There are blown calls in the NHL, and then there’s this goal by Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche against the Nashville Predators on Monday afternoon:

[Y! Sports Radio: Nick Cotsonika assesses the first month of the NHL season]

Really, it’s that part where Duchene is actively looking for the puck behind him because he’s so far into the attacking zone before it arrives that might be the greatest part.

In January, the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League (U.K.) – yep, the “All I Want For Christmas Is You” franchise – announced that American Christopher Knight had purchased the team, as Jim Gillespie sold a stake he had held since 2003.

It was supposed to be a new era for the Northern Ireland team. Alas, it was an era that ended only a few weeks later when it was revealed that Knight was actually a registered sex offender in Florida.

Knight, who made his money in the telecommunications industry, purchased the team for a reported £145,000 ($225,054.50 U.S.) in November, entering into an agreement with the Odyssey Trust, which owns and operates the Odyssey Arena. According to The Independent, Odyssey activated an out clause in its contract with the Giants after “major issues” about Knight came to light.

[More NHL: Nazem Kadri making most of time in Toronto]

Like the fact he was charged in 2003 with engaging in sexual activity with “a person 12 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age.”

Which, as you might imagine, isn't exactly the image the Belfast Giants are going for.

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• This is an accurate representation of today’s Islanders game vs. Philly. Ouch.

• New York Islanders center John Tavares, Anaheim Ducks goaltender Viktor Fasth and Carolina Hurricanes center Jiri Tlusty have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the period ending Feb. 17. [NHL]

• That said, it’s looking like Jonas Hiller against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight. [Ducks Blog]

• Kyle Clifford was skating on a line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown at Los Angeles Kings practice today. Hmmm…. [LA Kings Insider]

• No changes for the NHL Draft lottery this year, which we assume includes the Columbus Blue Jackets not getting the top pick. [TSN]

• Andrew Ebbett was placed on waivers this morning to make room for David Booth to return. Oh, yeah, the Vancouver Canucks are getting healthy apparently. [Nucks Misconduct]

• Good piece by Jonas Siegel on Dion Phaneuf’s value to the Toronto Maple Leafs. “While far from a perfect defender, Phaneuf has performed effectively in the role of late. In eight games this month he has been on the ice for only three goals against at even-strength, despite logging nearly 20 minutes per game in such scenarios. A highly active coach, Randy Carlyle employs Phaneuf in nearly every critical defensive zone face off. Often, he'll trot his top defender out there strictly for such situations before calling for an immediate change if and when the Leafs are able to clear the zone.” [TSN]

• Are the Leafs looking to trade Phil Kessel? [Sportsnet]

• There’s a media scandal in the AHL worth your attention, as Matt Weinstein of the Press & Sun-Bulletin quoted Phantoms coach Terry Murray and goalie Brian Boucher without having actually spoken to either of them. The convoluted explanation for how this happened will make your sphincter shrink. [The Rink Report]

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Special Guest Star: Goalie Darcy Kuemper of the Minnesota Wild joins us to talk puck!

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Tweet your answers with the hashtag #MvsW to @wyshynski and @jeffmarek.

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Returning to the Internet after unplugging for a week of vacation can make one feel like an astronaut that fell to Earth after four years in orbit. It’s that moment you realize that the "Harlem Shake" is a thing that happened, and you have no idea what the [expletive] it is.

So it took a few hours of consuming the YouTube tributes to the meme before its infectious, jarringly bizarre charms became apparent. Charms that lasted roughly 14 minutes, before we wistfully yearned for the halcyon days of Rebecca Black “Friday” parodies and realized that we’re a scant 11 months away from seeing a “Harlem Shake” commercial for pistachios during Super Bowl XLVIII.

For the uninitiated: The “Harlem Shake” was a song by a DJ named Baauer, with a building beat and a sample of someone yelling “Con los terroristas!”, i.e. “with the terrorists.” A comedian named Filthy Frank used it for a weird clip in which people in costume freaked out to it. From there it went viral, including an amazing one with the Norwegian Army, before “The Today Show” adopted it and all but killed the meme, like it did Ann Curry’s career as a morning host.

Ah, but the “Harlem Shake” endures, and like every other meme it has infected hockey as well.

But there are some right ways and wrong ways to approach this trend from a puck perspective. Here, let us help …

Getty ImagesIt’s not so much Nashville Predators winger Nick Spaling misses an 82-game season; it’s that he misses the Floridian weather.

