Thursday Morning NHL Papers (Western Conference): Adam Foote unhappy with Keith Ballard, not much change planned in Anaheim and could Cam Barker be trade bait?

Central Division

• Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune has the details on the contract extensions for Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith.  Do these contracts possibly mean Cam Barker could be on his way out of Chi-town?  If Cristobal Huet continues to play as he has lately, there won’t be any questions about the Hawks’ netminding.
• Steve Mason is more outwardly intense than most NHL netminders, writes Tom Reed.  Meantime, Kris Russell is quietly gaining confidence and coming into his own in Columbus.  Here are the Blue Jackets’ projected lines for tonight’s game.
• Brian Rafalski may not be able to play tonight because of a bad back.  With Chris Osgood getting sick, Jimmy Howard was able to become more familiar with his Wings teammates.
• John Glennon says the Wild aren’t your Jacques Lemaire outfit anymore, as the Wild and Predators traded chances on the way to a 5-4 overtime loss for the Predators.  At least the Predators’ top line was on fire.
• As Jeremy Rutherford told us on last night’s IC Radio Show, the Blues are sending Alex Pietrangelo to the World Juniors.  With the team’s power play playing so poorly, Andy Murray has given up the reigns to his assistants.

Northwest Division

• The Flames have been rolling but it will still be nice to get Rene Bourque back in the lineup tonight.  Bourque is coming back to play on the top line with Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen.
• Adam Foote thought that Keith Ballard’s running of Craig Anderson “looked deliberate.”  One thing is for sure, don’t look for Ryan O’Reilly and Matt Duchene to play at the World Juniors.
• The Oilers face Detroit tonight but it isn’t the Detroit many are used to seeing, writes Joanne Ireland.  Oilers fans can take solace in the fact that Jordan Eberle is in the system.  It appears that Ryan Stone and Robert Nilsson will be in the lineup tonight.
• The newcomers led the way for the Wild last night, writes Michael Russo.  The Wild has taken a big step up in the face-off circle.
• The Olympic goaltending talk is great, but the Canucks need to record some wins and that was the most important part of last night’s game at Jersey, explains Jason Botchford.  Canucks prospect Cody Hodgson has been invited to Team Canada’s World Junior camp.

Pacific Division

• The Ducks added Kyle Chipchura on Wednesday but they don’t have very much planned aside from that.
• Mike Heika is surprised by the anger of Stars fans about the team’s current struggles.  Stars assistant coach Charlie Huddy compares Matt Niskanen to Tom Gilbert.
• With Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown struggling, the Kings face-off against the Senators tonight.
• The Coyotes received a bit of a pep talk from coach Dave Tippett on Wednesday.
• David Pollak, who was one of the guests on the IC Radio Show last night, writes about Torrey Mitchell’s desire to return to form in a number of areas.

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