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.
• Petr Svoboda, the agent for Andre Agassi fanboy Jaromir Jagr, says that a decision will come on Thursday as to where the former NHL star will play next season, less than 24 hours after the last time he said the same thing. It's down to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens. Please recall that neither Jagr nor Mario played for either of the latter two. [Tribune-Review]
• "Quit Yanking My Jagr and Decide Already." [Pens Universe]
• Remember how Gilbert Brule's injury held up the Ryan Smyth trade between the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings? And how Colin Fraser was put into the trade as an alternative? Turns out he has "an unhealed fracture in his ankle and a cyst that will require surgery," so the Kings are working with the Oilers on "alternative compensation." [LA Times]
• Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with forward Jussi Jokinen on a three-year contract. The deal will pay Jokinen $3 million per season. So that's three of the four free agents Jimmy Pimp Hand wasn't sure they'd be able to afford that are coming back. [Hurricanes]
• Interesting piece by Brian Lawton, the former Tampa Bay Lightning GM, who discusses the contracts large and small he's given out and some of the pitfalls of free agency. Good read. [Sportsnet]
• Your Brad Richards Free Agent Primer. [Heika]
• As we predicted in our list of suspects, the Boston Bruin who purchased the Amstel Light was not a Boston Bruin at all, but rather a friend of a puck bunny. [Deadspin]
• The Colorado Avalanche will retire Peter Forsberg's No. 21 before their Oct. 8 game against the Detroit Red Wings. Leahy: "I imagine the Avs retiring Foppa's No. 21 will happen AFTER he makes one more comeback that night against Detroit." [Mile High Hockey]
• The five free agents who you don't want to touch: Tomas Vokoun, Simon Gagne, Sean Bergenheim, Raffi Torres and Tomas Kaberle. [THN]
• Bergenheim is done with the Lightning, it seems. [Lightning Strikes]
• Tomas Kaberle and Michael Ryder will hit the market. [ESPN Boston]
• 1. Please welcome Hockey At The Forks to the blogosphere. 2. Here's a post about whether the Winnipeg Jets should hang on to Zach Bogosian. [HATF]
• New York Rangers Coach John Tortorella talks about many, many things, including his role in recruiting free agents: "I don't believe in trying to talk people into something. If they don't want to be here, we don't want them. So I haven't done much of that — it's just been basically after, and giving them the program right away." [NYDN]
• St. Louis Game Time on the T.J. Oshie contract with the St. Louis Blues: "He hasn't been able to make it through a season without a weird injury, so now's his chance to stay healthy for 82 games and show everyone what he's really capable of. A big payday afterward's a great incentive." [STLGT]
• The Stanley Cup fulfills its lifelong "Backdraft" fetish. The fact that this Cup looks so much like Tom Servo of MST3K had nothing to do with us posting it. OK, that's a lie. [Sportress of Blogitude]
• Buffalo Sabres defenseman Robyn Regehr (still weird to write that) hopes Christian Ehrhoff joins him in Pegulaville. "Having played against Ehrhoff out West, he had a really good year in Vancouver and he's a good defenceman. That's another sign of the change that's happening here with this hockey team." [CBC Sports]
• Christian Ehrhoff is getting a crash course on the Buffalo Sabres. [Sabres Edge]
• Following up on Dmitry's post yesterday, Scott Burnside reports that the Washington Capitals have no interest in trading Semyon Varlamov. [ESPN]
• How Alex Ovechkin gets his teammates great deals in the KHL. [Alex Ovetjkin]
• The merciful end of the Sheldon Souray era in Edmonton. [HOTH]
• Terry Frei is not digging the Colorado Avalanche's John-Michael Liles trade: "He could have helped Colorado THIS season, he was a better choice to bring back than others and this organization still seems prone to overrating its pipeline talent." [Denver Post]
• The All-UFA team from The Puck Stops Here. [TPSH]
• The Chicago Blackhawks don't expect to be big-ticket players in free agency. [ESPN Chicago]
• What else can Dale Tallon take from Chicago? [Blackhawks DL]
• Finally, here's 12 minutes of Don Cherry's Rock'em Sock'em Hockey for you GOOD CANADIAN BOYS.