Here are your Morning 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.
• Bob McKenzie of TSN has been hearing serious whispers about an imminent Marian Gaborik trade for the Minnesota Wild. But he's really skeptical that any team in the NHL would deal for a player that hasn't seen action since Oct. 14. "Really, is there one team out there that would trade for him now, in his current condition? Montreal maybe?" [TSN]
• Philadelphia Flyers GM publically disagrees with Simon Gagne, defends the legality of Alexei Kovalev's hit to his head over the weekend. [Philly.com]
• The Flyers and Brendan Shanahan are at an impasse for a free-agent contract. [NY Rangers Blog]
• Alexander Ovechkin's couture sweatpants really go with anything, including Redskins jerseys. [Bottom of The Redskins Blog, H/T to Dan Steinberg]
• Snapshots takes a look at some political hockey issues, including a scenario in which a Brian Burke/Ron Wilson/Toronto Maple Leafs US Olympic team takes on a Steve Yzerman/Mike Babcock/Detroit Red Wings Canadian Olympic team. Uh, can we trade? [Snapshots]
• Luke DeCock looks back at the five most significant coaching crises in Carolina Hurricanes history, claiming that Coach Peter Laviolette is once again on the hot seat. Once more, with feeling: Some NHL team would snatch up Laviolette faster than a Carolinian on free NASCAR tickets. Or free BBQ. Or Skoal. Really, pick your stereotype. [News & Observer]
• Bruce "Malkin to the Kings" Garrioch continues to feed the flames of the Ottawa Senators' interest in Vancouver Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund. Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis and assistant Lawrence Gilman were listed as scouts at MSG for last night's loss to the Rangers. [Ottawa Sun]
• Speaking of the New York Rangers, success isn't translating into happiness for some fans. "There appear to be two schools of thought among Ranger fans right now: the ones who are happy and content with the team since they are indeed in first place and the ones who feel that this team is vastly underachieving and playing some crappy hockey." [Scotty Hockey]
• Someone tell Hilary: The New York Islanders are shopping Mike Comrie. [TFP]
• Milan Lucic talks about the League's crackdown on hits to the head. We think Lucic should be allowed to establish his own, much cooler rules by which to play under. [Sun Media]
• An apology to San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson, who avoided the "greed" of Brian Campbell and made a smart deal for cheaper Dan Boyle in the summer. [Battle of California]
• Sometimes, the world just needs a little Jordin Tootoo to get everyone's aggression up. [Hockey Fights]
• Ken Campbell of The Hockey News has a new statistic measurement that manages to make Evgeni Malkin the No. 16 scorer in the NHL. The Forechecker rightfully believes this theory has its flaws. [On the Forecheck]
• In the aftermath of Andy McDonalds' injury, the St. Louis Blues could reunite the BTK Line of Brad Boyes-Keith Tkachuk-Paul Kariya, when he's healthy. [St. Louis Game Time]
• Finally, in case you haven't seen it, Fernando Pisani's injury for the Edmonton Oilers in last night's Wings game. Pisani's out six-to-eight weeks with a broken ankle. That angle about one minute in is sphincter-clenching.