That’s a perk when facing the Eastern Conference: Heading down to face the Southeast Division’s Lightning and Panthers, with the games somewhat spaced out on the schedule. Instead, it’s a 48-game, Western Conference exclusive mini-marathon to the postseason, with the games bunched together.

“This is a busy schedule. We’re not used to as many games as there have been. Every other day,” said Spaling on Sunday, as the Predators prepared for a matinee against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. “The first week or so of every-other-day was a little bit of a shock to the body. That was the toughest part.

"Not that it’s gotten any easier.”

[Y! Sports Radio: Nick Cotsonika assesses the first month of the NHL season]

Spaling has 4 points in 15 games this season, averaging 16:34 TOI that includes 2:44 TOI shorthanded per game on average, second only to Paul Gaustad among Predators forwards. It’s his fourth season with the Preds, having endeared himself to fans as a solid utility player. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer.

We spoke with Spaling about Nashville, Barry Trotz, Shea Weber’s captaincy, the team’s biggest rivals and his own season thus far. But first, we dive into the mind of a player who isn’t a foodie despite writing about food in his series of road diaries for The Tennessean:

In reading your Tennessean diaries, you come off as a foodie.

SPALING: No! [Laughs] I’m a really, really picky eater, actually.

So you’re the polar opposite of a foodie.

Honestly, I am. I’m a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. I go to steakhouses. I like to change it up at restaurants, but I gotta know they have some simple [options].

No sushi?

No sushi.

What else is off Nick Spaling’s menu?

It’s a huge list. Tomatoes. Onions. Mushrooms. I don’t eat lettuce on sandwiches. Huge list. I’m almost embarrassed about my eating habits.

Can we talk about your loathing of lettuce on sandwiches, which is truly bizarre?

There’s no taste there. It’s just useless. I’d rather enjoy it without it.

Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend’s events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it. Ryan Lambert will be back next Monday; today’s WWL is written by Greg Wyshynski.

“The Book of Mormon” is a tremendous musical, simultaneously goofing on yet embracing the trappings of that ridiculous genre, while skewering organized religion with the pointed dagger the “South Park” boys previously used on L. Ron Hubbard.

But the Broadway hit also provides us with a salient point about recruiting non-believers: It’s less about the message than the means. If the natives aren't digging the Mormon narrative, drop a bunch of "Star Wars" references into it. This is true in organized faith as much as it’s true in centuries of salesmanship: It’s about tailoring your pitch, providing a comforting environment and understanding what they’re looking to get out of the experience.

[Y! Sports Radio: Nick Cotsonika assesses the first month of the NHL season]

(It’s also a musical about maggots in male genitalia and Mormons being assailed by satanic coffee cups, but that’s less relevant to this column. At least the second example isn’t.)

As hockey fans, especially in the U.S., we’ve gone on our missions to convert the uninitiated. To grow the flock. To bring the light of puck into the dark hearts of baseball and basketball fans who have stumbled down the wrong path.

Thing is, we all need to do more of it, especially after Gary and Don drowned the NHL’s momentum with casual sports fans in a tar pit of ego. Yeah, we all came back. Sure, the numbers are strong. But we can’t be the only ones that sense the lockout took hockey off the radar for those casual sports fans that rubberneck the Winter Classic and the Stanley Cup Playoffs; or the ones that are curious about hockey but never took the plunge.

Fear not. Today’s Lambert-less edition of WWL will provide you with a six-step program for getting a heathen into our temple, drinking our holy water and then sending them out to ring more doorbells.

It all starts with getting them to the game. A reading from the Book of Gordie …

(Coming Up: John Tortorella is a meanie; Jake Allen's clutch save; the 101-year-old fan attends first game; Ryan Miller haz a sad; Mike Babcock needs a bucket; more sickness from Ales Hemsky; bombs tossed between Blues and Canucks; Viktor Fasth is humble; and where did Patrick Marleau go?)

Justin Williams loves Ray Emery.

No. 1 Star: Pascal Dupuis, Pittsburgh Penguins

Dupuis had a 3-point night -- 2 goals and an assist -- in the Penguins' 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres. They were big goals, too. Dupuis scored the game's first at 0:35 of the opening frame, then scored the game-tying goal on a beautiful one-timer at 7:06 of the third.

No. 2 Star: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

There were a lot of great centres in this game, but none better than Jonathan Toews, who led the Blackhawks to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings, pushing their run of games without a regulation loss to a staggering 15. Toews scored a powerplay goal, set up Patrick Sharp for the game-winner in the second period, and won 13 of 19 faceoffs, including 7 of 8 in the offensive zone. Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith had two-point nights from the back end.