Here are your Morning 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.
• Luke Schenn wasn't a stunner, as he had earned a ton of praise for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the preseason. Drew Doughty making the Los Angeles Kings, and playing with Sean O'Donnell, also made sense. But if Alex Pietrangelo sticks around with the St. Louis Blues and Zach Bogosian does the same with the Atlanta Thrashers, we're looking at one of the most remarkable draft classes for defensemen in recent memory. [Hockey Guy]
• Gary Bettman: "Sidney Crosby, it appears, will always be one of our brightest stars." [Tribune Review]
• The Columbus Blue Jackets had a high season-ticket renewal rate, but are concerned about sales and corporate backing in light of the economic downturn. Here's a wacky idea: Make the damn playoffs. [Dispatch]
• The Phoenix Coyotes are offering four sodas, four hot dogs and four tickets for $79. FOR OPENING NIGHT! [Scotty Hockey]
• "The National Hockey League began the 2009-10 season with international flair over the weekend and now fans across North America are ready to welcome the league back this week." Uh, what? Well, anyhoo, NHL tickets are selling well online. [RazorGator]
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• Unlike ESPN viewers for the last decade, Barry Melrose doesn't have a mute button. Which is why covering the Tampa Bay Lightning is already pretty damn awesome this season. [THN]
• Bobby Holik, Mike Rupp and Dainius Zubrus could form one of the largest lines in the NHL this season for the New Jersey Devils, but Holik doesn't want to hear that they're Crash Line II. So the Star Ledger wants fans to name the line. Our vote: The Whores Line (HRZ). Best comment of the day: "I've been a hockey fan since the 60s and I know one thing - giving lines nicknames is gay." [Star Ledger]
• The defensemen for the USA Hockey team for the 2010 Olympics aren't too shabby. You can do a hell of a lot worse than a Brian Rafalski/Mike Komisarek top pairing. Like, for example, an Aaron Miller/Brett Hedican top pairing. Just sayin'. [USA TODAY]
• Are the Dallas Stars the new darlings of the mainstream media? If you're reading ESPN, that would seem to be the case. [BoC]
• Optimism and the Ottawa Senators? Dogs and cats, living together ... mass hysteria. [Sun Media]
• Meet the doctors who put Rick DiPietro back together again. [Point Blank]
• From the Boston Bruins beat: Peter Schaefer could be waivers-bound, and Blake Wheeler has made the big club. [Bruins Blog]
• Brian Burke puts over Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson as the man to lead Fighting Irish ice hockey to glory. [Rivals]
• Finally, we've seen a lot of Carolina Hurricanes previews. This is certainly one of them. With more man-made sound effects than a Bobby McFerrin concert. We think we're falling in love:
