Most of the time, when teams try to tell you season tickets, they go out of their way to convince you of the superiority of their team. Our players skate faster! Our players check harder! They're strong and talented and good!

Not so for the USHL's Fargo Force, who instead went with the Sarah McLachlan approach: move you. Bring you to tears. Show you the kind of human misery that no human being could see and ignore. Please, friend, won't you support the Fargo Force? They need an angel.

"For just $269 a year, only 73 cents per day, you can become a season-ticket holder and help rescue these players from the grips of low morale."

This isn't the first time we've seen somebody ape Sarah McLachlan's SPCA ads for some quality hockey comedy. You'll recall the "Sponsor an NHL player" video that popped up during the lockout.

But this one is better, because the players are part of the gag. I can't get enough of the slow-motion shots of Fargo Force players staring up at the camera, all sullen and

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Lindy Ruff was the second-longest tenured coach in pro sports, behind Gregg Popovich of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. He has coached 1,165 games in the National Hockey League, all of them with the Buffalo Sabres.

But Tuesday night’s 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets was his last with the franchise. The Sabres announced that after 16 years, what many Sabres fans thought was impossible has happened:

Lindy Ruff has been fired. As 170 coaches have been since he was hired on July 21, 1997.

He was seen as Teflon, escaping his demise every new campaign like James Bond from a villain’s clutches. The Sabres made the conference finals four times under Ruff, including a trip to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final. He won the Jack Adams in 2005-06. But they also missed the playoffs six times, most recently last season under new (and rather aggressive) owner Terry Pegula.

[Related: Sabres' Ryan Miller says 'Yeah, we deserve to get booed']

Two weeks ago, GM Darcy Regier told the Buffalo News that “it won’t be the coach” that paid for the Sabres’ 3-6-1 start.

Well, it was the coach.

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.

• In the wake of the Ottawa Senators' much-criticized letter to their fans, Sean McIndoe looks at other letters that NHL teams have recently sent out to their supporters. [Down Goes Brown]

• Not unexpected, but the NHL appears to be gearing up to announce that next year's Winter Classic will take place in Detroit and feature Detroit and Toronto, just like last year's was supposed to. [Toronto Star]

• Rick Nash's mystery injury will keep him on the shelf a little awhile longer. He didn't travel with the Rangers to Ottawa. [Blueshirt Banter]

• Revisiting the Erik Johnson trade, which now looks like a decisive win for the St. Louis Blues. [STL Today]

• This spring will mark the 20th anniversary of the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup. Is that a big deal? (No. No it isn't.) [NHL]

• Enjoy this brief exchange between Charlie Sheen and Ryan Miller's "dooshy teammate" Christian Ehrhoff. [Buffalo News]

• Speaking of the Sabres, Andy Boron explains why Nathan Gerbe's "heart" isn't enough for the Sabres right now, by way of the greatest analogy of all-time. [Die by the Blade]

• Not unexpected, but Jannik Hansen faces a hearing for his hit on Marian Hossa. [NHL]

• Darren Dreger on the San Jose Sharks: “Depending on who you talk to, there are teams that say some big names are potentially in play. Certainly the Sharks are willing to consider just about anything. San Jose is willing to part with a defenseman – Dan Boyle's name, believe it or not, has been thrown out there – but they would need to get a forward in return and preferably someone who could fit in their top nine.” [CSN Bay Area]

GettySo when Viktor Fasth inevitably regresses from his 8-0-0 start with the Anaheim Ducks – his first NHL season, remember – what kind of anchor around his neck will this spiffy new 2-year contract extension become?

He’s already getting comparisons to Brian Elliott, the St. Louis Blues goalie that turned one season in Ken Hitchcock’s system into a 2-year extension worth $3,600,000. He has a 3.57 GAA so far this season and a 3-5-1 record. So, like, no pressure from that contract, eh?

From the Ducks:

The Ducks have signed goaltender Viktor Fasth to a two-year contract extension through the 2014-15 NHL season. Per club policy, no financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

“Viktor has proven himself not only this year in the NHL, but the previous two seasons as the top goaltender in Sweden,” said Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray. “We are pleased to be able to keep him and feel fortunate to have two top NHL goaltenders going forward.”

