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On Thursday night, The Calgary Sun notes that Flames captain Jarome Iginla will hit the ice at TD Garden in Boston with an opportunity to join the NHL's prestigious 500-goal club.

It would be a fitting location for the milestone marker, considering it was in the same rink that Iginla first served notice he'd become a star.

"My recollection is he was like a man among boys," said former Flames GM Al Coates of the 1996 World Junior Hockey Championship in Boston. "You could see the size and strength and the ability to fend not just one defender, but sometimes two.

"He was clearly a dominant player in the games."

Coates, who is the executive director of this year's world junior tournament in Calgary and Edmonton, was keeping close tabs on Team Canada's power forward in Massachusetts.

Just six days before the opening faceoff at the annual holiday showcase, the Flames had shipped star centre Joe Nieuwendyk -- then embroiled in a contract dispute with the club -- to the Dallas Stars in exchange for forward Corey Millen and a kid named Iginla who'd been scoring in bunches for the Western Hockey League's Kamloops Blazers.

It wasn't long before that kid introduced himself on the international stage.

The 18-year-old Iginla had five goals and seven assists in a half-dozen games at the world juniors in Boston, leading Canada to a fourth consecutive gold-medal celebration and sparking optimism for fans in Calgary still lamenting the loss of one of the best two-way forwards in the game.

"It was a controversial trade, to say the least, when you're trading an established NHL star and a great person like Joe Nieuwendyk for -- in the public eye -- a relatively unknown player," Coates said. "What sticks out for me is how confident that I was and how good I felt after watching Jarome play. Of course, he was the MVP of the tournament. We believed that, as a staff, but it was good to see it up-front and first-hand.

"I was certainly happy with what we were able to witness."

The Sun recalls that it was no secret the Flames were seeking a top-flight prospect -- "The only thing that I had told everybody in relation to that transaction was that long after Joe Nieuwendyk is retired, we're still going to watch the player that we get or there won't be a deal," Coates recalled -- and the Stars finally made an offer Coates couldn't refuse.

The Flames knew Iginla would be a key contributor for years to come.

But a guy who could score 500 times at hockey's highest level?

"No," Coates admitted. "Did we believe he was going to be a top-line player? Yes, but 500 goals is an amazing milestone in the National Hockey League. And he's going to score a lot more goals after this one comes and goes."

The Orange County Register points out his team is off to such a dreadful start that he used terms such as "frustrating", "unexplainable" and "unacceptable."

But while the Ducks are one step from officially being the NHL's worst team, General Manager Bob Murray has no intention of conducting a fire sale of his core players and isn't ready to concede the 2011-12 season.

"At this point, no," Murray said Wednesday before the Ducks' home game against San Jose. "I'm not ready to. First of all, we do have a lot of really good core players. Everybody in hockey knows we have good core players.

"Explaining why they're playing the way they are and why we've had the year we've had so far, it's just frustrating and it's unexplainable. It's just not good enough. It's unacceptable."

But Murray's phone is ringing often and he is listening. He emphatically reiterated that he does not want to trade franchise icon Teemu Selanne, nor does he want to deal center Saku Koivu. Both have no-trade clauses.

As far as others, Murray effectively put them on notice. And that likely means captain Ryan Getzlaf, goal-scoring winger Bobby Ryan and goalie Jonas Hiller would be among those that could be up for discussion if they don't improve.

The Register believes the only other core players who figure to be untouchable are winger Corey Perry, their leading goal scorer and reigning Hart Trophy winner, and second-year defenseman Cam Fowler.

"I have two players who are unavailable, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu," Murray said. "And the rest of the players in the locker room, I thought they'd figure it out when we changed coaches. They (thought) that time was running, well the clock is running quickly here.

"I still believe we have some core players. Now whether we have to change a few core players, so be it. They're deciding who's staying and who's not staying at this point. They're the ones deciding."

Murray also said he isn't simply looking to acquire draft picks if he were to pull the trigger on a major deal. In other words, if Getzlaf or Ryan were to be the key part of a trade, it would be for another player of similar stature. No one will be given away.

In the case of Selanne, it would have to be his call on whether he would want to join a Cup contender.

"(It's) the same position I was in with Scott Niedermayer," Murray said of Selanne. "I have no desire whatsoever. He's going to retire in Anaheim."

The Chicago Tribune says this season hasn't worked out quite the way Hawks forward Patrick Kane thought it would, especially with having to undergo wrist surgery before training camp and then shifting back-and-forth from his natural position of right wing to center. After a fast start during which he had seven goals in the first 19 games, Kane's production has leveled off.

"I thought I was going to have a big year and I started out that way," Kane said. "For whatever reason it kind of faded a bit. It definitely has been and up-and-down season. I had a great summer as far as working out and … and they tell you that you have to have wrist surgery. Then I came back and felt great in training camp. I thought I was fine.

"(But) it was a little bit different because you're coming off surgery and they're telling you to play a different position, and then you're back on right wing when you're kind of used to playing center. It was just a couple of different things that haven't really worked out."

With his scoring history, 21, 25, 30 and 27 goals in his first four NHL seasons, Kane and coach Joel Quenneville believe it's just a matter of time until the puck finds the net.

"There's no need to make excuses," Kane said. "I'm playing with good players on both sides of the puck as far as defense, offense and power play. I just have to pick it up."

The Hawks are in Philadelphia now and Kane figures to use today's skate to revisit the exact spot where he launched the shot that resulted in his 2010 Cup-winning goal against the Flyers in Wells Fargo Center.

Said coach Joel Quenneville: "I'm sure he'll be excited and skate by that place (where he scored the Cup winner) and have a smile on his face and recapture some positive thoughts. Everybody has stretches when the puck isn't going in or they're not playing the way they'd like or we'd like. Eventually you come out of it by how hard you work."

The Denver Post posits that Avs center Ryan O'Reilly is a probable NHL all-star and Selke Trophy candidate as the league's best defensive forward.

He leads Colorado with 29 points and leads the NHL with 55 takeaways. Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk​, a perennial all-star who won the Selke Trophy in 2008, 2009 and 2010, is second in the league with 54 takeaways.

"I'm just playing this game to win," said O'Reilly, who also leads Colorado forwards in ice-time average, at 18:46. "Some guys on the team are saying, 'You might be going (to Ottawa)' and I'm like, 'It would definitely be an honor.' It's definitely something that would blow my mind."

O'Reilly is no Datsyuk, one of the world's elite players, but the Red Wings center wasn't this productive while approaching his 21st birthday and 200 career NHL regular-season games. O'Reilly, who joined Colorado as a 18-year-old, third-line defensive specialist in 2009, has already exceeded the 26 points he amassed in each of his first two NHL seasons. He is now the Avs' top-line center and power-play specialist, in addition to playing with wingers Gabriel Landeskog​ and Milan Hejduk​ against the opponent's top scoring line at even strength.

"His game has evolved," Avs coach Joe Sacco said of O'Reilly, who turns 21 on Feb. 7. "He's able to play a 200-foot game, and from my standpoint, the guys that can play 200 feet are the ones you trust and are the guys who are going to get the ice time. He's still got a lot of room for growth in this game, but like I've said before, his curve is definitely headed in the right direction."

O'Reilly credits much of his success to his father, Brian O'Reilly, who is a social worker and high-performance coach in and around the family's hometown of Clinton, Ontario. In addition to serving as a counselor for troubled youth and couples, Brian is the fitness coordinator for Ryan's former junior team, the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League. Ryan's older brother, Cal O'Reilly, 25, plays for the Phoenix Coyotes​, and their two sisters also are standout hockey players. Ryan said his father introduced him to yoga and other ways "to get into the moment."

He's close to his dad.

"Huge, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him," Ryan said of his father. "After every game, I'll give him a call if I'm not feeling well, but he doesn't ask questions like a normal dad in this situation would ask. He would ask deeper questions, like: 'How was your breathing? When you got intense, did you enjoy that moment? Were you focused on the outcome or the process?' It's amazing how much that has helped."

Ryan listens to music and practices yoga by himself before every game. He trains at CorePower Yoga.

"I do it to look in, to see what you need," O'Reilly said. "I think that's one of the best things I do. You look in and find that stillness inside yourself, which helps bring you into the moment. It makes me believe, 'The only thing I can control is right now.' "

The Washington Post reports that two days after he absorbed an elbow to his jaw, Nicklas Backstrom is on the ice at KCI taking part in the Capitals’ practice before the team travels to California Thursday afternoon.

Backstrom, who was elbowed by Calgary’s Rene Bourque on Tuesday, is wearing a gray jersey and participating fully in the workout. The 24-year-old Swede is joking with his teammates and working his way through drills and skating with power all with no apparent limitation.

The presence of Backstrom, who has a history of migraine headaches, on the ice for practice appears to be a positive sign for the center’s health.

On Wednesday, Backstrom underwent concussion testing but the results were inconclusive according to since-deleted tweets by his brother Kristoffer.

Alexander Semin, who missed Tuesday’s game with neck pain, is taking part in practice for a second consecutive day. The Russian winger is working through practice as part of a four-man fourth line, though.

The Boston Herald says that Nathan Horton hasn’t had a ton of big moments this year, and recently he’s been lagging behind linemates David Krejci and Milan Lucic in the production/involvement department.

