Here are your Evening 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.
• First off, the response to our Alexander Semin interview has been tremendous, and thank you for it. TSN, Canwest and Sportsnet have all picked up his comments to Dmitry Chesnokov about Sidney Crosby. None of them could actually bring themselves to use the word "blog" in the story, but we'll consider their using our reporting without proper attribution thanks enough.
• Speaking of Sid the Kid: He's day-to-day with what's being called a "sore hip." Is a hip a lower body or upper body injury? Guess it depends on how long your legs are. [A Cable Network in Canada]
Preview: Dallas Stars at Chicago Blackhawks (8:30 p.m. EDT; TV: FSSW, CSNC). The last time these two teams met, back on Oct. 2, they combined for "141 penalty minutes, three fights, three misconducts and a match penalty." And Blackhawks tough guy Adam Burish wasn't even in the lineup. With a game in Boston Saturday night, the Stars are once again going with Tobias Stephan in goal tonight.
• Making the case for Brendan Shanahan for the St. Louis Blues. [Hockey Guy]
• Interesting take on the injury disclosure issue by former NHL goalie Kelly Hrudey, who comes out in favor of intentional vagueness. [CBC]
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• "Someone has to tell NHL rinks to dial back on the piped music (or what passes as music in 2008)." And get off my lawn, you meddling kids. [Bruins Blog]
• Strange twist to the Alexei Cherepanov story: "Col. Vladimir Karpenko, a spokesman for the commander of Russia's Railway Troops, said in comments on state-run First Channel that Cherepanov should have been serving his mandatory military service with his unit, not playing hockey with the Omsk club Avangard." [Fox Sports]
Preview: Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m. EDT; TV: RSW, KDOC). Brian Sutherby, Ryan Carter and George Parros are providing good energy minutes for the Ducks, who are rolling right now. Meanwhile, this Canucks blog ripped off Leahy's idea for Vancouver, but the Nelson and Kyle Wellwood jokes are just too good.
• If you're going to do the "Halloween costumes for NHL players" thing, Stanley Cup of Chowder shows you how. "Michael Ryder: Alexander Hamilton -- Neither one is very good in shootouts." Ouch! [Chowder]
• The NHL Network is going to air college hockey every Friday night throughout the rest of the season. Bowling Green at Miami (Ohio) on Jan. 30? Consider this calendar marked! [NHL]
• What Pavel Valentenko of the Montreal Canadiens leaving for the KHL means to the NHL. [Puck Stops Here]
• Jarret Stoll drops from second line center to fourth line winger for the Los Angeles Kings. Rachel must be crushed. [Inside the Kings]
• Dustin Brown will "donate $50 for each of his body checks during the 2008-09 season to KaBOOM!, a non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of very child in America." Awesome. [Kings]
• Is Derek Dorsett of the Columbus Blue Jackets the next Matthew Barnaby-type? [Sporting Blog]
• We always love when people discover the twisted humor of the Yahoo! Sports NHL player profiles. [5-hole.com]
• Finally, something to get you in that violent, gory Halloween mood: 4th Line Productions' hits and fights of the month.
