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The Montreal Gazette writes that if everything falls into place, Max Pacioretty will be cutting the ribbon on some cutting-edge medical technology in about 18 months.

The Canadiens forward launched the Max Pacioretty Foundation on Tuesday. He describes the initiative as an effort to give something back to the Montreal General Hospital, where Pacioretty was treated for a severe concussion and a broken bone in his neck after a vicious check by Boston’s Zdeno Chara last season.

“I spent a lot of time in my bedroom wondering if I’d every play again,” Pacioretty said, recalling those bleak days in March and April. “It made me realize what’s important in life.

“It’s rewarding to score a goal or have a good game, but even more so to help someone’s life. That’s why I want to be hands-on with this.

“Saku (Koivu) was so proud, not just of hockey but what he had accomplished with his foundation. I hope someday to have that feeling, too.”

Pacioretty’s foundation is modelled on the fundraising effort Koivu undertook after the General helped the Canadiens captain win his fight with cancer. Ron Collett, president of the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, said the hospital was able to install a PET scan unit, a valuable diagnostic tool in treating malignancies, within a year of the Koivu Foundation launch.

The goal of the Pacioretty Foundation is purchase and installation of a $3.5-million Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine designed to analyze the effects of brain injuries. The MRI will attract researchers and make the Montreal General a major player in the study of injuries that transcend sports, affecting adults, children, traffic accident victims, combat veterans – anyone exposed to the brain-jarring effects of head trauma.

The MRI will provide concrete means of measuring changes in neural connections and brain chemistry. It is a quantum leap forward from current post-concussion tests, such as treadmill performance, sensitivity to light.

“We’d like to be up and running in a year and a half,” Collett said. “But we’d like to do the fundraising over the hockey season. So when Max isn’t playing hockey, he’s going to be out with us raising money.”

The Gazette notes that team doctor David Mulder praised the National Hockey League as “one of the most proactive in professional sports” in its approach to the study and treatment of concussions. He cited better protective equipment, such as helmets and mouthpieces, and more forgiving rink boards, including the new ones installed this season at the Bell Centre.

Mulder said the MRI brain scanner will be “a magnet” (no pun), attracting the best and brightest neurological researchers.

“This will be a plus for the citizens of Montreal and Quebec,” Mulder said.

And it might have helped Sidney Crosby.

“I’m not a doctor, but that’s my take on it,” Pacioretty said. “Maybe if they knew what was happening with his brain after the first hit, maybe he wouldn’t have returned to action.

“You can’t blame anyone, because the technology isn’t out there yet. That’s what we’re hoping to gain in the future.

“Everyone’s brain is different,” Pacioretty added. “I’m one of the fortunate few who got away with my situation and came back reasonably fast.”

For more information on the MRI facility or to make a donation: www.mghfoundation.com

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Sidney Crosby continues to insist that he doesn't know whether he'll be able to dress for the Dallas game on Friday. He wouldn't rule it out Monday after practice at Southpointe, but certainly didn't advise coach Dan Bylsma to clear a spot for him in the lineup, either.

"I guess [people who anticipate a Friday return] know more than I do, because I haven't really thought about it," Crosby said.

"I've thought more about just getting through this week. [Returning then] is a possibility, just like the other however many games are left there are.

"I'd love it to be Friday. I'd have loved for it to be on the [just-concluded] West Coast trip, but I didn't play there. There are a lot of different guesses. Everyone else's guess is as good as mine."

While there's no indication a decision on whether Crosby will play against the Stars has been finalized, one team official, in casual conversation, expressed skepticism about him returning then.

Bylsma did not predict when Crosby will return, and was adamant that the team has not targeted a date for getting him back.

"We are not waiting for an epiphany to make a decision," Bylsma said. "He's progressing, and he's going down that road. ... There is not a timetable. There is not a date right now [for Crosby to resume playing] that we know that you don't."

The article notes Crosby and his teammates won't be back on the ice until Wednesday, because they are in the midst of a two-day team-building/bonding outing at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort.

He certainly appeared to be game-ready during the up-tempo practice Monday -- "I thought he looked pretty good out there," Bylsma said -- but Crosby has looked like he'd be capable of stepping into the lineup almost from the moment he resumed skating with his teammates.

However, the issue never has been whether having him back in the lineup would be a plus, from a hockey standpoint. It's whether he's recovered enough to be able to minimize the danger of suffering another head injury once he resumes playing.

