NHL Morning Papers–Western Conference (Monday Edition)

Here are the Northwest Division morning papers:

• With Sunday’s victory over Chicago, the Flames have moved into a three-way tie atop the Northwest Division along with Colorado and Minnesota.
• Dwayne Roloson may actually need another month of rest after the barrage of shots he faced in San Jose yesterday. The Edmonton Sun hands out grades for Sunday’s 2-1 shootout victory at San Jose. Oilers defenseman Matt Greene ended yesterday’s game a little worse for wear.
• Trevor Linden may not be the offensive talent he once was, but that does not mean he won’t utilize his leadership skills, writes Ben Kuzma. After reading this article, you sure cannot say that Willie Mitchell lacks toughness. In other news, Ryan Kesler believes Chris Pronger got what he deserved.
• The Avalanche will have Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote back in the lineup tonight when they face-off against the Wild, writes Adrian Dater.
• As Michael Russo tells us, The Wild’s season comes down to the next ten games against division foes.

Here are the Central Division morning papers:

• Nashville goaltender Dan Ellis does not mind his added workload as of late.
• The Red Wings outshot the Blue Jackets by 29 shots but still came out on the losing end yesterday, writes George Sipple. Much responsibility for the loss can be found at the doorstep of Dominik Hasek.
• Even though the team lost Pascal Leclaire in warm-ups, the Blue Jackets weathered the storm and got a great performance from Fredrik Norrena to come out of Nationwide Arena with a victory over Detroit. Yesterday’s game was just the second sellout in Columbus all season long.
• The Blackhawks got off to a terrible start yesterday against the Flames and are getting to a point where their playoff hopes are bordering on ridiculous.

**There were no St. Louis Blues articles this morning**

Here are the Pacific Division morning papers:

• Eric Stephens of the L.A. Times profiles Ducks center Todd Marchant.
• Instead of cracking the whip after some sluggish play, Stars coach Dave Tippett decided to give his team two days off, writes Mike Heika.
• The stats were all in San Jose’s favor, however a hot Dwayne Roloson made the stats all for naught last night, writes David Pollak. Jody Shelley felt bad after the contest for taking a penalty that led to the Oilers’ only regulation goal.
• The Coyotes play a huge tilt tonight versus Vancouver.

**There were no L.A. Kings articles this morning**

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.

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