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.
• Yearbook porn alert! Former FAN 590 radio reporter Howard Berger has a collection of cool scans from his memorabilia collection on his blog. Man, there was a time when buying the team yearbook at the first game of the season was an annual rite for us; anyone here collect them? [Berger, via reader "ushaped"]
• The Canadian Press confirms that Wade Belak hanged himself. Also, he had started training for "Battle of the Blades" for next season. [CP]
• JVR's contract shall light the way for Jamie Benn's contract extension with the Dallas Stars. [Defending Big D]
• Speaking the Stars, Chuck Greenberg is saying the right things about bidding for the team, saying the winning ownership group will be "the one who wants it the most, the one who has the most belief in the future of the franchise." [D Mag, thanks to Kate K. for the link]
• "Here is the bottom line: Evegni Malkin has this season to get back on track. Time expires after the 2011-12 campaign." [Black and Blue and Gold]
• Anze Kopitar is super excited for next season: "For the past two seasons we were eliminated in first round. Now we must take this huge step forward and go past round one." [Jewels From The Crown]
• Move over Sean Avery: Brad Richards is taking on NYC Fashion Week. [NY Rangers Blog]
• Why is everybody always pickin' on Alex Semin? [Japers' Rink]
• Alex Ovechkin will make a special announcement at the Washington Capitals' practice facility next week. Any guesses? [Alex Ovetjkin]
• President Obama may have moved his speech for the Republican debate, but now it may cause the cancellation of USA Warriors hockey game against Congressional staffers. [RMNB]
• How to improve NHL Network. Easy: Like, 110 percent more TURCO POWER. [Hoffman]
• "Here the Senators stand like so many NHL teams trying to survive the end of an era without skidding into irrelevance." [Ottawa Sun]
• On Marc Savard, concussions and remembering his legacy. [The Hockey Writers]
• What Savard's absence means for the Boston Bruins. Retirement would be good for the team; not so much for Savard's bank account. [SCOC]
• Tyson Nash vs. the NHLPA on player health outreach. [The Star]
• Avs blogger Tapeleg with a personal story about battling depression. [Jerseys and Hockey Love]
• Mark Spector on those calling for a fighting ban. [Sportsnet]
• Kent Wilson on enforcers and depression: "Calls for a stringent anti-fighting stance based on recent tragedies is probably putting the cart before the horse. However, the counter assertion that this summer's events are merely coincidental and not indicative of any causal relationship between fighting for a living in the NHL and psychological pathology strikes me as callous and myopic as well. Nothing is certain at this time, but the heart-wrenching casualties of the 2011 off-season demand we take the issue seriously going forward." [HOTH]
• Al Cimaglia on the NHL's drug problems: "In my view it is not a tragic coincidence there was a drug related death and apparently two suicides this summer which claimed the lives of young men who played in the NHL. I'm not sure what specific actions need to be taken but this is not the time for anyone to bury their head in the sand." [Hockey Independent]
• Steve Lepore suggests that the NHL's TV partners get together for a preseason special about this tragic summer: "My suggestion is as follows. CBC or TSN, in conjunction with VERSUS or the NHL Network in the states, should hold a two-hour (or one-hour, to accommodate TV) roundtable discussion on these issues — formatted similarly to the one on race from a couple of years ago — that gets out a message that these topics won't be swept under the rug for another season. Involve people from the league, commentators, players, medical experts, whomever. Just get into an open, frank talk about what's happened over the summer and what can be done to turn this around." [Puck The Media]
• If you like the blog and its editor, please cast your vote for him in the Rising Stars in Media award category at the Untitled Sports Media Awards Project. If you like the blog but hate its editor, we'd still say cast the vote. If you hate both the blog and its editor, we're not sure what you're doing here. [USMAP]
• Los Angeles Kings blog declares war on the Anaheim Ducks through an inglorious use of NHL social media. [Surly and Scribe]
• Finally, James Wisniewski visits a Cincinnati Reds game and manages to go the entire day surrounded by bats without making a fellatio reference.