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.
• We're not sure if this is THE Winter Classic commercial or one of the Winter Classic commercials, but it's clever and funny and has Will Arnett. Plus, it's true to NHL fandom, what with the one person of color featured. Or maybe we're thinking about "Friends."
• Great news about HBO 24/7: Liev Schreiber will still be the voice for the Rangers/Flyers series. [Puck The Media]
• Here's a fun little tale: The Tampa Bay Lightning "crash" an Ottawa Senators charity dinner. [CTV, via PD reader Andrew Foote]
• Jordin Tootoo had a phone hearing with Brendan Shanahan after crashing into Ryan Miller. Said Lindy Ruff: "I understand with a phone hearing the max you're going to get is [a five-game suspension]. In my eyes, is that a big message? It's OK. I look at the NFL and I look at the Detroit Lion [Ndamukong Suh] that got two games for a 6-inch kick. He got kicked out of the game, and then that amounted to one-eighth of our season. That's a 10-game suspension. I think they do it right. The message there is we're not putting up with this stuff. I think we need a strong message. Is five strong enough? I don't know." [Sabres Edge]
• Meanwhile, Mark Fistric will face the Shanahammer on Tuesday for his hit on Nino Niederrieter. Said Fistric: "He had his head down. It was unfortunate he was injured. You never want to see that. It's the game of hockey, it's contact and it's physical and it will be up to Shanahan to see what he sees.'' [Dallas Stars Blog]
• "Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer" is required reading from the New York Times, using Derek Boogaard's death to examine every corner of fighting culture and the fighting debate. [Part One and Part Two]
• Lies! And the lying Ron Wilsons that tell them. [CP]
• Meanwhile, kudos to both James Mirtle and Pension Plan Puppets for find a way to add relevance to a Toronto teapot tempest and another case of Brian Burke trolling the media. [PPP]
• Miss Congeniality was a Vancouver rioter, thus winning the talent portion of the pageant. [The Post Game]
• Chicago Blackhawks tough guy Dan Carcillo has the audacity to call out American hero David Backes of the St. Louis Blues: "Look at the guys he's fought in this league. He's a big guy and he's tough, but he hasn't really answered the bell with any really tough guys. He goes after guys like (Corey) Perry, and he tries to fight Jonathan Toews. You just can't let that happen." [Between The Circles]
• This story of a wedding during a Teddy Bear toss might send you into a sugar coma. [Buzzing The Net]
• Pavel Kubina will miss Monday night's game with a lower body injury, putting some extra stress and strain on the Tampa Bay blue line. [Lightning Strikes]
• Trent Hunter has now crept up to the second line for the Los Angeles Kings in light of Mike Richards' injury. [LA Kings Insider]
• Brandon Worley on NHL realignment: "The issue is the disparity in travel between the East and the West and whether teams on the East coast would be willing to compromise. Yes, they'll be traveling a bit more often but it will significantly cut down on travel for the Western teams and create a bit more uniformity across the NHL. It seems the travel is really the issue at stake here although you wonder if the proposed changes to the playoff scheduling would be the big sticking point on getting a decision made." [Defending Big D]
• There's some concern over Detroit Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula after he was sliced by a skate on Sunday. [Malik Report]
• Paul Stastny injury update: day-to-day . [Dater]
• Michalek and Letang are concussed for the Penguins. [Gazette]
• Tyler Dellow on the spectacular year the Nuge is having. [MC79Hockey]
• Nikita Filatov is press-box bound again. [Slam]
• Interesting point by Ken Campbell on the potential relocation of the Phoenix Coyotes: "You can bet one team that would be lobbying hard, and we mean hard, for the choice to be a second team in Toronto over a return to Quebec City are the Montreal Canadiens, a franchise that would stand to lose a good chunk of its provincial popularity and revenue by having to deal with a competitor in Quebec's capital city. And if the ownership group that plans to build a 20,000-seat arena in the Toronto suburb of Markham can convince the NHL quickly enough that its plans are going to become a reality, the better the chance it would have of becoming the landing spot for the Coyotes." [THN]
• Justin Bourne feels the love for Sidney Crosby's backhand. [Backhand Shelf]
• New York Rangers health update: Marc Staal is still a ways away, and as for Michael Rupp: "Rupp said he skated harder Monday than he has yet on his left knee, which he had surgically repaired Nov. 9. He said he thinks if the knee responds well to this more intense workout, he'll be about a week away from assessing with the training staff how close he is to returning. Rupp was wearing a light brace on the knee. He began skating on Thursday in Carolina." [NYDN]
• Mark Madden on Matt Cooke: "The NHL must feel that Cooke's past warrants frontier justice as delivered on the ice. What other conclusion could be drawn? Why else would those hits escape discipline?" [Madden]
• Roman Hamrlik and Alex Semin are game-time decisions for the Washington Capitals. [Capitals Insider]
• New York Islanders forward Matt Moulson on Monday was named the NHL's First Star of the Week. Colorado Avalanche center Ryan O'Reilly was named the Second Star of the Week, and Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick was named the Third Star. [NHL]
• Shhhh … no one mention that Claude Giroux is leading the league in scoring. [Philly Sports Daily]
• Finally … whoa, via rmkusmc on YouTube: "Big hit in the neutral zone in a game between DU and CC at World Arena in Colorado Springs, 12/2/11, Eamonn McDermott on Nate Dewhurst. McDermott was given a 5 minute major penalty for elbowing. Even as a DU fan I have to say that hit looked pretty clean."