Here are the morning papers for Tuesdayt the 24th of February:
- The Ducks will face the Sabres tonight but won’t have to face stopper Ryan Miller. With rumors that Anaheim is looking to trade just about everyone, maybe they shouldn’t trade anyone.
- The Thrashers have the worst home record in the NHL.
- Don’t look for Peter Chiarelli to trade any young assets for a short-term fix. That said, it looks like a deadline deal remains in the cards. Trades aside, the Bruins begin an important homestand tonight.
- With Ryan Miller hurting, it is Patrick Lalime time in Buffao.
- It looks like Mark Giordano will be out for the season with a shoulder injury. Talk about a thrill, University of Calgary netminder Nathan Deobold got to practice with the Flames yesterday. With all these injuries surrounding the Flames, Matthew Lombardi has really stepped up his game. Tonight marks the return of Kristian Huselius to the Saddledome. Here are predictions for tonight’s game versus Columbus.
- Can the Hurricanes’ second line continue its hot streak tonight versus Ottawa?
- In Chicago, the Blackhawks are focusing on getting their penalty kill back to its early-season form.
- It looks like the Avalanche will finally get center Paul Stastny back in the lineup tonight. Peter Budaj is slated to get the start tonight.
- The Blue Jackets know tonight’s game in Calgary will be a physical battle. Kristian Huselius is happy to finally be facing his old team after missing the teams’ first two games due to injury. Here are the Jackets’ projected lines for tonight’s game.
- The Stars brought a great effort versus San Jose yesterday, but couldn’t get on the board as they lost 1-0 at home.
- Expect Chris Osgood to return to the Wings net on Friday. Speeaking of returns, Brad Stuart expects to be in the Wings lineup for Wednesday’s tilt with the Sharks.
- Dan Barnes lists a number of players the Oilers should be interested in. The Oilers need to start capitalizing on their 5-on-3 power play opportunities. Theo Peckham talks about his fight with Claude Lemieux. It appears Fernando Pisani is approximately a week away from returning to the Oilers lineup. Are the Oilers’ top defensemen playing too many minutes?
- The Panthers’ difficult five-game road trip begins tonight.
- The Wild doesn’t yet know how long Owen Nolan will be out of the lineup for.
- Alexei Kovalev turns 36 today. With the Kovalev controversy seemingly on the backburner, the next controversy in Montreal surrounds the goaltending position.
- Shea Weber struggled to score goals after his productive start to the season because teams started taking away his one-timer on the power play.
- After a long wait, Martin Brodeur says he is ready to roll for the Devils.
- Apparently Dean McAmmond was an Islanders fan as a kid.
- Mark Herrmann of Newsday says Tom Renney didn’t deserve to be fired. Steve Zipay examines the shift in personalities that comes with this change. Larry Brooks calls Tortorella the antithesis of Renney. Put it this way, Tortorella put his foot down during his four-game head coaching stint with the Rangers in 2000.
- It looks like Bryan Murray is prepared to deal a number of his UFA’s if they don’t re-sign before the deadline. Allen Panzeri says Murray has to be careful when making any moves.
- The Flyers are readying for a rematch of last year’s first round matchup versus Washington, writes Ed Moran. Mike Richards was the NHL’s first star last week.
- The Coyotes will try and make it three in a row tonight as they face the Blues.
- Mathieu Garon will finally get a chance to make up for his poor debut in Toronto. Read more about Crosby versus Ovechkin. New Penguins coach Dan Bylsma really likes Kris Letang’s game.
- The Sharks won a tough goaltending duel, as Devin Setoguchi scored a third period goal to give San Jose a 1-0 road victory over Dallas. In roster news, Brad Lukowich returned to the Sharks lineup on Monday.
- Carlo Colaiacovo has really come into his own in St. Louis.
- Gary Roberts still has some left in the tank. Lightning GM Brian Lawton says Vincent Lecavalier isn’t going to be traded anywhere.
- If Jacques Martin doesn’t deal Bouwmeester, Tomas Kaberle’s value could rise. When everybody else is freezing ticket prices, the Leafs are increasing them.
- Roberto Luongo obviously gets extra excited to play games in Montreal. Canucks GM Mike Gillis is very confident he will re-sign the Sedins. The Canucks look like they’ll be without the services of Jannik Hansen for about a month.
- Staffan Kronwall hopes to stick in the NHL with Washington.