Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets is a model of loyalty, a prince of patience.

He's had one winning season since he entered the league — ditto the franchise for which he plays. He's witnessed rebuilding seasons. He's witnessed brief moments of contention. He's witnessed a summer in which GM Scott Howson spent millions to improve the team, and then watched that season go down the toilet with the stench and velocity of a dead goldfish.

Nash is signed through 2018, and has a no-movement clause through 2015. Presumably, the Blue Jackets rebuild around him. But what if they felt moving him would hasten the rebuild? What if they asked him to waive his no-move clause?

Columbus Dispatch reporter Aaron Portzline asked him that:

"That's a tough question to answer in a situation like this," Nash said. "I love Columbus. I love being here. I love being a Blue Jacket.

"The city of Columbus deserves a winner and deserves a good product on the ice. If it comes to that — like you said, all speculation — but if they don't want me here, they want to move me? I'm not going to do something where it's going to hurt the franchise just because I have that in my contract."

Every Blue Jackets fan, at some point, has probably mulled the idea of Nash ending up with the Toronto Maple Leafs or some other glamour franchise: Getting a top-line center, cranking out 50 goals as Columbus is in Year 5 of a seven-year rebuild or some such. It's not exactly a pleasant thought.

Question is: Should it be the direction the franchise takes?

He's been there since 2002, with little to show for it. The haul a player of his caliber signed for that long could bring back … the mind boggles. Would trading Rick Nash set this franchise on a different, better course?

No, and here's why: This season is the Hindenburg, but trading Rick Nash would be a titanic mistake.

The coach will go. The general manager and his decision to commit to a sieve between the pipes will go. It'll be their decision on how to handle this roster; but Nash should be there to build around, not to trade for building materials.

The NHL is a league of parity. One season's dregs are the next season's fairytale — look at the Florida Panthers.

Championship teams are still built through high draft choices over the course of several seasons; contending teams can be built in a month. A healthy Jeff Carter, a James Wisniewski that's actually there at the start of the season, goaltending that's an upgrade over wet tissue paper, a coach that has the vision thing instead of being unaware his team sucks 4-on-4 ... factor in the new travel schedule and maybe you go one more year with this core.

Here's hoping the Blue Jackets don't take Rick Nash up on his offer. As he's said, "I've put all my trust and loyalty into this organization." The organization owes that, at the very least, to the fans who want to see Nash there to celebrate this franchise's revival.

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You know who must feel terrible this morning? Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson.

Senators fans flooded the ballot box for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game, getting four (!) Ottawa players elected in as "starters" in the game scheduled for their fair city later this month. Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson led the voting with 939,951 votes. Captain Daniel Alfredsson, center Jason Spezza and winger Milan Michalek, who topped Phil Kessel by 42,144 on the last day of voting, join him.

Anderson? He had 79,064 votes and finished 15th behind starter Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins. Which means Ottawa fans punched their ballot for five other players (including defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who mercifully finished third behind starter Dion Phaneuf of the Toronto Maple Leafs) but intentionally left Anderson off.

Poor bastard. That barely more people than watch postgame coverage on VERSUS-nee-NBC Sports Network ...

This isn't the first time the locals have stormed the gates to get their guys in. Everyone remembers the chicanery from the 2010 ASG in Montreal, when Montreal Canadiens fans found a way around the system to get Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek, Alex Kovalev and Carey Price into the game.

Of course, there was an entire other conference full of fan-voted starters to help balance the local support. Not so much in 2012, where fan balloting has been pretty much rendered irrelevant by the NHL. Except for, like, Ontario apparently.

The league's Fantasy Draft format has (a) rendered the idea of "starters" pointless, as the NHL now just refers to the six players selected by fans as the "first players" added to the game; and because of that, (b) the majority of hockey fans have become apathetic to fan balloting.

They don't quite understand what their votes mean anymore, and stuffing the ballot box has been discouraged. Which really sucks out all the "Vote for Rory" whimsy.

Here are the vote totals from last year vs. this year for forwards:

Defensemen:

And goalies:

The NHL states that "from Nov. 14 through Jan. 4, when fans worldwide cast interactive online ballots at NHL.com and via mobile devices, approximately 24 million votes were registered -- a 66% increase over last season." And looking at the vote totals, they've certainly grown.

But we've fallen quite a ways from the NHL pimping Sidney Crobsy's vote record. All-Star balloting is barely on the radar for most fans, save to complain about the results.

Which means fans aren't engaged with the process. If that's the point, then fine. If it's not and the NHL wants its fans involved, then it needs to clearly spell out the stakes for fan voting so we know what it means to cast a ballot.

Then again, maybe this season's All-Ottawa ballot gives us a reason to care.

None of the top 10 scorers in the NHL were voted in on the first ballot. Spezza is No. 12; Karlsson, whose All-Star status isn't in question, is also in the top 20. Either Alfredsson or Spezza and then Karlsson … isn't that enough? There's a finite number of All-Stars we can have on these rosters. The local fans are loving this; the NHL fan hoping to see Star X play on the same line as Star Y are not.

At this point you might just say, "Well, blame the out-of-market fans." Well, we'll blame the NHL instead: For this confusing system that sparks fan apathy in markets outside of the host province and for having an All-Star game that's a local carnival for sponsors and fans, dressed up to look like an actual honor to players.

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There wasn't a fight in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia; and even though there were over 45,000 New York and Philadelphia sports fans crammed into the stadium for a rivalry game, there were no significant incidents in the stands, either.

But at 7:15 p.m. at the iconic Geno's Steaks located at 1200 South 9th St., violence broke out between hockey fans. Three unknown males wearing Philadelphia Flyers jerseys paid a homeless man to spray two New York Rangers fans with some kind of cleaning substance, according to MyFoxPhilly.com. After an altercation, they then began sucker-punching them and pummeling them as they lay on the ground.

According to NBC's New York affiliate, one of the injured Rangers fans was an off-duty New Jersey police officer and former Marine who was awarded a Purple Heart in Iraq.

From NBC New York:

Neal Auricchio, 30, has worn the uniforms of the Marine Corps and the Woodbridge Police Department, but it appeared to be his Rangers hockey jersey that made him a target of the attack earlier this week.

"He got banged up pretty badly," his father Neal Auricchio Sr., told NBC New York Wednesday. "Stitches in the one eye, and the other eye is pretty puffed up. He went for a CAT scan today, and we're waiting for the results on that."

The incident caused shock and outrage among sports fan. It caused embarrassment for Flyers fans who have spent years battling the stereotypes associated with Philadelphia fans, from fights in the stands to batteries thrown at players.

One Flyers blog had seen enough, and its sleuthing may help police crack this case.

Travis Hughes of Broad Street Hockey on SB Nation posted the original, graphic video on Tuesday afternoon on a post whose "ultimate goal of getting these idiots thrown in jail," saying: "We say so often that we don't deserve our reputation as awful monsters moonlighting as sports fans, but when this sort of thing happens, it completely undermines everything we say on the subject. It's up to us to police this stuff, then."

After that post, a Philadelphia man named Edward Neary posted on the Broad Street Hockey Facebook page that "it was me and my friends … do somethin' about it u fagits (sic)." After a back-and-forth with readers, he backtracked from his initial boast.

Spurred on by the blog's coverage and the ensuing outrage online, police posted the video on YouTube and asked citizens for specific information on the assailants.

From CBS News:

Police say the brawl began with some Flyers fans stopping a window-washer who happened to be passing by, reports CBS Philadelphia.

Capt. Laurence Nodiff with the Philadelphia Police Department reportedly explained that they, "Gave him a couple bucks and said, 'Hey go over to those Rangers fans and squirt some water in their faces.' Apparently, he goes over and squirts some water and they jump up and the guy runs away."

Investigators say the rival fans got into a verbal dispute that quickly became physical after a man in a Flyers jersey threw the first punch. Two other men join in the fight, which also involves a second Rangers fan.

