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Puck Headlines: Doughty contract details; Brendan Smith fallout

Greg Wyshynski

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.

• Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins made "Trend Watch" on the Merriam-Webster Dictionary site. Why? Because people were checking in to make sure that "champians," the classic misspelling from his now-fixed tattoo, wasn't really a word. [M-W, s/t to reader Nathan B.]

• Patrick Kane on the 5-game suspension of Brendan Smith of the Detroit Red Wings: "You knew it was going to be up there, I think we thought 10-plus. … They're pretty serious about what they're issuing these days. It seems like Benny is doing better. Hopefully, he won't even be out that long. That's one thing you don't want to see is the guy that gets hit is out longer than the guy that gets suspended. It seems like that's been the case with a lot of these hits the past couple times with guys with concussions. I know Smith the guy that hit him. He's a young kid. He's not a repeat offender, but it's still pretty hefty for a first [suspension]. Hopefully, Benny will be better." [Sun Times]

• Brendan Smith on the suspension: "I'm going to have to learn from this, for sure. The game moves very quickly. I'm going to have to adjust to it, and make sure that I'm in the right place at the right time, so that will never happen." [Red Wings]

• Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres on what ails the NHL: "It's a small group of guys making it difficult for the rest of us. We're trying to get that culture out where it's OK to be a little rat on the ice and not have to be accountable for it. No one has to fight now if they don't want to and I think some guys hide behind that. So they go out and try to hurt guys and play a game I don't think our fans want to see." [THN]

• If you're not following her on Twitter, you should; but if you're not, here's Helene Elliott of the LA Times with the Drew Doughty contract terms: "Doughty payout: 6mil, 6.5, 6.7, 7.0, 7.1, 7.45, 7.6, 7.65. There is NO no-trade clause." [@helenenothelen]

• Now that money is no object, here are the Los Angeles Kings' free agents and other notable UFAs for the next decade. Malkin To The Kings in 2014! [Jewels From The Crown]

• Kings preview from The Royal Half, including the search for the new whipping boy. [THR]

• Dave Shoalts on the Doughty deal: "By giving in to Doughty and Meehan, the Kings secured its most important player, who is already one of the league's best defencemen, for the next eight years. It reassures a fragile fan base they are serious about winning. With the additions of forwards Mike Richards and Simon Gagne to complement a solid defence anchored by Doughty in front of a pair of excellent young goaltenders, the Kings are in position to challenge for the Stanley Cup." [Globe & Mail]

• An ambitious "what the NHL will look like in 2025" story that discusses a slew of new teams in Canada and the New York Islanders and Dallas Stars as "candidates" for Canadian relocation. (Actually, the Isles are under the label "Southern Withdrawal," reminding us that to a Canadian even Wisconsin is "southern.") [Canadian Business]

• Hilarious take on NHL players who tweet, breaking them down into different sects including "The Inappropriate Flirt": "When will guys learn that if a girl chooses to show parts of her body instead of her face in her profile pic, it's probably because it ain't all that. Who am I kidding, this is the very age of the butter face, after all." [Psycho Lady Hockey]

• Listening to Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini, it appears goalie Devan Dubnyk won't have to wait for Nikolai Khabibulin to lose the job before he has a chance to win it. [Cult of Hockey]

• An injury to Mathieu Perreault does not mean necessarily mean demotion for Mathieu Perreault. [Capitals Watch]

• The Ottawa Senators Heritage sweaters that everyone's already seen will be unveiled on Saturday. [Sens]

• Top prospect Scott Glennie of the Dallas Stars was felled by a concussion, hence his lack of participation in camp. [Dallas Stars Blog]

• Ken Dryden with an essay on hockey violence for Grantland: "For Gary Bettman, the challenge is not to be distracted by history, by the voices of those who grew up as "hockey people," or by the overwhelming power of the status quo. He is the central custodian of the game. If he takes on head injuries aggressively — and he must — some of his changes might be ineffective, others may be embarrassingly inept, and he may very well be mocked by fans and the media. But he and we will learn, and it is far worse to be mocked by damaged players for not doing what clearly needs to be done." [Grantland]

• The New York Islanders sign Steve Staios to a 1-year deal, which is only a slight comedown from Christian Ehrhoff. [Isles]

• Sounds like New Jersey Devils top prospect Adam Larsson is going to make the cut and will be a factor on the power play. [Fire & Ice]

• Check out all the preseason storyline for NCAA hockey, including nine new coaches. [College Hockey Inc.]

• Please to be welcoming Hockey Stop, a new hockey blog for the Houston Chronicle, to the blogosphere. [Chron]

• Fare thee well to Scott Lewis and the HOTH crew as our old pal Justin Bourne takes over at The Score on Monday. [HOTH]

• Finally, the latest in a seemingly endless series of Winnipeg Jets pump-up videos. This one is pretty epic; one Alaskan Space Bear away from being the most over the top YouTube hockey video ever created.