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.

• Here is the Peoria Rivermen's alternate sweater for next season. Why is this cool? Because it was fan-made by a graphic designer, marking the first time a pro hockey team has worn a fan-designed jersey since the Atlanta Thrashers adopted a sweater created by a 3-year-old child who vomited up chewed crayons on a piece of loose leaf. [Icethetics]

• Pat Leonard with a CBA talks update, as today's chat centered around expanding the NHL's drug testing timetable. [NYDN]

• Evander Kane signs with Dinamo Misnk, becoming the first Canadian player to ink a deal with a KHL during the lockout. [HC Dinamo]

• New York Islanders center John Tavares signed a contract with Swiss club Bern. [Y!]

• Very salient point from Dellow on collusion charges: "There's good reason to think that, collusion or not, the pay difference between UFA/RFA players is now pretty minimal, with RFA players actually making more in some cases than comparable UFA players. All of which is to say, I can't see how any of this leads anywhere. It'd be fraught with problems and, by virtue of linkage, a dollar more for one player is a dollar less than the whole." [mc79hockey]

• Tapeleg on the Jimmy Devellano fine: "I find it highly amusing that a person who has enough money to survive a $250,000 fine is not allowed to speak his mind, in a country where the first amendment allows a person to say whatever they want.  In fact, I would love to see this kind of thing challenged in a court of law.  How is it acceptable to censor a person for comments they make that aren't harmful to others in a society that protects free speech?" [Jerseys and Hockey Love]

• Ken Campbell on the continued sad saga of the Phoenix Coyotes: "With the City of Glendale apparently unwilling to give the Coyotes any more short-term lifelines, the fate of the team is uncertain. If the season is truncated because of the lockout, perhaps the league might be willing to operate for one more year in the desert because the losses will be less than they would be for an entire season. According to a source, the prospect of suspending the franchise until it can be sold and moved is a possibility." [THN]

It's a (gettin' down on) Friday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and we're talking about the following and more:

Special Guest Star: Jonathon Gatehouse, author of "The Instigator", joins us to chat up his book on Gary Bettman. Also, friend of the show Dave Bidini is here to talk about his new projects, the NHL lockout and the 1972 Summit Series.

• In which Marek and Wysh discuss the latest on the NHL lockout.

• Fan boycotts.

• Paul Henderson ... Hall of Famer?

Question of the Day: "What's the best and the worst thing about Gary Bettman since he was hired in Feb '93?"

Email your answers to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet them with the hashtag #MvsW to either @jeffmarek or @wyshynski.

Click here for the Sportsnet live stream or click the play button above! Click here to download podcasts from the show each day Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or Feedburner.

The current collective bargaining stalemate between the NHL and the NHLPA involves how the players' cut will be tabulated in the coming years. The owners would like to see the players' share slowly decline. The players would like it to slowly rise.

At stake: How much the owners would receive from future financial windfalls.

For example, when the NHL's Canadian television rights are up for bid in 2014; and, looking further down the round, potential expansion fees.

Say, for another team in the Greater Toronto Area.

[More: Ten things you didn't know about NHL commissioner Gary Bettman]

As you might have heard, a new $325-million arena in Markham, Ont., is in the preliminary stages of development, with former Bauer chairman Graeme Roustan as the driving force. Could it become the home for a new NHL franchise near Toronto?

Roustan has steadfastly claimed that isn't the motivation, and that spillover acts from the Air Canada Center and other events would justify its construction. He also maintains that there's no handshake agreement with the NHL in place to promise his arena a franchise.

Perhaps that's the case; and, perhaps, some of Roustan's recent business partnerships are an indication that he's courting favor with two of the most influential men on the NHL Board of Governors to eventually clear the way for a franchise there.

Hockey may not have enormous popularity in the U.S. or TV-friendly action or a professional league with a functional financial system that doesn't lead to work stoppages like clockwork. What it does have: a reputation for being the toughest, roughest, most grueling sports around.

Which is why this boastful new campaign from a pro box lacrosse team is, well, ballsy:

HOCKE WITH BALLSdasdThe Washington Stealth are a National Lacrosse League team out of Everett, Wash. — sharing an arena with the Everett Silvertips major junior hockey team, and making quite a pitch to their fans and other puckheads.

"We went back and forth on this thing. We didn't want to offend hockey people, because we love hockey too," said Michael Kennett, Director of Communications for the Stealth.

How much do you know about Gary Bettman?

You no doubt are aware that he came to the NHL from the NBA in 1993, hired as the first commissioner in League history. That he was born in Queens and went to Cornell. That he pushed for NHL expansion into Southern U.S. markets, while he pushed for the Canadian Assistance Plan to help struggling franchises north of the border. That he's presided over a hat trick of work stoppages. That his middle name is Bruce.

Oh, but there's so much more. Jonathan Gatehouse's new book "The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the League and Changed the Game Forever" is a must-read for any fan that's seen the NHL reshaped during Bettman's reign. ("The Instigator" is released on Monday, Oct. 1.) It's also a treasure trove of anecdotes — some well-known, some previously unknown and some that simply had been lost in the timeline.

