Saturday Morning NHL Papers (Western Conference): Tagging room might delay Hawks big contracts announcement, NHL re-trains clock operator in Nashville, Heatley & Thornton lead Sharks past Flyers.

Northwest Division

• The Colorado Avalanche can still claim first place in the division but the losses are starting to come more often, including a 5-2 loss to the Canucks last night.  When the Avalanche lost T.J. Galiardi they thought he would be out of the lineup for at least 6 weeks, but he was back in the lineup in less than 3 weeks.
• Alternate captain of the Flames Craig Conroy respectfully takes exception with his head coach’s assertion that the team’s attitude is too casual.  Looks like Calgary will be without Rene Bourque who is stuck at home with an undisclosed injury suffered in the 7-1 loss to the Hawks.  The only thing taking a beating worse than the one Olli Jokinen received at the hands of Francois Beauchemin in Toronto last week is Jokinen’s popularity in Calgary.  Despite all the drama and injuries the Flames begin a stretch this afternoon in Los Angeles where they play eight of nine on the road and the coach wants some firebrand hockey.
• The Vancouver Canucks‘ had an impressive comeback against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, when they scored four third-period goals on their way to an important 5-2 victory.  One of the biggest keys to winning was getting good traffic in front of the net.
  
• The Edmonton Oilers are well aware of Blackhawks’ firepower yet the team is confident that they ‘can play with anybody’.  The bone in his foot wasn’t fractured, but even if it had been, surely Liam Reddox would have found a way to get back into the Oilers lineup.  Associate coach Tom Renney barked out Ales Hemsky in practice yesterday for not showing enough focus in the drills.  Has Dustin Penner, the big winger from Winkler, Man., done enough this season to be considered for a spot on Canada’s Olympic team?
• The fans in Minneapolis were happy to see John Tavares make his twin cities debut but the real star of the show was grizzly 37-year-old vet Owen Nolan, who scored the game-winning goal with 67 seconds remaining Friday night to lift the severely short-handed Wild to a 3-2 victory.

Central Division

• It appears the Blackhawks‘ announcement of the contract extensions of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith has hit a snafu as they have run afoul of the Tagging aspect of the CBA.  The importance of Jonathan Toews on this team can be seen by the 5-0 run the team has gone on since his return.  Perhaps in light of this, the or the fact that he has 1 goal in 12 games, the Hawks placed Andrew Ebbett on waivers.
• After dominating the Panthers in just about every phase of the game, the Red Wings were beaten 2-1 in overtime Friday night.  Mike Babcock wants Wings to take more shots which is interesting considering the Wings lead the NHL in shots per game.
• One game after Predators Coach Barry Trotz ripped into the organization’s clock operator, the NHL offered a little assistance.
  
• Despite the St. Louis Blues toiling with a record of 7-8-4 so far this season, the play of their two goaltenders Mason and Conklin (ranked 8th with a team GAA of 2.44) has largely kept them competitive.

Pacific Division

• Dany Heatley notched the second hat trick of his career, while Joe Thornton added 4 assists to help the San Jose Sharks take a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at HP Pavilion.
• The only thing more surprising than the Los Angeles Kings sitting ahead of the Calgary Flames at the quarter pole of the 2009-10 NHL season may be the fact their leader stands alone atop the scoring race.  Alexander Frolov on the other hand, knows the Kings need him to shoot more and with only four goals this season he’s going to have to take his game up a notch.
  
• The Coyotes take on a Philadelphia Flyers team Saturday night that has a little bit of everything: Flashy forwards, a rookie with tons of potential and a goaltender off to an excellent start. Defenceman Keith Yandle is in the process of making a statement as he takes on a bigger role with the team.
• They got off to a 9-6-6 start, and despite the Dallas Stars having only won consecutive games just once, first year general manager Joe Nieuwendyk see’s more positives than negative.  One of the positives it the James Neal-Brad Richards-Loui Eriksson line that powers the Stars doesn’t have a name, but it does have a definite style, on and off the ice. 
• The Ducks severed promotional ties Friday with professional skateboarder Mike Vallely after he was involved in a fight in the stands of Honda Center in Thursday night’s game when Scott Niedermayer