The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings will meet in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 15th time and this will be the final meeting as conference mates. When the Red Wings move to the Eastern Conference next season once realignment kicks in they'll face the Blackhawks only twice a year going forward, unless the two meet in a Cup Final.

For now, they'll face off for the right to play in the Western Conference Final, a round where their last two playoff series against one another took place - both 4-1 series victories by the Red Wings.

Chicago cruised to the top spot in the West and their second Presidents' Trophy in franchise history, while Detroit stood on the playoff bubble before clinching a place in the postseason on the final day. To get to the second round, the Blackhawks ousted the Minnesota Wild in five games, while the Red Wings went the distance before knocking off the No. 2-seeded Anaheim Ducks.

Are the Red Wings just another step in the Blackhawks' road to a Cup? Can their long-timer division rivals upset the balance of power in the Western Conference?

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.

• Enjoy Jack Edwards' expectedly animated call of Patrice Bergeron's Game 7 OT winner and find out what the Boston Bruins do with the point of the dagger at their throats.

• John Tortorella takes a shot at the fallen Capitals: "We’ve got everybody and their brother whining up there in Washington about what happened in that series, and I think that’s a big reason why they lose that series. [NY Daily News]

• Thomas Boswell rips the Washington Capitals something fierce. "When you have a star who was made captain not because he deserved it but in the hopes that it would prod him to get in better shape, cut down his carousing and show some leadership, why be shocked when he scores fewer goals (one) in a first-round exit than Rangers fourth-liner Arron Asham?" [Washington Post]

• The NHL has officially announced the two outdoor regular-season games at Yankee Stadium next season. The Rangers will face the Devils on Sunday, January 26, and then the Islanders on Wednesday, January 29. The Rangers will be the visiting team for both games.

• Raffi Torres has been offered the in-person hearing option, which means the suspension could be longer than five games. [TSN]

• Teemu Selanne on how he'll make the decision to play or not next year: "It’s a commitment with training and dedication in the summertime. That’s when you have to be ready. Like I said before the good thing is, I don’t have to play. I only play because I want to play. That’s the motivation that players dream of. That’s why I take some time off. I want to start feeling either way. Do I really want to start pushing myself again? If I don’t have it, then I don’t play. That’s the best way to do it. After like six weeks, I’ll start thinking about whether I want to start working out. Your body and your mind start missing it, and then you know what’s the right decision. If you don’t get that, then it’s time to start doing something else." [Ducks]

• This is cruel. [Reddit]

• Mike Babcock is the worst trash-talker on the planet. “Chicago’s a great city. They’ve got great players. They’ve got five D who are flat-out great skaters. They’ve got a captain who’s a real good human being and a great leader. They’ve got lots of skill and good depth. They’re well-organized. The national anthem is fun. Good uniforms. They’ve got nice restaurants. It’s a good spot. We’ll have a good time. We got a lot of reasons to be excited about playing them.” [The Globe & Mail]

• Sure, you witnessed a collapse, Leafs fans, but you witnessed a collapse that only happens once in sixty lifetimes. Revel in the history. [MC79Hockey]

LISTEN HERE!

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:

Special Guest Star: Tracey Myers of CSN Chicago joins us to talk Blackhawks vs. Red Wings.

• Recapping the Game 1s in the semifinals.

• What's next for the Washington Capitals?

• Breaking down the Selke.

Question of the Day: Jeff and Greg are GOING POSTAL! Ask us anything today. And we mean anything. Email puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or hit us on Twitter with the hashtag #MvsW to @wyshynski and @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.

Getty ImagesARLINGTON, Va. – According to CapGeek, Mike Ribeiro is the top unrestricted free agent available this summer, after a season that saw the center score 49 points in 48 games for the Washington Capitals.

Alex Ovechkin said the team’s top priority is bringing Ribeiro back. Which is what you’d expect from a player who resurrected his game on the power play, speaking about a center that had 27 points on the man advantage.

