Nicklas Backstrom’s grandma; How Canada ruined hockey; Datsyuk healthy (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.
• Sad Russian hockey mascot is sad.
• Nicklas Backstrom's grandma on his chances in Sochi: "He will make a fool of himself." [Fourth-Place Medal]
• Not only will Ondrej Pavelec not play in the Czech Republic's first game -- he won't even dress. [Winnipeg Free Press]
• How Canada, and fighting, RUINED hockey. [Salon]
• Pavel Datsyuk has declared himself fit to play in the tournament. [ESPN]
• If Alex Ovechkin doesn't singlehandedly drag Team Russia to a gold medal, he's gonna hear about it. [RMNB]
• Jenny Scrivens on the trade that sent husband Ben Scrivens to Edmonton. [The Royal Half]
• The NHL will decide on their participation in the 2018 Olympics within the next six months. [The Globe & Mail]
• Meet the grandpas of hockey, a.k.a. the 40-year-olds in this Olympic tournament. [NY Times]
• This cool infographic imagines each NHLer headed to Sochi as an airline route. [Sixteen Wins]
• Islanders pick Jesse Graham, who plays for the OHL's Saginaw Spirit, makes an incredible empty-net save. [Buzzing the Net]
• Are the Canadian and American women's teams dominating themselves right out of the Olympics? I sincerely hope not. This is a two-team race, but it may never become more than that if we shut down women's Olympic hockey. And seriously, we'd be robbing ourselves of an incredible story when a team from outside North America finally steals gold one day. [Backhand Shelf]
• Vladislav Tretiak says Russia's 1984 gold medal made up for the horrors of the Miracle on Ice. [Yahoo]
• Former NHL defenseman Brad Lukowich has been "terminated for cause" from his job as an assistant coach for the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes. [100 Degree Hockey]
• Meet Team Canada's forwards, and learn what to say and what not to say when they're on the ice, via this handy cheat sheet. [PITB]
• Say you're a Brit. Which Olympic hockey team should you cheer for? [Ice Nation UK]
• Lozo on the larger ice surface at the Olympics, and who benefits most. [Bleacher Report]
• The city of Edmonton has finally give the green light to a new, $480 million arena for the Oilers. [Edmonton Journal]
• Leo Komarov is in the KHL now, but he misses being a Leaf. That's right: the KHL makes you want to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Just one more knock against that league. [Toronto Star]
• Finally, and this is the best thing ever, the Japanese women's hockey team BOWS AFTER GOALS OH MY GOD:
