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.
• Hey, what do you know: Boston Bruins defensemen Aaron Ward(notes), rumored to have suffered a broken face at the hands of Scott Walker(notes) of the Carolina Hurricanes, is expected to play in tonight's critical Game 6 in Raleigh. Say, you don't think they were floating the notion of a fractured orbital bone to influence the NHL's disciplinary hearing on the matter, do you? Perish the thought. [Bruins Blog]
• Hey, what do you know: Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar(notes), rumored to have been lost for several weeks at the knee of Alexander Ovechkin(notes) of the Washington Capitals, is practicing with the team today before Wednesday's do-or-die Game 7 in D.C. Say, you don't think the now-questionable severity of the injury was leaked to inspire the team and encourage more scrutiny of Ovechkin's hitting, do you? Perish the thought [Post Gazette]
• In less sarcastic healthy defenseman news, it's looking good for Brian Rafalski(notes) in Game 6 tonight for the Detroit Red Wings against the Anaheim Ducks. As if they needed the help at this point. [Snapshots]
• Chicago Blackhawks fans made their feelings known about a Western Conference finals opponent known last night at United Center. Unless "Detroit Sucks" was simply their protest against the auto industry putting a drag on our economic recovery. [Sporting News]
• The Ducks have playing at a postseason pace for the better part of two months; is it finally catching up with them? [Ducks Blog]
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• Tom Hicks and the Dallas Stars going the bankruptcy route? Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College: "It could be the second team in Chapter 11 ... When Hicks put himself in that circumstance, he's creating a lot of difficulty for himself. He's going to squirm a little bit. Whatever leverage he had, he loses some of it." The timing of this is perfect, because Phoenix is going to be looking for a new NHL team fairly soon. [Toronto Star]
• Loose Change examines the Jim Balsillie/Gary Bettman feud, and why there's so much animosity: "It's a bald thing. In all reality, Bettman has more hair than Balsillie, but that's like saying a pimple is more beautiful than a blister." [THN]
• Leaving the cap-concerned Toronto Maple Leafs out of the equation for a moment, a look at the team that might be able to afford a pair of creepy Swedish twins from the Vancouver Canucks as free agents. [Cycle Like the Sedins]
• Coming to the realization that, indeed, Mats Sundin(notes) will never win a Stanley Cup. Hey, nothing wrong with being a bald, Swedish, poker-playing Mike Gartner. [Sports and the City]
• Look, a Buffalo Sabres fan deciding whether or not Maxim Ainogenov should return to the team as a free agent is pretty pointless ... well, because Max was pointless on most nights this season. But we were charmed by Die By the Blade's candidness: "This post may be the biggest waste of time in my entire life." [DBtB]
• Will the New Jersey Devils' disastrous postseason collapse actually inspire Brent Sutter to spurn a return to Alberta for another go at the playoffs? [MSG]
• Greg Logan on a mini-controversy about the New York Islanders asking for fan input on which super rookie to draft with the No. 1 pick, and SI's Michael Farber slapping them down. [Newsday, via Puck Update]
• We really can't [Gretzky] stand it when people refer to them as "quarters." [H/T to Puck Buddy Theodore N.]
• Spector on Scott Gomez(notes), Ilya Kovalchuk(notes) and Vincent Lecavalier(notes) trade rumblings. [THN]
• "Shooting Percentages and How They Play Folks For Fools." [Copper and Blue]
• A Philadelphia sports media case against the Philadelphia Flyers signing Ray Emery(notes): "How many times does it have to be proved that a guy can't be changed just because a franchise thinks it can change him? Two letters: T.O." [Philly.com]
• The NHL must turn over all documents regarding bids from "Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf or other ownership groups that would keep the team in Glendale." It might be slightly lower than Balsillie's. In the way that a '96 Buick is worth slightly lower than a Ferrari. [Phoenix Business Journal]
• Great stuff with newly minted Tampa Bay Lightning Coach Rick Tocchet. [Lightning Strikes]
• American Hockey Fan breaks down the "Play him off, piano cat" video Two-Line posted here on Monday. [AHF]
• Speaking of Two-Line, he was called out by "Dave Schultz" about what was considered some racialist language on Monday's "What We Learned." We hate it when our favorite people fight. [Hammer Rules, H/T Curl]
• Melt Your Face Off on postseason heroism and the media: "Get Ready for the Dave Steckstein Stories." [MYFO]
• The wit and wisdom of Jim Rutherford, GM of the Hurricanes. [WRAL]
• Finally, punches being thrown all over the ice between the Providence Bruins and the Worchester Sharks in the AHL:
