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Wed Sep 09, 2009 1:24 pm EDT

Puck Headlines: Burke's Kessel run; will the Capitals flop?

By 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.

• Bob Harwood is a Carolina Hurricanes blogger, so you know where his loyalties are in making the case that the Washington Capitals may not be the sure-thing in the Southeast Division many assume they'll be this season. His arguments range from circumstantial evidence to hard numbers. "One could say that from top to bottom, the Hurricanes have a better, overall team. The big question is, can they stop Ovechkin and that top line?" [Canes Country]

• Simon Gagne(notes) of the Philadelphia Flyers is attempting to heal himself faster with concentrated injections of his own blood. Next step: Adamantium claws. [Asbury Park Press]

• Speaking of the Flyers, hilarious exchange captured by NHL.com during the League's media days in New York City. Gabriel Hall of West Philadelphia asked Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas(notes), "After we beat you this season, what else are looking forward to this year?" Timmy: "I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself, fella." He then walked in back of the curtain and screamed "Serenity Now!" [NHL.com]

• Alexander Ovechkin's(notes) day in New York: "There were laughs, a little tedium and gap-toothed smiles mixed with icy stares." There was also more talk that he will risk suspension to play in the 2014 Sochi Games. [Welcome To The Show]

• Brian Burke continues to make life interesting with a quasi-public pursuit of Phil Kessel(notes) of the Boston Bruins: "It's clear we're trying to upgrade our forward group." [Sun Media and Globe & Mail]

• Could Phil Kessel, in the long run, be a better player than Dany Heatley(notes)? And which one can you stomach more? [THN]

• Oh, isn't that precious: The Dallas Stars are using a computer program to determine how much to price-gouge their fans for weekend games. [Dallas Morning News]

• A group of 80-and-over players are looking to make the Guinness Book of World Records for playing in a tournament. Competitive juices flowing, Chelios frantically ramps up search for other players born during the Renaissance. [CP]

• Good, balanced look at how high Jim Balsillie is willing to go financially in order to win the Phoenix Coyotes. [Hamilton Spectator, and also check out the timeline for this week's auction]

• Which VH1's "Rock of Love" contestants are this season's New York Rangers players? Michal Roszival as Daisy? Not sure we want to be his rock star. [5-Hole]

• The Flyers will unveil their Winter Classic jerseys this Friday; the Boston Bruins will release theirs next week. Any chance either of them are going to be anything we haven't seen before? [Icethetics]

• The New York Post teases the New Jersey Devils as having interest in Patrick Marleau(notes) and Mike Comrie(notes) in an article about Patrik Elias(notes) moving back to center under Jacques Lemaire (yuck). [NY Post]

• The Florida Panthers invite Martin Skoula(notes) and Christian Backman(notes) to camp, and break the bad news to Jassen Cullimore(notes) fans (you know who you are) that the veteran D-man won't be back next season. [Sun-Sentinel]

• Look, we don't want to say there were attendance issues at the Canada Cup tournament in Vancouver but ... [Getty Images]

• St. Louis Game Time talks with an orthopedic surgeon about defenseman Erik Johnson's(notes) road back from that demonic golf cart attack. [STGT]

• The International Ice Hockey Federation announced on Wednesday that it has issued an international transfer card to Jiri Hudler(notes), allowing the former Detroit Red Wings player to compete in the Olympics, the KHL and really anywhere else that'll pay him. [Slap Shot]

• Happy birthday to former Colorado Avalanche and Atlanta Thrashers Coach Bob Hartley. We know this thanks to NHL Digest's massive, awesome hockey birthday calendar. [NHL Digest]

• Thanks to SensTown for the interview invite, even though they've published a photo of yours truly so large that it looks like a Thanksgiving Parade balloon. Part One is up, in which I bash the concept of "overall NHL fans."  [SensTown]

• We highly recommend the NHL's video coverage of his NYC tour. Here's a taste ... [Part One and Part Two]

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42 Comments

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  1. joe
    1. Posted by joe Wed Sep 09, 2009 1:52 pm EDT