Here are 10 things we didn't know about Gary Bettman until we devoured Gatehouse's prose.

GettyThe NHL and the NHLPA are negotiating on a great many things during the lockout, including what the League's disciplinary system is going to look like, going forward.

On Wednesday, CSNNE reported that the Players Association "is angling toward allowing the NHL to fine players much more than $2,500 for on-ice infractions" in an effort to reduce the one or two-game suspensions handed out strictly for the financial hit against the players' salaries. Non-repeat offenders lose salary based on the number of days in the season (which was 185 last season).

According to an NHL source close to the CBA talks, the NHLPA has asked for larger fines — but not substantially above the current levels.

[More: Ten things you didn't know about NHL commissioner Gary Bettman]

The NHL, meanwhile, has argued for larger financial penalties for players in situations where a fine would have sufficed rather than a suspension — say, like, half of a players' salary for a single game.

So it's the NHL asking to raise the cap on fines significantly, and the NHLPA balking at its request, according to the source.

But that's not the only aspect of supplemental discipline they're debating.

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.

• So say we all. Via Kyle Delaney.

• The NHLPA and NHL aren't just meeting on Friday in New York City — they have meetings scheduled throughout the weekend. Keep Hope Alive! [NYDN]

• The NHL in Kansas City responds to the NHL cancelling their annual preseason game because of the lockout. In, uh, a very cheeky way. [NHLKC]

• The Florida Panthers announced their season ticket plan this week: "Fans purchasing the 'Pay When We Play' ticket plan can put $100 down and not make another payment until the start of the 2012-13 Panthers regular season." [Panthers]

• Adam Proteau offers an 11-point plan for a 7-year CBA settlement between the owners and players, including a ban on no-trade clauses and a seven-year cap on contracts. [THN]

• Because it hasn't been pushing an agenda of concussion awareness and NHL negligence for the better part of three years, the New York Times reports that a lawsuit from the late Derek Boogaard's family could "shake up" the hockey world. [NYT]

• Michael Grange had this take on the Boogaard suit: "Those are the larger legal questions the Boogaards seem intent on exploring. Their lawyer did not respond to a message and efforts to reach the family weren't successful, but the claim is clear that the failure of the NHLPA to file a grievance is a procedural matter that has prevented them from pushing a bigger boulder up the legal hill." [Sportsnet]

• Nicklas Lidstrom says he knows there's interest in him becoming a coach in Sweden. "No one has come out and said, 'We want you to coach or be an assistant coach,' but I've had teams ask me what I would want to do." [NHL.com]

• Alex Ovechkin takes his lumps in the KHL. [Alex Ovetjkin]

• New Toronto Marlies player Leo Komarov causes a stir by choosing No. 87, and thereby challenging the legacy of both Donald Brashear and Pierre Turgeon. [CP]

• Elliotte Friedman had a must-read on NHL collusion: "But is Devellano's comment proof enough for Fehr to file a grievance or take it to an outside court? Does he try to use the threat of it as leverage in CBA negotiations? Is the NHL even worried about it, ready to argue that it was simply an off-the-cuff comment not to be taken seriously?" [CBC Sports]

(Ed. Note: Nearly every day for the last two months, we've received rants, raves, pleas and laments from hockey fans across the world about the NHL lockout. So we've decided to dedicate a forum to some of these eloquent diatribes every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday: THE VENT, where you can let your voice be heard on the players, owners and League in a handy PG-13 format. If you've got a take on the lockout and need to let it out, email us at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com, Subject: The Vent.)

Via reader Anthony, on what frustrated fans can do to make their local teams aware of their frustration:

"Like everyone else, I am extremely frustrated about the lockout. After seeing the effect that the NFL fans had on the league, I want to try doing something similar so that we as fans can be heard rather than ignored. All it takes is a small group of hockey fans to make an impact, and if the league or the players don't listen, well, then it proves what we've known all along: it's millionaires and billionaires squabbling over way too much money.

"I'm proposing something simple: just a phone campaign to politely tell the NHL and your favorite team how much hockey means in our lives. If you're into catchy/hokey slogans, maybe we could organize a "Fans Take Back the League" or something and get fans calling. I wasn't really into the idea of organizing dissent, however the NFL situation has given me both energy and hope that our voices will at least be acknowledged.

"My frustration stems not just from my desire to watch hockey, but how many lives are drastically affected by the lockout. My cousins all work for the Blackhawks, and they're very unsure of their futures with the organization, not to mention the countless others whose families depend on the game. Even if we can't organize a phone campaign, can I at least buy you a beer at an establishment that will be hurt by the lockout?"

Buying your friends at Puck Daddy as many beers as possible is the only way to end the lockout. This hasn't been scientifically proven yet, but we feel it's a matter of time until that happens.

As for the phone campaign: As "Slap Shot" taught us, let'em know you're there. Ultimately, the only thing they'll listen to is money walking out the door, but at least you'd give the office workers that haven't been laid off something to do.