Puck Headlines: Goalies getting run; NHLPA gets internal affairs

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October 19, 2009

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.

• Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov (notes), Colorado Avalanche goaltender Craig Anderson (notes) and Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (notes) have been named the NHL ‘Three Stars’ for the week ending Oct. 18. This will still matter to two of these men when the third is playing in the postseason. [NHL]

• After Ryan Miller (notes) was given a "WWF knee drop to the back" against the New York Islanders and several other goalies were run recently, there’s growing concern that enough isn’t being done to curb goalie interference. Said noted pacifist John Tortorella after New York Rangers goal Henrik Lundqvist (notes) was run: "Something has to be done [by the NHL] or we’ll have to take care of it our way." [Buffalo News]

• Spector on the likelihood that Marty Turco (notes) and Jaroslav Halak (notes) could be traded this season. (Spoiler: It’s unlikely.) [THN]

• Mile High Hockey lashes out at the fan-trolling around the recent Detroit Red Wings/Colorado Avalanche game, saying Wings fans are in denial if they think the rivalry has cooled: "Maybe Detroit fans are just so bored that they literally have nothing else to do, but I doubt it. In Detroit, there’s always a fire to set or a house to bulldoze." Ouch. [MHH]

• Max Talbot (notes) is skating again for the Pittsburgh Penguins: The photographic proof! [Empty Netters]

• A veteran panel of Rob Blake (notes), Nicklas Lidstrom (notes), Mark Recchi (notes) and Chris Chelios (notes) are expected to spearhead a committee to look into the recent business of the NHLPA, and could even scan internal emails as part of the process. Good to see the PA getting its house in order; not good to see only 22 team reps took part in a critical conference call or that a special committee is comprised of four players who were drafted in the 1980s. [Dreger]

• Would you buy a car from Nicklas Lidstrom? [Snapshots]

• Was there some outcry for further coverage of the Sidney Crosby (notes)/Prince of Wales Trophy superstition story of which we were unaware? Because, you know, it’s only been five months … [NHL.com]

• Stick-tap to Kukla for reintroducing us to William Houston, the former Globe & Mail media columnist who has taken his act to the blogosphere after retirement. His take on CBC’s HNIC is solid, especially the slapping around of one Michael Milbury: "If ever in his TV career Milbury has made a comment that ran counter to the official thinking of the NHL or club officials, we missed it." [Truth & Rumours]

• Former Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals player Bob Sirois has a new book that makes the case that French-Canadian athletes are discriminated against in the NHL. The cover of the book is, no joking, "a hockey playing frog facing down a bullish competitor." [Sun Media, and must-read analysis from Mudcrutch]

• Jay Feaster recalls when the Nashville Predators offered his Tampa Bay Lightning the services of Tomas Vokoun (notes): "Our pro scouts were not sold on Vokoun’s ability to win a championship and thrive under big-game pressure and his contract was too rich for us, both in real dollars and available cap space." Music to Florida’s ears, we’re sure. [THN]

• The Minnesota Wild are struggling mightily out of the gate, and one can infer from Michael Russo’s coverage that he wonders if that means they’ll begin struggling at the gate, too. [Star Tribune]

• Tony Parker of the San Antonia Spurs brings us one step closer to the ultimate goal: Adding Eva Longoria to the ranks of hockey WAGs. [Getty]

• NSFW language warning here, but this Dale Tallon diary from the Committed Indian is too good not to pass along. [Second City Hockey]

• Look, we love Brendan Shanahan (notes) and aren’t ready to see him skate off into the sunset. That said, an ancient lumbering forward who wants to be on a scoring line but barely warrants the fourth line is almost the last thing the Toronto Maple Leafs need right now. (Trading for Andrew Raycroft (notes) being the aforementioned "last thing.") [Toronto Star]

• Down Goes Brown takes a look at Toronto Maple Leafs’ "90s Night," in which fans made millions on Internet startup IPOs in the first period only to leave the arena destitute after the game. [DGB]

• Looking at the Leafs’ awful start in historical context, and whether teams can bounce back from it. [Behind the Net]

• Did B.D. Gallof just coin the phrase "succulence" as it relates to Brian Burke’s team, or it this public domain? [Hockey Independent]

• Ryan Ellis (notes) gets an entry level deal with the Nashville Predators. Still can’t believe someone asked him whether the Predators would survive as a franchise after they drafted him. It’s one of those awful reporters’ questions that stays with you like the taste of rotten fruit. [Preds]

• Inside the Tampa Bay Lightning’s line shuffle, and some words of encouragement from Vincent Lecavalier (notes) to the demoted Alex Tanguay (notes). [Raw Charge]

• Finally, there are two Dan Snyders being talked after this weekend: One that ruined football in Washington, D.C., and other being fondly remembered by the Atlanta Thrashers with a practice in the memorial ice arena named in his honor. Guess which one the following video is about?

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