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 was at that point when FutureJoe Thornton knew his time traveling had paid off, having the chance to relive his goal against the Red Wings in 2011 as a fan…"
• David Perron of the St. Louis Blues has been cleared for contact. This is the best news of the day, far as we're concerned. [STLToday]
• Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby has been ruled out of Saturday night's game against the Florida Panthers. The Pens return home for three games after that. Happy Thanksgiving, hockey. [Trib-Review]
• Said Dan Bylsma: "In terms of Sidney Crosby, just to clarify and minimize the speculation, we will continue to give updates the day before a game on whether he will be playing or not," Blysma said on the Penguins Web site. "He will not be playing in Saturday night's game. It's an effort to keep the speculation about a date [to a minimum]. There is no timetable and no date at this point in time and we will continue to update you the day before the game and let you know about that." [Sun Sentinel]
• The New York Islanders lose a goaltender to injury. No, the other one. No, the other other one. [AP]
• Huzzah! The Dallas Stars' ownership worries are over, as Tom Gaglardi has been given the green light in bankruptcy court to purchase the team. Now that the finances are in place, it's time to work on that Brad Richards extensi…wait, what? [ESPN, Defending Big D]
• Is Curtis Sanford the new starter in Columbus? [@aportzline]
• James Reimer was back on the ice for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That's the good news. OK, it's pretty much the only good news: Mike Komisarek and forward Matthew Lombardi will both miss at least three weeks due to undisclosed upper body injuries. [Sun Media]
• Looking at the Detroit Red Wings' struggles, and what team they want to be: "So does that mean the players have tuned [coach Mike] Babcock out? That sure seems to be the prevailing thought, and that's going to be tougher to get back. Now is the time where you either show that you're the coach we think you are, the guy who can lead this team back to the promised land, or we find that you're simply a guy who inherited a great team and you've lost the room." [Winging It]
• Why can't the Wings figure out the Sharks? [Y! CN]
• Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators didn't laugh about Craig Smith's empty net miss last night. Not at all. "He'll learn from that." [Preds On The Glass]
• Bourne breaks down how not to score into an empty net. [Backhand Shelf]
• In which Mark Recchi calls the Vancouver Canucks the most arrogant team he's ever played against: ""I couldn't believe their antics, their falling and diving. It was very frustrating, but at the same time as the series wore on we knew we were getting to them and we knew our physical play and our skating, I think it caught them off-guard a little bit." [Nucks Misconduct]
• In which Marc-Andre Bergeron is compared to a booty call. [Dirty Dangle]
• The Philadelphia Flyers penalty kill is on fire. No word if their sex is as well. [The Checking Line]
• Hey, remember the last time the Flyers played the Winnipeg Jets? It got nutty. [Broad Street Bull]
• If you haven't seen Joffrey Lupul get goosed by a kicking Predators fan, it's pretty hilarious.
• In which ESPN's Jesse Rogers asks Ray Emery about when he needs to use the bathroom during a game: "On the bench I do it a lot actually because I drink so much water and you're not sweating so you have to go." [ESPN Chicago, via Second City Hockey]
• Rookie Ben Smith skates with Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland tonight for the Chicago Blackhawks in Calgary. [Red Eye]
• Great post by Lowetide on the Edmonton Oilers coming back down to earth and possible moves to break their funk: "Does anyone really believe a Sam Gagner for Cody Franson trade is a reasonable one? I'm sure Franson has some nice things, but giving up on Gagner is crazy. The one thing the Oilers have is time to develop a secondary offensive line, and Gagner is certainly capable (when healthy) of delivering offense." [Lowetide]
• Funny stuff from The Onion: "NHL's Critics Find No Evidence That Penalty Box Reforms Players." [The Onion]
• Which players did Central Scouting omit from the list of prospects? [Buzzing The Net]
• The USS Hal Gill is out of dry dock. [Canadiens]
• Wishing a speedy recovery for Rocco Grimaldi. [CHN]
• Linus Omark's spin-o-rama abilities have been significantly reduced for the next six weeks. [Copper and Blue]
• Steve Simmons looks at the decline of Alex Ovechkin: "There are more really fine young players in the NHL than ever before, but what there aren't are enough breakout stars — faces of the game and the league. This is still a world in which stars sell and with Crosby out so long, with Ovechkin not responding, there is no one else. He can still be that face, that star. But the face shouldn't be known because he sells chocolate bars. The face should be known because he's dominating the game." [Sun]
• Alex Ovechkin is shooting less and scoring less: "But after scoring at least 46 goals in each of his first five seasons, Ovi's goal total (32), shots on goal (367) and shooting percentage (8.7) all hit career lows in 2010-11. While his shooting percentage has rebounded somewhat this season -- at 11.9 percent, he's exactly at his career average -- and his goal-scoring pace is about the same, his shot volume is headed for a serious decline." [NHL.com]
• Finally, the Toronto media gets a chance to ask Alex Ovechkin what's wrong with Alex Ovechkin. "Everything is OK with Alex Ovechkin. It's great to be Alex Ovechkin. [Alex Ovetjkin]