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    So what is Sidney crosby and i think that was the new york goalie Henrik doing in new york? I know why tim thomas, oveckin and chris pronger are there.
  2. Matt
    2. Posted by Matt Wed Sep 09, 2009 1:58 pm EDT

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    Seriously.
    Please, go ONE ARTICLE without mentioning the Crapitals, Ovechkin, or your butt buddy JP.
    I will be forever in your debt.
    F'ing bandwagoners. I can't wait for the team to suck again so all the 38,000 Crapitals blogs (including this one) will cease to exist.
  3. Andrew T
    3. Posted by Andrew T Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:04 pm EDT

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    mmmmaaaatttttt - get a life.
  4. AgentUtah
    4. Posted by AgentUtah Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:05 pm EDT

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    Top picture, gentleman on the right: new Caps red t-shirt and Yankees hat. Bandwagon jumping at its finest!
  5. Max G
    5. Posted by Max G Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:09 pm EDT

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    burke can do the kessle run is less than 12 contracts!
  6. thewall125
    6. Posted by thewall125 Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:11 pm EDT

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    So another "Kessel Run" joke. Is Leahy your Chewbacca?
  7. Ronald W
    7. Posted by Ronald W Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:12 pm EDT

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    On Ovechlin playing during 2014 Olympics even if NHL says it will not have its players participate, even if Leonsis was willing to allow Ovechkin to take leave of absence, the NHL would basically force the Caps to suspend him and try to have the IIHF block his participation. And what good what that do.I am sure the KHL would honor such a suspension.
    I also would not be surprised if some European players started thinking about not extending contracts beyond the 2012-2013 season to keep their Olympic options open.
  8. books
    8. Posted by books Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:22 pm EDT

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    Fight the power Matt...fight the power...or are you raging against the machine? If that's the case Rage on...the rest of us can use the laughs.
  9. xanaduocmd
    9. Posted by xanaduocmd Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:23 pm EDT

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    -the caps will fail once again this year...their goaltending is shaky (varlamov is still a baby) and Theodore is unreliable. Ovie will put up huge numbers once again, but it wont be enough.
    -imagining the NY Rangers as "Rock of Love" contestants put a tear in my eye from laughter, but some disturbing images in my head...
    LETS GO RANGERS!
    http://www.NYRangersRoundup.blogspot.com
  10. Hemsky
    10. Posted by Hemsky Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:25 pm EDT

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    @Wysh
    Were you Mr. Beans stunt double?
  11. Al S.
    11. Posted by Al S. Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:39 pm EDT

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    and since the NY Post mentioned it, the Devils will never sign Patrick Marleau or Mike Comrie.
    Which is a shame, really, if only for all the Puck Daddy jokes that would have contained the phrases quote Hillary Duff end quote and quote devil end quote.
    In all sincerity though, has the Post every really been right about a Devils rumor? Since 1995 the Devils were trading Sergei Brylin, and the guy ended his NHL career always being a Devil.
    PS- I typed out quote and end quote because Yahoo seems to have declared war on quotation marks.
  12. dwfma
    12. Posted by dwfma Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:39 pm EDT

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    why are Heatley and Kessel being mentioned in the same sentence? the former has already engineered a move from one team and is in the process of filming a sequel; the latter is at the end of his rookie contract and is looking for better digs.
    I'm sure Kessel is not alone in skipping the Boston Flavor Aid; anyone else want to lay bets on Tim Thomas being the next Dwayne Roloson?
  13. Runnin up on ya !
    13. Posted by Runnin up on ya ! Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:51 pm EDT

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    Is that a picture of what happens when The Galactic Senate takes it's trade route squables to Glenndale?
  14. Fin-atic
    14. Posted by Fin-atic Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:00 pm EDT

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    How did they get all 75 Cap's fans together for that picture?
  15. Fin-atic
    15. Posted by Fin-atic Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:02 pm EDT

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    I can't believe I was too late for another "Kessel run" joke. Damm it all to hell!!
  16. JeffreyN
    16. Posted by JeffreyN Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:04 pm EDT