If you have any information about this crime, call South Detective Division at 215-686-3013.

Meanwhile, enough can't be said about the efforts of Hughes and the Broad Street Hockey blog. The first inclination from some media was to post the video and lambaste Philadelphia fans for another black mark on their reputations. Hughes, a Flyers fan, instead wanted to bring these thugs to justice. It's the content of their character, not the color of their hockey jersey, people …

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It's a special time Thursday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and we're talking about the following and more:

Special Guest Stars: Travis Hughes of Broad Street Hockey joins us to talk about the hunt for those Philadelphia Flyers fans who beat up a Rangers fan/war vet; Andy Strickland of True Hockey joins us to talk about the St. Louis Blues and their sale.

• In which Marek and Wysh discuss the Krys Barch "banana peel" suspension.

• Suspensions to Carcillo and Bourque; the Tortorella fine.

• The Anaheim Ducks say everything must go! (Save for Teemu and Saku.)

• Shea Weber and the media.

• Puck Headlines and Talking Points

Question of the Day: "Should the NHL be in the business of suspending players for language on the ice?"

Email your answers to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet them with the hashtag #MvsW to either @jeffmarek or @wyshynski.

"Marek vs. Wyshynski" is a daily hockey radio program featuring Jeff Marek, on-air personality and columnist for Sportsnet, and Greg Wyshynski, your humble editor from Yahoo! Sports' Puck Daddy blog. We'll be speaking to the most interesting people in hockey, from Hall of Famers to beat writers to bloggers. We'll be debating the hottest topics in the NHL and beyond.

It's all about interaction, too: Email your thoughts to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet them with the hashtag #MvsW to either @jeffmarek or @wyshynski.

Click here for the Sportsnet live stream or click the play button above!

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Krys Barch of the Florida Panthers was given a game misconduct against the Montreal Canadiens last Saturday for what a linesman later revealed was a racial slur he heard Barch use against P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens.

On Thursday, Barch was suspended for one game by the National Hockey League. Not for, as was first inferred, dropping an N-bomb or ridiculing Subban's heritage, whose parents are from Jamaica.

Instead, Barch was suspended for making a reference to "slipping on a banana peel" after Subban tumbled to the ice in an altercation with Panthers defenseman Erik Gudbranson, multiple sources confirmed to Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday.

From the NHL, the official word:

"Mr. Barch has admitted making the remark, but denies that the comment was racially motivated," said Colin Campbell, Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations. "While we accept Mr. Barch's assertion, as
a player in the National Hockey League, he must be held accountable for making a comment that, in the context in which it was made, and in light of the entirety of the circumstances, was offensive and unacceptable."

And with that, "racism" becomes a matter of context.

According to Harvey Flalkov of the Sun-Sentinel, Barch said he would have received up to a seven-game suspension from the NHL had his comment been a racial slur. He also called Subban on Sunday and explained his comment, saying that Subban "understood where he was coming from."

From George Richards of the Miami Herald, coach Kevin Dineen said:

"There is no debate over what was said,'' Dineen said. "The content or the context of the comment can and should be debated over what the intent of the comments were. I have a lot of respect for Krys Barch and how he's handled himself the past five days. This has been extremely tough on him.  "At the end of the day, all the information was laid out there. We respect the league's decision and move on.''

Scott Norton, Barch's agent, was confident that "he did no wrong and there were no racial undertones or slur stated" and that it was all "a misunderstanding," like an episode of "Three's Company."

[Related: How Sidney Crosby's lost year changed hockey]

But it's one word against … well, not Subban's, because he didn't hear it. Against the linesman's, we guess, who decided that a joke used occasionally in a game played on a slick surface — a former NHLer texted us this morning to say it's "commonly used when a guy goes down in purpose in a fight to avoid getting his ass kicked" — had racial undertones.

So now we're in Howard Cosell "that little monkey gets loose, doesn't he?" territory, in which some believe it's an bad joke with appalling context and others believe it's something more nefarious and intentional.

But you can't ignore the context, especially this season in the NHL: The hockey worked was horrified when a fan threw a banana at Wayne Simmonds in the preseason. Subban's a player that's had fans show up in blackface to 'support'; even if the banana thing wasn't intended to offend racially, the NHL's going to police it.

Especially when a linesman heard the statement and ejected Barch for it. That's the difference between this incident and the one involving Wayne Simmonds using a homophobic slur against Sean Avery of the New York Rangers earlier this season: None of the on-ice officials heard it, and the NHL was weary about labeling Simmonds as a homophobe without what it considered concrete evidence. (Potential defamation lawsuits are funny that way.)

This evidence, apparently, not being concrete enough:

All of this is what happens when we start policing language on the ice, where men do and say things they'd never do or say at, like, Starbucks the next morning. (OK, Chris Neil might.) A few more of these and we'll have players crying about being offended by verbal taunts like they cry about uncalled tripping penalties on breakaways. Do we really want linesmen as arbiters of good taste? They can't even get offside calls correct half the time.

It's a slippery slope. As slippery as a bana … uh, something really slippery that may nor may not have been peeled away from a piece of fru … uh, food.

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Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• Oh, that's not nice. But since ChicagoNativeSon is a Blackhawks loyalist, we must allow it.

• Brian Burke of the Toronto Maple Leafs announces the demotion of Colton Orr with a lament over the state of the NHL: "The only lament I have on this is the fear that if we don't have guys looking after each other, that the rats will take this game over. … I know the Greenpeace folks will be happy with this," Burke said. "But I wonder where we're going, where Brendan Shanahan's getting six hearings every two days … I wonder, the accountability in our game and the notion that players can stick up for themselves and each other, I wonder where we're going with that." [National Post]

• Burke also lamented that hitting is "leaving the game" because of the NHL's supplemental discipline policy. Based on the numbers … well, no it hasn't. [Pension Plan Puppets]

• Speaking of rats: The Hockey Rodent, a longtime New York Rangers blogger, is trying to raise funds to pay for John Tortorella's NHL fine for post-Winter Classic comments. [THR]

• On Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray's "everything for sale" proclamation: "This got me thinking - is this Bob's desperate attempt to look like he knows what he's doing to save his job? Is he trying to calm the masses before they hit the panic button for him? Does he actually know what he's doing?" [Anaheim Calling]

• Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber has been cleared to return to the lineup tonight. [Predators]

• Edmonton Oilers phenom Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will miss up to a month with a damaged shoulder. Will another rookie leapfrog him in the Calder race? [Edmonton Journal]

• Todd Bertuzzi has dropped his third-party lawsuit against Marc Crawford, meaning that the former Vancouver Canucks coach is no longer liable for financial damages in the Steve Moore suit. [Globe & Mail]

• According to NHL players polled by SI, Loui Eriksson and Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars are the two most underrated players in the NHL. Also, Joe Pavelski somehow makes the list. [Kukla]

• Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks retraced his steps on the Philadelphia ice in scoring the Cup-winning goal back in 2010, and said of the missing puck: "The linesman took it; not one really knows what happened after that." [Chicago Tribune Video]

• Bourne looks at the "Beerability" of players, as in who would you most like to have a drink with at a pub. Somehow Tim Thomas doesn't ran first overall. [Backhand Shelf]

• Katie Baker has nothing but love for the Boston Bruins. [Grantland]

• Rear Admiral on the Boston Bruins' steamrolling of the New Jersey Devils. [Barstool]

• Great stuff from Neate Sager on that Eric Francis column after Canada's loss to Russia: "WJC2012: This is why they think we're sore losers; Calgary columnist writes hit piece on Kuznetsov." [Buzzing The Net]

• Claude Giroux is OK with having been "snubbed" in All-Star Game voting. Well, we certainly hope he still makes the cut! [Daily News]

• Adam Proteau doesn't believe that the NHL's supplemental discipline is working: "So what we have, apparently, is the same old system that ignores the actions of top-tier talents and doesn't go after even the worst repeat offenders with any teeth. OK, maybe it has one more tooth than it did under Campbell and, from a public relations perspective, Shanahan's video explanations offer more transparency than the previous administration. (And as I've always said, Shanahan takes his direction from commissioner Gary Bettman, who takes direction from the 30 team owners. Ultimately, they are the ones most complicit in this mess.)" [THN]

• The New York Rangers and Florida Panthers play for the first time since the Sucker Punch. [Blueshirt Bulletin]

• Nicklas Backstrom is feeling better after Rene Bourque's hit to the head, that earned him a 5-game suspension. [Capitals Insider]

• NERD ALERT: Tyler Dellow retweeted this one yesterday: Do referees make make-up calls? A statistical analysis! [Sabermetric Research]

• The heartwarming story of Brian McGrattan's engagement over the holiday break. "As part of the process of achieving his sobriety, McGrattan had to make difficult choices as to who he would surround himself with in order to maximize his chances of staying clean and sober. Michelle was one of the few who McGrattan knew had his best interests at heart." [Examiner]

• Finally, here's the Lars Eller scrum from today. Listen to the giggling about a "dildo question" at the start.

It was a long road back to the NHL for David Perron of the St. Louis Blues. A concussion in Nov. 2010 robbed him of 97 games, but when he made his return to the Blues' lineup in early December, he picked up right where he left off.

In 14 games this season, Perron has scored two goals and recorded 13 points, including scoring his first of the year 6:21 into his debut against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Perron's comeback came in the middle of a St. Louis turnaround. When Ken Hitchcock was hired on Nov. 6, the Blues were 14th in the Western Conference. Today, they sit fifth, four points behind the Vancouver Canucks for the top seed.

We spoke with Perron on Wednesday about his long road back from a concussion, the impact head coach Ken Hitchcock has had on the team since his hiring and where he'd like to play a Winter Classic.

Enjoy.

Q. How badly were you itching to get back into the lineup once you were cleared for contact and traveling with the team?

PERRON: Once I was cleared there was still some big steps to be taken in terms of taking some hits and seeing how I would react to that. I was pretty concerned how I would react. I guess we had done every possible step and I reacted good. After a week, I looked at the schedule and I thought it would be a good time to get back. I think it was five home games in a row to get myself back and see how I would react to game situations and it went good. I guess the first back-to-back games we played we went on the road and that was a little tougher, but that stuff happens.

Describe your emotions that ran through your body when you realized you scored that first goal against the Chicago Blackhawks?

As I shot the puck in the net, I got hit I think by [Dave] Bolland and that kind of took a little bit of pressure off after that; not only to take the hit, but to get the goal. It was a pretty good feeling. I was really nervous before the game; probably the most nervous I been playing in the NHL so far. To get that one early felt really good and kind of loosened me up.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about concussions?

It's tough. When you look at the person, he looks normal. I know myself when I'd go in the room last year, I looked normal to the guys and they would ask how I was feeling. And after a while it kind of gets on your nerves a little bit to get asked 30-40 times a day how you're feeling. You understand the people around your team are caring about you, but you're trying to get your mind off of everything and hopefully recovering quickly.

I think the biggest thing is, again, that you look normal to the people [around you]. Andy McDonald is coming back from a concussion. Alex Steen is just around that process who hopefully will come back soon and when you look at them they look normal. Andy Mac is skating right now with us and he's looking like a real good player out there, but he still has some steps to take before he's ready to come back.

Considering his history with concussions, was MacDonald a guy you spoke with during your recovery?

Yeah, he's probably been the player that helped me the most. Just going through different situations and coming back. At one point we had to push it and see how you react to that and there's going to be some stuff, with the exercises that's going to help and that's what we talked [about]. I think it was in August. I still wasn't feeling quite 100-percent, but I was feeling better, and talking to him and obviously doctors, we started introducing some light bike rides. As I kept feeling better and better, I got on the ice and slowly ramped it up and it sort of made me feel better and I was ready to keep progressing to my recovery.

When you miss as much time as you did, is there any apprehension? Is there a fear the next hit you take you might be out just as long?

I think the symptoms are still fresh in my mind. I remember what they are. I'm careful when I'm out there. For now and probably the first 20 or 30 games [I'm trying] to be as careful as possible and being smart out there. Obviously there's a lot of awareness right now around the game, so the players are trying to be as smart as they can out there. It's knowing who you're against on the ice and putting yourself in situations where if you get hit it's going to be a legal hit and not putting yourself in dangerous situations. I think that's just normal right now for me to have that; maybe for the rest of the season just to get back and get my feet wet again. Just the grind of the schedule is pretty tough.

After that first back-to-back, I woke up the next morning feeling pretty tired. It's just fun to be back and with all the guys in the room. It's the thing I missed the most.

You were still sidelined for the first month of Ken Hitchcock's arrival in St. Louis. From your vantage point in the press box watching games, what's really been the difference before and after Ken?

It's tough to say. It's up to guys on the ice to make a difference. Hitch has come in and made a good difference himself. I think putting everyone on the same page is probably the biggest thing. I really enjoyed being coached by Davis Payne. Last year, around the same time I got hurt, three to five guys got hurt at the same time, some of our key guys: [T.J.] Oshie, McDonald, [Barrett] Jackman, [Roman] Polak ... I got hurt and I think we were the best team in the NHL. There's more than just the injuries, but I felt we started the year really well. I guess with all the injuries we couldn't keep it going. But I think so far with Hitch it's just the way he's put everyone on the same page. When he came in maybe when he came in it was a big of an issue, but I thought to watch the games from upstairs, to watch the style of play we played when Hitch came over, we knew we had a chance to win every night and he's done a great job to get the guy guys rolling.

Since Hitch has come in the Blues have moved up the Western Conference standings. With so much hockey left to play, how do you guys in the room temper your emotions and not get ahead of yourselves?

We want to be a top team in the league and the last few years we only made the playoffs once and it's something that we want to get back into. We can't be too eager to look up, we've got to keep working and keep grinding. I think the last three games were a good reality check for us. Before that game yesterday [Tuesday's 4-1 win over Phoenix], we lost twice to Detroit and they played us really well. Every time we play Detroit they tell you a lot about your game and we talked about it in the room and see some of the adjustments we needed to make. I think next time we go in there we'll be ready for them.

If the Blues were ever on HBO's 24/7, who's a guy in the room that would stand out?

There's a few guys. I think [B.J.] Crombeen is a guy who talks a lot in the room and is a funny guy, just chirping everyone. I think it'd be a fun team to do. Some of these guys you don't notice how funny they are until you actually watch the show, so that's why I'm going to try and catch it in the summer.

Finally, if you could play an outdoor game anywhere, where would it be?

It'd be hard to not pick St. Louis. It'd be nice to see an outdoor rink at Busch Stadium. There's a few spots, I think, in the league would be really good. St. Louis/Chicago would be something pretty special, either in St. Louis or Chicago. But it's tough around this time of the year; pretty warm weather right now in St. Louis, so I don't know it they would be able to make it happen, but there was still some cold weather last year around Christmas, and quite a bit of snow, so who knows, maybe we'll get it sometime.

Photo credits: AP

Frank Saracco is a Chicago Blackhawks fan with fond memories of their 2010 Stanley Cup championship victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. To honor that moment, he had a friend create a mural as a birthday gift to his daughter that depicts the two teams — who meet tonight in Philly for the first time since Game 6 of the '10 Final — as cartoon heroes and villains.

From Saracco, the character breakdown:

Patrick Kane = Road Runner
Jonathan Toews = Superman
Duncan Keith = Toothless (from "How to Train Your Dragon")
Marian Hossa = Mr. Incredible
Brent Seabrook = Eddie Munster (only cus he looks like Eddie Munster)
Antti Niemi = Shrek

On the bench:

Brian Campbell = Lion-O
Dustin Byfuglien = Sulley
Patrick Sharp = Batman
Niklas Hjalmarsson = Thor
Coach Q = Gepetto
John Torchetti = Perry the Platypus

And then there's Adam Burish as Bugs Bunny in the penalty box, along with Count Von Count as the statistician. "Or Bettman."

