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.
• Via Leahy, the Green Men of Vancouver must be stopped. Clearly their hubris now has them gleefully breaking indoor smoking rules in the arena for a cheap gag. For shame, sirs, for shame. (Hilarious bit, by the way.)
• Milan Hejduk on Peter Forsberg's retirement decision: "I didn't see it coming. ... For not playing for a long time and jumping into back-to-back nights is not easy. But he didn't say anything on the plane." [Denver Post]
• Joe Sacco was "informed this morning of the news" that Forsberg was going to retire. [Avs TV]
• Meanwhile, Terry Frei had an interesting take on the Avalanche's ills, from the poor play of Craig Anderson (back from personal leave but backing up Budaj tonight) and their "thrifty ways." [Denver Post]
• Brad Richards is expected to miss at least one game for the Dallas Stars, but his injury is a little nebulous. From Marc Crawford: "He suffered an injury on the last shift of the game on a hit in the neutral zone. He's not feeling 100 percent today. Brad would like to join us but we think it is the best measure for him to stay behind and get him back to 100 percent before he rejoins the club. We're going to be cautious here and not only what is best for Brad Richards but also for the Dallas Stars." [Dallas Stars Blog]
• Scott Burnside seems unimpressed with Mario Lemieux's statements on the Islanders' melee: "We must say, it helps to read all these bits aloud in a very deep, Zeus-like voice to get the full import of this great chiding from on high. It would all be great theater if it weren't so nauseatingly contrived." [ESPN]
• Get To Our Game offers a bullet-point rebuttal to Burnside. [GTOG]
• Brian Burke, who had Colin Campbell's job once upon a time, on the Mario statement: "I believe the league's swift response was appropriate. This was not what we put on the ice every night, it was something from the '70s. I was pleased with the league's harsh but appropriate action here." [Globe & Mail]
• The Tampa Bay Lightning's rebranding of their colors and logo for next season have apparently not gone over all that well with fans inside or outside of Tampa Bay. [Raw Charge]
• Slush: The worst enemy of any 11-day hockey game. [CBC Sports]
• A heartwarming tale in which Pittsburgh Penguins winger Matt Cooke goes the extra mile for a 19-year-old fan who is trying to walk again after a 2008 vehicle accident; a fan who "defends Cooke whenever he can, especially to a fellow a patient in occupational therapy who isn't a Cooke fan." [Tribune Review]
• Craig Custance, who did Puck Daddy Radio today, offers his take on Mario Lemieux and why everyone should listen to him. [SN]
• Ken Campbell believes that Mario's actions have to speak as loudly as his words: "Personally, I'd have a lot more respect for Lemieux if he got so mad his veins bulged out of his neck and he slammed his fist down on the table at a board of governors meeting insisting the league do something meaningful about things such as supplementary discipline and head shots instead of making public proclamations when he's not happy about a decision that involved his own team." [THN]
• Will there be any teams left actually selling assets at the trade deadline? [SB Nation]
• Good take by Neate on the "cautionary tale" of rushing Tyler Seguin to the NHL by the Boston Bruins. [Buzzing The Net]
• Michal Neuvirth gets the nod for the Washington Capitals tonight, his third start in four games. [Capitals Insider]
• On Frozen Blog's scathing take on the current state of the Caps: "In years past, when they were still regular-season hungry, they would attack opposition zones with speed and cohesion, cycling pucks and engineering multiple scoring chances on many an individual rush. This season, it's most often one-and-done in terms of shots registering on opposing goalies, and more often than that they don't even register a weak shot on net from their attack. No psyche-breaking puck possession, no waves of quality scoring chances being engineered, no sniping from all angles of the attack. The Capitals skate with an entitlement ethos, for this is the culture management has cultivated." [OFB]
Alex Burrows blocked a shot, should be good to go, but the Vancouver Canucks are going to give him a CT scan on his sore foot just to be sure. [White Towel]
Mike Fisher took an ad on Sunday to say goodbye to the Ottawa Senators and their fans; here's what it said. [Silver Seven]
• Via reader Ryan Dupuis, this is hilarious if about a week old: Scotty, participating in a trivia contest during a Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Carolina Hurricanes, answers "C. Fire Ron Wilson."
• Good "odds and ends" bit by Tim Wharnsby that begins with the Canadian playoff picture. [CBC Sports]
• New York Islanders right wing Michael Grabner, Buffalo Sabres right wing Drew Stafford and Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending Feb. 13.
• On Grabner's surge in the Calder Trophy race: "If Grabner can keep rolling like he is or even close, he's going to have to be considered for the Calder. But teams aren't going to continue to be surprised by his speed. It wouldn't be shocking to see teams game planning for Grabs soon." [Lighthouse Hockey]
• Jim Matheson wonders if this is the worst Edmonton Oilers team of all time. [Journal]
• Clayton Stoner on bloodying David Backes in a fight: "Good for him. He was playing hard. But at the same time, we have to stand up for ourselves. I think we did a good job throughout the whole game." [Star Tribune]
• Did ECAC Hockey director of officiating Paul Stewart cross the line in going after a reporter? [Daily Gazette]
• Finally, here's NBC's Hockey Day In America promo:
Missy Peregrym Sarah Gellman Eliza Dushku Bonnie Jill Laflin Joanna Krupa
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