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.
• Reminder: Our No-Foil Stanley Cup contest finalists will be announced on Wednesday. Please do check it out. Also, remember that our NHL Awards Viewing Party at Bailey's in Arlington, Va. (Ballston Mall) is scheduled for Thursday night. Please do check it out, stop by and say hey.
• Anyone who watched Tomas Holmstrom of the Detroit Red Wings during the Stanley Cup Final saw someone struggling with ... something. Turns out it was a bum knee among other things, and his injuries affected everything from the depth scoring to the power play. Homer admits that if the aches and pains keep piling up, he may need to consider retirement. [Snapshots]
• Michael Rosenberg of the Freep, meanwhile, chronicles several injuries for the Wings; including the harrowing tale of Nicklas Lidstrom's testicle. [Freep]
• You've no doubt read this, but just in case: Game 7 between the Wings and Penguins was the highest rated NHL game since Game 6 between Montreal and Chicago in 1973. Remember that when we're watching the Blue Jackets and Hurricanes for the Cup next season. [NY Times]
• Solid ratings breakdown from PopStat. [Population Statistic]
• Following a team that remains teetering on the brink and tenuously tied to Glendale, Phoenix Coyotes blog Five For Howling lets off some steam after the judge's rejection of Jim Balsillie's bid ... from the music of The Hives to "the five stages of grief that Balsillie supporters will be going through." [Five For Howling]
• It sounds like Mario Lemieux's house party for the Pittsburgh Penguins was a show. But Craig Adams denies that the Stanley Cup ended up in the bottom of the swimming pool again. [Sun Media]
• So when you hear that a team official "will spend valuable time with the young players throughout our organization, working on their on-ice game as well as helping these young players deal with the issues playing and/or preparing to play professional hockey," do you think "say, that's a job for Derian Hatcher?" [Philly.com]
• Pat Hickey of The Gazette reports that Danny Briere has been shopped by the Philadelphia Flyers to the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings; evidently, the market for a Snuggle-soft center with a long-term contract and a no-trade clause ain't what it used to be. [Gazette]
• Our content partners at SB Nation are doing a mock draft ahead of next week's NHL Draft (where several of them, along with Puck Daddy folks, will be on-site). So far, pretty much as you expected. Although trades on draft day could obviously muss up the whole thing. [SB Nation/From The Rink]
• Sounds like the Tampa Bay Lightning will be keeping their pick. [Joe Bolts Fan]
• Hockey Spy has a big 'ole draft preview. [THW]
• Great stuff from Adam Brady of the Ducks about GM Bob Murray's chat with Anaheim Ducks fans, from the fact that Jonas Hiller and J.S. Giguere are "1A and 1B" between the pipes; that Scott Niedermayer could reveal his future plans by Sunday; and that defenseman Francois Beauchemin has "earned" the right to explore free agency. [Ducks Blog]
• The Boston Bruins ink their GM to an extension. [Bruins]
• 'Malkin To The Kings' not so pleased with the Ottawa Senators changes at the top. [Sun Media]
• Alleged super media goof No. 1: This was sent in by someone in the Detroit media, allegedly the front of the Detroit News Web site. From a mole: "This was up for a few minutes. They were ready (and hoping) for an upset. But note the accurate score is in the subhead."
• GJ Berg of Sharkspage reports on what the Phoenix Coyotes could do this summer and look like next season: "In realistic terms, this [ruling] means that Phoenix will operate out of JOBING.com for the upcoming season, at least." [Sharkspage]
• Meanwhile, with Coyotes players Scottie Upshall and Keith Yandle up for restricted free agency, is it time for poaching season on the Yotes? [National Post]
• James Mirtle on the three potential outcomes for the Coyotes' future. [From The Rink]
• Todd Richards promises some offense from the defense as the new head coach of the Minnesota Wild. Seriously, the notion that this team isn't going to be hockey NyQuil is going to take some getting used to. [Star Tribune]
• Hockey Wilderness was a bit, er, candid about the firing of assistant GM Tom Lynn. "While I can say that most members of Wild teams past will be missed in some way shape or form, Mr. Lynn always struck me as a bit of a tool. Good riddance." [Hockey Wilderness]
• With all the scuttlebutt about Dany Heatley potentially coming to the Edmonton Oilers, Lowetide wonders where the role players are. [Lowetide]
• Arguing for Jean Beliveau an NHL Lifetime achievement recipient. [Pelletier]
• The CHL is "working through several issues dealing with their franchises in Bossier-Shreveport and Broomfield" as well as New Mexico, and an announcement about their futures will be made next week. Fingers crossed for those fans. [CHL]
• Curl with a hilarious breakdown of Sean Avery of the New York Rangers' appearance on Jimmy Fallon last night. [Puck The Media]
• Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog and yours truly had a sprawling debate on MSM and blogs on Dan Levy's podcast, sprung from a similar debate in the backroom of Blogs With Balls. [On The DL]
• Finally, alleged super media goof No. 2: Clearly, someone at TSN was a fan of Celebrity Jeopardy. (Thanks to Death by Leafs.)