Then there are the Flyers, who "were less important to me but I did try to make associations," he said. Along with Ville Leino as Gargamel, Claude Giroux as Darth Vader, Matt Carle as ... well, whatever, Simon Gagne as Doofenshmirtz and, ahem, Jeff Carter as the Evil Queen we have:

Chris Pronger = Skeletor
Scott Hartnell = Yosemite Sam
Danny Briere = Wile E. Coyote
Coach Peter Laviolette = Stewie

That last one really captures the spirit of the thing. See the full mural here.

Saracco said the scoreboard represents the final score and time of the last game of the Finals. Also important: "I know that game was in Philly, but for the sake of the mural it had to be at the UC if it was going up in my house. A little artistic liberty."

Sadly, no depiction of linesman Steve Miller as he steals the game-winning puck. We would have gone with Mutley or Swiper from "Dora The Explorer", personally ...

Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Please caption this photo. Also, someone needs to rotate it 90 degrees and photoshop  Rupp and Repik dangling from a rope bridge.

Preview: Calgary Flames at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. EST

Since December 10, the Bruins have lost only once. It stands to reason that they're pretty good, and that you're not going to beat them unless you're on top of your game. The Flames are... not that. They've lost four straight and, to make matters worse, they'll be without Rene Bourque for the next five. Lucky for Flames fans, there's more to cheer for than just the upset: Jarome Iginla's still sitting on 499 goals in his career.

Preview: Florida Panthers at New York Rangers, 7 p.m. EST

The last time these two teams met, the game ended with Michael Del Zotto crosschecking Tomas Kopecky in the head, Kopecky responding by sucker punching Del Zotto, and Mike Rupp responding by giving Kopecky a pounding. That in mind, it's the Panthers' turn to respond, and Krys Barch implied that he was planning on it. However, he was conveniently suspended for this game for his "racial slur" on P.K. Subban. Will the game still be heated without him? Probably.

Preview: Chicago Blackhawks at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. EST

The Flyers are struggling right now. They're 2-4-1 in their last seven, they're without Jaromir Jagr for a week and change, and Ilya Bryzgalov (who should get the start Thursday night) is beginning to seem less quirky and more insane. But, if they're looking for a little motivation to right the ship, their first home game versus the Blackhawks since they were defeated in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final should do it.

Evening reading

• Karl Alzner lost a bet and had to wear a Russian jersey at Washington Capitals practice. Ovechkin's troll face here is money. [Washington Post]

• How quiet is First Niagara Center? According to Ville Leino, "Married couples fighting upstairs, you can hear that on the ice." [Boston Herald]

• Montreal Canadiens prospect Louis LeBlanc has been returned to junior. [Montreal Gazette]

• Kevin Smith announces that Hit Somebody, his proposed two-part film, will now be combined into one epic hockey movie. "Smith said he hoped to begin filming in June, and anticipated a 150 minute "max" running time. He wants to have a finished film ready for next year's Sundance Film Festival, the place where he broke into Hollywood with his homemade Clerks in 1994." [Inside Movies]

Bold prediction: Four goals in the first period for the Bruins.

Up in Canada, it's pretty common to see the nation's leader at hockey games. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is at all the big ones. Heck, his presence is so far removed from being a novelty now that Canadians demand he pay full price for tickets and get upset if he asks for too many.

In America, however, getting the commander-in-chief out to a hockey game is a little more difficult. President Barack Obama's still never been to a Washington Capitals game.

However, it would appear that former President Bill Clinton has a little more interest in hockey. He was at Thursday night's game between the New York Rangers and the Florida Panthers, and he showed that he isn't just a casual observer: Clearly, he keeps up with the goings-on of the NHL at least a little.

During the intermission, he came down to the glass, where the ice crew flipped him a puck. And then, because Clinton remains a very cool guy, he showed his appreciation by flashing a Jagr salute, much like the Rangers' Mike Rupp did at the Winter Classic.

No word on whether Scott Hartnell tracked Clinton down after the game and demanded he show a future Hall of Famer some respect ...

In closing: Bill Clinton for Prime Minister.

For the first time since 1981, Sweden captured the gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships with a 1-0 overtime win over Russia on Thursday night.

After a victory 30 years in the making, some enthusiasm could be expected from players, coaches and, yes, even broadcasters. So please excuse the SVT booth for being positively orgasmic after Mika Zibanejad scored at 10:09 of overtime. Is that giggling we hear?

Wow. It's like hearing Han Solo after Luke blew up the Death Star, if his name was Sven Salo. We especially liked when the Suzy Kolber of Sweden, who looks like Jane Curtain by way of Bonnie Hunt, being all hands on with the Swedish coach.

A quick translation of their euphoric screaming:

"Zibanejad scores! Sweet mother of ABBA!"

"We have defeated the Russians because they are brash and un-North American! At least that's what I read in the Canadian newspapers!"

"I have already pre-ordered 100 of the postage stamps our government will create from this highlight! I will gloriously lick 99 of them to get a glue high while placing one on pedestal I constructed from IKEA!"

"Woo-hoo! Go Sweden! I will remain excited about this until Saturday when the Bruins use the Sedins as tackling dummies for 60 minutes! Down to you, Suzy …"

Check out full World Juniors coverage on Yahoo! Sports' junior hockey blog Buzzing The Net.

s/t Félix Lévesque

No. 1 Star: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

Patrice Bergeron had two goals and an assist versus the Calgary Flames, and he certainly wasn't the only one with a multi-point night. En route to a freaking 9-0 victory, Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Rich Peverley, Benoit Pouliot and Tyler Seguin picked up two points a piece as well. Amazingly, not a single Bruin picked up more than 3. They scored at least twice in every period, five times in the first five minutes of the opening two frames, they outshot Calgary 42 to 25, and won 70% of the faceoffs. Sure, a 9-0 loss is an anomaly and the Flames aided and abetted with a terrible performance here, but seriously, the Bruins average 2.09 even-strength goals more than their opponents this season. It's not much of an anomaly.

No. 2 Star: James Van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia Flyers

Van Riemsdyk scored twice in the Flyers 5-4 win over the Blackhawks, once midway through the second to put Philly up 4-2, and then again with thirty seconds to go in a game that Chicago had come back to tie 4-4:

The Flyers were clearly motivated to win their first home date with the Hawks since the last game of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final: they put 45 shots on Ray Emery. Matt Read and Jakub Voracek had 6 apiece, and Scott Hartnell had a game-high 7. He also added a goal and an assist.

No. 3 Star: Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings

Heading into Thursday, Quick was the only NHL goaltender with 5 shutouts. After backstopping the Kings to a 1-0 overtime win versus the Phoenix Coyotes, he's got 6. Quick stopped 22 shots, allowing Drew Doughty to win the game on this drive to the net:

Honourable mention: Mike Smith didn't get the win, but he was as close to flawless as you can be for the Coyotes... Joe Thornton scored the tiebreaking goal in the San Jose Sharks 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets... Mike Ribeiro scored twice in the first period, which would turn out to be all the Dallas Stars needed to knock off the Nashville Predators, 4-1. His first goal is sick:

Gabriel Bourque's first NHL goal was the lone Nashville tally... Alex Pietrangelo's two-point night spurred a comeback in a three-goal third-period versus the Edmonton Oilers. The New York Rangers' registered a season-high 41 shots in their 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. Marion Gaborik had three, the last of which was this rocked to win the game in overtime:

He started the festivities by scoring, then assisted on a David Backes goal before Matt D'agostini scored the game-winner as the St. Louis Blues won 4-3. Carlo Colaiacovo had three assists. The Blues now lead the NHL in wins at home with 16... Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots, Kyle Turris had a goal (his first as a Senator) and an assist, and Daniel Alfredsson had two helpers and an empty-netter in the Ottawa Senators 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lighting. Guess who scored the lone Lightning goal? Here's a hint: his name rhymes with Shmamkos... The Toronto Maple Leafs got a shutout from Jonas Gustavsson and two-point nights from Tim Connolly and Mikhail Grabovski in their 4-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets...

