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.
• Hockey players are awesome, Volume One Billion: Tyler Ennis and Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres visit with injured service member Erik Tsossie of New Mexico during their visit to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. Moments before Myers reached up and collected some "Get Well Soon" balloons that had floated away approximately a week ago ...
• Sidney Crosby will miss at least the first week of the season after being placed on injured reserve. The Pittsburgh Penguins will have to settle for Evgeni Malkin battering through opponents like the Juggernaut en route to a 200 point season (based on the preseason, at least). [CP]
• Gotta hand it to Fabian Brunnstrom: Dude earned his contract with the Detroit Red Wings, and inked a two-way deal after being a camp invite. That's an admirable level of dedication from a guy that's been a borderline bust after enormous hype entering the League. [The Production Line]
• The Red Wings cut Ryan Johnson, Joey MacDonald, defensemen Doug Janik, Garnet Exelby and Logan Pyett, and forward Chris Conner (Michigan Tech). [Freep]
• According to his trainer, Ray Emery has won the backup job in Chicago. [@M_Nichol]
• AT&T U-Verse and the NHL Network are in a stalemate that's taken the network off the cable carrier because AT&T says they "no longer have an acceptable agreement to carry the channel." That sucks. [The Consumerist]
• Sean Avery? Scratched again. Dan Rosen's take: "Either Tortorella has seen enough of Avery, who injured his lip against Frolunda on Friday, and wanted to get a real good look at Christensen without having to worry about watching another player as closely, or Avery is on his way out." [NHL]
• No. 3 overall pick Jonathan Huberdeau is shipped back to juniors by the Florida Panthers, as GM Dale Tallon says: "He's 173 pounds, and I think in his heart, too, he knows he needs to get stronger." As we said on Twitter: It inspires confidence that the Panthers are willing to wait on what could have been a "Seen Stamkos?" style gate attraction. [Sun Sentinel]
• The NHL's loss is the Sea Dogs' gain. [Buzzing The Net]
• The Winnipeg Jets, meanwhile, inked Mark Scheifele to an NHL contract and Hawerchuk's wondering if keeping the 18 year old is the right move. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
BREAKING: Alex Ovechkin taking a leave from the Capitals Alex Ovechkin and "returning to Moscow to attend to his family after the death of a close relative." From the Capitals: "Our heartfelt sympathy is extended to Alex and his family. We sincerely ask that you respect his privacy at this time."
• Alex Ovechkin on his stats: "If somebody wants to be a hundred-point guy and not be in the playoffs, that's wrong. I want to be a 50-goal scorer and I want to be a Stanley Cup champion." [CSN Washington]
• Funny bit by Lozo on the Ovechkin wax figure. [NHL.com]
• Looking at the hit by the Chicago Blackhawks' Peter Leblanc on Alexander Semin, for which Leblanc received a match penalty for a hit to the head. Probably the first time Semin would have agreed with Matt Bradley that he'd rather have been in Russia. [Capitals Insider, Japers]
• The Toronto Maple Leafs cut Keith Aulie, Matt Lashoff. Darryl Boyce, Joey Crabb and Mike Zigomanis. Bit of a fall from grace for Aulie; interesting to see a heart-and-soul (and nose) guy in Boyce sent down to the AHL through waivers. [Globe & Mail]
• Playoff hero Benn Ferriero sent down to the AHL by the San Jose Sharks. [@PollakOnSharks]
• For the Pittsburgh Penguins: Forward Jason Williams and defensemen Alexandre Picard and Brian Strait were re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL). Defenseman Joseph Morrow was returned to his junior team, the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League (WHL). [Penguins]
• Brandon Pirri and Marcus Kruger were among the cuts for the Chicago Blackhawks, as Kruger played his way out of a job in the preseason. [Sun-Times]
• Tryouts Petr Sykora, Anton Stralman and Steve Bernier are all still in the mix for the New Jersey Devils, but Peter Harrold was among the cuts. [Fire & Ice]
• Ryan Ellis will not join the Nashville Predators' crowded blue line, as they sent him to Milwaukee on a beer run, er, for further seasoning. [On The Forecheck]
• Please to be welcoming NHL History Girl's new blog to the conversation, beginning with a witty little note about Sergei Fedorov. [NHL History Girl]
• Also, please check out our old buddy Justin Bourne's new haunt over on The Score: Backhand Shelf. Here's the obiligatory getting to know us post. We know he'll kill it over there and look forward to linking a great many things from JB.
• The Cory Clouston Fashion Review is dead; long live Welcome To Your Karlsson Years. [WTYKY]
• Per Rich Hammond, the Los Angeles Kings are working these two lines during practice: Dustin Penner-Anze Kopitar-Justin Williams and Simon Gagne-Mike Richards-Dustin Brown. [LA Kings Insider]
• A blindly optimistic season preview of the San Jose Sharks. Our picks will be revealed on Wednesday and Thursday. Expect the Sharks to figure in prominently. [BoC]
• Bummer: Johan Hecht will miss a game in his hometown of Mannheim because of post-concussion symptoms. [NHL]
• Patrick Hoffman learns how to stop a breakaway … from former New York Rangers great Mike Richter. [The Good Point]
• Interesting news on the revival of the Lokomotiv franchise in the KHL for next season: "I am pleased to announce that fans of hockey will soon witness the return of the Lokomotiv team," — said Kontinental Hockey League President Alexander Medvedev. "From December 1st, Lokomotiv will play in the VHL championship, and in the following season, this team will be the foundation of the team which shall return to the KHL tournament." Also: "Besides their own players, those appearing for the MHL team and those who are free agents, Lokomotiv may select players born between 1989 and 1994 who have current contracts with clubs in the KHL or VHL, and also those whose contractual status is "in conflict" or "vested rights". KHL clubs have the right to keep two players in the aforementioned age group and who have current contracts." [KHL]
• Finally, via Slava on Twitter, the top 10 KHL hits of the week, a.k.a. the NHL's what-not-to-do reel. "Hi, this is Brendov Shanahski of KHL Player Hitting Dept. … as the wideo shows …"