Here are the morning papers for Thursday the 30th of October:
- Apparently Daniel Alfredsson is on the verge of signing a four-year deal worth approximately $20 million. (Writer’s note: Aside from the fact that no hockey players are “underpaid”, I think that Alfredsson should have gotten the same money as Heatley and Spezza–at least for the next season or two, as he is arguably more valuable to the Senators’ cause than either of those two players.) In other Senators news, Alex Auld starts for the team tonight versus Florida.
- Brendan Shanahan is done waiting for the Rangers, writes Larry Brooks.
- Alain Vigneault switched up his lines at practice yesterday in an effort to ignite the slumping Sedin brothers.
- The Flames’ recent success has been due to impressive defense and goaltending, which is exactly the same reason for the success of their opposition tonight from Boston, writes Steve MacFarlane. If you are looking for consistent line combinations, then the Flames are the wrong team for you to follow. The Flames have been impressed with the contributions from Wayne Primeau so far this season.
- The Blackhawks have been very successful on the penalty kill to start the season.
- Adam Foote faces his former Columbus teammates tonight. Meanwhile, Terry Frei can’t lie, he is still bothered by the Todd Bertuzzi/Steve Moore incident. Andrew Raycroft gets the start tonight for Colorado.
- Today we will finally find out whether Rick Nash is playing center or wing, writes Tom Reed. The Blue Jackets are without Pascal Leclaire for the next week or two, so they want to make sure Fredrik Norrena has full confidence in his abilities.
- The Oilers have a heavy chunk of road games ahead of them and would like to come out of this stretch above .500. Craig MacTavish has decided who will play goal tonight for Edmonton, he just hasn’t revealed his choice to the press.
- Teemu Selanne sure doesn’t play like he’s in his late 30’s as the veteran winger popped a hat trick last night to lead the Ducks to a 5-4 victory over the defending champs from Detroit. In injury news, Ducks winger Brad May left last night’s game but it isn’t thought to be a serious injury.
- The Wild lost its ninth straight game in Dallas on Wednesday, falling 4-2 to the Stars. Michael Russo provides the Dallas perspective on Anti Miettinen’s success so far this season. It’s the Koivu brothers reunion tonight.
- Roman Hamrlik got hit on the foot with a shot but he will be okay to go tonight when the Habs take on the Wild. The main storyline for tonight’s game is the match up between the two Koivu brothers.
- John Anderson is fed up with his team’s play and knows they can better a lot better than they have shown, writes Mike Knobler.
- The Bruins certainly haven’t lacked contributions from their fourth line, writes Kevin Paul Dupont. Even if the Bruins are on a West Coast road trip, Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald says they are worth staying up late to watch.
- The Leafs won a shootout last night and that is pretty rare, writes Damien Cox. It clearly doesn’t matter how the Leafs perform on the ice, as the team saw its value rise once again and they remain number one atop the Forbes’ most expensive franchise list. Here are some questions and answers from Gary Loewen of the Toronto Sun.
- Andy McDonald has been a terrific addition for the Blues since the team acquired him last season from the Ducks. It will be Chris Mason in between the pipes for St. Louis tonight versus Carolina.
- Michel Therrien has separated Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, writes Shelly Anderson. Meanwhile, Pascal Dupuis left practice early on Wednesday.
- Next up for Todd McLellan, coaching against his old team and close friend Mike Babcock. Off the ice, the Sharks claim the Forbes report is inaccurate when it comes to their accounting.
- Tampa Bay’s first line is starting to regain its past form. Observers can’t help but be impressed with the play of first-time starter Mike Smith between the pipes for the Bolts.
- The Coyotes desperately need some offense from their defense, writes Jim Gintonio.
- Practicing at the team’s home arena should give the Flyers an advantage come game-time, writes Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Daily News.
- Paul Gaustad returns to the Sabres’ line-up tonight after missing the first portion of the season with a thumb injury.
- Even with all the team’s injuries, no excuses are being made in Carolina.
- Not only did the Stars change netminders before last night’s game, but they played arguably their best game of the season, writes Mike Heika.
- Mark Herrmann of Newsday has a feature on Islanders back up netminder Joey McDonald.
- The Devils lost to the Leafs last night and allowed Toronto to record a whopping 48 shots on Martin Brodeur.
- Patrick O’Sullivan has been moved back to the first line in Los Angeles.
- The Predators may have two inexperienced goalies, but they don’t lack talent.
- The Rangers need to improve their power play. Michal Rozsival may be the key to that success.
- Bryan McCabe is close to returning to the Cats’ line-up. Peter DeBoer is not pleased with the Panthers’ record.
- Helene St. James recaps the Wings/Ducks game from last night. The Wings will be facing a coach who knows all their tendencies in San Jose.
For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.