Did you know? The last time Chicago won a regular-season game on the road versus the Flyers was November 9, 2006. They've lost 9 straight in Philadelphia.

Dishonourable mention: The Calgary Flames. For reasons you might understand, this is Flames.com right now:

Sure, the end of the World Juniors, which your city co-hosted, is something, but I have a hunch that, if the Calgary Flames win (or even lose in less embarrassing fashion), the team website doesn't bury their most recent game behind three WJC stories.

(Ed. Note: This review contains spoilers.)

Now that Season 2 of "HBO 24/7: Road To The NHL Winter Classic" has dropped its final F-bomb, the essential question: How did it compare to Season 1?

Before we answer, know this: It's the question the producers knew every viewer would be asking by the end of the run, and they've worked their asses off to try and develop characters, story arcs and narratives from two teams that simply didn't offer the same clarity of plot, and star power, that the Capitals and Penguins did.

By Episode 4, their successes were evident: Players like Ilya Bryzgalov, Claude Giroux and Ryan Callahan mattered to us, as did the coaches. And the finale did a really fantastic sell job on the importance of the Classic itself, despite it being just another regular season game: From the general animosity between the teams to players concerned about whether or not they'd be able to take part in the spectacle.

The story told on the ice during the 2012 Winter Classic was more compelling than last season's finale under the lights in Pittsburgh. It was, overall, a better episode. It wasn't, overall, a better season — and the fact that some of the beats in this and other installments now feel like part of a "24/7" template made for some predictability that the debut season didn't possess.

Season 2 couldn't sniff the jock of Season 1 from a dramatic storytelling perspective. But Season 2 might have produced a greater variety of players you cared about by the time skates hit the ice inside of a stadium.

It cracked the veneer of some of these players to the point where they seemed like old friends by the fourth episode. We felt like we understand the dynamics of their camaraderie. We felt like we know their families. We felt like we've taken a journey with them, running the emotional gamut from ferocious competition to the joys of The Game.

Coming up, a recap, some clips and images from Episode 4. What did you think of the show, and Season 2?

This Week On 24/7

It's the day the clown cried.

The first image we see is that of Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, the space cadet who provided this season's most sublime and huMANGous laughs, with his hands over his mouth. He's surly and sarcastic after another loss. Trumpeted as the team's biggest offseason acquisition back in Episode 1, he's been humbled (and we've been foreshadow'd) as the Flyers prepare for Jagr Night in Pittsburgh, with a side helping of Talbot Evening.

Hey, remember Sean Avery? The HBO producers did. Avery and Brandon Prust share breakfast in Washington, DC. Avery can't get on the Internet. Avery doesn't want to take off his sunglasses. Avery wonders if the orange juice is unlimited. #SeanAveryProblems

(Later, his being placed on waivers becomes a side-plot before the Winter Classic, including Coach John Tortorella addressing the decision. This story was very important to the "24/7" viewer, who was likely on pins and needles wondering what Avery would wear to Citizens Bank Stadium as a healthy scratch for the Rangers before his demotion.)

The Rangers travel to Miami to face the Florida Panthers, where "24/7" cameras take advantage of the beach.

Hey now.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the Flyers visit "The Town That Max Built, I Mean, Jagr Built" according to Scott Hartnell. Previously, we saw the positive reaction to Talbot being back in the city, as he's mobbed by fans outside of the Flyers' hotel (one of whom has him sign a "Shhh!" photo).

Later, we see him takin' it all in. Really wonderful moment here:

Talbot gets a video tribute and a nice ovation from the Penguins crowd.

Jagr gets this:

Then things get really fun. Scottie Hartnell calls Evgeni Malkin the "ugliest guy in the league." Tyler Kennedy gives Talbot a welcome back with a stick between the legs, prompting this classic from Max:

"[Expletive] spear there. Right in my [expletive] penis."

Jagr scores. Talbot gets the empty netter (and a really nice shot of that from HBO). The Flyers head back home victorious, and we see our first glorious shot of Winter Classic rink 18 minutes into the program.

Back in Florida, it's the Rangers and the Panthers. Ah yes, the Tomas Kopecky sucker-punch on Michael Del Zotto; once again, HBO brings us some amazing context to an infamous highlight:

• Michael Rupp saying "what the [expletive] are you doing? What the [expletive] are you doing, you [expletive] piece of [poop]. You [expletive] suckered him!"

• Brandon Prust saying he would have beaten up Kopecky but that "I didn't want to get suspended for the Winter Classic." (And who said supplemental discipline wasn't a deterrent!)

• Del Zotto, bleeding back in the trainers room, asking who jumped in to defend him. The answer: "Rupper."

On the plane to Philly, Ryan Callahan messes with a sleeping Marc Staal by sticking an HBO boom mic under his nose. THE MAN HAD A CONCUSSION YOU BRUTES.

Meanwhile, Wayne Simmonds gets hit in the hand at Flyers practice by a Claude Giroux shot. He goes to the back and … OK, fair warning about how awesome and gross this is.

Yum. Who wants a V-8?

The next segment covers an important part of the Winter Classic experience: Family. Laviolette hangs with his brood in South Jersey. On a table there's a plate that reads "We Interrupt This Marriage To Bring You Hockey Season." The family poses on a staircase for a photo, saying "Rangers Suck" instead of "cheese."

The Rangers celebrate with family too. Brandon Dubinsky's grandfather tells the world to "drink up." Grandson's apparently way ahead of you, old timer …

There's more family time during Winter Classic practices on the eve of the game, leading to this heartwarming message of togetherness from Laviolette before the game:

"If your life is complicated with people in town, make sure you get rid of the people."

Back on the Flyers locker room, Bryzgalov gives his infamous "don't forget my thermos" speech about not playing the Winter Classic and ... wait a minute ... hellllllooooo gorgeous!

The Rangers hang out in the third base dugout — Brian Boyle does a little Ferris Bueller "swing battah" routine — before practice, and then hang out with OMG BRANDON DUBINSKY'S LADYFRIEND friends and family after their afternoon skate on Jan. 1.

Gameday. Really cool moment: We see the 'A' getting stitched onto Marc Staal's jersey as he's cleared for the Classic. Little Liam, the Rangers fan with cerebral palsy from Episode 2, rolls into the stadium for the game. The coaches give their speeches, including Laviollete's "You Get One Crack At This" mantra. (Max Talbot's inner monologue: "Or two in two years ...")

Winter Classic time for "the best in the world at what they do," according to HBO. (Chris Jericho fan on the writing staff perhaps?) Among the highlights from a gorgeously shot (and really, really brutal) game:

• The referees discussing the way the wind is affecting the puck; acting as if they're unaware of the incredible weather machine NBC is using to keep the game close. They must have missed a meeting ...

• Claude Giroux asking Hernik Lundqvist if he can "just have one tonight." Foreshadowing!

• Giroux calling Artem Anisimov a "[expletive] piece of [poop]" before warning the officials about his interfering on faceoffs.

• Jagr getting injured, going to the back and shooing the camera away from the trainer's table.

• Hartnell to Del Zotto: "I don't even know your name." Del Zotto (we think, or maybe it was Brad Richards) to Hartnell: "Go rip your own teammates again."

• Brayden Schenn scores; Giroux: "We're not at [expletive] world juniors here, jumping into the glass."

