Getty ImagesSt. Louis Blues captain David Backes took part in the marathon NHL lockout talks this week in New York City … well, at least the sunshine and rainbows parts.

By the time Donald Fehr announced the players' proposal had been rejected and Gary Bettman went all Mr. Angry Pants in his press conference, Backes had left — and was left baffled.

As he told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

"It's a kick in the groin where we went from Thursday at 3 until Thursday at 10 p.m," Backes said. "But I was optimistic and I guess I still am. Ebbs and flows, I guess. We'll all see where it goes."

Part of that kick to the groin: That by the third day of talks, the "moderate" new voices on the owners side that were helping to bridge the gap on central issues were gone, just as Donald Fehr was reinserted into the process.

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.

• Luc Robitaille on 'Phineas and Ferb'. The LA Kings are soooo busted.

• Ryan Miller explains his NHLPA/NHL outburst: "The owners wanted to leave the room and pull everything we spent a full day on. I asked them to stay and continue pushing through. I may have been passionate but there was no disrespect or calling out one owner by name. I have a lot of respect for any owner because they are a big part of hockey." [Buffalo News]

• A Little disappointed. [Winnipeg Free Press]

• Really solid piece by Katie Baker on the labor talk breakdown. [Grantland]

• Outstanding piece by Stephen Brunt on last night's labor mess: "It is going to be tough getting to the finish, though surely that's still in the cards. Fehr is going to negotiate against a deadline — a real hard deadline to salvage the season , wherever that actually lies — and try to hold back any impulsive moves by his membership. Along the way, he's going to grab whatever he can." [Sportsnet]

• Is this really all just Donald Fehr vs. Jeremy Jacobs? "One side has Jeremy Jacobs. The other side has Don Fehr. Fehr isn't leaving the room if Jacobs isn't, and Jacobs is never leaving the room. Impasse-by-ass." [Ratto]

• Kukla has a roundup of what the players are saying about the lockout. [KK]

• Another good roundup from Gone Puck Wild. [GPW]

• Howard Bloom on the lockout: "Gary Bettman made it clear Thursday evening there are no plans to cancel the 2012-13 NHL season, the league was ready to contest a 48 game schedule if need be. The two sides are far too close to an agreement for there not to be an NHL season. The National Hockey League's brand and business has suffered considerable damage as a result of the 2012-13 NHL lockout. The NHL quickly rebounded after the entire 2004-05 season was lost to a lockout, NHL revenues grew from $2.1 to $3.2 billion in the last eight years. If the entire 2012-13 NHL season is canceled because of a labor dispute the NHL might never recover as a brand or as a business. Facing catastrophic consequences the two sides will reach an agreement; they have no other choice but face the unthinkable if they fail." [Sports Business News]

Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks has been playing for HC Biel in Switzerland during the lockout, where he's been having all sorts of adventures with Tyler Seguin — including some with some sort of man-mountain, while wearing chaps!

But, truth be told, Kane's bummed about this lockout stuff. So even though it's not his fault, he's apologizing for the work stoppage.

Here's Kane on the negotiations this week, obviously before they went to hell:

"I don't know. It seems to be going pretty well right now the past couple of negotiations with the owners and the players so it's really tough to say. It could be a couple of days, it could be a couple of weeks, it could go as long as who knows so right now I'm just kind of playing it by ear. I'm here in Switzerland playing and actually going home on Sunday for a week for the national break so it will be good to get back to Chicago and see everyone."

And here's our favorite Blackhawks winger (sorry, Stalberg) with his apology to the fans:

"I guess the fans back in North America … we want to say that we're sorry this lockout stuff is going on. It's tough on all of us.

"The players, I know, as fans it's tough for you guys to so...we're hoping it gets done quick and we can play in front of you guys again I hope that you guys come back once the game does start but, as for now I'm over here enjoying my time in Switzerland, trying to play hockey, score some goals, do the things I love to do. So, we appreciate the patience and, hopefully, we will see you soon."

And we'll see you, Patty. Wearing your signature New York Yankees hat, but not with a figure skater pirouetting in the background of your interviews. Switzerland, right?

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 Stars: Game Show Friday is all about NHL anger. Because you're angry. If not too apathetic to be angry. Plus Jesse Spector of The Sporting News!

• The NHL labor talks go to complete crap overnight. What went wrong?

• Who do we blame?

• Is there any hope? Like, at all?

Question of the Day: "Give us one thing the owners and players can agree on in their negotiations."

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

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.

So things could have gone better in the NHL lockout talks this week. How bad did it get? Why, allow the sick geniuses from the Taiwanese Next Media Animation to explain it to you in simple, bloody terms!

Honestly, there's probably no better representation of Sidney Crosby's incredible influence on these talks than watching him decapitate an owner with a slap shot.

Make sure you watch out for Gary Bettman's glowing red eyes in the next press conference …

What a [expletive] show this League has become.

The NHLPA greets the media with sunshine about the negotiations, and one gets the feeling they were leaking the same good vibes throughout this week's talks in New York City. Then Gary Bettman swings the mighty hammer of depressing reality in this press conference, which may very well be the eulogy for the 2012-13 season. Watch and weep:

Two choice quotes, first on the NHLPA selling good news when the negotiations didn't yield it:

"I'm not sure spinning us all into an emotional frenzy over maybe we're close and we're gong to be playing hockey tomorrow, is terribly unfair to our fans and to this process."

