Here are the national morning papers:
- Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail thinks that it is too early for all these Mats Sundin rumors.
- Alan Maki of the Globe & Mail examines the internal fighting that is taking place within the Oilers’ ownership group.
- USA Today’s Mike Brehm provides readers with his NHL power rankings.
Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:
- Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the story of recent call-up Colin Stuart and his hockey-obsessed family in this morning’s paper.
- Bruins defenseman Andrew Alberts is on the slow road to recovery with post-concussion symptoms.
- It is tough for the Sabres to keep pace with last year’s version of the Sabres if so many of their players are having below-par seasons writes John Vogl of the Buffalo News. The Sabres will be without Derek Roy, Maxim Afinogenov and Daniel Paille for tonight’s contest against the Devils.
- It looks like the Hurricanes are pushing hard to acquire a puck-moving defenseman in the next little while writes Luke Decock of the News Observer. Meanwhile, Cam Ward will return to the Canes’ starting lineup tonight when they visit the Bruins.
- The South Florida Sun-Sentinel provides the keys to the Panthers making a second-half playoff push. Panthers coach Jacques Martin has decided to give Olli Jokinen two new linemates for tonight’s game versus the Penguins.
- As Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette tells us, few, if any, enjoy the success that Carey Price did in 2007.
- Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger thinks the Devils may have a new “crash” line. The Devils are hoping they can be a more consistent team in the second-half of the season.
- Rangers defenseman Marek Malik stormed out of Rexall Place on Saturday after learning he was a healthy scratch.
- Islanders coach Ted Nolan was unhappy with the effort from a portion of his roster last night in his team’s 4-0 loss at Edmonton and wasn’t afraid to bench some of his top players.
- The Ottawa Citizen examines some second-half questions about the Senators.
- As Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer explains, Flyers forward Steve Downie got a lucky break when Colin Campbell decided against giving him a suspension.
- Penguins winger Jarkko Ruutu is as much of an agitator off-the-ice, as he is on it writes Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- The Lightning have been very happy with the progress of youngster Mike Lundin on the team’s blueline so far this season.
- According to Damien Cox of the Toronto Star, Mats Sundin is not on the market right now. Cox also tells readers that hockey is alive and well in California.
- As Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post tells us, it looks like the Capitals are about to get a number of their regulars back healthy and into their lineup.
Here are the Western Conference morning papers:
- The Ducks have had trouble scoring goals lately but last night they scored four goals in the first nine minutes of the second period and defeated the Predators 5-2 on home-ice.
- Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun has an interesting article on the evolution of Jarome Iginla as a goal-scorer. Flames GM Darryl Sutter was ecstatic with the play of 2007 first round pick Mikael Backlund at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Meanwhile, Alex Tanguay has a new role with the Flames this season but that doesn’t mean he’s not striving to return to his old form writes Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun.
- Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune examines all aspects of the Blackhawks organization, both on and off the ice, in this morning’s paper.
- According to Terry Frei of the Denver Post, Tyler Arnason, who has been sidelined with a wrist injury, will be back in the Avalanche lineup in the not-so distant future.
- Marty Turco was sharp as he turned aside 18 of the 19 shots he faced from the Wild in Dallas’ 3-1 victory over Minnesota.
- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press hands out her mid-season grades for each and every Red Wings regular.
- The Oilers finally won a game in regulation last night, and in fact, they won it handily with a 4-0 defeat of the Islanders.
- According to Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times, Kings forward Michael Cammalleri will probably be out of the lineup for another week.
- Michael Russo of the Star Tribune has an interesting article on the friction that is building between Marian Gaborik and Jacques Lemaire.
- The Ducks were just too big, strong and physical for the Predators last night writes John Glennon of the Tennessan.
- Sometimes the stats don’t really tell the story about a player’s worth writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
- By demoting Dimitri Patzold and subjecting him to waivers, the Sharks have taken a calculated risk that the young netminder will go unclaimed.
- As Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tells us, Andy Murray wants more offense from his forwards.
- Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province provides readers with all the details of the Canucks latest line changes.
For Illegal Curve, I`m Richard Pollock.