• The Mike Rupp Jagr Salute. James van Riemsdyk, after saying he'd do the Anisimov gun salute if he scored, tells his teammates at the start of the third that Rupp "did the Jags salute … that's why we gotta respond." Giroux: "How is that cool? It's his second goal of his [expletive] career." Moments later, Rupp ties the game. Whoops.

• Callahan blows a gasket over the "holding the stick" call late in the third period. And then after the puck is covered by the Rangers in the crease, we get the essential moment from the Winter Classic: Danny Briere vs. Henrik Lundqvist.

Every penalty shot should have the music from the "Prometheus" trailer.

The next scenes were very familiar from last season: The locker room celebration contrasted with the locker room depression. Special visitors (Liam! Sather! James Dolan!). And then the big dramatic essay, as Sigur Ros's "Festival" plays:

"Never get caught telling a hockey player it's just a game." (Irony: They show Bryzgalov, who is a hockey player that told us it's "only game.")

"Never get caught trying to explain to him all the things in the world that matter so much more. His mind might well acknowledge the truth to your point, but his soul would be powerless to accept it, considering the immensity of what he gives to the sport and the immeasurability of all it offers in return."

"Nothing ever feels as perfect as a moment of flawlessness on the ice." (We see Dubinsky score against the Islanders.)

"No bond as strong as one that compels brothers to bleed for one another." (Zac Rinaldo player skates away from a fight, getting the crowd riled.)

"Not many leaders as this versed in the craft of motivation." (Laviolette and Tortorella are shown.)

"Not many pursuits can evoke such visions if brilliance." (Lundqvist, raising his stick to the MSG crowd.)

"This is why it hurts so much when skill falls short of what the will desires. This is why it's so unforgettable when absolute passion yields ultimate reward."

"And that's all still just the start of what the Game can do to you."

There's a final montage of the people we've met, from the players to the coaches to Grandma Callahan.

"Hockey may in fact be just a game, but it's also who they are."

Check out the glorious symmetry of the clips that began and ended Season 2 of "HBO 24/7".

They did the same thing in Season 1 with the laundry bookends, but going from battle scars to child-like smiles is a really genius way to tie this up -- as we said, they got the humanity and the characters right this season.

F-Bomb Count

Unofficially 67, and no we're not going to add one just to get to the Jagr.

Nudity Report

None. What, no Hartnell?

Hockey Geek Moment

The entire film session with the Rangers in Miami had some cool insight and interplay, but it also had the projector breaking. That led to Torts getting angry, and some singing about assistant coaches being in a "pile of [poop]" because the machine broke and Dubinsky, ahem, "looking for gold."

Mandatory hockey meetings: They're just as problematic and annoying as yours at work!

Missing In Action

Chris Pronger, NHL ice builder Dan Craig, Gary Bettman, Dancin' Larry, The Roots.

Top 5 Quotes

5. "Is the orange juice unlimited?" — Sean Avery at a D.C. hotel

4.  "What kind of question is this? Everybody knows how I'm going to be received." Jaromir Jagr, when asked about Pittsburgh fans.

3. "You had your night off. So there's no more for a while here. There's gonna be another one, I'm sure. Not for a while. And it better not be [expletive] tonight." — Tortorella.

2. "What the [expletive] are you doing, you [expletive] piece of [poop]. You [expletive] suckered him!" — Mike Rupp to Tomas Kopecky.

1. "[Expletive] spear there. Right in my [expletive] penis." — Max Talbot, after a Tyler Kennedy spear.

Three Stars

3. John Tortorella. Can we hire this man to motivate us in everyday life?

2. Michael Rupp. The hero of the Winter Classic, he was also a veteran sage in the locker room and a protector of Del Zottos.

1. Scott Hartnell. The catalyst for many, many on-ice altercations; his play brought his story full circle after Laviolette slammed him for being too casual in the previous episode. Great stuff, Sideshow Bob.

A few times each season in the NHL, we see a pane of plexiglass destroyed either by a big hit or errant shot. Workers quickly grab a fresh pane from the bowels of the arena and replace it, and within 10 minutes we're back to playing hockey.

In the Czech 2nd Division, they have no such luxury.

During a game between Uherske Hradiste and Havirov, two players broke a piece of glass along the boards and workers couldn't find a replacement. The refs threatened to abandon the game, but with two minutes remaining and Havirov up 3-2, the teams settled on an alternate solution: Using a spare table to fill the hole.

OK, so how do you keep a spare table in place along the glass? Volunteerism!

That's Havirov backup goaltender Lukas Danecek holding the table, instead of working the bench door.

Havirov would hang on for the 3-2 win and remain in first place in the Second Hockey League's East Division.

So, NHL backup goaltenders, next time glass breaks in an arena you're playing in, be thankful you get a warm spot on the bench and can wear a baseball hat without being forced into extra labor.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Stick-tap Roman J. of NovaSport for the heads up

Yahoo! Sports NHL columnist Nick Cotsonika marked a dubious anniversary on Thursday: One year to the day that Sidney Crosby was hit from behind by Victor Hedman.

The ensuing concussion recovery kept the Pittsburgh Penguins captain out through the end of last season until Nov. 21 of this season. Crosby returned with a 4-point night. He had 12 points in eight games. He hasn't played since Dec. 5 after a post-concussion symptom relapse.

I want to believe, perhaps naively, that Crosby will be back this season. He's been around the team. He's been pushing himself in training. He's said this recovery isn't of the magnitude of his previous journey back to the NHL.

Ultimately, the decision will be made regarding what's best for Crosby. It'll be a decision influenced by his brain-trust — his father, his agent, maybe even that "chiropractic neurology" doctor who put a guy with a brain injury in a spinning chair. It's a decision the Penguins will have to abide by.

But they have a decision of their own to make on Crosby. He's signed through 2013, when he'll become an unrestricted free agent. He is, until proven otherwise, still the best hockey player in the world when healthy.

When. Healthy.

Which makes his next contract a fascinating and uncertain judgment call for GM Ray Shero.

Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet explored that in a proactive column on Friday, speculating that Crosby has no decision but to shut down his season and that Shero's outlook on a long-term deal may have changed after this second absence from the lineup.

From Sportsnet:

How can Shero not be nervous about what the franchise might be willing to pay Crosby on a new deal? Even if the Penguins still want to make him a "Penguin for life" with a new long-term deal (possibly 10 years and $100-million), it won't come with an insurance policy that protects the Penguins from a career-ending concussion. The franchise will be on the hook to pay him if he decides to retire. Now I'm no Warren Buffet, but that's one heck of a financial gamble to take on anyone, even if they did just build a new state of the art arena off the man's back.

Just so we're clear: Please do not confuse Nick Kypreos with Warren Buffet. Moving on …

The Penguins can offer Crosby a short-term deal, but will he and his agent, Pat Brisson, really be interested in that considering everything Crosby has done financially for the organization in such a short period of time? Brisson will want to hit a home run on this next deal. The problem is Crosby's latest setback changes the financial dynamics.

I'm not here to suggest the Penguins would ever turn its back on Crosby and not do him right. Mario Lemieux and the organization are far too classy of an organization, and Crosby being looked after past retirement is a given. But make one thing clear: there is a big difference between a debt of gratitude and signing a long-term contract as the undisputed No. 1 player in the world. And with Crosby still just 24 years old, it's a difference that far exceeds $100 million dollars.

First off, Kypreos makes an interesting point: How many teams are we going to see provide financial aid to players who suffered brain injuries during their playing days, via contractual obligations fulfilled while the player is in unofficial retirement? We're seeing it in Philadelphia with Ian Laperriere and, perhaps, soon with Chris Pronger. We're seeing it on Boston with Marc Savard, too.

Wonder if the next CBA will have anything to say about this?

As for Crosby … this is a tricky one. You expect nothing more from the Penguins than a total commitment to their star player, both in support for his health and in commitment to his continued employment with the franchise. But the franchise is a business; and what business makes a $100 million investment for which the return might be a complete crapshoot?

