Karlsson’s year is ‘finished’; new systems for Leafs, Wings; Oates says no to Olympics (Puck Headlines)

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.

• Via Ashley Glatz: Happy Valentine's Day from Vladimir Tarasenko holding a teddy bear.

• Brian Murray on Erik Karlsson: "His year is finished at this time." [Ian Mendes]

• A very in-depth look into what happened to Karlsson, and what his road to recovery looks like. Yikes. [Hockey Hurts]

• No surprise a blog with titled "Welcome to your Karlsson Years" would write something on the Senators' fallen defenceman. "Once the horror wears off a little bit, the sick stomach doesn’t end. There’s also the feeling that we’re losing a season of a dominant, transcendent athlete in his absolute prime, a player who is an absolute joy to watch. And there’s the fear that this injury, which may require up to a year of rehab and recovery, will somehow affect this player for the rest of his career. Karlsson was enjoying not just a good season; in many ways he even improved on his Norris-winning performance last year. He’s leading the entire league in shots, and has almost double the number of shots as the next defenceman, Jack Johnson, who is 46th. He may still win the Finnish league’s scoring title for defenceman, despite the fact that he left Jokerit a month ago, giving his competition plenty of time to catch up. He’s been playing with an undeniable confidence, propelling a surprising team to playoff contention, and almost single-handedly breaking the game wide open on almost a nightly basis." [WTYKY]

• The impact of Erik Karlsson's injury from a fantasy standpoint. There will probably be one. [Dobber Hockey]

• Mark Fraser says the Leafs' new system is almost identical to the one he learned under Jacques Lemaire. [The Globe & Mail]

• Unpopular opinion alert: Adam Oates doesn't believe NHLers should go to the Olympics. "You know what, I don’t. I don’t. My honest answer is no. Is it good for hockey that they do it? Great. But I grew up trying to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, not Team Canada. Didn’t even know it existed.” Wait, he didn't know Team Canada existed? Maybe consider that when you mull his opinion. [Washington Post]

• Mike Babcock drops some interesting tidbits about the changes to his team's makeup and system. They've simplified the attack. "We’re not as pretty to watch as we once were, but that doesn’t matter anyway," he says. [Windsor Star]

• Ian Laperriere on Nick Cousins, who was arrested for "having sexual intercourse with a woman against her will," according to the article: "At the pro level, teams expect you to be an adult and act like one. He's got a good heart . . . Let's be honest, stuff like that has been happening forever. You can't get away with anything now. He can't put himself in those situations." Considering that "rape" and "sexual assault" are other, probably better, less diminishing ways to describe what Cousins is alleged to have done, "Stuff like that has been happening forever. You can't get away with anything now," is a pretty despicable quote. Since it comes after an ellipsis, let's hope it's been taken out of context somehow. [Philly]

• Is Ryan O'Reilly upset with Colorado because they denied him the captaincy? Apparently so. [Toronto Sun]

• This list of every winger to play with Sidney Crosby will make you feel bad for Sidney Crosby. [Sporting News]

• Dallas Stars Valentine's Cards. My favourite is "Will you still love me too, Morrow?" [Pegasus News]

• Comparing NHL to ECHL salaries. Shea Weber makes more in 2 games than an entire ECHL team makes in a season. [Icemen Maniacs]

• The Montreal Canadiens acquired goaltender Dustin Tokarski from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for goalie Cedrick Desjardins. [Canadiens]

• Phil Kessel would "love" to spend the rest of his career with the Maple Leafs. [PHT]

• The Minnesota Wild have sent Charlie Coyle back to Houston. [Star Tribune]

• Ryan Lambert answers some questions about the NCAA. [Flames Nation]

• B.D. Gallof goes for broke on this title: "NY Islanders are red, fans are blue, Capuano has two games to fix this losing stew". [CBS Local]

• The NHL on TSN panel does the Harlem Shuffle.

Follow Harrison Mooney on Twitter at @HarrisonMooney