Two reasons why the NHLPA narrative published by CBC Sports Elliotte Friedman this weekend rises above the usual backroom scuttlebutt: It doesn't simply parrot defenses of overthrown executive director Paul Kelly and it explains, perhaps better than ever, the confusion and the stakes for the players in their fractured association.

It's a lengthy, grab-the-coffee-and-settle-in read, but worth your time if you're into the politics of hockey or if your lockout scars still ache. The single biggest issue dividing the players is escrow, and according to Friedman the players are going to have to sacrifice something significant in the next CBA negotiation (long-term contracts?) to rectify it.

Among Friedman's suggestions, in what he said is "the NHLPA's last chance to get it right":

Chelios must go. The former Detroit Red Wings defenseman has scorched the earth under association management, and Friedman suggests that he's too tied to old fights and is too divisive to remain a leader in a reconstructed NHLPA.

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No. 1 Star: Evgeni Nabokov(notes), San Jose Sharks

The Sharks netminder was solid against the defending champions making 27 saves for his 49th career NHL shutout during a 5-0 San Jose victory. After facing just three shots in the first period, the Penguins tested Nabokov with 24 shots in the final two periods. Having taken a 4-0 lead early in the second period, Nabokov fought off a desperate Penguins team trying to break the shutout.

No. 2 star: Antero Niittymaki(notes), Tampa Bay Lightning

Another game, another solid effort by Niittymaki. His 36 saves silenced the Montreal crowd as the Lightning ended a four-game road trip with a 3-1 win. Niittymaki has now won two of his last three starts and lowered his goals-against average to 1.90 and improved his league-best save-percentage to .940.

No. 3 star: Mike Knuble(notes), Washington Capitals

No Alex Ovechkin(notes) or Mike Green(notes) didn't stop the Capitals offense from exploding for seven goals in a victory over the Florida Panthers with the 37-year old Knuble popping in two goals and adding two assists. Knuble's multi-goal game was the seventh time a Washington player has reached the feat so far this season. 

Honorable mention: Behind Dan Ellis'(notes) 27 saves and Cody Franson's(notes) second goal in the NHL, Nashville downed Los Angeles 3-1 ... Flyers rookie Mika Pyorala(notes) may not have scored his first goal of his young NHL career, but his tally in the shootout was enough to give Philadelphia a 2-1 win over St. Louis ... Jonas Gustavsson(notes) came up big in his third straight start by stopping 35 shots while Phil Kessel(notes) added his first goal in a Toronto jersey along with an assist as the Maple Leafs routed the Detroit Red Wings ... Along with Knuble's pair, Tomas Fleischmann(notes) fourth and fifth goals of the season ... Nigel Dawes(notes) had a hand in all three Calgary goals as the Flames upended the Rangers 3-1 ... In his first game since early October, Joe Pavelski(notes) potted his first goal of the season during San Jose's win over Pittsburgh ... Miikka Kiprusoff's(notes) 32 saves paced Calgary pasted the Rangers ... Despite two goals by Loui Eriksson(notes), Marek Zidlicky's(notes) goal near the end of the second period was the eventual game-winner as Minnesota got by Dallas 3-2 ... New Jersey extended their league-best road record to 8-0-0 ... Milestones on the night: Tim Connolly(notes) and Francois Bouillon playing in their 500th NHL games while Henrik Tallinder(notes) appeared in his 400th. Capitals rookie Mathieu Perreault(notes) scored his first career NHL goal. 

Did you know?: Craig Conroy(notes) is the only Calgary Flames forward without a goal through the team's first 15 games. (AP)

Dishonorable mention: Buffalo Sabres goaltender Jhonas Enroth(notes) didn't have a memory NHL debut allowing a goal on the first shot he saw and losing to Boston 4-2 ... Powerless power-play's tonight included Buffalo (0-for-7) and Detroit (0-for-5) ... Carolina extended their power-play drought to 0-for-30, while the Penguins are now 0-for-21 in their last four games ... Ottawa penalty-kill could have used an extra hand allowing all three goals on the in a 3-2 loss to New Jersey ... Finally, the struggling Carolina Hurricanes took another blow tonight when they lost goaltender Cam Ward(notes) after his thigh was lacerated by Rick Nash's(notes) skate:

Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Preview: Detroit Red Wings at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. EST. Looking for their fourth straight win, the Red Wings head into tonight's Hall of Fame Game. Three former Red Wings, Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille will be in attendance along with Brian Leetch and Lou Lamoriello for the pre-game ceremony. It'll be game No. 3 in the Phil Kessel-era for the Leafs who may see Jonas Gustavsson in goal for a third straight game.

Preview: New York Rangers at Calgary Flames, 10 p.m. EST. No Henrik Lundqvist tonight for the Rangers as Sean Avery and Dion Phaneuf meet on the ice for the first time since "those" comments. Avery even admitted that he called Elisha Cuthbert after the comments to apologize for them. Calgary looks for their first home win in three games before an east coast trip next week.

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(No, the first decade of the 21st century doesn't technically end until 2011. Save your bellyaching. But we've had nine NHL seasons and one stolen from us since 1999-2000, and Yahoo! Sports has decided it's time to rank the best and worst of the last "decade." Enjoy, and snark freely in the comments.)

Some of these all-decade lists are lighthearted, nostalgic compilations of the last 10 years of NHL hockey; and some of them are what you're about to read.

The NHL has seen some truly gruesome moments since 2000. Lives were threatened. Careers were shortened. Reputations were ruined. We wish something a little more whimsical like Matt Walker's mangled finger could have made this list. But it didn't. 

Keep in mind that some of these injuries are ranked based not only on their severity but their impact culturally on hockey. Also keep in mind that the last 10 years have featured so many grisly incidents that the injury commemorated in the photo above is not, in fact, No. 1 overall.

These video highlights have been everywhere for the last 10 years, but please keep in mind that many are distrubing and not for all audiences. Here are the Top 10 Most Brutal NHL Injuries of the Last Decade ...

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Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Preview: San Jose Sharks at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m. EST.

A slow start has turned into the Red Wings grabbing a point in each of their last eight games and putting up a 5-1-3 record in that span. Defenseman Brian Rafalski is expected to return after battling swine flu while Jonathan Ericsson is still questionable. San Jose, winners of six in a row and the NHL's highest scoring team, will have to best Chris Osgood who's won his last two starts and stopped 49 of 50 shots.

Preview: Chicago Blackhawks at Phoenix Coyotes, 9 p.m. EST.

‘Hawks captain Jonathan Toews will miss his fifth game in a row after a concussion at the hands of Vancouver's Willie Mitchell. With their dads in tow, the Blackhawks will be looking for their seventh straight win over the Coyotes and to pad the attendance numbers at Jobing.com Arena.

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Remember Kevin Dallman? You're forgiven if you don't. His NHL career lasted 154 games between the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings, with whom he played from 2006-08.

He was a serviceable spare-part defenseman, on the road to becoming a journeyman shuttled between the NHL and the minor leagues. That was until he made the bold career decision last year to sign with Barys Astana of the newly formed Kontinental Hockey League, where he scored 58 points in 53 games, including 28 goals. He was an all-star, a team captain and recipient of the first-ever best defenseman award from the League.

Dallman's stats were treated by some as evidence that the KHL isn't exactly the highest level of competition, and at one point the plan for Dallman was to post killer numbers in the Russian league and then return to North America.

But the KHL experience exceeded his expectations, as did living in Kazakhstan with his wife and two children. Dallman signed a contract extension that he doesn't intend to break.

We spoke with this NHL ex-pat about the still-mysterious Russian league and how a North American handles playing in it; about his decision to leave for the KHL as a free agent; about the perceptions of his peers about the KHL and its bad PR; as well as fast food, puck bunnies, music and why Kazak fans are better than NHL fans.

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(Ed. Note: No Puck Headlines today due to some scheduling conflicts; stay tuned for a Puck Daddy interview later this afternoon.)

Canadian conspiracy theorists are huddled in front of their computer banging away on blogs and message boards, explaining how Sergei Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin, Andrei Markov, Alexander Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk are just resting up for the Olympics.

Poolies don't care about the reason a star player misses a game -- we just scramble to compensate. One month into the campaign and we're doing a lot of "compensating." Joining the Russians named above on the injured list are Roberto Luongo, Daniel Sedin, Johan Franzen, Simon Gagne and Eric Staal among others.

