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.
Reminder: Rumors chat at 1 p.m. EST.
• The Florida Panthers are working the phones in an effort to trade the rights to UFA Jay Bouwmeester before he skates away. The Philadelphia Flyers are very much in the mix. The Palm Beach Post writes the following: "Bouwmeester, who is building a house in Edmonton, has made it known he wants to play somewhere hockey is taken more seriously than in South Florida." Has J-Bouw ever actually put it in those terms? [Palm Beach Post]
• The Toronto Maple Leafs taking Wade Redden off the New York Rangers' hands? Could there be a trade that sparks more tears from fans on both sides of the transaction? [Blueshirt Banter]
• The Chicago Blackhawks' GM won't rule out a Chris Chelios signing. But he's looking east. [Snapshots]
• Myth-busting Dany Heatley, in light of recent character assassinations. In summary: Not soft, not in decline, not a bad teammate and not worth $7.5 million in cap space ... although who is? [Silver Sevens]
• Peter Laviolette not looking like your next coach of the New Jersey Devils. [Fire & Ice]
• The St. Louis Blues make a push to host the NHL All-Star Game in 2012, just in time for President Palin to drop the first puck. [Biz Journal]
• The NHL loses a court case and looks like a bunch of greedy jerkweeds in the process, as it's been underfunding the players' pension fund for years. The League may have to "top up its pension fund by as much as $30-million and may have to make retroactive payments to the widows of deceased players." [Globe & Mail]
• Marian Gaborik wonders if we'll ever live in a world in which buying a home in another NHL city, having a best friend on the team in that city and having a relationship with that team's GM doesn't lead to tampering charges. [Star Tribune]
• James Sheppard and Josh Harding of the Minnesota Wild talk about hearing their names tossed around in trade rumors. [Post Bulletin]
• Dwayne Roloson is going to be 40. He wasn't a multi-year deal. The Edmonton Oilers would rather something a little more short-term. Ageism! [Sun Media]
• Really great chat with John Tavares's former coach-turned-scout Mike Oke about why the potential No. 1 pick is getting dogged by some in the hockey world. [Islanders Independent]
• Has the deconstruction of John Tavares been too severe? "These are the scouts and pundits who would look at Cindy Crawford and see only the mole." [Columbus Dispatch]
• Strong words from New Jersey Devil beat writer Tom Gulitti on Brent Sutter officially joining the Calgary Flames: "Brent Sutter did not fulfill his promise with the Devils. He abandoned them after two seasons in which he could not get them out of the first round of the playoffs. He had his reasons for leaving, but he abandoned them nonetheless." [Fire & Ice, and more tough talk from Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek]
• Lou Lamoriello wants compensation for Sutter leaving, but knows he won't get any. [Star Ledger]
• "Is he going to fire his brother if he screws up?" [Sun Media]
• Looking back at the draft trades of 2008. Totally forgot that R.J. Umberger was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets during the draft. Or that he actually had three goals in the playoffs this season. [THN]
• The names in play at the 2009 NHL Draft, from Phil Kessel to Ryan Smyth. [Lowetide]
• Solid profile of Evander Kane, one of the top forward prospects in this week's draft. Yes indeed: Named after boxer Evander Holyfield. [Vancouver Sun]
• Kirk Muller was so unsure he'd be back as a Montreal Canadiens assistant coach that he stopped taking French lessons. [Whig Standard]
• If the Atlanta Thrashers deal away Colby Armstrong to the Detroit Red Wings, "it means they don't understand winning NHL hockey." [Bird Watchers Anonymous]
• This was one of those painfully specific questions asked during yesterday's Hockey Hall of Fame conference call (that, unlike mine, were answered), but it results in a nice little story about two of the inductees: "Hull and Leetch combined for one of the greatest goals in U.S. hockey history in Game 3 of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey final when Hull redirected Leetch's wrist shot past Team Canada goalie Curtis Joseph to tie the score at 2-2." [NHL.com]
• Making the case for Luc Robitaille statue in LA. [Life in Hockeywood]
• So is Wayne Gretzky avoiding having to delve into details, or has he seriously not been in any conversations with anyone connected with the Phoenix Coyotes despite being head coach and part-owner? [Y! Sports]
• Great piece by Al Cimaglia about what will happen if Jerry Reinsdorf wins the bid to purchase the Coyotes, including his search for a "John McDonough clone" to change the culture of the franchise. [ESPN Chicago]
• Shocker: The Hamilton Spectator is completely skeptical of the Reinsdorf bid, to the point where it evokes the name of Boots Del Biaggio as the last owner the NHL approved after a failed Balsillie bid. [Spectator]
• Celebrating the great Cox Bloc, at the end of the Leafs blog's run. [PPP]
• Finally, we haven't posted this yet, so here goes: Yanni congratulating your Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins:
