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.
• Jersey Fouls on the 'morrow. Here's a Pittsburgh Penguins one from eBay. Seeing as how Clark W. Griswold is a proud member of Blackhawks Nation, this sweater should be condemned to use as Randy Quaid's snot rag. [s/t reader Bryce Etzler]
• Penguins GM Ray Shero on Sidney Crosby joining the team on its road trip: "Sid is a hockey player and he wants to play hockey. He wanted to join our team because we're in a tough stretch. He badly wants to play and be out there. But he's not cleared to play. We want to be very careful. Once he's cleared to play, he'll be the most excited guy on the ice." [Penguins]
• Michael Cammalleri clears the air on that whole "read between the lines" trade request thing: "I love Montreal. I just built a house in Montreal. I love playing in Montreal. I think I've had somewhat of a love affair with this city. I know things can change pretty quick — but not for me. I really enjoy it here, my family loves it. I really enjoy what it means to play for the Montreal Canadiens." [Canadiens]
• As all of Toronto rises up to burn copies of Sports Illustrated for declaring Dion Phaneuf as the most overrated player in its players' poll, Mike Komisarek sighs deeply and makes self-deprecating jokes. [Puck Sage]
• Or perhaps Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets is the most overrated player in hockey. [Pegasus News]
• Here's the freaky thing about the St. Louis Blues: They could actually be better than they are right now. [St. Louis Game Time]
• "Sources told WFAN.com on Thursday that the Islanders are in discussions to host a preseason game next season at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the future home of the NBA's New Jersey Nets." [WFAN]
• Yes, what a shame that Buffalo Sabres forward Pat Kaleta might have to stop running people. Boo, NHL rules. Boo. [Buffalo News]
• Peter Mueller finally returns for the Colorado Avalanche tonight after missing 41 games. [All Things Avs]
• Stat nerds weep onto their graphing calculators as Peter Laviolette dismisses both CORSI and Fenwick. [Broad Street Hockey]
• Kudos to The Pensblog for reporting on a fan altercation involving a pregnant woman at a Pittsburgh Penguins game, and then staying with it until they received an email from allegedly from the woman. Startling stuff, including the fact this wasn't "Pens fans vs. opposing fans" apparently. [The Pensblog]
• Bourne on how better minor league play has helped reduce fighting. [Backhand Shelf]
• The delightful Gare Joyce on the decline of the Montreal Canadiens' empire: "It's a brutal dichotomy: hockey decisions have to take into account cultural considerations. This has led to the most mediocre Canadiens team in modern history. Unwieldy contracts to woebegone players, no young prospects in development, a fan base and media spewing ridicule and scorn at management: these are the facts of life for what used to be Les Glorieux. I don't suppose any particular culture would be proud to claim exclusive ownership of the Canadiens right now." [Sportsnet]
• Pretty incredible stat from last night's Caps/Penguins game. [Japers']
• Why was Evgeni Malkin the only Penguins all-star? [Pensburgh]
• Teemu Selanne explains his decision not to play in the NHL All-Star Game for the Anaheim Ducks. [Ducks Blog]
• Jeff Skinner won't play for the Carolina Hurricanes tonight but is nearly back from his concussion. [N&O]
• Erik Karlsson returns to face the New York Rangers. [QMI]
• Good news for the Rangers as Brandon Dubinsky's shoulder is "nothing serious." [NYDN]
• Just hand the Selke to Ilya Kovalchuk already. [In Lou We Trust]
• Darryl Sutter on Jonathan Quick as an all-star: "I think it was, to me, a formality. You look at his season. They take six goalies, and he's top five or top six in all four (statistical) categories, so the only way that he could get overlooked is just because he's out of loop a little." Is he saying that Los Angeles is "out of the loop" as an NHL market? [LA Kings Insider]
• Marian Hossa on the differences for him playing with Dave Bolland as a center. [Between The Circles]
• Adam Proteau on Columbus Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson: "Howson works for a Blue Jackets team losing tens of millions of dollars, which may be one of the only reasons he's still Columbus' GM. As is the case for Pierre Gauthier and the increasingly out-of-the-playoff race Canadiens, Howson's superior may simply be waiting for the season to play out before jettisoning him and giving someone else the reins. But who knows? He (or Gauthier) may be convincing enough to get himself one more season despite a frustrated fan base." [THN]
• Looking at the five Americans on the Central Scouting list of 30 North American draft prospects. [United States of Hockey]
• In preparation for the San Jose Sharks' visit, five awful things Megalodon learned about Winnipeg from Wikipedia. [BoC]
• Finally, in a world that looks down upon his antics and demonizes his edgy style (Boston excluded), Brad Marchand can take solace in the fact that he has one passionate supporter: Wally The Pug.