The decision on when he can play ultimately will be made by Dr. Michael Collins, a concussion specialist, and Dr. Charles Burke, the Penguins team physician. Crosby flew home early from California to meet with them so that he would not have to miss any of the Nemacolin trip.

"I just tell them how I feel," Crosby said. "That's usually how it goes, give them feedback. They usually have tests, or ways of evaluating. They use that, too."

And at least for now, there's no indication all that data add up to Crosby being back in uniform Friday.

The Winnipeg Sun says let the record show that Claude Noel isn’t planning to move Dustin Byfuglien from defence to forward at this stage of the game.

In fact, if all goes according to plan, Noel won’t ever move Byfuglien back up front.

The head coach of the Jets spent a good chunk of Monday’s meeting with the media defending the play of Byfuglien, who has been subject to plenty of criticism in the early stages of the season for his limited production and routinely getting caught up ice and out of position.

“He likes playing defence and I don’t think he sees himself as a forward,” said Noel. “If you want to go down that road, that’s an area I’m not prepared to go right now. We’ll keep him playing defence. There are some things he can give us back there. Right now, I’m not entertaining the thought of moving him up front.”

It’s a process that takes time, Noel stressed.

“Dustin plays a certain way that he’s played for some time,” said Noel. “In there, you throw in the mix that he was a forward for a while. His play is OK. He’s another guy that wants to learn, get better and improve. He enjoys playing defence.

“I understand the criticism, to a degree but you don’t change your game overnight. It’s a longer process and we have to be more realistic with him. The reason I say that is that it’s hard to change your game that drastically when you’re a little bit older. He’s made some changes for us and we’re continually trying to adjust some things. There are some decisions we’d like to take back but that’s part of the process and we understand that. You have to look at the big picture here.”

The big picture — in the eyes of Noel — shows that Byfuglien is only in his second full season on defence and is taking the necessary steps to work at refining his game.

The Roseau, Minn. product led all defencemen with 20 goals and had 53 points last season, but his production dipped considerably in the second half. So far this season, he’s been limited to one goal and five points in 14 games.

“He plays a different game and his mentality is different,” said Noel. “He’s an attack defenceman, not a receive defenceman. There lies what we’re trying to change a little bit. That’s how he thinks. (Sergei) Zubov and (Marek) Zidlicky, these guys were a different breed of defenceman but they were pretty good. It just takes some time to shape them.

“You’ve got to be careful, I’ve done this before as a young coach, when you try to shape a guy to be more defensive than anything and then you completely lose what he does do well. (Byfuglien) can really help you. I’ve seen him play the high-risk game. When you try to change people this is what happens, you get caught in the middle and the reads aren’t as free-spirited as they normally are and you’re not getting the rewards.”

The Washington Post wonders: Can anyone amass 18 points to lead the Capitals more quietly than Nicklas Backstrom? Washington’s No.1 center wanted to get off to a strong start this season after recording career lows in points and assists during the 2010-11 campaign, and with five goals and 13 assists through the first 12 games this year, it sure looks like the dynamic, play-making Backstrom is back.

Health obviously plays a role for Backstrom, who was named the NHL’s third star of the week on Monday. He missed five games last year with a fractured left thumb but was plagued by nagging effects of damage to the ligaments in the digit for the rest of the season and playoffs.

But there seem to be some subtle differences in Backstrom’s offensive game. Granted, Backstrom is relied on to do much more than simply produce points, but his re-emergence offensively has him tied, with Henrik and Daniel Sedin, for third in the league in points, and it may be because he’s looking to shoot a little more often.

“Obviously even if I like to pass — and I like to pass — I’ve got to try to shoot it more too,” Backstrom said. “That’s what I’m trying to do this year.”

Through 12 games, Backstrom has taken 34 shots on goal (with a 14.7 shooting percentage) which averages out to 2.83 shots per game. While that may not seem like much, it’s a pace he hasn’t ever hit in his career.

During the 2009-10 campaign, Backstrom recorded 101 points and averaged 2.70 shots on goal over the course of the 82-game regular season.

“You do tell guys a lot to shoot more but it’s engrained in their DNA — some guys are just great passers,” Coach Bruce Boudreau said. “They see the ice so well and they’re so unselfish with the puck that they probably have to tell themselves ‘Shoot more, shoot more,’ because it’s not a natural thing. I don’t know if that’s the case with Nick, I just know that’s the case with a lot of tremendous passers.