Here's Bettman on the negotiations:

"It appears that the union is suggesting that because we made substantial movements in certain areas, that we're close to a deal. But those moves were contingent on the union specifically agreeing on other things; which while the union may have moved towards, didn't agree to."

According to NHL.com's Dan Rosen, those issues are: "1) max 10-yr CBA, 2) shorter max length on contracts than PA's 8-yr proposal; 3) no compliance issues, i.e. buyout agreements and limit on escrow."

THE VENT is a forum for rants, raves, pleas and laments from hockey fans across the world about the NHL lockout. It runs every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. If you've got a take on the lockout and need to let it out, email us at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com, Subject: The Vent.

This is how Chase Unruh plans to boycott the NHL:

In the midst of swirling rumors, uncertainty, and anger (others' anger, not mine) regarding the NHL lockout, I have discovered some very positive things, but I'll get to those in a moment.  First, I need to vent my only frustration.

Will I boycott the NHL?  Well, to be honest I never really supported it in the first place.  I don't buy NHL gear, and I've only gone to one NHL game my entire life (not due to a lack of desire, but due to ticket prices).  I have, however, watched countless, mind-numbing advertisements during NHL games on TV (does that count for "supporting" the NHL?) and would have actually supported them this season by purchasing a 14 pack (of tickets) to see the Avs.  I mean, what the hell, right?  About two games a month, more reasonably priced tickets, a reason to go to Denver, and the chance to see some other teams in action.  Well, I'm certainly not going to do that next year, because (here's one positive thing) I can buy season tickets to see Colorado College, who plays 15 minutes from my house.

Even though I was initially upset about not being able to pull the trigger on the Avs pack, I could care less now.  What does upset me is this: The people working the arenas (concessions, beer, ticket booths, etc) who don't have a job.  These are people who earn a poor wage in the first place and who (possibly) depend on this work from season to season to make ends meet.  Where is the concern for them?  Oh wait, that would require billionaires to care about something else besides their wallets.

Now on to the positive things the NHL lockout has brought to my life.  I spend less time on the couch watching games and get more exercise because, since I can't watch hockey, I now play it.  I have lost weight, gained confidence, and reconnected with a sport I loved playing in my youth.  I follow the WCHA (and all college hockey for that matter) and attend as many Colorado College games as I can afford.  The seats at the World Arena are very close to the ice (even the bad ones), and I support local business with pre- and (sometimes) post-drinking expenditures.  Instead of buying an Avs 14 pack (when the NHL decides to grace us with a season), I will buy Colorado College season tickets, whose price tag will get me 20 games on the glass at the World Arena instead of 14 games in the nose-bleeds at the Pepsi Center.  Instead of an Avs jersey, I will buy a Tigers jersey.  And you know why?  Now I am invested in another team and another league that is more concerned with playing the game than turning a profit.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with making a profit, but is this what professional hockey has become...only a profit making machine?  If so, count me out.  I'll also add that I think the Avs owners are small offenders, but offenders nonetheless.

So, I tip my hat to the NHL for helping me get more exercise (my wife thanks you too, by the way) and for connecting me with my home team.  And in my best awkward breakup voice I'll say: "No, really, it's not you, it's me.  I'm not the same person I used to be, and I just want you to be happy with someone else."  So long, Avs; hello, Tigers!

Somewhere, Gabe Landeskog weeps quietly ...

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.

Getty Images• Mike Fisher can't tour with Carrie Underwood because he'd get fat. [Winnipeg Free Press]

• Bettman, Fehr back at the bargaining table. Sigh. [CBC]

• But so might the mediators. Yea! [KK]

• Sidney Crosby "does not plan a return to Pittsburgh before the weekend so long as talks with the league continue. He shares the opinion of franchise ownership and executives that owners and players must make significant progress toward a new labor contract if the NHL season is to be saved." [Tribune Review]

• On the "Sid will save the NHL" idea: "The idea that any one person is responsible for a CBA being signed is short-sighted and wrong. The process is ongoing, and it's going to take contributions and engagement from 29 owners and 700+ players. That's the only way this deal gets done and we get our NHL back." [Winging It]

• Hockey fans haven't had it good lately. Well, how does a green light to sue the NHL for antitrust violations look under our holiday trees? "A federal judge on Wednesday allowed sports fans to pursue a lawsuit accusing Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and various networks of antitrust violations in how they package games for broadcast on television or the Internet." [LA Daily News]

• John Shannon of Sportsnet on the negotiations: "And the other side -- was Don Fehr's role now diminished? Were the owners' early stories about Fehr not telling the truth or giving the players the complete information accurate or just a smoke screen by the league, who had difficulty reading the poker face of Marvin Miller's protege? When Wednesday morning arrived, you had to know that the positive vibe would be tainted even just a little bit by the NHLPA. Momentum had shifted to the owners' side, and there was no way Fehr was going to allow his players to fall for any Group of Six trap." [Sportsnet]

• Lockout haiku. [That's What She Haikued]

• Did Ryan Miller get nutty and start yelling at Jeremy Jacobs in the most recent meeting? "Really? I don't have any recollection of that or why [Jacobs'] opinion would be that." [CBC Sports]