NHL Morning Papers (Tuesday Edition)

Here are the morning papers for Tuesday the 30th of September.  Before starting, I’d like to wish our Jewish readers a happy and healthy new year.

• Flames off-season acquisition Curtis Glencross is feeling very confident heading into the 2008/09 season, writes Steve MacFarlane.
• The Blackhawks are being very quiet about their decision to place netminder Nikolai Khabibulin on waivers.
• Avalanche youngster T.J. Hensick feels far more confident this training camp than he did last year, writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• Craig MacTavish wanted to keep his players fresh, so he gave them all the weekend off.  From the beginning of his career, Jason Strudwick has known what he can and cannot do.
• It is unlikely that 18 year old Tyler Cuma will crack the Wild’s opening night roster, but that doesn’t mean his training camp hasn’t been a success.  Veteran defender Kim Johnsson demonstrated to Jacques Lemaire just how good he can be in last year’s playoffs and Lemaire wants to see that same player this season.  In injury news, Marian Gaborik is expected to suit up tonight.
• Daniel Alfredsson is so popular in Sweden that one of the arenas dedicated a pillar to him.  The Senators can’t let Alfredsson hit the free agent market next summer, writes Chris Stevenson.
• Alexei Ponikarovsky is playing his way down the Leafs’ depth chart, writes Steve Buffery.  Meanwhile, Luke Schenn has impressed at Leafs camp and that is making the team’s decision of whether to send him back to junior or keep him up with the big club pretty difficult.  The Leafs did make some cuts yesterday.
• The Canucks have sent Michael Grabner back to Manitoba of the AHL.  Apparently Kyle Wellwood is now in good enough shape to pass NHL standards, says coach Alain Vigneault.
• Brian Burke admits his admiration for Teemu Selanne and his selflessness.
• Marian Hossa doesn’t exactly miss playing in Atlanta, writes Mike Knobler.
• The Bruins are in Vermont once again participating in team-building exercises.  The Bruins are hoping the team comes closer together through this experience.
• Sabres coach Lindy Ruff wants to see more consistency out of Clarke MacArthur.
• In sad news, the Hurricanes’ co-owner Thomas Thewes has passed away.
• The Blue Jackets played well last night, but it came at a cost, as winger Raffi Torres separated his shoulder and will be out of the line-up for six weeks.  Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch tells readers about the good and the bad that comes with Christian Backman.
• Landon Wilson still thinks he can crack an NHL roster and that is why he’s at Stars training camp, writes Mike Heika.
• Jiri Hudler is set to line-up alongside Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg on the Wings’ number one line.  Meanwhile, Pavel Datsyuk’s groin is still bothering him.
• The battle for roster spots is expected to get even more competitive at Panthers camp over the next couple days.
• Helene Elliot of the L.A. Times tells Kings fans that the team does have options in between the pipes.
• Predators coach Barry Trotz is trying to get a read on what exactly Michael Ryan brings to the table.  In other Nashville news, the team has added toughness to its back-end with the acquisition of Nick Tarnasky from Tampa Bay.
• The Islanders needed some help on defense so they claimed Thomas Pock from their rival Rangers.
• In Jersey, Dainius Zubrus seems to have found a comfortable fit playing alongside Bobby Holik.
• Brian Berard is attempting to make the Flyers’ roster and has improved as camp has progressed.
• Coach Gretzky wasn’t impressed with the first goal Ilya Brygalov allowed last night but was happy with his play after that, writes Jim Gintonio.
• The Penguins are going to be without Sergei Gonchar for 4-6 months, writes Dave Molinari.  Injury news aside, the Penguins are enjoying their time in Stockholm.  When it comes to line combinations, it looks like Ruslan Fedotenko may begin the season playing left wing alongside Sidney Crosby.
• New coach Todd McLellan doesn’t think there is anything to read into when it comes to Kyle McLaren’s ice-time.
• The Blues lost to the Leafs in a shootout last night.  More importantly, the team lost Jeff Woywitka for 4-6 weeks.
• Andrej Meszaros was getting all the attention as the Lightning prepares to play an exhibition game in his home country of Slovakia.  While the team is overseas, that hasn’t limited the off-ice transactions by team management.  Here is the latest update from Vinny Prospal’s diary.
• Don’t worry about Mike Green letting his big new contract go to his head, writes Tarik El-Bashir.  With only Jose Theodore ahead of him on the depth chart, Brent Johnson can return to his comfort zone as an NHL backup netminder.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.

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