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.
• On the heels of the San Jose Sharks fans' campaign for Devin Setoguchi, the Boston Bruins and their fans have decided to support a write-in effort for ballot-snubbed goalie Tim Thomas. Bruins winger Shawn Thornton thinks Thomas himself should campaign; but the folks at Hub Hockey appear to have the "Get Out the Tim Thomas Vote" thing rolling already. Yes we can! [Hub Hockey]
• Brent Johnson is in goal for the Washington Capitals, and Alexander Semin/Viktor Kozlov Sergei Fedorov/Alexander Ovechkin may be rolled out on the same line tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. Remain calm ... all is well. [Japers' Rink]
• Purposefully ambiguous headline of the day: "Glenn Anderson should be praised for 'quirky' ways." [THN]
• Dallas Stars Coach Dave Tippett has chatted with Sean Avery and Steve Ott to "address some things." Again, maybe the chemistry is a problem in Dallas right now; but is there any way that problem is a bigger one than Marty Turco's inability to stop anything smaller than that giant globe Wayne from the Flaming Lips uses to walk over the crowd at a concert? [ESPN]
• Score one for the good guys, from George Richards: "I hear the Panthers are close to dropping the $25 fee for big games." Nothing like an economic downturn to show how dumb variable pricing is for hockey teams. [On Frozen Pond]
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• New York Rangers fans are preparing for a "Bigfoot" sighting: Much-loathed defenseman Marek Malik will return to the Garden with the Lightning. They're not booing, they're ... oh wait, yeah, they're booing. [Scotty Hockey]
• Steve Downie has six assists in the last two games for the Philadelphia Phantoms. A little anger management, and this kid's like Adam Oates minus the skating ability, hands and ice vision. [Philly.com]
• Sometimes, goalies lie. Even to Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings: "I had my goalie break his leg the day before the playoffs when I was at Red Deer College. He told me was out to get a pizza, went out to grab the pizza and slipped and broke his leg. Found out later that he went skiing on the weekend and broke his leg. How's that for a story?" Pretty damn funny, actually. [Freep]
• Cox gets behind women. For the Hockey Hall of Fame. [ESPN]
• Ryan Getzlaf is absolutely on fire, and the Anaheim Ducks are suddenly creeping up on the San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division. [Battle of California]
• "The owner of the Los Angeles Kings has joined the owner of the Minnesota Wild in a legal motion aimed at recouping the $17 million (all figures U.S.) they loaned to a William (Boots) Del Biaggio so he could buy part of the Nashville Predators." Yeah, but did they remember to tell Bettman they were doing it this time? [Toronto Star]
• Finally, remember how the Los Angeles Kings were going to be on "The Price Is Right" and stuff? Kudos to 2nd & Short from the National Post for digging up this video clip of the entire showcase showdown. Nothing makes us sadder than seeing an old fart wearing a "Bucket List" T-shirt having to suffer through hockey players reading cue cards:
