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.
• With an eye on the 2010 Vancouver Games, Dominik Hasek comes out of retirement to tend goal for a Czech team. In 2010, Hasek will be 45 years old. [CBC Sports]
• Game 4 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers is tonight, and the dominant storyline right now is how the Flyers took the Pens off their game with post-whistle scrums and general agitation to win Game 3. Brooks Oprik to Philly.com: "The first two games, we were smart enough to stay away from it. We fell victim to it [on Sunday] and played right into their plan." [Philly.com]
• Meanwhile, some fascinating "let the game police itself" honor code stuff in the wake of Chris Kunitz's hit on Kimmo Timonen in Game 3, which went without additional punishment from the League. Scott Hartnell on his fight with Kunitz later in the game: "You can say whatever you want about the hit, but [Kunitz] showed some guts and class dropping the mitts." [Post Gazette]
• Pensburgh breaks down a scrap between Kris Letang and Darroll Powe from Game 3. [Pensburgh]
• Fairly huge news out of Columbus with the Blue Jackets down 2-0: Rookie center Derick Brassard, a Calder favorite before his injury, has been cleared for contact and could play in Game 4 against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. [Puck-rakers]
Sports
• There were 324 NHL players surveyed by Sports Illustrated before the playoffs about which team would win the Stanley Cup. Players could not vote for their own teams. Your winner: The Red Wings. And the Bruins were actually fourth overall. [A2Y]
• Two interesting factoids from this Sports By Brooks post: First, that the NHL doesn't test for performance enhancing drugs during the playoffs; and second, that SbB believes NHL players don't get steroid accusations thrown at them because baggy uniforms hide their massive artificially enhanced muscles. Reebok disagrees. [Brooks, via UniWatch]
• If you read one hockey blog post today, please let it be the evolution of Brian Engblom's hair by Mike Chen. We miss the Swedish Muppet's feathered mullet like the deserts miss the rain. [Chen]
• St. Louis Game Time with some inspiring words as the St. Louis Blues teeter on the brink of elimination against the Vancouver Canucks: "Not getting swept tonight is keeping the crest off the floor. No the Blues have never won a Stanley Cup. No the Blues aren't an Original Six team and can't boast some of the lineage that other franchises have. But this franchise and its fans have a special bond." [STL Game Time]
• The Canucks are being silent about the 'S' word. We know a guy on Sportsnet that'll say it for them ... and then some. [Sportsnet]
• A strange trend for the Anaheim Ducks: Every three years, a new goalie dominates in the postseason. All of this has happened before, and it will happen again ... [BoC]
• The light-up ThunderStix didn't go over all that well at MSG, but they sure did look purdy. [Getty]
• Tampa Bay Lightning boss Brian Lawton on the plan for the summer: "I think we'll be very aggressive. I think last year we definitely filled the bill of being shockingly aggressive. I think this year we'll try to fill the bill of being very aggressive." Whatever the hell that means. [Lightning Strikes]
• It's looking like Dennis Seidenberg in for Frantisek Kaberle as the Carolina Hurricanes seek redemption against the New Jersey Devils. [Fire & Ice]
• Being the Colorado Avalanche's general manager evidently ranks right above bathroom attendant at Taco Bell. [Jibblescribbits]
• The lingering legacy of Mike Dunham in Nashville. [On the Forecheck]
• Steven Ovadia with a line of the day candidate: "Over in Chicago, Patrick Kane has the flu at a pretty awful time. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville should have suited him up and just had Kane breathe on Flames skating by." [Puck Update]
• Byron Bitz of the Boston Bruins talks about jumping into his first NHL playoff game following the suspension of Milan Lucic. [Boston Globe]
• You know what the Montreal Canadiens really need? Their own Zdeno Chara. So get cracking on finding a dude that's 6-foot-9, 250 pounds and can shoot a puck faster than the Space Shuttle travels. Or maybe get a sample of his hair and combine it with frog DNA. [THN]
• What did the Washington Capitals' win over the Rangers mean last night? From JP: "Three previous NHL teams had lost Games 1-2 at home but won Game 3 by a shutout on the road in best-of-7 playoff series: All three suffered series losses." Huh. [Japers Rink]
• Finally, if you haven't seen what NHL.com is doing with its pregame Web show, here's a snip ... of Tim Thomas doing yoga:
