Here are the national morning papers:
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:
For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.