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.
• Devin Dubnyk makes it rain.
• Alex Ovechkin will not be fined nor suspended for his spear on Chris Neil in the Washington Capitals' win over the Ottawa Senators, for which Neil was penalized for diving. Spearing's no joke; unless the League felt this was total embellishment, knocking $2,500 off of Ovechkin's Bauer profits would have been appropriate. [Washington Times]
• Meanwhile, on that hit by Marc-Andre Bourdon on Nathan Gerbe last night: This post is going up roughly three hours before game time. Nothing has been announced by the NHL. You do the math — no hearing for a blatant boarding. Despite a concussion for Gerbe.
• Edmonton Oilers defenseman Andy Sutton? Suspended indefinitely, pending a hearing that could be in-person. Hoo-boy, this is going to be a long one. [NHL]
• Sidney Crosby on his precautionary scratches for the Pittsburgh Penguins: "I just want to be smart with this. It's been a long road back and we want to err on the side of caution. I've taken some good hits over the past few weeks and am happy with the way my body responded … but after discussing things with doctors it was better to make sure I was cautious before returning to play." [Penguins]
• How the Albert Pujols signing should be a cautionary tale for the Nashville Predators and Ryan Suter. [On The Forecheck]
• Nathan Horton on facing the Florida Panthers: "I don't know too many of the guys there." [On Frozen Pond]
• Krys Barch offers his protection for the Panthers' top players: "Those guys you see them on the NHL Network every night, 3-4 points every night, you have to make sure those guys feel comfortable out there. They're the guys that wins hockey games over 82 games, win you big ones, play the big minutes so you got to make sure they feel comfortable and don't have to worry about anything." [Sun Sentinel]
• The Dallas Stars are lowering their ticket prices? [Defending Big D]
• The Boston media is treating Tyler Seguin's missed meeting/healthy scratch with slightly less scrutiny than the Washington Post did the Nixon administration. [Bruins Blog]
• Aaron Rome on the Vancouver Canucks' team toughness: "I don't think we have any one guy who's going to scare you out of the building, so for us it's about attacking teams as a group and sticking up for one another." A mob mentality in Vancouver? That's a riot. [Sun]
• Our favorite story of the day: Paul Bissonnette brings 100 homeless people to a Phoenix Coyotes game. [AZ Central]
• Good stuff from Ryan Porth on Phoenix Coyotes Coach Dave Tippett, including talk about relocation: "Last year it looked like there was an owner coming in and it was more prevalent around our team. This year our players have done a good job of blocking it out and playing the game. That's what we focus on every day." [RLD]
• Dustin Penner on his hit against Corey Perry earlier this week: "He milked it. Pears is known for milking it. He knows he hit me (first). It wasn't a cheap hit. But, I know he was coming after me, just because Fowler was on me, I threw him off and then Pears came down from his point to hit me. Then, he laughed and said 'Suck on that Pens.' So, I laughed and said 'OK, open season.' I went and hit him back and I might have crossed checked him.'" [Mayor's Manor]
• Anze Kopitar on the Los Angeles Kings: "Are we the most offensive (minded) team in the league? Probably not. Are we the most defensive team? I don't know." Do we play on ice? Probably. Does my name start with a vowel? Allegedly … [LA Kings Insider]
Glendale's mayor in Greg Jamison's pursuit of the team: "Mr. Jamison is trying to finalize a deal, and he's extremely serious, and knows what he's doing. He's diligently working to put a proposal together, and I have not heard one statement, except from the Canadian press." [Glendale Star]
• Brian Burke, President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, announced Thursday that the hockey club has assigned forward Joe Colborne to the Toronto Marlies. [Leafs]
• Derick Brassard, scratched in eight of 12 games, returns to the lineup for the Columbus Blue Jackets: "He'll skate on a line with Antoine Vermette and Ryan Johansen. Vermette will take draws, but during non-stoppage line changes will be Vermette on the left, Brassard in the middle and Johansen on the right." [Puck-Rakers]
• An update on Marty St. Louis's health after that puck to the face in practice. [Lightning Strikes]
• The New Jersey Devils plan to get Travis Zajac back before Christmas. [Fire & Ice]
• The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has activated forward Brenden Morrow and defenseman Alex Goligoski from injured reserve. Morrow was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 26 (retroactive to Nov. 21) with an upper body injury and Goligoski was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 15 (retroactive to Nov. 11)with a broken thumb. [Stars]
• Please check out The Bird Machine for more awesome prints like the Honey Badger one we featured on the Honey Badgers post. We're especially fond of the Kegs For Kids one.
• Finally, here's a great example of why American beer commercials stink. Had this been a Budweiser ad, there would have been some sort of female comeuppance at the end, in which the record scratches on the soundtrack and the fat dude gets caught sneaking the beer in his skates. Not here. Here, it's slot hockey bliss.
Aldaris. Hockey. from IDEE FIXE (Vilnius) on Vimeo.