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    It is not just Ovechin, but also Malkin and other Russians, that have already committed to their country to play. Do you think the NHL is willing to risk all of them bolting to the KHL en masse? Surely the KHL will let their players take part in an Olympics on their home soil.
    Also the last professional sport to not allow its players to take part in the Olympics was Major League Baseball, they only allowed minor leaguers to go. When it became clear that all they were going to get was college players and minor leaguers the International Olympic Committee yanked the sport from the Olympic lineup. They also took women's softball down with it. Do we really want to risk losing hockey as an Olympic sport? Are we willing to risk costing women's hockey their place at the Olympics because we didn't want to lose a couple of weeks of professional hockey? Do we want to risk it just because we don't want our professional players to risk getting hurt playing for their countries, their pride, and their love of the game (instead of money)?
  17. habs1rule
    17. Posted by habs1rule Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:41 pm EDT

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    As crazy as this sounds...That Marleau to New Jersey move is interesting...Here's how I see it happening, or not happening...First, If New Jersey had kept Scotty Clemmensen, you trade Martin Brodeur and say, Travis Zajac for Marleau and Nabakov.....San Jose gets the better goalie, and New Jersey gets the better foward....Looking at this more from a Sharks perspective, you get the goalie that could lead to to the Promised Land...And most likely, Marleau leaves next year for nothing anyway....
  18. Logan
    18. Posted by Logan Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:45 pm EDT

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    @17
    Brodeur and Zajac will most likely never be traded. It's just not a move Lou would ever make. Zajac is way to valuble as the 1st line center with a new contract. Maybe in year 3/4. Brodeur will retire a devil unless he wants to go to montreal, which is the only other team he would go to by choice.
  19. Almost Lewboski
    19. Posted by Almost Lewboski Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:59 pm EDT

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    If the IOC wants to keep the NHL involved with the games let them pay the insurance for all the participants.
  20. sttr73
    20. Posted by sttr73 Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:15 pm EDT

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    hilarious about the flyers/bruins jersey for this year's winter classic.
    Maybe instead of black and yellow they'll go yellow and black with
    a lowercase "b"! Ha!
  21. Runnin up on ya !
    21. Posted by Runnin up on ya ! Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:29 pm EDT

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    Re" #13
    Create a caption:
    Darth Basillie uses the dark side of the force to move the Galactic Senate from Glendale, AZ to Hamilton, Ont. leaving behind a resilliant Chanslor Bettmen and daughter.
  22. big audio
    22. Posted by big audio Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    looks like we're in the front row .................
    seriously, is anyone ever surprised to hear about teams devising new ways to gouge their customers? This is the NHL, where Boots and Spano (criminally deceitful money-wise) are acceptable but Balsillie (legitimate millionaire who can prove it) is bad for the league.
    Fans and anyone with money, if you do business with the NHL be prepared to give up tons of $$$ at their whim.
    And while Kessel would be an upgrade for Toronto, is he the answer? No. He's just a little more talented version of Jason Blake. Caveat emptor.
  23. colin c
    23. Posted by colin c Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:01 pm EDT

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    @ hemskey I think Mr. Beans lawyers will be filing a cease and disist order soon. only one mumbler who pops out nonsense at a time.
  24. Spock
    24. Posted by Spock Wed Sep 09, 2009 5:29 pm EDT

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    Even if Basillie becomes the winning bidder of the Coyotes and moves the team from Phoenix to Hamilton .... will the new team still be in the Pacific Division. And if it is, that team is gonna have alot of travelling, which could be a major disadvantage to a team that is already a bad team.
  25. Joe Vegas
    25. Posted by Joe Vegas Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:15 pm EDT

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    For the prices being charged for Olympic tickets, did they actually think people had any money leftover for anything else?

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Greg Wyshynski

Puck Daddy is an NHL blog edited by Greg Wyshynski. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

Contributors:
Sean Leahy, Ross McKeon, Matt Romig, Dmitry Chesnokov, Ryan Lambert, Dobber, Scott Pianowski,

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