journal writer

Here are the morning papers for Monday the 20th of October: Nikolai Kulemin has been great in the shootout so far and it has made Ron Wilson consider putting more rookies in the penalty shot contest. Just because the Leafs are off to a fairly slow start doesn't meant that GM Cliff Fletcher is about to panic. Last night's victory over the Canucks was the Blackhawks' most complete performance of the season, writes Chris Kuc. Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette calls for the NHL to start enforcing rules that penalize high hits to the head. Edmonton Journal writer Jim Matheson was very impressed with the play of Marc-Andre Pouliot on Saturday night. The Oilers are winning games early this season that they would have lost just last year. Steve Stamkos is beginning to see an increase in responsibility in Tampa Bay. The Lightning does not exactly like these long breaks between games. The Blues are happy that they have more than one scoring line to rely on this season. Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury doesn't really care about stats. Here are some questions and answers from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Canucks lost the game and three players to injury on Sunday night in Chicago. Vancouver is back to .500 for the first time since game one of the season. Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic tells Coyotes fans to not overreact to the team's slow start. Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Daily News doesn't understand why the Flyers are off to such a poor start. Sean Avery returns to the MSG ice tonight. The Islanders are slowly adjusting to coach Scott Gordon's new aggressive system. In his "best-case scenario" Steve Sullivan would like to be playing hockey again by Christmas time. Jacques Lemaire wants his young players to wake up and start playing well, writes Michael Russo. Brad Richardson will get in the line-up for the Kings tonight versus his former Colorado teammates. The Panthers have been getting a lot of shots on net and coach Peter DeBoer is very happy about that. The Cats will be on national television tonight in the U.S. versus the Habs. Derek Meech realizes his playing time is basically determined by the health of the six other defensemen in front of him on the depth chart. Niklas Kronwall would be the first to admit he has had a poor start to the 2008/09 season. The Stars' defense has been bad, really bad, writes Mike Heika. The Blue Jackets have been pretty disappointed in their goaltending so far this season. With Andrew Raycroft recording back-to-back victories, the Avalanche has still decided to give Peter Budaj the start in between the pipes on Monday versus the Kings. Last night the Hurricanes didn't blow their 3-1 lead in Southern California and defeated the Ducks 3-1. Lindy Ruff could be a candidate for the Canadian Olympic coaching staff, writes John Vogl of the Buffalo News. Milan Lucic has slumped early this season for the Bruins, but knows he can work his way out of it. If you didn't know, tonight is the Bruins' home opener versus the Penguins. The Ducks are off to their worst start since the 2003 season. The Ducks' top line was, once again, held off the score sheet. Dustin Boyd is a little sore but he's doing alright even though Steve MacIntyre almost hit him out of Rexall Place on Saturday. Craig Harsburg called out the Senators so they better be ready on Wednesday night versus Florida. For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

NHL Morning Papers (Monday Edition): Budaj back starting for Avs, Wild youngsters get an earful and Avery returns to MSG