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Alzner’s Craiglist analogy; Don Cherry’s letter to the players; Swiss refs matter (Puck Headlines)

harrison mooney

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's a quality action shot from the Czech league as Tomas Plekanec takes the worst of a collision along the boards.

• Karl Alzner provides the best analogy for this lockout there has ever been or will ever be: "You ever tried selling something on Craigslist and the guy doesn't want to bargain with you? I had a guy offer me 700 bucks for a $1,300 bike one time. I said, 'Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to bargain with you? No sale.'" [Calgary Herald]

• Don Cherry teams up with the Toronto Star to write a letter to the players urging them to smarten up. My favourite part is their commitment to preserving Cherry's voice: They dropped all the Gs to make his writin' sound like his talkin' and slipped in a mispronunciation. What the Hell. [Toronto Star]

• While some say the players are cracking, Larry Brooks goes the other way: "And nothing through this lockout — in which everyone understands the outcome will be measured only by the scope of player concessions — has united the players more dramatically in support of Don Fehr than the way in which the league two days ago dismissed the union's proposal out of hand." [NY Post]

• Elliote Friedman sets up a decertification in negotiation explanation station. [CBC]

• Michael Grange, on decertification: "But at its most basic decertifying, or the threat of it, would inject a massive dose of uncertainty in the process as would resorting to the courts. Most importantly the owners control over the outcome would be diminished considerably. Billionaires hate that." [Sportsnet]

• Brad Richards is a chronic doer of good deeds. [ESPN]

• In case you missed it while you were devouring a delicious holiday feast, Roman Hamrlik backed off on his "disgusted" comments in a chat with James Mirtle. "This is nothing against any of the players. I stand with them. We are all together in this. And we want a great deal. A fair deal. Everybody's losing in this right now. Owners, players, fans." [The Globe & Mail]

• Swiss Ice Hockey's Referees would like to remind you that, without them, there is no game. No one will drop the puck. No one will call elbowing. Without refs, it's just a bunch of guys skating around, elbowing each other without remorse and waiting for someone to put a puck on the ice.

• Kevin Allen explains why the NHLPA wants only a five-year CBA: "Considering that players turn over regularly in this sport, the players say five years is a long time. In five years, there will be a new core group of NHL players with different viewpoints and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr believes they will deserve a say in what happens with their careers. Fehr also points out that the game's economics could change significantly in five years." [USA Today]

• Peter Forsberg, Danielle Goyette, Paul Henderson, Teppo Numminen, Mats Sundin and builder Jan-Åke Edvinsson are this year's inductees to the IIHF Hall of Fame. [IIHF]

• Meet Meridith Svenson, a fan frustrated enough with this lockout to give up her season tickets. I like that they got a picture of her giving a thumbs down to her NHL paraphernalia. Powerful. [Vancouver Sun]

• NSFW graphic here, but I think it sums up how we're all feeling. [Battle of California]

• John Van der Woude ranks the Edmonton Oilers' jerseys from worst to first. [Oilers Nation]

• Thanksgiving was yesterday, but Third String Goalie's list of "10 things we are thankful for" is still worth a read today. [Third String Goalie]

• What was Bill Littlefield thankful for yesterday? "Be thankful that Gary Bettman is the commissioner of only one league." [WBUR]

• The 10 best pictures of the Canucks as kids. [PITB]

• The Ottawa Senators made 4 picks before drafting Daniel Alfredsson in the 6th round of the 1994 NHL draft. Here's a look at how those guys turned out. [The Hockey Writers]

• And finally, a little physical comedy, as a game of mini-stick goes awry with an ugly headshot. The best part is what appears to be the unconcerned reaction of someone's mother from behind the camera. "... Should I zoom in on this?"