Bruins coach Claude Julien was glad Horton got a goal in last night's 6-1 thrashing of the New Jersey Devils, but said it’s just one step.

“Still, I think he’s capable of giving more,” said Julien. “Physically, I think he needs to be a little bit more involved, and if he does that I think it will help his game and it’s got to start coming from him.

“Again, he’s not a bad player. He scores a goal (last night) and is in good situations. I’d like to see him shoot a little bit more. He’s a great shooter and he seems to be looking to pass a little more than shoot the puck. But it’s going to come, and we’re going to make sure it comes.”

Earlier this season when Horton had gotten off to a slow start, he conceded that he was still somewhat affected, mentally at least, from the concussion he suffered at the hands of Vancouver’s Aaron Rome during the finals last season. He said that’s not so much the case anymore.

“I definitely feel better than I did at the beginning,” said Horton. “I’m just trying to feel more comfortable and I think I’m going in the right direction. It was a big thing that happened last year and I don’t want to keep talking about it, but not everyone goes through it and it’s not easy.”

Perhaps easing the minds of both Horton and the coaching staff is the fact that he went through an arctic slump last season from mid-December to mid-February when he scored just two goals in 23 games. But once he broke out of it, he was one of the B’s best forwards the rest of the season.

“He was as consistent a player as we could have asked for. That’s what I remember most about Nathan, how he became a consistent player in the second half,” said Julien. “You’re kind of hoping that that’s going to happen again.

“He hasn’t been inconsistent in the first half, he just hasn’t been the player we saw in the playoffs. He was the difference maker with the winning goals he scored and stuff like that. Expectations become pretty high and right now he hasn’t lived up to those high expectations that are maybe a little bit exaggerated. He’s a good player. We think he can be a great player. And that’s what we’re hoping for the second half.”

The Buffalo News relays that as soon as doctors gave Tyler Myers' body the green light, it was if his mind got healthy, too. The Sabres' defenseman began bombing slap shots and snapping passes Wednesday, his first practice after learning his surgically repaired wrist is completely healed.

The prior tentativeness gone. Myers' next step is to play a game. He's hoping to do that Friday when Buffalo visits Carolina.

"It's just a matter of these next couple practices getting ready for Friday," Myers said in First Niagara Center. "Hopefully, by Friday I'm ready to go."

Myers has been missing since suffering a broken wrist Nov. 19. Just last weekend, he was lamenting the slow pace of recovery. The doctors' OK on Tuesday gave him the boost he'd been needing.

"The good thing is I know I can't do any damage to it," Myers said. "I have that peace of mind. I can really bear down on it. Little aches and pains, I'm not taking them seriously now that I know it's healed."

Coach Lindy Ruff also noticed the difference created by the clean bill of health.

"Mentally, it put him in a good place," Ruff said. "The day before he wasn't shooting the puck like that. I think he was tentative in the sense that he didn't know if it had healed or not. I think he gave it a real good test [Wednesday], so there's obviously a possibility he could go."

Myers expects to feel pain for the next couple of months. He'll continue to tinker with wraps and splints. But those shouldn't stop him from giving the Buffalo blue line a much-needed boost.

Matt Read appears ready to be rewarded once again for his versatility, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Flyers rookie worked on the first line during Wednesday's practice at the Skate Zone with center Claude Giroux and left winger Scott Hartnell.

While coach Peter Laviolette wouldn't say for sure that that trio would team up for Thursday's matchup at the Wells Fargo Center against the Chicago Blackhawks, it appears as if Read, who has played all three forward positions and on all four lines, will be on the top line, replacing Jaromir Jagr. Jagr is expected to be out seven to 10 days with a mild groin strain.

"Every time we asked him to do something or needed a void filled, he has been able to jump in and contribute," Laviolette said of Read. "So we were looking at it in practice. I liked it, and we'll see."

Giroux entered Wednesday tied with Vancouver's Henrik Sedin for the NHL scoring lead with 46 points. Hartnell has 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points, while Giroux has 18 goals and 28 assists.

Jagr was injured during Monday's 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers in the Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park. James van Riemsdyk replaced Jagr on the top line for much of the game. So the last thing Read expected was to be elevated to the top line. When he reported to practice, he did a double take.

"I walked in and was on the line with them, and I said I thought Lavy made a spelling error there," said Read, drawing laughter.

Yet it was no joke.

"I was excited," Read said. "You probably only get one of these shots to make the most of these opportunities, and I look forward to [playing] with those guys [Thursday] night and cash in on a couple of points and help our team win."

Read has 12 goals and 10 assists. Entering Wednesday, he was second among NHL rookies in goals and tied for fourth with 22 points.

"He has played a lot of minutes for us and is a player we could count on to score goals and play good defense," Giroux said.

Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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