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.
• PD reader Alex Rene makes a statement about Wednesday night's indiscretion.
• Henrik Zetterberg said the Shea Weber glass-smash cracked his helmet. [Custance]
• The Chief from Abel To Yzerman? Not a fan of the Shea Weber fine, rather than a suspension, for the Henrik Zetterberg head slam: "Shanahan, you frigging toad. When that little gimp told you a suspension just wouldn't do? You should have slapped him with an open hand, walked out and gone straight to the first microphone you saw. You should have said you'd been directed to levy a fine when a suspension was the only decision consistent with what you've done all year. You should have quit. Your credibility is lower than his now. " [A2Y]
• Barry Trotz on the Weber fine: "Shea is a big part of our team. The league does a great job all the time of reviewing and nothing gets by them anymore. When I was asked yesterday about it, they handled it and handled it in a very thorough way," Trotz said. "With five seconds to go, we won the draw, Shea got it and they were trying to get it off of him any way they could, and Zetterberg came in when Shea's back was turned and that was probably the reactionary." [Tennessean]
• Colin Campbell said linesman Tony Sericolo done messed up, and blew the offside call that should have whistled dead Danny Briere's scoring chance that led to the Philadelphia Flyers' first goal. "There's no other way to explain it but a missed call," Campbell told The Canadian Press in an interview. "We're as upset as Pittsburgh almost. It's a mistake." [CP]
• Are the Flyers simply the hungrier team vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins? [Philly.com]
• John Tortorella believes that the way the New York Rangers played after the "24/7" cameras left showed him their championship potential: "The players love it because they're entertainers, but when they left, that's when we gained some normalcy in our room," Tortorella said. "We still had three and a half months left to play, and I just watched how our guys went about their business. I was worried about a letdown when the cameras left." [NYT]
• If the Calgary Flames were to trade Jarome Iginla, here are some of the candidates. Iggy on the Penguins? [Matchsticks and Gasoline]
• The Phoenix Coyotes are ready for the return of Jonathan Toews Thursday night. [Sun Times]
• Canada's foreign affairs minister John Baird and Hillary Clinton have made a wager on the Ottawa Senators vs. New York Rangers series, in which the loser will wear the rival's jersey. This comes after their initial idea, in which the losing nation receives socialized health care. (Just jokes people … just jokes.) No word if Bill Clinton is involved in the bet, although we hear he does like some action on the side now and again. [HuffPo]
• More games, lower viewership totals? Puck The Media reports that ratings were even but audience decreased by 5 percent year to year on VERSUS and NBC Sports Network. [PTM]
• Boston Bruins Coach Claude Julien on Zdeno Chara vs. Alex Ovechkin: "There's more than those two. They certainly play a big role. At the same time, there's a lot more depth on both sides. On our team, their team. There's a lot of players that can do some damage in this series. We have to stay aware of that. It's hype for the media. But for us, as coaches, we prepare for a little bit more than that." [Caps Insider]
• Chris Neil and Matt Gilroy are ready to roll against the New York Rangers. [QMI]
• Byron Bitz is meeting with the NHL for his boarding penalty against Kyle Clifford which injured the Kings forward. [LA Kings Insider]
• Darren Helm is done for the Stanley Cup Playoffs after an Alex Radulov skate slash to his right forearm. "It's obviously awful, I didn't mean to do anything," Radulov said. "He came into hit me, it's hockey and it's awful. A bad injury and hopefully he will be OK." [Red Wings]
• Brian Elliott is 100 percent and will be the backup for the St. Louis Blues Thursday evening. [STLToday]
• Gary Bettman on the sale process of the Phoenix Coyotes: "We're continuing to work on it. I know that's been a constant theme and perhaps annoyingly unsatisfying answer, but it is what it is. We're going to continue to pursue this as long as we can.'' [AP]
• The Pittsburgh Penguins have a new look for their power play, as Steve Sullivan and Kris Letang are now on the points. [Penguins]
• Second City Hockey on Patrick Sharp and his Swedish linemates: "It's odd when a team restructures a top line to keep a second line together, but it's easy to understand why Quenneville didn't want to mess with the trio of Sharp-Kruger-Stalberg. They've been utterly ridiculous the past couple weeks. But it's one thing to score in the last throws of the regular season, when some teams have nothing to play for and others have everything locked up. It's quite another when every shift is played with the desperation of betting your daughter's college fund on a full house." [Second City Hockey]
• Nice work by Derek Zona covering the return of Nikolai Khabibulin next year with the Edmonton Oilers. [Copper and Blue]
• Looking back at what was expected from the Winnipeg Jets and how they met those expectations. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
• The American Hockey League announced today that forward Cory Conacher of the Norfolk Admirals has been named the winner of the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL's outstanding rookie for the 2011-12 season, as voted by AHL coaches, players and media in each of the league's 30 member cities. [Lightning]
• Friday is Predators Pride Day in Nashville. Smash someone you love's face into the nearest pane. [Predators]
• Finally … we miss you Sean Avery, and we're man enough to admit it. Here's Sean Avery from the bench (Cincinnati Mighty Ducks) vs. Jacques Larivieree (St. John's Maple Leafs).