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.
• Peter Forsberg tells Swedish media that he's testing his right foot to see if he can make yet another return to the NHL. And if he can't? "If it doesn't work now I'm forced to give it up for good." Adrian Dater has a Swedish-language video interview with Forsberg and believes that Peter's comeback would logically be with the Colorado Avalanche. "I think Forsberg would want to play in Denver because he knows this is where the fans love him the most. And don't forget my other theory, that Foppa has a bit of a hero complex; I think he likes the feeling of being the white knight on the horse, there to save the day." [Denver Post]
• Chris Clark says that the ice at the Verizon Center is "the worst." Any thoughts, Ted? [Japers Rink]
• We love blogs about sports fans going to their first hockey game, and letting the light of puck into their hearts. Granted, this one got to watch the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks from a suite. [The Corner Gas Station]
• Exploring the New York Islanders' flirtation with Kansas City, their relationship with Long Island and the fact that their lease runs through 2015. In other words, there are plenty of reasons to believe relocating the Isles is unlikely. [Newsday]
• An in-depth look at the attendance challenges for the Nashville Predators and their fans. [Puck Money]
• Pierre McGuire talks about broadcasting, fighting and taking on Mike Milbury about Jaromir Jagr: "I will always stand up for my former players or draft picks. Now Mike is realizing how good Jaromir is as he is no longer in the league. Jaromir is a Hall of Fame player and one of the best players to have ever played his position." [Puck the Media]
• New Jersey Devils Coach Brent Sutter takes a jokey shot at Mats Sundin, in relation to Brendan Shanahan's comeback: "He wasn't traveling in North America, playing poker in those celebrity poker events and stuff." [Fire & Ice]
• One Rangers blogger assesses Brendan Shanahan's first game with the New Jersey Devils. [Manic Ranger]
• Meanwhile, the Rangers continue to hang near the top of the conference standings, but some believe the sky is still about to fall. "The Rangers, who are dead even in overall goal-differential, have a 0.95 five-on-five ratio, ranking them 15th in the league. They've scored 75 even-strength goals and allowed 79. Not exactly division-winning material." [LCS Hockey]
• Mirtle presents his 50 rental players to watch at the deadline. [From the Rink]
• Valtteri Filppula likely will move into Johan Franzen's spot on Pavel Datsyuk 's line. [Snapshots]
• Now that the Montreal Canadiens are getting healthy, what will their lineup look like? More to the point: What does it say about needing an enforcer when the Habs play their best hockey without Georges Laraque? [Lions in Winter]
• Blaming Jack "It'll Take a Miracle" Edwards for jinxing the Boston Bruins yesterday. [Two-Line Pass]
• The Bruins respond to that stunning loss yesterday with some line shakeups at practice. Michael Ryder back on the fourth line; wonder if he wore his old Habs sweater for old times' sake. [Bruins Blog]
• "ESPN Robbing America Of a Sport It Loves," a.k.a. another battle in the NHL vs. NBA war. [Bleacher Report]
• Exploring the virtues of the University of Arkansas ice hockey team. [The Hog Tale]
• Finally, we're not sure where this brawl clip is from, considering the YouTube tags include "Orr" and "TSN" and "blooper" and "owned." But if you're going to start a fight, might as well be with a Tito Santana flying forearm into the bench, right?