“Sometimes you pass up good shots; there’s been many players in this league or any league that you wish they would shoot more,” Boudreau continued. “We remind him to shoot, but for the most part he makes the right play all the time.”

With just one point through the first 13 games, The Edmonton Journal notes that Oilers sophomore Magnus Paajarvi is still looking to get some traction.

“We’ve talked to him about asserting himself,” Oilers head coach Tom Renney said this week. “He’s big, he’s strong, he can skate, he can shoot the puck well. He has to play to his strengths.

“Often times what happens with any player, but certainly young players, is that they have a laundry list of things they want to do really well in order to recover their game. It’s more important to look at two or three things that you’re good at, that you can excel at.

“That’s the big thing right now. He’s trying to do so much that he’s frozen. We have to get him skating. He has to use his size and strength to impact his will on the opponent. If it’s getting in front of the net, so be it. If it’s getting to loose pucks, so be it. If it is finishing checks, so be it.

“He has that kind of talent and the body that suggests he should be able to do all of that.”

Paajarvi, who has been playing with Sam Gagner and Eric Belanger, said he’s trying not to measure his game solely by his point production because he figures he’s going to have other slumps. But he knows he’s a work in a progress.

“I can’t really think too much about it,” Paajarvi said. “I have to play on instinct, that’s how I got here. I play my best hockey when I don’t think.”

**Nichols' note: With Ales Hemsky returning to the line-up tonight, Paajarvi may be the one to sit.

The Denver Post believes that the Avs have created an ideal situation for young, promising goalie Semyon Varlamov to mature under the wing of proven veteran Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Varlamov, 23, is Russian, and the 34-year-old Giguere is from the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec. But there is no miscommunication between Colorado's first-year goalies.

Varlamov is the clear-cut No. 1, and Giguere is there to provide relief duty, mental support and an occasional start as he nears the end of his career.

"When they signed me, that's what they were looking for — me helping him along to be a good No. 1 goalie, and I think it's going really well," Giguere said recently. "I'm not his coach. I'm not there to coach him. But at the same time, I'm here to be a good teammate and support him. I've been him when I was his age. I know what it's like to try to become the goalie you want to be."

Giguere is 2-1 and has allowed only six goals in three starts. He has had a wonderful career, amassing a 233-196-67 record since becoming the first goalie selected in the 1995 draft (13th overall by Hartford). He led the Anaheim Ducks to two Stanley Cup Finals, winning it in 2007 after coming up short in 2003 — the year he was nevertheless named Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP.

"He's a great person to talk to as a goalie, because he's accomplished so much," Varlamov said of Giguere. "He's won a Stanley Cup, and he knows what it takes to win. It's nice to have that guy to talk to."

Giguere signed with Colorado as a free agent July 1. He played last season and part of 2009-10 in Toronto after being traded from the Ducks.

"It's a different market, but a good hockey market. People know their hockey here, and it's a popular sport," Giguere said of moving from Toronto to Denver. "My family is well-adjusted, and that was part of the attraction coming here. It's a great city to live in and raise a family, and the team, being a young team, you get to be a bit of a mentor for the guys. It's a role I'm comfortable with."

Said Sacco: "He's got experience. He's won. I know the guys have really taken a liking to him. We're hoping his attitude, his preparation, is contagious."

The Detroit News points out that Mike Commodore (@commie22) tweets and, like the man himself, his stuff is often entertaining.

One of his 33,423 followers noted Commodore did not have a shot on net when the other Red Wings had 50 against the Ducks last Friday. He defended himself, saying it is possible that the NHL officials missed one.

"I thought I hit the net with the first one," he tweeted. "I guess not."

Then, Commodore revealed his level of comfort with the puck after nearly a month out of the lineup, with a sprained knee ligament

"Handling the puck like it's a hand grenade, right now."

And like a lot of older players, Commodore, who turned 32 Monday, likes giving the younger guys around the dressing room some aggravation about their age. Commodore tweets that Cory Emmerton, 23, still likes restaurants that provide crayons — not for kids, mind you, for Emmerton.

"Just ran into @cemmer48 at a breakfast spot in Birmingham," Commodore wrote Sunday. "He's pissed off there's no coloring place mats."

A guy who occasionally cracks wise and is known for growing outlandishly-huge red Afros quickly earns a reputation as a free thinker around the NHL. But do not be fooled. Commodore is a serious hockey player.

