Puck Headlines: 20 most disappointing players; NBC ratings in

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.

• Celebrating the "Top 20 Disappointing Performances of the 2008/2009 NHL Season," a list that somehow fails to mention either the words "Steven" or "Stamkos." Deposed St. Louis Blues goalie Manny Legace makes the list, as does Dallas Stars human slice of Swiss Marty Turco. The No. 1 biggest disappointment of the regular season? Well, we can't have Chris Osgood's head get too big, right? [The Hockey Writers, via PPP]

• How many more strong postseason runs does the Detroit Red Wings goalie need before Osgood is considered a Hall of Famer? [USA Today]

• Please recall the epic broadcasting faux pas by Roger Millions of Sportsnet last week. Well, David Shoalts of the Globe & Mail reviews the complete breakdown of fail-safes that led to that taped segment with the lewd exclamation making the air. [Globe & Mail]

• NBC's overnights are out from the weekend's Stanley Cup playoff broadcasts, and they're rather interesting: The New York Rangers/Washington Capitals game on Saturday drew only a 1.0 while the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins snagged a massive 1.7 on Sunday -- the best NHL ratings on NBC since the Winter Classic, according to Steve Lepore. Good weather on Saturday the culprit? If nothing else, NBC might now make the unfortunate case that shutting down the Mellon Arena big screen worked. [Puck The Media]

• We'll have more on the San Jose Sharks' playoff collapse this afternoon, but "rotten luck" is really an inexcusable reason for dropping the first two games at home against the Anaheim Ducks. [THN]

Petr Sykora of the Pittsburgh Penguins admits that his team got "sucked into" playing the style of hockey the Philadelphia Flyers wanted them to play. Which is to say scrum-filled hockey that features as much action after the whistle than before it. [Post Gazette]

• Not to open up one of the Pandora's Boxes of sports fan debate, but Bangin Panger takes a look at the "we" vs. "them" issue when talking about your favorite team. [Bangin Panger]

• Among the potential candidates for the Edmonton Oilers' coaching vacancy: Boston Bruins assistant Geoff Ward, San Jose's Todd Richards and Nashville assistant Brent Peterson. Remember all of their names when either Brent Sutter or Marc Crawford gets the job. [Edmonton Journal]

• The Hockey Guy urges the St. Louis Blues to end their series not with a whimper but with a valiant effort. Puck Daddy urges the Blues to end the series with a win in Game 7 because right now our pick looks like a slice of crap. [Hockey Guy]

• We've ragged on Allan Muir of SI here and there, but we'll smack the stick for this analysis of the Blues: "To paraphrase the eloquently self-aware Buffy Summers, these Blues are cookie dough, and they're not done baking. The wait isn't much fun, but having the Canucks turn up the heat on this group definitely is part of the process. At some point, these guys will be cookies. But not this year." Yes, we're a sucker for a Buffy reference ... but that's only because we liked the fight scenes. Yeah, that's the ticket. Not the musical. The fight scenes. [SI]

• Rangers fans are loud. Rangers fans are obnoxious. Rangers fans are difference makers. So, in summary: Rangers fans don't need those dopey ThunderStix ... but they're getting them. [5-Hole]

• MSG Network will bring back those CGI ads on the glass for Rangers home games in the playoffs, and is considering doing the same for New Jersey Devils games played in Newark. [SBJ]

• Really terrific analysis of the Washington Capitals/New York Rangers series, and how the Blueshirts hold several psychological advantages over the Caps. [On Goal Analysis]

• Anticipating some parking headaches they usually don't have to deal with in late April, the Columbus Blue Jackets release some vital parking info before their first playoff home game. [BeeJays]

• Could Milan Lucic's suspension open the door for a Montreal Canadiens' rally? [Sun Media]

Matt Hunwick remains in the thoughts of the Boston Bruins after his splenectomy. Bruins defensemen without a spleen, Montreal players without a heart ... it's like an NHL version of Operation! out there. Who has the funny bone? [Bruins Blog]

• Finally, H/T to Kukla for this video of Chris Kunitz's hit on Kimmo Timonen in yesterday's Pens/Flyers game, as well as some coverage of the incident from Scott Burnside:

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