Puck Headlines: Selanne out; preparing for Blackhawks, Pens

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.

• It's a known fact that the Carolina Hurricanes made same truly awful bobblehead dolls, like the Eric Staal porno face. Here's their Erik Cole bobblehead; Puck Buddy Paul I proclaimed over email: "The Canes are so desperate they have signed George W Bush."

• Teemu Selanne(notes) could have stayed in bed watching "The Office" and "30 Rock" last night with flu-like symptoms. Instead, he played against the Dallas Stars, and suffered a broken hand that the Dallas Morning News said will shelve him for at least a month. [TSN]

• Great look from The 700 Level on the Philadelphia Flyers' struggles, and a reminder that for all the crowing about Ray Emery's(notes) impressive return to form in October, the Flyers are basically facing a burgeoning goalie controversy like that have for, oh, the last 15 years. It must be comfort food by now. [The 700 Level]

• Look, no one wants to disrespect the Nashville Predators by overlooking their game against Chicago on Friday night. That being said (tm Curb), it's Blackhawks vs. Penguins on Saturday night and that's pretty damn cool right there. [Between The Circles]

• And not just because of Hossa. [Sun Times]

• Kevin Allen makes the case that the East is better than the West. Then he makes the case that the West is better than the East. Then he throws his hands in the air and says "parity!" [USA Today]

• The Pittsburgh Penguins place Chris Bourque(notes) on waivers. We're going to take a positive view of the guy's career and just say that the AHL needs players, too. [McKenzie]

• Ted Leonsis doesn't lash out Sports Illustrated's Jim Kelley for his piece that criticized Leonsis and the Washington Capitals for supporting Alex Ovechkin's(notes) style of play. Instead, he pens a passively damning blog that's an "invitation" for Kelley to "get out of the office" and actually speak to someone before forming his opinions. Ouch. [Ted's Take]

• Down Goes Brown presents a series of little-known teammate-on-teammate injuries. The Brendan Witt(notes) one is a coffee-spitter. [DGB]

• We didn't necessarily read too much into the Carolina Hurricanes trading for Jiri Tlusty(notes), but Canes Country finds more than a bit of intrigue in the deal. [Canes Country]

• Cam Ward(notes) sees rubber. This is a good thing. [News & Observer]

• Hockey News editor Jason Kay asks for a wait-and-see approach on the shootout's validity, before offering some alternatives: "My leading candidate, if we get to that point, is 4-on-4 for five minutes, followed by 3-on-3 for another five. Or if 10 OT minutes is too much for logistical purposes, make each situation three or four minutes. I'm also a proponent of the soccer points system - three for a regulation win, one for an OT or shootout win, none for a loss. The two schemes could work together." [THN]

• BREAKING: Nicklas Lidstrom(notes) is a great player, strong leader. [Snapshots]

• Trying to make sense of the Mike Duco(notes) penalty madness in the Panthers/Caps game. [OFB]

• Thanks to The 6th Sens boys for having me on their podcast. [6th Sens]

• 2012 had the Mayans. 2112 has the Calgary Flames. Eerie. [Getty]

• The Montreal Canadiens' centennial is mocked because of recent follies: "This once magical franchise has lost its lustre. The likes of Howie Morenz, Rocket Richard, Jean Beliveau, Doug Harvey and Guy Lafleur have been replaced by Glen Metropolit(notes), Hal Gill(notes), Tomas Plekanec(notes), Sergei Kostitsyn(notes) and Josh Gorges(notes). Yikes!" Well, it may have something to do with the establishment of the draft and an inability to trick the California Golden Seals to hand over Lafleur, but the points is taken. [Sportsnet]

• Stanley Cup of Chowder presents 85 reasons to hate the Habs. [SCOC]

• In the spirit of equal time, Eyes on the Prize has a much more worshipful look at the birth of the Canadiens franchise. [EOTP]

• We were just talking to someone about this the other day: The Boston Bruins have a lot of contract tied up in the middle of their lineup after the Savard signing. [Puck Update]

• The St. Louis Blues' victory over the San Jose Sharks last night have made the Game Time crew a little giddy. [St. Louis Game Time]

• It's official: The 2010 Draft is going to Los Angeles. [NHL]

Puck Daddy reader Jack asks for your support in getting Winter Classic tickets for a youth team. [Vote]

• Finally, this hockey fight is bound to go viral because it involves a girl battling a few guys. Puck Buddy Kelly explains:

Well, fun email, to say the least. The fight? It's obviously a kick to see the girl stand up for herself, and then it just sort of becomes depressing when the festivities drag on and it appears there are injuries. Again, beware NSFW audio.