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.
• After what's now an 0-3 start thanks to Todd Bertuzzi, Adrian Dater of the Denver Post goes nuclear on Colorado Avalanche management for its offseason decisions regarding goaltending, coaching and allowing heart-and-soul players like Andrew Brunette to leave. "Until management corrects some of the mistakes it made - and didn't need to make - over the summer, I don't see anything changing much from what we've seen so far." [Denver Post]
• Speaking of struggling teams in the West, Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews called a players-only meeting on Tuesday. Where he no doubt stared at them stoically until they yawned and Patrick Kane screamed, "They spent their own dough to get here, and they came here to see us! All right, let's show 'em what we got, guys!" [Daily Herald]
• Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom gets nervous about President Bush. Join the club, Nicky. [Snapshots]
• Meanwhile, MYFO has an exclusive look at President Bush's comments about the Wings' visit to the White House: "I was joking with Commissioner Batman before my speech about, how I had a lumber company and how come he didn't get the wood from me to make all those sticks that they use because I'm going to need to be doing something soon. I told him I was an amateur arbolist. Look up the word. I don't know, maybe I made it up." [Melt Your Face Off]
• "Two unnamed female witnesses will testify that David Frost participated in and orchestrated three-way sex and two-on-one sex involving them and young hockey players." Well, if you wanted our attention former NHL player agent sex trial, you've got it. [Sun Media]
Sports
• We understand the new NHL rule on injury disclosure, and why you may not want to leak that Player X has a concussion if he's going to be back on the ice in a few games. That said, if Radek Martinek of the New York Islanders is out for the next four to six weeks and the team calls it "an upper-body injury," that's just being a little too tight-lipped, isn't it? No one's going to even remember why he was out a month and a half from now. Sheesh. [Newsday]
• Ryan Hollweg, suspended another three games this week, clearly has some fences to mend in Toronto. [Sports and the City]
• Some notes from a very impressive win for the Los Angeles Kings last night over the Anaheim Ducks, including the fact that the Kings are now 14-for-14 on the kill. [Inside the Kings]
• The San Jose Sharks have placed Kyle McLaren on waivers. Again. Do they have the Tampa Bay Lightning's general e-mail address for potential deals involving veterans with hefty salaries? [Working the Corners]
• Speaking of the Bolts: Paul Ranger will return from injury for Thursday night's game against the appropriately named (in this case) New York Rangers, and Barry Melrose continues to get sliced and diced for not playing Steven Stamkos more often. [Tampa Tribune]
• Fantasy advice from Dobber: Strong buy on David Booth of the Florida Panthers, and be sure to give Chris Clark of the Washington Capitals and T.J. Oshie of the St. Louis Blues some attention. [THN]
• Steve Yzerman is expected to be named the Executive Director of Team Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver within the next ten days. [Dreger]
• Congratulations to Farmingdale State College for being named the official sponsor of the NYI Blog Box this season. What a difference a year makes. [Islanders]
• Finally, Bruce Boudreau appears in yet another local car dealership commercial. "They're pretty passionate about their jobs, eh?"
