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.
• At the Detroit River, Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom paddle boards on the water, taking a break from walking on it ...
• Manny Malhotra could be back for the Vancouver Canucks in Game 2, and what an unbelievable emotional lift that'd be ... [White Towel]
• … that said, Dan Hamhuis, arguably the Canucks' second-best defenseman in these playoffs, didn't practice on Friday. Aaron Rome skated with Kevin Bieksa. [Boston.com]
• Spector looks at the first roster for the new Winnipeg team, based on what the Atlanta Thrashers' free agents will do this summer. [THN]
• On the Winnipeg season-ticket drive: "Fear not, insists True North president and CEO Jim Ludlow. If every Moose season-ticket holder purchased their maximum four NHL season tickets as allowed in the pre-sale, about 4,000 tickets would remain at Saturday's opening to the general public. But Ludlow believes that number will be more like 6,000 to 7,000." [Winnipeg Free Press]
• NBC vs. ESPN vs. FOX for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic television rights, and it's going to be a hell of a battle. [WSJ]
• Smacking around ESPN's NHL coverage on the TV side. (It's important to differentiate, because ESPN.com has great hockey voices and news.) [Philly Daily News]
• Lepore with the city-by-city breakdown of the Stanley Cup Final Game 1 ratings in the U.S. Richmond (Va.) and Las Vegas posted better ratings than 15 NHL markets. Expansion time! [Puck The Media]
• Polling Dallas Stars fans on the "least objectionable" destination for Brad Richards. To the surprise of no one, Tampa Bay leads the poll and Los Angeles does not. [Defending Big D]
• The NY Daily News headline: "Three months too late, Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk is ready to trade Brad Richards." Ouch. [NYDN]
• Dave Bolland called Alex Burrows "a little girl" for pulling hair and biting people. Ryan Whitney said "90 percent of the guys in the league want nothing to do with seeing them win." Jealousy or justified hatred of the Vancouver Canucks from NHL peers? [Canucks Hockey Blog]
• The Montreal Canadiens announced Friday that longtime Canadiens legend and current Team Ambassador Jean Béliveau is scheduled to undergo a preventive surgical procedure next week to repair abdominal aneurysms. He'll need a few months to recover, and obviously we wish for a speedy recovery. [Canadiens]
• Glendale is withholding a key economic report the city commissioned to persuade investors to finance its Phoenix Coyotes deal. [AZCentral]
• The Philadelphia Flyers "just let their top prospect walk for nothing." [BSH]
• Five questions with Adam Larsson. [Buzzing The Net]
• The Puck Stops Here on the Tim Erixon trade: "Essentially the Rangers gave up an extra second round draft pick in exchange for Erixon. Since Erixon has first round talent, this is a good move for the New York Rangers. Potentially it could be a very big trade. Calgary is forced to give up a potential laden player for limited return. The New York Rangers are the beneficiary of this situation and have since signed Tim Erixon. Potentially this under-reported trade could be very significant." [TPSH]
• Analyzing Ken Hitchcock's candidacy for the Minnesota Wild job … eh, it could work. [Hockey Wilderness]
• Mike Reilly of Shattuck-St. Mary's gives us a glimpse at how easy and restful the NHL Draft Scouting Combine is for the prospects. Yikes.
• A stat nerd look at the Boston Bruins' power-play struggles in Game 1. [Nucks Misconduct]
• Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg of the Boston Bruins on his German fans: "Right now, they're all talking about Dirk Nowitzki playing in the NBA Finals. There's not much coverage going on, but it's special that another German will be NHL champion." [Telegram and Gazette]
• Sadly for Dennis, Dirk is more of a Christian Ehrhoff man. [DFW Sports Day]
• Old man Sinden likes what he sees from the Bruins. [Boston.com]
• Deadspin adds to its ever-expanding gallery of Patrick Kane and alcohol imagery. [Deadspin]
• Interesting comparison between David Legwand of the Nashville Predators and other players in the NHL. "Legwand's closest even-strength comparables make exactly as much, or more, than Legwand. He has the worst zone starts, the highest goal rate, but the lowest assist rate. This past year, Legwand was not overpaid at all." [On The Forecheck]
• The end-of-season report card on Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, after what was an underwhelming goal-scoring season by his standards. [Japers' Rink]
• Nice bit from the NY Times on the Olympic Gold vs. Stanley Cup debate. [Slap Shot]
• The New York Islanders want you to design a T-shirt for Matt Moulson. [Islanders]
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Judith Enck and Senator Robert Menendez will honor the Devils with an award for their environmental work. We imagine it's for their public service campaign urging New Jerseys to clutch and grab their trash. [Devils]
• Finally … this video is absolutely wonderful, as to young Vancouver Canucks fans turn "Hey Jude" into a tribute to Roberto Luongo. No embedding of the video, so click here or on the image to watch it. You won't regret it. NA NA NA…HEY LOOOOOOOOOU.
