Here are your Afternoon 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.

• Sean Avery's hearing with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will be on Thursday morning in New York. Brett Hull, the GM of the Dallas Stars, had a remarkable interview on Fan 590 in Toronto today about Avery's suspension. He said the "sloppy seconds" press event was stunning, and "for me to be flabbergasted, it's pretty good." He reiterated several times that it was Avery's staging of the event that was "crossing the line." He said Avery will issue an apology. But the biggest news is that while he was willing get Avery's back for his play in Dallas, he said he doesn't know if Avery will be welcomed back in the Stars locker room. [Fan 590, and thanks to PD reader Daniel]

• Allan Muir of Sports Illustrated believes that Hull's job could be in jeopardy because of Avery and not because he was an under-qualified celebrity in a suit that was hired to co-manage an NHL team. [SI]

• Pretty funny list from The 10 Spot on Avery's best excuses. If you don't love "still angry about ludicrous 24 plotline of Kim getting stuck in a bear trap while fleeing Johnny Drama" and "life has no purpose since absence of Martin Brodeur," there's no love in you. [Fan Nation]

• Obviously, this is a job for Jack Bauer. [A2Y]

• Is this actually a second offense by Sean Avery this season, even if it's the first of in front of the media? [Bruins Blog]

• The bottom line is that Avery had his "Hey, Hanrahan!" moment. [The Empty Netter]

• Say what you will about Sean Avery, but at least he wasn't photographed getting his groin cupped by another dude. No, that would be Derek Roy of the Buffalo Sabres. [My Safety is Harvard, via Deadspin]

• "Since 1986, the Red Wings have had only two players wear the coveted "C," and the two captains, first Yzerman for 19 seasons and now Lidstrom in his third, are quite alike, except if you forget they're from opposite ends of the Atlantic Ocean." Kudos to Dan Rosen on a terrific piece about Nicklas Lidstrom. [NHL.com]

• The New Jersey Devils recycle more previously-used numbers than The Killers do. [Fire & Ice]

• The San Jose Sharks have 43 points in 25 games, tying the 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens for the best start in NHL history. But is it fair to dismiss that because of the team's legacy of postseason failure? [Two for Elbowing]

• About 26 percent of all regular season games are going to overtime. Fodder for the "three points for a regulation win" crowd. [CBC Sports]

• The psychological wisdom of Detroit Red Wings Coach Mike Babcock. [Snapshots]

• Is a writer for the Boston Globe actually allowed to write a positive feature story on Claude Lemieux's comeback? "The results thus far, according to the old man who once wore Montreal's 'CH' on his chest, have been positive, encouraging, to the point he believes he can get back to the show within a matter of weeks." [Boston Globe]

• With the Vancouver Canucks playing good hockey, Ryan Kennedy pens a letter of apology to GM Mike Gillis. [The Hockey News]

• Any of you eggheads wanna how the brains of hockey players and fans are different than those who have yet to let the light of the Game into their hearts? "Experience doing an activity, such as playing hockey, may allow the brain to recruit areas that are usually devoted to skilled action to the task of comprehending speech, particularly when the words relate to the activity in question." [3quarksdaily]

• Finally, a very interesting feature on a game between Mississippi State Ice Hockey and Loyola University New Orleans, with fans and one crazy fight. Southern fried hockey fun!

Related: Goons and Pugilism, Gary Bettman, Commissioner for Life, When Hockey and Hollywood Collide, Puck Videos, Rumors, scuttlebutt, innuendo