Injury replacement of the week: Rich Peverley, Atlanta Thrashers

Atlanta has been winning hockey games because they have secondary scoring. Peverley, a Nashville castoff, has been putting up monster points no matter where the Thrashers put him. If they sat him in the press box for a game, he would still show up on the scoresheet with an assist, two shots and a plus-1 rating. His ice time has gone up two minutes per game in Kovalchuk's absence and is now seeing shifts with Nik Antropov, Todd White and/or Bryan Little. His numbers have only been getting better (six points in three Kovalchuk-less games). In many leagues, he has right wing eligibility.

Are you drunk?

Strangely, no. I actually believe, completely sober, that this undrafted late-bloomer can be a point-per-game player this season.

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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.

• Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL is going after former Colorado Avalanche star Peter Forsberg, and Jeff Klein of the New York Times indicates that Foppa may be charmed by the riches the Russian league can offer him beyond those in a capped NHL. In either case, we just hope to see Forsberg in one more Olympic run for the Swedes, before they lose to the U.S. [Slap Shot and Denver Post]

• Forbes warns the NHLPA not to allow a group of agents to set the agenda for the membership: "By pushing their individual agendas the agents are undermining the majority of players. The players better fix this quickly or the next CBA will be a debacle." [Forbes]

• The Calgary Flames claim did nothing wrong in securing H1N1 vaccinations, which are in short supply in Alberta. Team president Ken King has said the hockey players are "at an elevated infection risk due to their physical contact." We're sure immune deficient children, pregnant women and the elderly are cool with that. [Sun Media]

• Tapeleg on the Flames' line-jumping for the shots: "The Calgary Flames deserved to be at the front of the Swine Flu inoculation line. If the Flames are sick, the entire economy of Calgary would crumble. After the CFL, what do they have? Is there any other excuse for the Red Mile? Bars would close left and right. People would have to read... books. Shudder." [Jerseys And Hockey Love]

• Carolina Hurricanes star Eric Staal: He was Iron Man. [Canes Country]

• Down Goes Brown, who will be joining us for our Rumors Chat at 1 p.m., on Phil Kessel's debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs: "The Leafs' game plan for Kessel is apparently to play every second shift, generally ignore his linemates, and shoot at every opportunity from every angle. And here's the thing: I don't think that's a bad plan." [DGB]

• Pierre LeBrun was also impressed with Kessel, who brings an offensive dimension to "a Leafs lineup essentially devoid of top-six, high-end offensive talent." But he also calls Kessel a "star" on multiple occasions. Is Phil Kessel really a star in the NHL? [ESPN]

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No. 1 star: Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings

Osgood has been challenged by Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and Tuesday he delivered with his 50th career shutout in a 2-0 win over the Bruins. The embattled Detroit goalie did his best work in the first period when he stopped Marco Sturm on a point-blank chance, then corralled the rebound with his glove after receiving an assist from the post. In all Ozzie made 29 saves as he moved within six wins of 400 career victories. After all the finger pointing that followed his rough October (3.10 GAA, .889 save pct.), Osgood was in dire need of an effort like this.

No. 2 star: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins aren't supposed to win in California and certainly the loss of Sergei Gonchar is expected to catch up with the reigning Stanley Cup champions, but neither obstacle was a factor in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Ducks. Pittsburgh blueliners combined for six points, led by Letang, who scored his first goal of the season and added an assist on Pascal Dupuis' game-winner as the Pens improved to an NHL-best 12-3-0. Letang led all Penguins skaters with 23:46 of ice time, sharing team-high honors in both shots (3) and blocked shots (3).

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Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins at Anaheim Ducks, 10 p.m. EST. Former Mighty Duck of Anaheim Dan Bylsma and former Anaheim Duck Chris Kunitz go back to Cali as Stanley Cup champions. Good news for Anaheim? Pittsburgh is 1-11-3 with a tie since Jan. 16, 1999 in the Golden State, via the AP. The bad news? The Ducks are on a 1-4-1 skid. Rules the Sports Judge: "This is a fragile and confused team right now, trying to steer themselves out of a wet paper bag." Watch The Game Live Via Hockey Night on Y!

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