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.
• Eric Duhatschek throws down the gauntlet: Not only has Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby eclipsed Alex Ovechkin this season, but he's on the road to Gretzky-ville. [Globe & Mail]
• Via Sports Business Journal: "CONSOL Energy Center has been named the "Best NHL Arena" in the sixth annual Sports Business Journal readers' survey on the state of the sports industry. The new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, which opened for the start of the 2010-11 season, outranked Madison Square Garden in New York, the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota and the Prudential Center in New Jersey in the survey conducted by the leading sports trade publication in the country." What, no Nassau?
• Twenty-three of the 29 players named to the preliminary roster for the U.S. world junior team have NCAA ties. There's also a staggering number of New Englanders, so hopefully there aren't many NY Jets fans on the roster because things could get awkward.
• The Joel Quenneville prognosis on Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, who sprained his left ankle against Calgary: Out for three weeks at a maximum. [Between the Circles]
• Jonathan Toews on Patrick Kane's absence: "We've found a way to play without some of our top players. ... Guys like Campbell and Hossa and I guess now we don't have a choice, we'll have to do it without Kane. It's about everyone else stepping up." [Trib]
• Oh, boooooo! No Marty Turco against the Dallas Stars this week for Chicago. Said Turco: "I'd like to play them, but I'm pretty sure I'll get a shot at them this year. I didn't come to Chicago to beat the Dallas Stars, I came here to win and be part of a winning formula." Or hand his job to Corey Crawford. One of the two. [Dallas Stars Blog]
• Fun interview with Cam Janssen of the St. Louis Blues, including how he became to be known as a Four Minute Man: "Over the course of my career I've averaged four minutes of ice and four minutes in penalties per game. I think it's up to five now." [Vancouver Sun]
• The top-10 players who might be traded this season and their fantasy value. [Daily Faceoff]
• Alex Frolov complains to Russian media about his ice time with the New York Rangers. From a translated interview: "It's absolutely unacceptable to me that that I spend 7-8 minutes a game on the ice, especially on an energy line. It's just not my game, which I told the coach candidly. But there are no personal problems between me and him. I'm not a quarrelsome person. Even in our recent conversation there was no swearing or raised voices. Nobody blamed anyone, we simply discussed the situation. The coach promised that soon everything will change, I just need to be a little patient and work harder in practice." [Beyond The Blueshirts and Blueshirt Banter; UPDATE: Frolov discusses the interview with Andrew Gross, including trade talk.]
• Quietly having an outstanding season: Brett Clark of the Tampa Bay Lightning. [Lightning Strikes]
• Travis tries to make heads or tails of the CBA when it comes to the Philadelphia Flyers and how long Michael Leighton can remain in the AHL. [Broad Street Hockey]
• Bill Guerin's spot on the Flyers went instead to Andreas Nodl; luckily, Nodl's playing well enough to eliminate any regrets about that decision. [The 700 Level]
• How you can tell the Minnesota Wild are struggling: Nostalgia pieces about Jacques Lemaire's time as head coach. From THN: "It's hard to admit to missing Lemaire's style of hockey, but Wild fans must be pining for the days when they knew their team would overachieve." [THN]
• Mark Everson on the increasingly dire situation facing the New Jersey Devils: "The Devils are effectively capped out and have nine players owning no-trade or no-movement contracts. It will be difficult for Lamoriello to make a deal significant enough to turn the season around. The coach may be the one to pay, as usual." [NY Post]
• PK Subban? Healthy scratch yet again. Mike Richards begins patrolling Montreal press box for signs of cockiness. [Habs Inside/Out]
• Well, in fairness to the Verizon Center techs, at least one of these guys used to be a Thrasher. Thanks to Slumber and Eli.
• DJ Steve Porter is going to remix Hockey Night in Canada before this weekend's Montreal Canadiens/Toronto Maple Leafs rivalry game. And if that name doesn't ring a bell, then you're not one of the 11.8 million viewers of the Slap Chop Rap. [Y! Sports]
• The Phoenix Coyotes announced Tuesday that they have recalled defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson from the San Antonio Rampage. [Five For Howling]
• Darren Eliot's 30 holiday gifts for 30 NHL teams, some of which are amusing. [SI]
• What the Los Angeles Kings should learn from their almost-deal for Marco Sturm of the Boston Bruins. [Pro Sports Blogging]
• Andy McDonald of the St. Louis Blues is out with a concussion. [Blues]
• Long piece detailing the differences in class between the Eastern and Western conferences this season. Besides, you know, one kicking the ever-loving crap out of the other. [PHT]
• Finally, the Los Angeles Kings are going through the trouble of producing a special video for each of their 14 Ice Girls in their 2011 calendar. The least we can do is post one. You know, so you can sample the wares.
Majandra Delfino Maria Bello Jennifer Gareis Ashlee Simpson Donna Feldman
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