Max Talbot

NHL news from the papers this morning: Eastern Conference: What is good news for Boston as an organization but bad news for B's prospects, is that it looks like there aren't a lot of spots open for prospects. There is still no news on where Phil Kessel will be playing this season as camp opens for the Bruins. On a positive front, it looks like Sturm will be healthy to start the season. While he spent the majority of the summer in East Lansing recovering, it appears that Ryan Miller's ankle is back to normal, and that is excellent news for Sabres fans. Moving from the guy who prevents goals in Buffalo to one of the guys expected to score a lot of them there, Thomas Vanek is poised to take his game to the next level. For the second year in a row the Florida Panthers defence has been retooled and hopefully it doesn't take the new faces too long to get acquainted. The Sabres and Drew Stafford have come to terms on a contract, two years for $4 million. Off the ice for the Panthers concern is spreading that they could end up in a Phoenix Coyotes type situation. One of the complaints that Bob Gainey faced when he was done free agent shopping was that the Canadiens had gotten too small, but there are still a number of bruisers who would take issue with that. It appears that always brash Rangers coach John Tortorella is annoyed at Brandon Dubinsky's absence and even went to far as to call his agent stupid. When he wasn't alienating his player's agents, Tortorella is perhaps borrowing a page out of the Brian Burke playbook, and is eager to make the Rangers a tougher team. While some things are best left in the 70's, perhaps the Flyers playing with some more grit isn't such a bad thing to bring back into style. Stanley Cup Champions no more, Dan Bylsma borrowed a play from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, by leaving the Cup behind and ensuring that his team's focus is on this season. Even if they are now the defending champs, the players were sure happy to see each other as training camp got underway. Max Talbot, the Penguins NHLPA player rep., is insisting that the players aren't looking for a war with ownership, when the 2011 CBA negotiations begin. The Lightning are taking a more reserved approach to the start of this season so they won't repeat the mistakes of the previous year, a year in which they ended up 29th overall. Brian Burke thinks the Leafs could be a playoff team this season as he finally see's his fingerprints on this team. The Monster wasn't feeling too well after Leaf medicals and was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure. Despite having two years remaining on his contract, Michael Nylander might not play another game for the Capitals. Heatley/Cheechoo & Michalek Trade: It would appear that Sens GM Bryan Murry looked into Heatley's eyes, saw into his soul and knew that he had no choice but to trade the disgruntled Senator. Don't expect Dany Heatley to be receiving any good luck calls from former teammates like Chris Neil who are relieved to see him depart. Even Daniel Alfredsson feels the Sens are a better team sans Heatley. If you like poker, you might not want to play with Sharks GM Doug Wilson, who apparently knows a thing or two about not revealing his hand. It appears the lure of a potential 50 goal scorer was too much for the Sharks not to take a chance on but did the trade make the Sharks better? New Ottawa Senator Milan Michalek is eager to start fresh but will have to wait a few days while his immigration status is resolved. Western Conference: Perhaps it was being replaced during the playoffs with Jonas Hiller, but Jean-Sebastien Giguere is ready to start fresh and be the team's undisputed #1. Patrick Kane believes his off season workouts (insert joke here) will be very beneficial with the season set to begin for the Blackhawks. Chicago isn't going to allow any of the distractions from the summer derail the team's plans for success this upcoming season. He is one of those iconic players you don't expect not to be at training camp year after year, but for the first time in 20 seasons the Avalanche will begin life without Joe. What the Avalanche will be starting with is a new #1 goaltender in Craig Anderson and he is ready to prove himself. Now that expectations are higher in Columbus, veterans can no longer afford to take the pre-season practices and scrimmages lightly. He doesn't care what you think of him, right now all Theo Fleury cares about is getting back to the NHL and if he will be doing it, it will be with his old team. It would appear that Kiprusoff won't be suffering from fatigue once the playoffs roll around as Brent Sutter has a different philosophy than his predecessor. If the Dallas Stars expect to be in the playoffs next season, they have come to expect the best from team captain Brendan Morrow, but has his injury from last season changed his own attitude? Not surprisingly the Red Wings diminished offence is going to mean that they will have to step up on defence and with this cast, that shouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately for the Wings though, one of those important cogs will still be unavailable for the start of the season. Pat Quinn knows he is going to need his Oilers to change their attitudes if they are expecting to do something in a tough Western Conference. If the L.A. Kings are to improve this season then it will be on the shoulders of Jonathan Quick, who hopes to solve the team's goaltending woes. The Minnesota Wild looked to be making an episode of Grey's Anatomy with all the injured players, but the Star Tribune's Michael Russo reports that the players are ready to skate. In Nashville, there are a number of interesting storylines, one of which is which young talent will step up for the Predators? For the second straight day, the Great One was absent from Coyotes training camp, instead leaving responsibilities to his assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson. Andy McDonald was excited to get back to playing and after missing 36 straight games last season he returned to Blues camp flying today. Canucks coach Alain Vigneault is happy to have some Stanley Cup experience in camp to help with some of the younger guys.

NHL Morning Papers (Sunday Edition): Max Talbot says NHLPA doesn’t want war in 2011, Sens are happy to see Heatley go, Could the Panthers go the way of the Coyotes?