NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Heading into the 2008 Entry Draft, Steven Stamkos and Drew Doughty are the two top North American skaters according to the NHL Central Scouting Service.
• Mark Spector of the National Post suggests now is the right time for Mats Sundin to be traded.
• USA Today’s Kevin Allen believes Nicklas Lidstrom should be considered for the NHL MVP award.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• “We didn’t show up,” said Thrashers captain Bobby Holik after his team’s 4-1 loss at home to the Flyers. Off the ice, the Thrashers are shocked that Ilya Kovalchuk will not be one of the starters in next month’s All-Star Game in Atlanta.
• “When you don’t work, you don’t win,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien after his team was defeated 1-0 by an ailing Hurricanes squad on Tuesday night. Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald says the Bruins were given a taste of their own medicine last night as the Hurricanes played the trap to perfection.
• Both Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller were angry that the Sabres only mustered one and not two points in their team’s 2-1 shootout loss to New Jersey last night.
• Hurricanes netminder Cam Ward admitted after last night’s 1-0 shutout victory over Boston that the past week and a half had been difficult watching other goalies start for the Hurricanes. Carolina wasted no time getting Sergei Samsonov into the lineup, as the former Blackhawk dressed for last night’s contest.
• “I don’t think there’s any spark around here right now,” said a very disappointed Olli Jokinen after the Panthers’ 3-1 loss at home to Pittsburgh last night. The Panthers have now lost eight of their last ten home games.
• The Habs were victorious 4-3 over the Blackhawks last night in what was a very entertaining game writes Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette.
• After last night’s 2-1 shootout win over Buffalo, judging by the post-game comments, it appears that Patrik Elias and coach Brent Sutter have ironed out many of the early season differences. Meanwhile, Martin Brodeur wants the NHL to award Newark the All Star Game in the near future.
• “We’ve put ourselves in the position where every second of hockey is crucial to us,” said Rangers coach Tom Renney after his team’s disastrous 5-3 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday night.
• The Islanders gave a valiant effort last night but were finally defeated in the sixth shootout round in their 3-2 loss at Vancouver.
• Not surprisingly, the very humble Daniel Alfredsson is honored to be starting for the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
• The Flyers were without five key players last night in Atlanta, but that didn’t stop the Broadstreet Bullies from outworking the Thrashers en route to a 4-1 road victory.
• “The streak continues,” said Penguins goalie Ty Conklin after his team defeated the Panthers 3-1 on the road, thus giving him a perfect 8-0 record since being recalled from the AHL.
• The Lightning are heading home on a high-note after defeating the Rangers 5-3 at MSG to end a four-game road trip.
• Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star has an interesting article evaluating Mats Sundin’s worth. (Writer’s note: While some of these trades seem unrealistic. If I were JFJ I would look into a deal like the one suggested by Craig Button.)
• Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post tells readers that Alexander Ovechkin will not be starting this year’s All-Star game.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• The Ducks are looking forward to playing against the Maple Leafs in a rare match-up between the two teams tonight in Southern California.
• A lackadaisical second period cost the Flames last night as they were defeated at home by the streaking Coyotes by a score of 3-1. Meanwhile, Scott Cruickshank of the Calgary Herald tells readers what fuels Flames leaders Jarome Iginla and Dion Phaneuf.
• The Blackhawks were defeated 4-3 in overtime last night at Montreal but they took many positives from the game, most importantly the fact that they left Montreal with one point in the standings.
• The Avalanche lost 1-0 to the Red Wings last night at Joe Louis Arena but the defeat was not from a lack of effort writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
• “This was a good old-fashioned butt-kicking,” said unhappy Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock after his team’s 6-1 loss to the Blues on Wednesday. In other Blue Jackets news, young netminder Steve Mason has been through a whirlwind few days.
• Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has an interesting piece about the new role Mike Modano has taken since Mike Ribiero established himself as the team’s number one center.
• Not only did the Red Wings defeat the Avalanche last night but Chris Chelios became the second oldest player to ever play in the NHL. In other Wings news, Chris Osgood has signed a three-year extension with the Red Wings.
• Jarret Stoll is finally starting to regain his old form writes Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal. In positive injury news, Oilers defenseman Matt Greene has started to skate on his own.
• It keeps getting worse for the Kings as they were hammered 7-0 on home-ice by the Predators last night.
• Michael Russo of the Star Tribune examines the possibility that Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard will receive an offer-sheet this off-season.
• Everything went right for the Predators at Los Angeles on Tuesday writes John Glennon of the Tennessean.
• The Coyotes continued their streaking ways last night in Calgary writes Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic.
• There were no Sharks named to start the All-Star Game but that doesn’t mean a couple of team members won’t be added as reserves.
• Blues coach Andy Murray called for more offense on Tuesday and he got it as the Blues handed the Jackets a 6-1 defeat last night.
• It was a weird one, but the Canucks will take every win they can get writes Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.