It's a cynical, cold thing to consider; like Darren Rovell penning a hockey column. But it's something Shero will, and already is, debating.

May we suggest a 15-year deal? That seems to be the going rate for chronically injured franchise players.

Hockey fans owe a debt of gratitude to Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray. Weeks before the trade deadline, his everything-must-go-but-not-you-Saku-or-Teemu stance ignited a cottage industry of speculation. On the venerable HF Boards, there's a thread dedicated to Ducks proposals that's crossing 30 pages this morning.

Maybe we exhausted all the Bobby Ryan scenarios back in November, even though he's the most likely to move. Maybe we all don't really want Corey Perry on our rosters until we can find a suitable clothespin for our noses. Whatever the case, when Murray floated the notion of trading core players form his roster, the saliva from NHL fans dripped directly onto Ryan Getzlaf.

Getzlaf is having, statistically, his worst offensive season as a pro. His goals and assists per game are his lowest since his rookie season with the then-Mighty Ducks. Assuming he plays at least 80 games, he's on pace to score 53 points. Ouch.

But he's also a 26-year-old Stanley Cup and gold medal winner, and one of the biggest bodies that can also dominate offensively in the NHL. To say he's coveted would be an insult to longing; there aren't many fans in this league that wouldn't take Getzlaf on the roster yesterday.

Including those in Toronto.

Before Murray made his public announcement of a potential Ducks yard sale, columnist Jeff Miller of the Orange County Register made the case that it's time to trade Getzlaf and reload with the package of players his move would yield.

After Murray's announcement, Getzlaf — signed through 2013 with a $5.325 million cap hit and without a no-trade clause — indicated that he doesn't want to leave Anaheim:

Getzlaf said that he wants to remain one of the essential pieces to lead the Ducks back to respectability as Murray turns one eye toward next season. "I want to be part of it more than anything," he said. "In junior, I played for the same team my whole career and I kind of imagined the same things when I came here and still do. I don't want to put Murph in a situation where he has to do something like that.

"The guys in here don't want to do that either. Murph showed a lot of faith in us. Unfortunately he had to fire Randy [Carlyle] and I think that we need to start rewarding him for that. I take that on my shoulders as well. I've got to be better. I've got to produce."

("We need to start rewarding him for that?" Never let it be said the players didn't want Randy Carlyle fired.)

Immediately, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brian Burke were mentioned as possible suitors. Getzlaf fills the most significant hole up front of the Leafs, and gives them the offensive star with a ring they wanted in chasing Brad Richards. Burke is an unabashed fan of Getzlaf's: His long-term deal with the forward back in 2007 was seen as a hefty financial investment at the time but proved to be a genius move.

Alex Mamalis of Maple Leafs Hot Stove is all about it:

The most prominent conclusion I came to was that this is exactly the type of contract Burke likes to deal for when acquiring  or just outright negotiating terms himself with a marquee player. Should Getzlaf be legitimately available, you can be sure Burke will make a strong if not the strongest run at the Ducks' #1 centerman; after all, he was the one who signed Getzlaf to his current contract.

What it would take to acquire him is an entirely different discussion in its own right; nonetheless, the value is there, and with these statistics in mind, one can assume the Leafs will get their money's worth either way.

Damien Cox set the package at Luke Schenn, Tyler Bozak, potentially Nazem Kadri, probably Joe Colborne, maybe Carl Gunnarson and a firm handshake from Brian Burke to his old trading partner Murray. But does that give a "core player" back to the Ducks?

The National Post did a pros and cons bit, with this reality check:

Unconfirmed reports suggest that, outside Toronto, there are other cities that also operate NHL teams. Some of those teams might also covet a large, skilled centre such as Getzlaf with one year left on a contract carrying a cap hit of US$5.325-million. Brad Richards was the only marquee centre available when free agency opened last July, and he signed a nine-year contract worth US$60-million with the New York Rangers after months of speculation — speculation that included interest from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Leafs, among other teams.

Now that his lament over the loss of fourth-line enforcers in the NHL has been chronicled, Burke can get back to the business of making the playoffs for the first time since 2004. They're right on the bubble, with six teams within four points of each other in the final four spots in the East. Acquiring a big center like Getzlaf would transform the Leafs from a contender for the playoffs to a contender in the playoffs in the East.

There are three positions in the NHL where the acquisition of a single impact player can dramatically alter your fortunes. The first is goaltender, obviously. The second is on defense, where a 27-minute-a-night rock can affect every facet of the game. The third is a top-line center, and look no further than the New York Rangers to see how that trickle-down works.

The Leafs have Dion Phaneuf in Norris form. The goaltender … well, that's a work in progress. But Burke knows he needs a star pivot. He made it a priority last summer ... and ended up with Tim Connolly.

Getzlaf doesn't want to leave. All signs point to Ryan going first if Murray breaks up the RPG Line for good. (And please, no Ville Leino "let's make Ryan a center!" chatter; he's not.)

But if circumstances change, if his departure after next summer becomes too threatening … if Ryan Getzlaf is available, then overpay for him, Mr. Burke. Get him to Toronto.

STRONG LANGUAGE WARNING ON TODAY'S SHOW

It's a special time (gettin' down on) Friday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and we're talking about the following and more:

Special Guest Stars: Dmitry Chesnokov of Puck Daddy laments the loss of the Russians in world juniors; and it's GAME SHOW FRIDAY, where one lucky listener competes in a trivia battle royale.

• In which Marek and Wysh discuss the top moments from the season finale of HBO "24/7".

• Trading Ryan Getzlaf.

• The Boston Bruins vs. Vancouver Canucks preview.

• The Calgary Flames' humiliation.

• Puck Headlines and Talking Points

Question of the Day: "What was your favo(u)rite moment from 24/7 this season?"

Email your answers to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet them with the hashtag #MvsW to either @jeffmarek or @wyshynski.

"Marek vs. Wyshynski" is a daily hockey radio program featuring Jeff Marek, on-air personality and columnist for Sportsnet, and Greg Wyshynski, your humble editor from Yahoo! Sports' Puck Daddy blog. We'll be speaking to the most interesting people in hockey, from Hall of Famers to beat writers to bloggers. We'll be debating the hottest topics in the NHL and beyond.

It's all about interaction, too: Email your thoughts to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet them with the hashtag #MvsW to either @jeffmarek or @wyshynski.

Click here for the Sportsnet live stream or click the play button above!

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On the surface, this shouldn't be a story. A coach giving his backup the start for a midseason game versus a team from the opposite conference? It happens all the time. But Alain Vigneault's just-announced decision to start Cory Schneider for Saturday's date with the Boston Bruins -- the first visit to Boston since the Stanley Cup Final -- is obviously a much bigger deal.

You might recall: Vancouver's two visits to Boston last June saw Roberto Luongo get absolutely shelled. In three games, he surrendered 15 goals and was pulled twice. He looked like a completely different goaltender, like maybe on the way to Massachusetts, he got Space Jammed by the Mon-Stars.

And now, in his first chance to prove that's behind him, when he's on a roll and fresh off a shutout, Luongo gets benched for the backup? What?

It's really hard to see this as anything but sheltering a starting goalie whose massive contract should make the very idea of sheltering him a non-starter. But that's where we are: it's the Vancouver Canucks' most anticipated regular-season game of the year to date, and Luongo is not starting.

Alain Vigneault, you are an evil genius. No seriously.

According to the Canucks' coach, this decision was made with an eye towards giving Cory Schneider a start in Boston, his hometown. Okay, sure. Schneider's never started a game there, this is true.

But it's pretty easy to see through that nonsense. Vigneault isn't running the freaking Make-A-Wish Foundation. Schneider will have other opportunities to start a game in Boston.

Furthermore, considering that Schneider started seven straight games earlier in the season because he was on a roll, you get the sense that, if he were on one now, Luongo wouldn't get the next start if the game were being played in Sicily.

