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.
• Oh dear: Patrick Kane makes Deadspin again for being a rich, young athlete that's now in his offseason and allegedly partying with the locals in Wisconsin. Ah, but here's the most interesting part, via 'joeythejuniorreporter' on Tumblr — is it possible Kane is wearing a T-shirt that honors his Vancouver limo adventure while he's partying on Cinco de Mayo? Because if so, then the competition is over, and Patrick Kane is our favorite hockey player of all time ever. [Terez Owens, via Deadspin]
• Speaking of partying, Brian Burke defends Ryan Getzlaf after he was accused of getting rowdy at 3 a.m. at a Helsinki bar: "Getzy was not intoxicated and was not with a woman. We had a brief and pleasant conversation and then I headed to the airport. I don't know what happened early that night. I know what happened at 4:30 a.m. or so." Also, we're in need of a No. 1 center … [QMI]
• Travis Hair on a very big day for the Phoenix Coyotes: "There is also talk of the Goldwater Institute having something to say, but if the deal is simply the City paying the management fee there isn't much for them to argue about. The only reason they got involved in the previous deal with Matthew Hulsizer was that they felt the city backing the bonds to pay for the purchase was a violation of the gift clause along the structure of the parking fees and how that money was distributed. In this deal it appears that there is only the management fee which should be easy to document how other cities pay for those services on their own buildings." [Five For Howling]
• Alex Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn are back for the Nashville Predators in Game 5. Now, if they have a monster offensive game, who gets to have the "told ya so" — the players benched or the coach that benched them? [Tennessean]
• Do the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals hate each other? [Capitals Insider]
• Low ratings for the Kings' clincher, via Lepore: "The Kings' 3-1 victory over the Blues drew a 1.0 overnight rating on Sunday afternoon. While there was no comparable post-season game over the past few years, the number is still the lowest for a Stanley Cup Playoff game on NBC since the opening round in 2009 (WSH/NYR Game 6, 4/26/09). It is tied for the second-lowest playoff overnight ever on NBC. The Blues and Kings had a combined one appearance on NBC since 2007 before yesterday." [Puck The Media]
• The Flyers are being sued for Winter Classic ticket policy. [Biz Jornals]
• Flyers blogger Travis Hughes on not getting angry over the Claude Giroux suspension: "If we're going to get mad at the Malkin hits and the Neal hits and the Weber hits and any other hit that's been laid down in these playoffs, and if we think those were all suspension worthy, then we can't say this hit wasn't suspension worthy. And if this hit was suspension worthy, we can't possibly be all that mad that Giroux was suspended, right? Be mad at the NHL's ridiculous inconsistency when it comes to suspensions. Be mad that they've finally decided to lay down the law here when they should have done so long before today." [Broad Street Hockey]
• According to Rich Hoffman, Shanahan's decision sets a new precedent: "we have broken new ground here. The clean history did not matter. The injury situation did not matter. What have sometimes been considered as mitigating factors were not enough to mitigate things for Giroux in an undeniably crucial situation for his team." [Philly.com]
• The Los Angeles Kings have turned Hollywood into hockeytown again, says five-paragraph wire story. [THN]
• Ellen Etchingham on the Claude Giroux head-shot: "The essential thing about the Giroux hit is not that it was dirty and it's not how many games their going to give him. It's that the officials caught it, and they caught it not because they saw the head contact but because they saw the other things- the interference and the charging- that are characteristic of illegal headshots." [Backhand Shelf]
• Sam Fels on the Joel Quenneville drama: "Let's try and suss out what we know could be reality and what is still fantasy at this point. It is still very unlikely and a very long way off that Quenneville is packing up the bags and the 'For Sale sign is going up outside his house. There haven't really been any confirmed sources or reports or anything. It feels like a lot of people are just connecting some dots here, what with the well-known disagreements within the Hawks organization, Q's close relationship with Bergevin, Rick Dudley moving to Montreal, and the lack of supporters that are in the Hawks' front office. Do not get out your coaching list of candidates yet." [Second City Hockey]
• Via Väinö, this is Jesse Joensuu of Finland after getting high-sticked in the IIHF world championships. Click here for the bloody reason his eye looks like that. OUCH.
• Blackhawks director of player personnel Norm Maciver has been promoted to assistant general manager, the team announced Monday. [ESPN Chicago]
• With the Phoenix Coyotes tentative sale scheduled to be announced today, David Shoalts reminds us all that there's work to be done: "Over the last two NHL seasons, the city of 250,000 people committed $50-million to the NHL to subsidize the Coyotes' losses, which run to more than $30-million per year. But budget problems resulted in Glendale coming up $5-million short of its obligation this year, which is now due. Scruggs told city council they should ask the NHL for some of the $20-million back that is an escrow account controlled by the league and negotiate a payment plan for a reduced amount." [Globe & Mail]
• Why Don Brennan believes the Ottawa Senators should trade Craig Anderson now. [Ottawa Sun]
• Interesting piece from Stephen Whyno on Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby and how he doesn't stare down his teammates after they blow a play that leads to a goal. "It's one of my biggest pet peeves when goalies stare at a guy or throw his arms up in the air. It's almost like they think we're doing it on purpose, you know?" defenseman Karl Alzner said with a smile. "Everybody knows who's fault it is. If it's my fault, in know it and if it's his fault he knows it. I'm not going to go and if a goal gets scored, I'm not going to go stare right at him or throw my arms up at him. I think it's more of a respect thing. If he doesn't do it, we don't do it." [Wash Times]
• Finally, enough can't be said of this LA Kings game intro video. It's awesome.