Wednesday Morning NHL Papers (Western Conference): Mike Commodore and Erik Johnson both healthy scratches, the Coyotes aren’t fading and the Pat Quinn may be a tad emotional tonight

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Central Division

• “They were going in too easily. It was an easy call,” said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville about pulling Cristobal Huet last night.  “We were sharp. We just weren’t as diligent defensively as we normally are,” said captain Jonathan Toews after last night’s tight loss.
• Story of the year, the Blue Jackets could not score in regulation last night and it cost them, writes Aaron Portzline.  Mike Commodore was a healthy scratch last night due to his poor play.
• Justin Abdelkader has been the Red Wings’ most physical player.  Danny Cleary hopes to return to the Wings lineup in the next ten days.
• It was a hard fought battle last night for the Predators; the good news was they won, the bad news was they lost Kevin Klein and Martin Erat to injury.  Barry Trotz was not happy about the play by Barrett Jackman that sent Martin Erat to the dressing room.  Some genius decided to steal NHL and NBA vouchers and got caught.
• This Blues team just cannot win at home and that continued last night.  Erik Johnson was a healthy scratch for the Blues last night due to poor play.

Northwest Division

• The Flames face the Kings tonight and here are some notes heading into tonight’s game.
• Even after people wrote him off, Adam Foote continues to be a force for the Avalanche, writes Adrian Dater.  Peter Budaj was quite thrilled to be named to the Slovakian Olympic team.
• Robert Tychkowski has been impressed by Dustin Penner’s plus/minus total.  Ron Wilson knows that Pat Quinn will be a little bit emotional coaching against his former team.  The fact is, the Oilers confidence is at a season low right now.  Some good news out of Edmonton, as Lubomir Visnovsky was named to the Slovakian Olympic team.
• “We didn’t match their desperation,” said Wild coach Todd Richards after his team lost at a desperate Anaheim club on Tuesday.  Eric Belanger likes Minnesota and wants to sign a long-term contract with the club.
• “We’re maybe not happy with the point, but coming from behind with these guys is pretty good,” said Henrik Sedin after his team’s shootout loss at Phoenix.  The Canucks have waived Mathieu Schneider but make no mistake, the defenseman still wants to play.  Speaking of defenseman, Kevin Bieksa got hurt last night when he was cut by a skate blade.  There are very few decisions left for Team Canada to make, writes Cory Wolfe.

Pacific Division

• With Ryan Getzlaf injured, Bobby Ryan took the bull by the horns last night for the Ducks, writes Eric Stephens.  Some really good news out of Anaheim, as Teemu Selanne could be back next week.  Meanwhile, the Ducks are bringing sexy back.
• “It’s huge. We beat one of the best clubs in the league, and I thought we were full value for it,” said Stars coach Marc Crawford after his team’s victory over Chicago.  Which Stars will make Team Canada?
• Jarret Stoll is still a couple days away from returning to the Kings lineup, reports Rich Hammond.
• People waiting for the Coyotes to collapse may want to stop waiting, as the desert dogs defeated the streaking Canucks last night in another impressive victory.  The Coyotes won last night without their team MVP Ilya Brygalov who was given the night off.
• They will be teammates in February but for now Evgeni Nabokov and Alexander Ovechkin are forced to go at each other for a minimum of 60 minutes.
  

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