Fasth, 30 (8/8/82), has appeared

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

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• Jeff and Greg are Going Postal! It's our ask us anything mailbag segment. So please, ask us anything.

• The Jannik Hansen hit on Marian Hossa.

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Getty ImagesBruce Boudreau never wanted to leave Washington.

He offers this information matter-of-factly, even though he’s thoroughly enjoying his time as Anaheim Ducks head coach and the incredible 12-2-1 start they’ve had this season –14 points ahead of his old team back East.

“I’m trying to get over it. I’d be lying if I said I still didn’t watch what they do,” said Boudreau on Tuesday.

“Not for where they are; but you build relationships with some players that you want to see successful all the time and with fans.”

Boudreau’s time with the Capitals ended on Nov. 28, 2011, when he was fired and replaced by Dale Hunter. Japers’ Rink has a great chronicle of where it may have all gone wrong; needless to say, Washington has never been able to regain the momentum and undeniable spark of those early Boudreau teams.

Neither has the Capitals’ captain, to the point where some are asking if Alex Ovechkin is even still considered a superstar.

“He’s a superstar,” said Boudreau. “The bottom line is that anybody that wins the Hart Trophy two years in a row and is voted the best player in the world by his peers three years in a row, he’s a star. People like to attack him, when he’s not scoring at the rate they want him to score at. He still is the most feared player coming down on you in the League.”

If the Western Conference didn’t fear Boudreau’s Ducks before the season – and many predictions had them missing the playoffs – it may fear them now.

Their plus-14 goal differential is tied for second best in the NHL behind Chicago, who hasn’t lost in regulation yet. Teemu Selanne has 15 points in 15 games. Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth may give Anaheim the best goaltending battery in the conference this season.

We spoke with Boudreau about the surging Ducks; Ryan Getzlaf’s leadership; Bobby Ryan on the trading block; Cam Fowler vs. Mike Green; Francois Beauchemin for the Norris; Selanne’s ageless domination; and a little bit about Boudreau’s affinity for pro wrestling.

But first, the coach wanted to set the record straight about his status as a “run and gun” coach.

Getty ImagesOne minute into Tuesday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, and the Buffalo Sabres were already losing.

Three Sabres lost a battle for the puck behind their own goal. Bryan Little was left unguarded in the high slot. The Jets scored; the life was sucked out of the crowd, which could be heard muttering in unison, “Here we go again.”

Later, that crowd lustfully booed the home team, which dropped to 13th in the Eastern Conference in losing its fourth game in its last five contests – three of them at home.

“I totally understand. I’m embarrassed,” said Lindy Ruff of the jeering. “We didn’t start skating until the third period.”

The Sabres have generated one goal or fewer in three of those losses, partially because their power play has been atrocious: two goals in its last 30 opportunities.

“They just want you to work hard. They want you to give them something to cheer about. And we’re letting them down,” said Ryan Miller, sullenly. “We’re not giving them the caliber of hockey this city deserves. Yeah, we deserve to get booed. From the top down, every player.”

So why not start at the top, right? Where is Terry Pegula on this disappointing Sabres campaign?

Brad Richards has played for three teams during his NHL career: The Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars and the New York Rangers. Outside of seven games in Russia during the 2005 lockout, he’s never played for an overseas team.

All of this is to say that Brad Richards isn’t exactly a journeyman. His Rangers bobblehead doll, on the other hand …

Where in the World is Brad Richards!? from Adrian Podpirka on Vimeo.

This musical world tour, starring an ever-wobbling bobblehead doll of the Rangers star center, was uploaded by Adrian Podpirka and it’s outstanding.

OK, it’s also depressing: That moment when you realize you’ve been vacationing at the Jersey shore while a hockey collectable has been hanging out in Antarctica, Nepal and Krakatau (east of Java).

We eagerly await the further adventures of the Brad Richards bobblehead doll, which we assume will include Atlantis, Narnia and a ride on that Richard Branson spaceship. Not that the bar has been set high or anything: