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.
• It's absolutely terrible and completely sexist to laugh at the end of this Colorado Avalanche commercial for gender equality in hockey just because it seems to infer the Avs play like girls, and to visit their website to find out why. And yet …
• Tim Connolly is injured for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ron Wilson: "It's totally unrelated to the earlier injury." The earlier injury … never change, Tim Connolly. [Globe & Mail]
• Nothing has changed with Sidney Crosby's injury status for the Pittsburgh Penguins, even though everyone and their mom is speculating that he'll return to the lineup on Friday night against the Dallas Stars. Sid: "I haven't really thought about that. I've thought more about just getting through this week. (Playing Friday) is a possibility, just like the other however many games left there are (is a possibility)." [Rossi]
• Kings. Sharks. Time for more love in the Battle of California. [Fear The Fin, The Royal Half]
• Can Mike Richards (finally) get Dustin Penner going? [LA Kings Insider]
• Guy Boucher is really [expletive] fanatical about the necessity for a balanced breakfast. No more 'grab joe and go' Tampa Bay Lightning! [Lightning Strikes]
• Ryan Miller? Not exactly happy about losing time in the crease for the Buffalo Sabres. [Buffalo News]
• Davis Payne appeared on XM Home Ice to talk about his firing by the Blues. He may end up on another role with the organ-i-zation and says special teams were "a big frustration." [XM Home Ice]
• Average Joe on St. Louis Game Time makes a very good point about St. Louis Blues assistant coaches Brad Shaw and Ray Bennett: "It is utterly mind boggling to me that these two men have jobs. Shaw has been here for five-plus seasons and now four head coaches. Bennett is on coach No. 3. The Blues seem to have no problem changing the head man, but man are they loyal to the Lieutenants. Shaw and Bennett are made of Teflon." [St. Louis Game Time]
• Justin Bourne played for Davis Payne. He knows Davis Payne. Ken Hitchcock, you are no Davis Payne. [Backhand Shelf]
• There's a special kind of hockey poetry to Ken Hitchcock being introduced in a new NHL coaching job on the same day Nikita Filatov is sent back to the AHL…again. [Senators]
• Steve Ovadia begs for Scott Arniel to be "put out of his misery." [Puck Update]
• Mike Green's injury rehab continues, as he skates with the Washington Capitals. [Capitals Insider]
• Kaspars Daugavins is a pretty darn exciting player, and Silver Seven is wondering if he'll stick with the Ottawa Senators this season. [Silver Seven]
• Josh Harding was named the NHL's first star for last week, with Loui Eriksson and Nicklas Backstrom getting the others. The Minnesota Wild goalie was ridiculously humble about it: "It is an individual award, but its not. The team's played so good in front of me, and the D-men and forwards have been outstanding." Couldn't be happier for a dude that hasn't had the easiest last few seasons. [Wild]
• Rich Peverley will miss the Boston Bruins' game against the New York Islanders on Monday. Somewhere, the Peverley Hillbilly weeps. [ESPN Boston]
• Via Kukla, Calgary Flames GM Jay Feaster explains why the Phoenix Coyotes aren't trading Kyle Turris to Calgary … or anywhere.
• Via Elliotte Friedman's 30 Thoughts on Edmonton Oilers defenseman Andy Sutton's suspension: "One of the interesting things about Andy Sutton's disciplinary hearing? It was entered into evidence that Gabriel Landeskog suffered a broken nose. The rookie hasn't missed any games and blamed himself for keeping his head down, but I don't think Sutton was very happy. I had no problem with the suspension, though, because Sutton's history mattered much more than the injury." [CBC]
• Good piece by Mike Brophy on Dion Phaneuf's leadership for the Leafs. [Sportsnet]
• The New Jersey Devils have waived defenseman Mark Fraser and forward Rod Pelley, a league source confirmed to ESPN NY.
• The Florida Panthers send hot-shot rookie goalie Jacob Markstrom to the AHL to build up some trade value for Scott Clemmensen so they can bring Markstrom back [Litter Box Cats]
• Sam Fels takes on the "mess" that is the Chicago Blackhawks: "Which is my biggest fear about the Hawks, that they're a puck possession team that can't possess the puck for long stretches. They certainly can't when Leddy is getting his head kicked in, in the defensive zone, which he is right now. They can't when Keith is constantly having to cover for him or is hurt. Seabrook and Hammer simply can't move fast enough when paired together. It's a real problem. And yes, this all leads to another sentence that ends with, '...miss Brian Campbell.'" [Second City Hockey]
• Breaking down the Canucks' second goal allowed, in that the ex-Panthers players stink at defense. [PITB]
• Eric Staal on his craptacular start for the Carolina Hurricanes: "We didn't compete, we didn't show enough fight, which is disappointing. You can say all the right things and you can talk about it all you want. You have to show it on the ice. … To a man I don't think we came out with enough fight and intensity. When you do that against good teams, you pay, and we did the last two games." [Ice Chips]
• On Marian Gaborik and Derek Stepan finding chemistry. Stepan had an awful start and really turned things around. [Blueshirt Banter]
• Max Pacioretty has announced the creation of the Max Pacioretty Foundation, through which he hopes to raise funds needed in acquiring a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine for the Traumatic Brain Injury Centre at the Montreal General Hospital. How many other NHLers get charitable after injuries? [NHL]
• Finally, from the ECHL, we're not exactly the biggest Michael Liambas fans (for obvious reasons), but the Cincinnati Cyclones forward tossed bombs with Bobby Robbins of the Chicago Express in this recent bout. Wow.