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.
• Anaheim Ducks winger George Parros is the man. There's no question about that. But to be man enough to allow Corey Perry that close to your face with a sharp object? He's the manliest man that ever manned. In celebration of Movember, Saku Koivu, Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, Matt Beleskey, Sheldon Brookbank, Jonas Hiller, Ryan Getzlaf, Francois Beauchemin, Andrew Cogliano, Kurtis Foster, Dan Ellis, Luca Sbisa, and Parros shaved off their facial hair at The Art of Shaving Barber Spa in Washington Square in D.C. … only to begin the month-long re-growth of the hair to support the cause.
• Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Phil Kessel, Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen and Edmonton Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin have been named the NHL 'Three Stars' for the month of October. [NHL]
• The St. Pete Times is changing its name. Hence, so will the St. Pete Times Forum. The Tampa Bay Lightning's new home: The Tampa Bay Times Forum. [TB Business Journal]
• World Series MVP David Freese is expected to drop the puck before the St. Louis Blues' game against the Vancouver Canucks. A player who came through in the most clutch of clutch situations, on a night when Vancouver's in town. That's poetry right there. [@andystrickland]
• Alright Ville Leino, here's your chance. Don't blow it. Signed, our fantasy team. [Sabres Edge]
• Jason Pominville on Leino: "He's a talented player offensively. Obviously he's had a little bit of a tough go, but hopefully by adding him with me and Thomas we'll be able to help him out and get him going because we need him to get some points on the board." [CSN Philly]
• Tyler Dellow dips deeper into the Dallas Stars bankruptcy documents, including cash flow projections for the last four months of 2011: "What you're looking at is the pre-season and the first 37 games of the season for the Stars, 19 of which are at home. So roughly half a season, in which the Stars produce about $21.7MM worth of revenue. If you add it all up, you come up with an estimate of between $60MM and $65MM in revenue, although I wonder how well they're doing at hitting those numbers, given how empty the rink has been." [mc79hockey]
• Defending Big D's call to action for Dallas sports fans to support the stars. [DBD]
• Congrats to Ryan Johansen, who will remain with the Columbus Blue Jackets past 10 games this season. Or should that read "condolences?" [Puck-rakers]
• Can genetic tests show whether your child will be a quality hockey player? You know, outside of the Orwellian overtones and complete disregard for nurture and effort, this'll save a ton of money on scouting. [Examiner]
• Matt Stajan returns to the Calgary Flames lineup after two healthy scratches. He'll skate between Tom Kostopoulos and Tim Jackman. [Flames]
• The ECHL officially returns pro hockey to Orlando. [ECHL]
• Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis: "I hadn't realized that this was the best October in our team's history; doesn't feel like it, does it? I guess you are NOT what your record says you are - you are what someone else says you are. Fine with me." [Teds Take]
• North Dakota Fighting Sioux update: "Spirit Lake Tribal Council representatives announced this morning that legal action has been taken against the NCAA over the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo." [Grand Forks Herald, via NHL History Girl]
• IT'S TOEWS NOT "TOES." Via reader Kozyshank: "Caught this on the Panthers broadcast on Center Ice...Someone should be fired for this and Jonathan Toews should be allowed to hit their children in the open ice."
• Why Ilya Bryzgalov will rebound quickly from his early season stumble for the Philadelphia Flyers. [YCN]
• How Claude Giroux, Jaromir Jagr and Scott Hartnell have meshed to become a bonafide first line for the Flyers. That's a lot of hair that's no longer there. [TCL]
• Chris Pronger was finally moved to the IR. [Philly.com]
• MRI on Ryan Malone was negative, so he's good to go for the Bolts against the Hurricanes. [Lightning Strikes]
• Bourne on the importance of D-zone communication. [Backhand Shelf]
• From the Nashville Predators lease watch: "Metro could halt its $7.8 million in annual incentive payments for the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena by giving notice before the end of the year, but both parties say an extension of the lease agreement is more likely." [Tennessean]
• Thomas Vanek has really, really, really not been the problem for the Buffalo Sabres, who have had their problems. [YCN]
• The early leader for the Selke Trophy is a forward for the Vancouver Canucks named … Maxim Lapierre?! [TPSH]
• An animated Kes-Lurk. [Pass It To Bulis]
• Finally, our favorite story of the day: Randy Miller of the Courier-Post brings Jaromir Jagr peanut butter to Jaromir Jagr:
In 1996, I added a jar of Jaromir Jagr peanut butter to my home office. And all these years later, I'm now a first-year Flyers beat writer and Jaromir Jagr is on the team for the first time at age 39. Anyway, I had told the other Flyers beat writers about my jar of Jagr peanut butter one day last month and ever since was asked to bring it to practice and show Jagr. On Sunday night, I pulled it off a shelf, threw it in my computer bag and lugged to Flyers practice on Monday morning. I didn't want to walk in with a jar of peanut butter in my hand, so I threw on the winter coat I had worn to practice and put in a pocket until Jagr showed up.
Outgoing and very friendly to the media since arriving to Philly, Jagr definitely got a kick out of seeing a jar of Jagr peanut butter for the first time in a long time.