Scrivens' mental health awareness masks; CHL responds to lawsuit; slow starters (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.
• Edmonton Oilers netminder Ben Scrivens has teamed up with four mental health groups to help design four masks to help raise awareness for mental health issues. Here's one he wore Monday night. [Oilers]
• What’s keeping the Oilers down? Bad luck and some sub-par goaltending. [Globe and Mail]
• The Buffalo Sabres have announced the date they’ll officially retire Dominik Hasek’s no. 39: Jan. 13 against the Detroit Red Wings. [Sabres]
• Arizona Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith on his early season struggles: "I don't need to bring anyone else into this. It’s me and only me, and I've been through it tons of times in my career. You shrug it off your shoulder, and it's obviously not even close to what I'm capable of, and I know that, and I understand that, and the team needs more from me.” [AZ Republic]
• With a new book coming out, former NHL goaltender Clint Malarchuk talks about his battle with depression and alcoholism. [National Post]
• The CHL has responded to a class-action lawsuit filed seeking “$180 million in outstanding wages, vacation, holiday and overtime pay and employer payroll contributions for thousands of young players." [Buzzing the Net]
• Good read from Tom Drance on why Patric Hornqvist is an even better addition to the Pittsburgh Penguins than we originally believed. [TheScore]
• Carey Price on his strategy while playing Hungry Hungry Hippos: “You gotta will the balls into your hippo.” [Montreal Gazette]
• More change in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ executive offices: Mark Hunter has been added as Director of Player Personnel. [Maple Leafs]
• It’s early, but the depth issues facing the New York Rangers must be addressed now. [Lozo]
• If you missed the ESPN E:60 piece on Travis Hamonic of the New York Islanders, it’s well worth the 15 minutes of your time. [TSN]
• The Minnesota Wild are teaming up with Swedish metal band Hammerfall to use their songs during home games. [Blabbermouth]
• Once highly-touted prospect Angelo Esposito was cut from the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets. Is this the end of the line for him? [FOHS Farm Report]
• There are a lot of slow starters in the NHL. Here are 10 players you should have patience with if they’re on your fantasy hockey team. [Dobber Hockey]
• Examining some small sample sizes within the statistics of the Vancouver Canucks. [Canucks Army]
• PDO can be summed up quite simply: it highlights “those players or teams who are getting better or worse results than they ought to be given how skilled they are.” [Puckology]
• Finally, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Chicago Blackhawks gave 12-year old Gabriel Colon a day to remember:
