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.
• After last postseason's unpleasantness, police are prepared for anything after the Montreal Canadiens' home finale on Saturday night. And they have cameras ... lots of cameras. [CJAD]
• What's this? Mathieu Schneider skating with the Habs, despite reports he was done for the season? [Bruins Blog]
• Boston Bruins forward/Puck Daddy cult icon Milan Lucic drew the largest bid at $850 to shave his dome for charity. And, unfortunately, now resembles a thinner version of Tom Cruise in "Tropic Thunder". [The Bruins Blog]
• An interview with the Stanley Cup. You heard us right. [Mlive]
• In case you haven't been keeping up, the Tampa Bay Lightning are a complete mess. Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune says what everyone's been too busy thinking about good teams to really mull over: Does anyone actually trust the Bolts' management to fix this thing? Or, more to the point, make a good Vincent Lecavalier trade? [Tampa Tribune]
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• Big-ass Frozen Four preview for the big tournament finale in DC. Leahy and I will actually be there, so give us a shout if you're around and Leahy will buy us all beer. [Rumors & Rants]
• Don't you go calling Vermont an underdog in today's Frozen Four matchup against Boston University: "We're just a team of blue-collar student-athletes who doesn't really need the limelight." So ... underdogs, then. [Slap Shot]
• Marian Gaborik says he won't speculate on his future with the Minnesota Wild; sprains tongue, and will miss the next 6-8 months. [Sportsnet]
• Today's "mama, don't let your babies grow up to be hockey players" note: Andreas Lilja of the Detroit Red Wings still hasn't played since Feb. 28 because his brain won't stop bleeding. [Freep]
• The Atlanta Thrashers can effectively end the Florida Panthers' season tonight, and The Falconer thinks that killing the Cats' playoff hopes is a great way to spark a division rivalry. [Bird Watchers Anonymous]
• Curtis Joseph tied an all-time record for losses last night, and likely played his last game with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Pension Plan Puppets presents an extensive celebration of CuJo's NHL career, from being one of the top keepers in the League to being the codger the Leafs had to keep skating out due to injuries and Justin Pogge's apparent lack of NHL talent. [PPP]
• The Nashville Predators' average attendance was up over 1,000 fans per game during the second half of the season. [Puck Money]
• Patrick Sharp remains questionable for the start of the Chicago Blackhawks' postseason. Tim Sassone believes his loss would be an injury they can overcome; we're a little more pessimistic. [Between the Circles]
• Speculation about the next owner of the Montreal Canadiens. Once again, C. Montgomery Burns is conspicuously absent. [Globe & Mail]
• We're doing another edition of Jersey Fouls on Friday morning, but we don't have the heart to let these moppets be terrorized in the comments. [Thanks to Gene V. for the image]
• For the stat-heads: Andrew's Stars Page takes a look at the teams most damaged by man games lost to injury, and the blog sampled "the five-hardest hit teams in the Western Conference - St. Louis, Dallas, Colorado, San Jose and Columbus - and figured their man games lost based on cap value." Interesting study. [Andrew's Stars Page]
• Detroit Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg distributed more than 1,300 smoke detectors to local fire departments today at Joe Louis Arena. And all of them went off simultaneously when he walked by, right ladies? [Snapshots]
• Daniel Carcillo of the Philadelphia Flyers talks about his baby steps to respectability has departed fan favorite Scottie Upshall lights it up in Phoenix. [Philly.com]
• Come to think of it, Martin Brodeur missing nearly the entire season and now having critics wondering if he's tired is a little ridiculous. [In Lou We Trust]
• E.J. Hradek of ESPN pens a valentine to long-suffering Columbus Blue Jackets fans. [ESPN]
• Finally, and in a related story, check out the scene at the CBJ viewing party last night when the Jackets finally clinched. Hope the playoff home games are just as insane.
