Monday, 25 June 2012

Anti-Ovechkin song; Parise, Suter future; Islanders after Bobby Ryan (Puck Headlines)

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.

• Passersby were stunned when Alex Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov were suddenly punted into the river when Robo-Mazeroski became sentient.

• The New York Islanders are after Bobby Ryan, according to Chris Botta. [@ChrisBottaNHL]

• Hockey Hall of Fame selections are on Tuesday. We'll discuss this later on PD, but Joe Sakic and Brendan Shanahan appear to be locks. [Greatest Hockey Legends]

• Why did the Tampa Bay Lightning trade for Benoit Pouliot and then not qualify him? "Not qualifying Pouliot may see odd since the Lightning acquired him from the Bruins on Saturday for minor-leaguer Michel Ouellet and a fifth-round draft pick, and that the plan seems to give Pouliot a chance to play as a top-six forward. But by not giving him an offer, Pouliot cannot invoke his arbitration rights." [Lightning Strikes]

• The post-Paul Martin math for the Pittsburgh Penguins. [PensBurgh]

• Zbynek Michalek on being back with the Phoenix Coyotes: "They've had that mentality for the last three, four years, and (General Manager Don Maloney) and (coach Dave Tippett) they've done such a good job putting a competitive team on the ice and playing good defensive hockey, good structured hockey, and it's the mentality that I like, too." [Coyotes]

• Here are the 2012-13 NHL RFA compensation limits. [Globe & Mail]

• Justin Schultz is leaving the Anaheim Ducks and Jen Neale is OK with this. [Anaheim Calling]

• Stat nerd alert! The 20 worst CORSI ratings in the NHL last season, led by Nick Schultz of the Edmonton Oilers. [TPSH]

• Great piece by Michael Russo on the Zach Parise/Ryan Suter hysteria for the Minnesota Wild, and how Chuck Fletcher is facing the sales pitch of the century: "If it strikes out with Suter, expect the Wild to make a big run at Florida's Jason Garrison, a 27-year-old, hard-shooting defenseman who played three years at Minnesota Duluth. A Plan B could also include Philadelphia's Matt Carle and Washington's Dennis Wideman, although the Flyers are trying to re-sign Carle, or trading for Paul Martin or Keith Yandle." [Star Tribune]

• The NHLPA meetings are happening in Chicago. One nugget already causing a buzz from Donald Fehr: "Donald Fehr said it's conceivable NHL season could start without a new CBA." [@ChrisKuc]

• Jordin Tootoo is going to market. [Tennessean]

• The Montreal Canadiens get an A-plus for their NHL Draft efforts. We look forward to revisiting this in five years. [National Post]

• Sigh: Angelo Esposito not qualified by the Dallas Stars. [ESPN Dallas]

• How the Washington Capitals can get the most out of Mike Ribeiro: "What you're left with is a top-six center who has generally excelled when deployed in favorable situations and with gunners in Ribeiro, and one who has generally excelled when deployed in all situations in Backstrom. It's easy to foresee an Ovechkin-Ribeiro line getting the easiest minutes available and killing them, while Backstrom and whomever he's slotted with shoulder a heavier burden at five-on-five." [Japers' Rink]

• Incredible musical selection No. 1: Chicago Mission Hockey boys sing One Direction's "That's What Makes You Beautiful." Very enthusiastically.

• The new Florida Panthers campaign: RED Rising. [Panthers]

• Good piece on Dale Tallon and the continued growth of the Florida Panthers. [Litter Box Cats]

• What's the plan for Paul Holmgren and the Philadelphia Flyers? "Two things are clear: Holmgren is thankfully not interested in moving any of his young pieces to make one big run at a Cup and that this version of the Flyers isn't all that different from the one you'll see on the ice in October (or whenever)." [Philly.com]

• Roberto Luongo and Mike Gillis are the odd couple. [Backhand Shelf]

• Our favorite parts of this "Luongo rejects trade to Maple Leafs" story is that (a) it presumes he's been asked formally and (b) it kept the Twitter hashtags on Aaron Portzline's tweets that started it all. [QMI]

• The Calgary Flames qualified RFAs Mikael Backlund, Leland Irving, Paul Byron, Blair Jones and Akim Aliu. [Matchsticks and Gasoline]

• Congrats to our boy Down Goes Brown on his book deal for "The Best of Down Goes Brown" coming out this fall. [DGB]

• Finally, here's a song mocking Alex Ovechkin, with perhaps the biggest mockery being that it's a Bruno Mars cover. "No Cup at all boo hoo boo hoo boo hooo…"



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