At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, the stay-at-home Red Wings defenseman is big on a team that annually longs for some size. And it does not go to waste. Often aggressive, Commodore usually spends more than 100 minutes in the penalty box during a season.

For the Red Wings, after hurting a knee for the first time in his career, Commodore mostly convalesced and worked out before re-entering the lineup Thursday against the Flames. He tweeted more than played, and his dry sense of humor is ballast for the desperation athletes feel when their sport goes on without them.

"You know what? Even when I'm ready, it's up to the coach," Commodore said. "I've just kind of worked as hard as I could, practiced and worked out hard. And I'm doing my best to be a good guy.

"It's a long season. There are seven defensemen right now. I'm the new guy here, and I've got my work cut out for me.

"And that's fine."

The Miami Herald notes that with Scott Clemmensen’s knee healed, Jacob Markstrom lost out on the numbers game and was assigned to Florida’s AHL affiliate in San Antonio. Markstrom’s play warranted a spot on the Panthers roster, although general manager Dale Tallon didn’t want to keep three goalies and Clemmensen is a veteran making $1.5 million through the end of this season.

The next time Markstrom plays for the Panthers, Tallon said, it’s probably for keeps.

“When Jacob comes back,’’ Tallon said, “he’ll probably be back forever, as far as knowing that he has the ability to play.’’

Markstrom went 2-2-1 with a 2.05 GAA and made 94 percent of his saves.

His biggest moment came on Oct. 24 when he stopped 40 of 41 shots as the Panthers won 2-1 at Montreal.

“He showed his true worth in training camp, showed his true worth in the games he played,’’ Tallon said. “We have a bright prospect with a great future ahead. That’s what we’re all about.

“[Goalie] is a position where you can lose your confidence in a hurry then never bounce back. We’re being cautious here and conservative in his development.’’

In San Antonio, he’ll get big minutes.

“It’s based on long term, it’s based on where we’re headed and based on numbers,’’ Tallon told the South Florida media on a conference call Monday morning. “We can’t have him sitting around playing once every two weeks. We want him playing a lot. We know he can play and we know where we’re headed with him. ... We want Jacob to be a No. 1. He’s got to play No. 1 minutes. That’s where we’re at.’’

Philly.com points out that Wayne Simmonds has dropped the gloves three times in his first 14 games as a Flyer.

Each fight has been for a different reason. But are the points a mere coincidence or a byproduct of his increased physical play?

"The reason I dropped the gloves on Saturday was because we were up 4-0," Simmonds said, ironically, because players on most teams would avoid a fight to prevent a possible change in momentum. "I knew the guys on the other team were going to start running around, taking liberties.

"I just wanted to nip that in the bud. I ended up getting a goal, so that worked."

Unlike some of the Flyers' other newcomers, Simmonds didn't struggle to adjust to Peter Laviolette's aggressive new system. He racked up two goals and three assists in his first seven games, but followed that up without a single point in six straight games.

"I started well," Simmonds said. "I guess I just tailed off a little bit. I think it was more of a reflection of myself. I've just got to stick to my game and play the way that I was playing in the first seven, eight games.

"I think I need to get back to focusing on the physical aspect."

Simmonds said he doesn't think the Flyers' overall worry should be on offense, where they lead the NHL with 57 goals in 14 games (4.0 goals per game).

"This game is all about confidence," Simmonds said. "You want to keep the confidence level high. That's how you're going to succeed in this league. You've got to go with your gut, your first thought. If you start thinking about a second or third option, that's when you start getting into trouble.''

Tony, from Toronto: "Hi Chris, Center question.

Have Berglund, and also Prospal (C/LW) not sure if I should be patient with one or both or grab one/two of the following FA: Ott, Antropov, Burmistrov, C.Smith, Hanzal, B.Little, Horcoff, Cullen, Arnott

Stats are: Points (P), (+/-), (PIM), (PPP), (SHP), (GWG), (SOG), Faceoffs Won, Hits. What do you think ? Thanks!"

Chris: With LW-C-RW separation in your league, guys like Prospal are important. He's been producing too, so I wouldn't be looking to drop him.

I'd be more inclined to replace Berglund since you have decent options, but he and the Blues should get a spark from the Hitchcock move. If anything though, I'd like to see you have Ott once he's back (still DTD as I write this) because he's been taking advantage of his top six role to produce points and his normal PIM. I don't necessarily think he'll be a season-long solution, but he'll be fine for now.

Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.