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.
• NHL player Henrik Lundqvist plays guitar with his band The Noise Upstairs at Rock of Dreams at the Canal Room and swwwwoooon...
• Roman Hamrlik wants to remain with the Washington Capitals, but he also wants to play. So when coach Dale Hunter scratched him against Ottawa for taking a bad penalty against the Hurricanes, Hamrlik said: "You should ask him about the penalties because when he played I think he make lots of penalties himself. He should know better. This is a game and guys [play with] emotion. I know I took a bad penalty, but if that's the reason I didn't play that's his decision." Ouch. [CSN Washington]
• The San Jose Sharks' Dan Boyle on the desperate battle between desperate teams: "The desperation, we lacked that in Columbus last game but I think you're not going to see it tonight. We're aware of where we're at and we need to start putting some wins together and taking control of our fate." [Working The Corners]
• Sheldon Kennedy on Graham James' apology: "It doesn't mean anything to me. Graham James is a liar. He's been a liar since the day I met him." [NYT]
• Good piece by Adam Proteau on sexual predators in the junior and youth hockey ranks: "It is our business. It is our problem. It's everyone's business and everyone's problem, but if we want hockey to be as blemish-free as possible, we have to make it a priority inside every arena." [THN]
• The Columbus Blue Jackets may be preparing for … something. "Down the hall from the dressing room, the 'press conference' room is being rearranged to handle a large crowd, such as one a big trade might draw." But wouldn't they just hold the presser overlooking an empty arena like they did for Carter and Wisniewski? So picturesque. [Puck-Rakers]
• Nice piece by Dave Lozo that covers the pros and cons of the New York Rangers trading for Rick Nash. [NHL.com]
• Are the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings in the Ales Hemsky hunt? [CSN Philly]
• The departed Kyle Quincey on the Colorado Avalanche: "There's a lot of guys whose bags are packed outside their door." [Custance]
• Annnnd exhale: Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings is OK after knee surgery. "He said that he'll do off-ice work in Detroit for the time being because he checked and 'there are no free tickets to Florida. I need to work out.'" [Fox Sports]
• This is a mighty pretty goal by Nail Yakopov. [Buzzing The Net]
• Is Kuznetsov headed to the Washington Capitals next season? Things are getting interesting (and expensive) in the KHL. [Alex Ovetjkin]
• An ex-Islanders player ends up with the Tampa Bay Lightning? Perish the thought. [Raw Charge]
• What the New York Rangers need from Brandon Dubinsky. [Blueshirt Banter]
• Do the Boston Bruins need to play top competition to perform at the top of their game? [Stanley Cup of Chowder]
• Todd Bertuzzi's new two-year deal is official. [AP]
• What are the Dallas Stars trying to tell Joe Nieuwendyk? [Razor]
• Bourne explains how a return to defensive focus can solve your offensive problems. [Backhand Shelf]
• The Puck Stops Here on the Washington Capitals: "Quite simply, for a team to be a top team their best players must be their best players. Washington's best players have underachieved. In some cases this is due to injury, but none of their five star players have lived up to expectation. No team would be a big winner in that situation. The talent exists that should things get on track in time for the playoffs, the Capitals could be a lower seed that could make a playoff run. This assumes that they make playoffs at all, which is far from a given at this point." [TPSH]
• Finally, via Fear The Fin, here's the part of "Kitchen Nightmares" that featured the San Jose Sharks checking out "Spin-A-Yarn," a steakhouse that Gordon Ramsey tried to save. The dudes like their prime rib. A lot. (s/t Shirley Stranger)