“To hear it from him is nice,” said Ribeiro.

“He’s a powerful player. He can score. He’s a young player [who can still] learn a lot about the game, and how to play it.”

Ribeiro's previous contract was 5 years and $25 million. He made it clear on Tuesday that he’s seeking a four or five-year contract this summer, and that the term outweighs the money as far as importance to him. If Washington meets that term, he’d like to stay in DC.

“If I can stay in the city and retire here. It’s more about the kids. If I could stay in the city until they go to college,” he said.

The NHL announced the finalists for the Selke Trophy on Wednesday, as centers Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings and Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks will contend for the award given "to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game," as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.

The Selke Trophy is ripe for application of advanced stats, which would then lead to off the radar choice like Boyd Gordon of the Phoenix Coyotes for example. Alas, it still seems like the "Best faceoff guy" and "Most takeaways" award these days.

Also, wingers can't win. Ever. Sorry Marian Hossa.

Who wins the Selke?

Getty ImagesJust when you think Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov couldn’t get more, uh, interesting, he speaks about the virtues of Cold War leader and socialist icon Joseph Stalin while wondering what kind of conversation he’d have with Albert Einstein.

From a much longer interview here with journalist Maria Rogovskaya that can be found here (ED NOTE: Since removed), Byrzgalov said:

Q. All journalists try to interview you. And is there a person who you would like to talk to?

“A lot of them are not alive anymore… I would love to talk to Genghis Khan, Stalin, Einstein.”

Stalin is a very controversial figure. How do you feel about him?

“Positive. I see logic in his action. Not without going too far, of course. But he came to power in a country that had just lived through a revolution. There were so many spies, enemies, traitors there. A lot of people still had guns after the civil war. The country was in ruins, [people] needed to survive somehow. The country needed to be rebuilt, and in

We can't keep track with how many NHL teams have adopted the "pesky" dscription over the past few seasons to describe their team's feistiness on the ice, but we're probably in double digits by now.

The most recent team is the Ottawa Senators, who lost Game 1 Tuesday night in their series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. That's OK, you see, 'cuz the Senators are bringing pesky back, or so says the people from CTV Ottawa's Morning Live:

The thing about parody songs is often times the new lyrics will replace the original lyrics in your head for a long time. Next time you hear the Justin Timberlake version, don't think you won't hear "coach looks like a walrus" instead of "take 'em to the bridge".

Also, Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" must be huge up there seeing as how both CTV Ottawa and the Team 1200 both used it for first-round anthems for the Sens.

We'll give them credit for one thing: the appearance of Paul MacLean's "twin" was an unexpected surprise. Who knew he could be found somewhere other than behind the coach's benches in ScotiaBank Place?

We're disappointed, however, that the Spartan wasn't brought back for this. Maybe for the Conference Final video, if they advance?

Stick-tap Jordan

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Some fans scream at the game. Some fans express themselves with a sign. Others paint their faces or, in David Puddy’s case, their chests.

And then there’s this Pittsburgh Penguins fan captured by Seth Rorabaugh of Empty Netters at Game 1 vs. the Ottawa Senators, who shaved “LETS GO PENS” into his chest hair:

@emptynettersWhat, no apostrophe?

Wow. That is … wow. We’re mostly impressed that all the letters face the right direction, which speaks to either his impressive mastery of mirror reflections or the creepy implication that he has an accomplice in his man-scaping.

When we spotted this photo on Twitter, we had a sense of hair-story repeating.

Was this guy the same guy who spotted this hirsute billboard during the Penguins vs. Washington Capitals series back in May 2009? Based on these strands of evidence, we think so:

DC Sports BogAs Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog wrote:

This guy cancels everything else out. This guy rules. I'd proudly sit next to this guy for 60 minutes, or as long as it takes, really.

But what say you about using your chest fur to support the team?

Pass or Fail: The shaven chest NHL fan tribute.