Back by popular demand, here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.
• Mayor Elaine Scruggs of Glendale accuses the NHL leading her fair city astray in Phoenix Coyotes negotiations. [Globe & Mail]
• Here's the full transcript of Scruggs talking about the financial repercussions from her discontent with the NHL. [Hockey Writers]
Preview: Detroit Red Wings at St. Louis Blues, 7:30 p.m. This is the game in-hand for both teams, as the Wings try to hop over the Predators into the No. 4 seed and the Blues try and close the gap to one point in their chase of the Western Conference top spot, currently held by the Vancouver Canucks. Ken Hitchcock thinks the team the Blues will ice tonight is their best now that they're healthy: "This is a chance to get to another level than where we're at, but there is going to be some short-term pain going through this trying to see if we can get these guys up to speed. (But) this lineup that's playing tonight, this is the highest skill level we've been able to put on the ice since I've been here. This is it."
Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens, 7:30 p.m. Remember Stamkos Watch from last summer, when people actually believed he could be traded by the Lightning as an RFA? Good times. Now there's a different kind of Stamkos Watch, as the Bolts star goes for 60 goals (he's at 58) and 100 points (he's at 95, matching a career best).
Check out previews and updated scores for all of today's games on the Y! Sports NHL scores and scheds page. For tonight's starting goalies, check out Left Wing Lock.
Evening Reading
• Newark Mayor Cory Booker on New Jersey Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek: "He came into this city with a mouthful of promises and a pocket full of lies." Oh, and: "He is a high-class, highfalutin, huckster and hustler," Booker said. "A Wall Street millionaire that played into every stereotype that's out there." [NJ.com]
• Is there any reason for optimism for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Of coruse, says Ryan Kennedy: "A top-10 draft pick gives the Buds a shot at one of numerous impact forwards — Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gaunce and Radek Faksa are all possibilities. And despite the novelty of playing four goaltenders with a combined five years of NHL experience, Toronto has the cash to grab a veteran such as Tomas Vokoun on the open market or through trade." [THN]
• The roster for the Team Canada 18U team. [TSN]
• Sad news from Wayne Gretzky: "Now 51 and retired from the National Hockey League for 13 years, Gretzky is at ease before crowds. And Tuesday, he revealed a family secret as his voice quavered and his eyes welled up. His 73-year-old father, Walter, had been diagnosed with the degenerative disorder Parkinson's disease earlier in the morning." [NYT]
Puck Daddy Reader Comment of the Day: RR is steamed about that restaurant withholding ribs from the Flyers:
Been going to DeeJays for years. Not a fan of either team and do not care if they both get ribs. I think the owner is a fool as his resturant is not in the same state as either team. As a sports fan I am done with DeeJays/ Hope many others will join me!
Bold Prediction: Stamkos hits 60.