This has nothing to do with Schneider. It's about Luongo.

Many have made Saturday's game out to be a Stanley Cup Final rematch. It's not. It's a regular-season game between the same two teams.

All this week, both teams have been saying that: it's just one of 82, it's only worth two points (or three, if the teams take it into overtime or shoot from 22 feet out).

If these were lies, then Luongo would be starting, because he's still the big-game guy.

But it's not a big game. It's a little game with big implications for one guy: Luongo. The Canucks have very little to gain and lots to lose by starting him. The anecdotal evidence indicates that he struggles in Boston, he's arguably the most emotional goalie in the NHL, and, if it were to happen, he would take another big loss hard. It's not a stretch to suggest that it could put him right back into the hot-and-cold play he was giving the Canucks earlier in the year.

It's the equivalent of fighting when you're up 2-0. You've already got the momentum. You're either going to keep it in a win, something that could have also been achieved by not fighting, or you're going to lose it when you lose the fight. It's a gamble with no payoff.

On the flipside, this can only help the Canucks. By choosing Cory Schneider, he spares Luongo the possible meltdown, offending him instead, which motivates him. Plus, he gives the goalie a readymade excuse when reporters ask why he's not starting: Coach's decision. I don't agree with it, man, because I'm all man, man.

Luongo is protected and the Canucks might actually win a game on Boston ice. Genius.

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.
• Via Patch.com: "In a show of solidarity with paralyzed Benilde-St. Margaret's hockey player Jack Jablonski, students from all over have organized "white-outs," encouraging each other to wear white to show support. Jablonski, a 16-year-old sophomore, was injured Dec. 30 in a junior varsity game during a holiday hockey tournament. Students from many metro schools organized white-outs on Thursday via social media, inspiring St. Thomas Academy's Cadet Colonel Mitch Perry to organize the school's own white-out for Friday. Donations to the Jack Jablonski Fund established at Wells Fargo can be mailed to P.O. Box 16387, St. Louis Park, MN." [Patch]

• The HBO cameras are gone. Ilya Bryzgalov is still talking: "The franchise goaltender was short and seemed in poor spirits, as he jokingly, but with a straight face, cited the United States Constitution for his right to not speak to the media on Thursday. He told those who have an issue with him, take it to the Supreme Court. After all, it's a free country." [Philly Sports Daily]

• Busy day for the Philadelphia Flyers: Kimmo Timonen is day-to-day with an injury and Matt Walker was waived. Again. [Broad Street Hockey]

• Brad Marchand is probable against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, and probably going to punch a Swede in the face. [Bruins Blog]

• Boston Bruins' Nathan Horton on The Big Showdown: "I think everyone's just thinking it's another game, but we did play them in the finals," Horton said. "They're still a good team, and we're still a good team, and it's going to be a good game. I'm not really thinking too much about what happened, but just getting excited for the game." [WEEI]

• "Mike Ribeiro is earning more and more respect with each passing season." And hamburgers are eating people! [Dallas Stars Blog]

• Tom Stillman is in an exclusive negotiating window with the St. Louis Blues to become their new owner. [SB Nation]

• Alas, Alex Ovechkin did not have to suffer for his team's world juniors defeat. [Alex Ovetjkin]

• John Tortorella will coach in the NHL All-Star Game. We'd advise these players not to take a night off. [Rangers]

• Police say the suspect identified by Broad Street Hockey as a potential attacker in the Flyers fan beatdown of Rangers fans has been cleared, as he was pulling a prank. [ESPN NY]

• Bourne's 24/7 review for Episode 4. [Backhand Shelf]

• Adam Proteau on the loser point: "Although the loser point is to a large degree a mockery of the standings — creating the illusion of parity when the system makes it virtually impossible for teams to make up ground late in the season — there is next to no chance the NHL will toss it on the scrap heap and adopt a system that would give fans a more accurate picture of their team's competitive state." [THN]

• Neate on the big Sweden win at Juniors. [Buzzing The Net]

• After their 9-0 demolition at the hands of the Boston Bruins, the Calgary Flames made the kind of significant move you'd expect to wake up the team. Wait no they traded for Blair Jones nevermind. [Raw Charge]

• LeBrun on the Tampa Bay Lightning wish list: "I'd be surprised if Tampa didn't inquire about either Cory Schneider in Vancouver or Jonathan Bernier in Los Angeles -- among other young options -- but again, those types of deals seem to adhere themselves more toward the offseason. It just so happens the Canucks are in Tampa on Tuesday. I'd be shocked if Yzerman and Vancouver GM Mike Gillis didn't at least have a coffee together ..." [ESPN]

• Toronto Maple Leafs Joffrey Lupul —  superstar? [THW]

• Really nice piece on Rick DiPietro and retirement by Lighthouse Hockey: "In the end I think we can all respect the attempt by DP to come back and be a useful piece of the organization. He's never said a bad word about the team, or about the fans who jeer him on a regular basis (even some boos on Opening Night). He's been about as professional as one could be given his situation. With a 15 year guaranteed contract, there's not much stopping him from shooting off his mouth or being a negative presence in the locker room if he wanted to." [LH]

• In praise of the Detroit Red Wings fans' write-in campaign for Jimmy Howard. [Detroit News]

• The NHL goalie power rankings. They do they by team. The New Jersey Devils are ranked 23rd. [CBC]

• STAT NERD ALERT: "A question which has been rattling around in my head quite a bit lately is that of how NHL coaches utilize their forwards and defense, and how to get a handle on this varies for teams across the league. Do individuals focus on matching up against particular opponents, or deploying specialists based on where the next faceoff is taking place?" [On The Forecheck]

• Kerry Fraser gets sappy about the Winter Classic. [South Jersey]

• Ryan Miller approaches his breaking the franchise goalie wins record in a very Ryan Millery way: "Every lawyer puts it on their disclaimer for their commercials, 'Past results do not guarantee future results.'" [Buffalo News]

• Ryan Whitney is a big oft-injured. [Edmonton Journal]

• Congrats to Patrik Elias on playing Game No. 1,000 tonight. [Devils]

• Finally, Part Two of the Daniel Sedin vs. Brad Marchand wrestling match. Part one is here.

Maria Auricchio still isn't emotionally ready to stomach the video of her husband's beating. Not because of his injuries, but because no one attempted to prevent them.

Neal Auricchio, a police officer from Woodbridge, N.J., was hanging out with a friend at Geno's Steaks located at 1200 South 9th St. in Philadelphia on Monday night. Both wore New York Rangers hockey jerseys, celebrating their team's victory in the Winter Classic outdoor game over the Philadelphia Flyers at Citizens Bank Park.

According to police, a few Flyers fans hired a homeless man to squirt water from a cleaning spray bottle in the faces of the Rangers fans. That led to a verbal altercation, which led to an assault by the men in Flyers jerseys that was captured on video and shocked the nation.

"I'm most upset about the fact that there were so many people around, and nobody called '911' for help," she told Fox 29 in Philadelphia on Friday. "They videotaped it and nobody called for help, and that bothers me."

Neal Auricchio, a 30-year-old former Marine who was awarded a Purple Heart for his duty in Iraq, was released from the hospital after sustaining injuries in the fight.

"When he got home, there was blood on his face," said Mary Auricchio, his wife of two years and the mother to his newborn child. "I couldn't really tell if there were cuts or anything. He went to the hospital and he did get stitches in his right cheek and in his head."

Police are still looking for the assailants. One man who claimed responsibility for the fight on Facebook was cleared by police. A source told ESPN New York that "the man's statements were only a prank and he was not involved in the melee following the Winter Classic."

The Philadelphia sports blog Crossing Broad, meanwhile, has been in contact with the person who shot the fight video and acquired an HD quality copy of the clip that produced this screen cap:

If you have any information about this crime, call South Detective Division at 215-686-3013.