yesterday, writes Brian Stensaas.  The Wild has little room for error, writes Bruce Brothers.
• The news coming out of Montreal on Saku Koivu’s injury isn’t great, explains Pat Hickey.
• Nashville’s offense “broke out” last night with a 3-2 win over the defending Cup champion Red Wings.  With the Predators’ top players just unable to score as of late, the team’s role players are getting a chance to prove their worth.
• The Devils lost again on Friday, and have now gone almost 160 straight minutes without scoring a goal.
• Rick DiPietro gave the Islanders quite a boost in his return to the lineup, as the team came out victorious by a score of 4-1 over the Maple Leafs.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post recaps the highs and lows for the Rangers in 2008.  Henrik Lundqvist certainly wouldn’t be opposed to Brendan Shanahan re-joining the Rangers.
• The Ottawa Sun hockey writers debate what’s wrong with the Senators.  Craig Hartsburg has reunited Jason Spezza with Dany Heatley.  The Senators are hoping Heatley tears it up in his hometown tonight.
• The Flyers hadn’t been on the ice since Tuesday before yesterday night’s tilt and it showed, writes Ed Moran.  Last night’s game was one of the Flyers worst performances of the season, opines Sam Carchidi.  Give the team a break, they didn’t exactly have the best flying experience on Friday morning.
• Marc-Andre Fleury was sharp versus New Jersey yesteday, shutting out the Devils by a final of 1-0.  Meantime, Michel Therrien basically says that his players ruined his Christmas holiday with their terrible performance on Tuesday.
• The Sharks are terrific this season, but don’t pop the champaigne just yet, writes David Pollak.
• Give Blues youngster Tyson Strachan some serious credit for sticking with it and getting all the way to the NHL.  In injury news, it looks like T.J. Oshie is ready to return from his ankle injury but the news isn’t as good for Paul Kariya and his injured hip.
• The Bolts found out that they are actually capable of winning shootouts on Friday with a victory over the state-rival Panthers.  Being placed on waivers was a big wake-up call admits Jussi Jokinen.
• Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star says that in light of Boxing Day the Leafs were just giving away goals on Friday.  The Leafs goaltending situation is getting tricky.
• The Canucks took too many penalties against the Oilers, writes Jason Botchford.  The third period was solid, but Vancouver just didn’t have it for the first two periods.  Jim Jamieson says the Canucks fans need to calm down on all the expectations.
• Sometimes Alexander Ovechkin just scores goals that dazzle the fans, last night was an example of just that, as the sniper scored what turned into the game-winning goal in highlight fashion.