flame on

Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 29th of October: The Wings are trying to avoid suffering a Stanley Cup hangover like the Ducks had last season, writes Curtis Zupke. The Thrashers lost Zach Bogosian to a suspected bone bruise last night during the team's awful performance versus the Flyers. Tim Thomas pitched his second consecutive shutout on Tuesday by leading the Bruins to a 1-0 victory over Vancouver. The city of Vancouver was happy to have Milan Lucic back in his hometown. Kevin Paul Dupont has an interesting account of Lucic's development from the Bruins' head of player personnel. The NHL is investigating the Sabres' Adam Mair for allegedly trying to get after Chris Neil in an HSBC Arena hallway. (Writer's note: The video is on youtube, so Mair will probably be suspended or fined. In fact, here is the video.) The Hurricanes couldn't continue their dominance over the Habs last night, but they were close, writes Chip Alexander. The Alberta economy may be struggling, but the Calgary Flames are doing their best to try and keep Albetans happy with their fourth win in a row last night, writes Vicki Hall. Curtis Glencross finally scored his first goal as a Flame on Tuesday night. The scoreboard may have been close in the third period but the Avs were outplayed by the Flames on Tuesday. Winger Marek Svatos has only scored one goal this season, as the team is looking for more production from the young sniper. Avalanche defenseman Jordan Leopold seems to finally be getting some breaks, writes Aaron Lopez. Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock has decided to shift Rick Nash to center. In injury news, the Jackets are hoping Pascal Leclaire will return to the line-up within the next week or two. Dallas will get Steve Ott back in the line-up tonight after he missed the last three contests with a sore groin. The Stars have lost Joel Lundqvist from the line-up for 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. The Wings are about to meet their match this evening in Anaheim, writes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Wings third liners Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler have been heating up as of late. The Oilers' upcoming seven game road trip could be the key to their season. One thing is for certain, the Oilers have to stop taking shortcuts, says coach Craig MacTavish. Both Stephen Weiss and Gregory Campbell are questionable for the Panthers' game on Thursday versus Ottawa. Here is a feature on Nick Boynton and how he manages his diabetes. The Wild isn't taking penalties and when the team does, the players have done a terrific job of killing penalties, writes Michael Russo. Meanwhile, youngster Cal Clutterbuck has played a very physical game for the Wild so far this year. Carey Price let in a weak goal to Matt Cullen last night but came back and played extremely well in overtime and the shootout to lead the Habs to victory. Andrei Markov is all about the team, writes Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette. Alexander Semin was the main reason the Predators lost at home to Washington, writes John Glennon. Goaltender Dan Ellis was arguably the best Predators player on the ice last night. The Devils will have a couple fresh faces in the line-up tonight when they host the Maple Leafs. Islanders rookie Kyle Okposo was happy to finally record his first goal of the season on Monday. Larry Brooks says the Rangers have to start worrying about Brandon Dubinsky's contract situation. Meantime, Henrik Lundqvist has been unbelievable so far this season. Obama bumped the Senators from practicing but the team still feels really good after its win at Buffalo on Monday. The entire team is spending some time at owner Eugene Melnyk's ranch. Many of the Flyers' fathers made the trip down to Atlanta to watch their kids play and they sure saw a dominating performance, as the Flyers defeated the lowly Thrashers 7-0. Make no mistake, the Flyers have had a tough early season schedule. Todd Fedoruk has moved to the Coyotes' first line to play alongside Olli Jokinen and Shane Doan. In roster news, the Coyotes have claimed Ken Klee on re-entry waivers from the Ducks. The Penguins were only able to muster a whopping 11 shots at San Jose last night, writes Shelly Anderson. The Penguins were horrible offensively last night, writes Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Sharks were extremely proud that the they kept the Evgeni Malkin/Sidney Crosby combination to one shot combined, writes David Pollak. Chris Mason is expected to start for the Blues tomorrow night. The Lightning finally picked up a much needed victory last night in Toronto, writes Erik Erlendsson. Players aren't dissatisfied with the Lightning locker room, says Vinny Prospal. The other Vinny, this one being Lecavalier, is hoping to see his ice-time increase over the next little while. Consider Damien Cox thoroughly unimpressed by the Lightning/Leafs game last night at the ACC. Coach Ron Wilson is trying to mould his current team after his former one, writes Steve Buffery. The Canucks knew if they fell behind they'd be trapped all night and that's exactly what happened last night, writes Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province. The Canucks weren't that bad last night, but they weren't that good either, explains Iain MacIntyre. Alexander Semin continued his extremely successful start to the season last night in Nashville by leading the Capitals to a 4-3 shootout victory. Let's just say Michael Nylander wasn't half-bad either. For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

NHL Morning Papers (Wednesday Edition): Nash moves to center, Adam Mair incident to be investigated and Alexander Semin continues to dominate