Here are your Evening Puck Headlines and Previews: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.
• From the NHL comes this artist's rendering of the 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field between the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. Love the hockey-ization of the baseball diamond. Don't like the constant teasing that it's going to snow again for the Classic. Because it'll be a real bummer if it doesn't.
Preview: New York Rangers at New Jersey Devils (7 p.m. EST; TV: MSG, Yahoo! Sports). The Rangers are 9-0-2 against the Devils in their last 11 regular season games, and have outscored them 9-3 in two wins this season. The Devils are going to try and unleash the fury of a Crash Line-esque group of Mike Rupp-Bobby Holik-David Clarkson. Have a beer on the NJ Transit for us, fans.
Preview: Ottawa Senators at Washington Capitals (7 p.m. EST; TV: RSN, CSN). Over/under on announcers' Senators/Nation's Capital jokes: 23. Key matchup between the Capitals' checking lines and the Senators' Pizza Line, as secondary scoring hasn't exactly been plentiful for the Sens. Brent Johnson gets the call for the Caps. And we now know who their backup will be. Yikes.
• Mike Keenan descends into self-parody with his defiant comments about Todd Bertuzzi's play. "No evidence to the contrary can convince me that Bertuzzi isn't that good of a hockey player anymore." [Five Hole Fanatics]
• Mike Brophy looks at some of the creative ticket packages around the League, including with the Florida Panthers: "[You get] a $5 gas card, free parking and a Coca-cola combo meal. You get all of this for a whopping $17. Now let's assume parking is $10. The ticket price is now down to $7. The gas card drops it to $2. And you just know you can't buy a combo meal at an arena for under $7 dollars. You take advantage of this package and you actually make money." [Sportsnet]
Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs at Buffalo Sabres (7:30 p.m. EST; TV: RSN, MSG). Or as it's better known, "When the Sabres gouge the Leafs fans with variable pricing." National Post headline: "Finger dipped in ice cream when drafted." You had us at "dipped."
Preview: Boston Bruins at Atlanta Thrashers (7:30 p.m. EST; TV: NESN, SS). The Bruins are trying to avoid their first back-to-back losses since October. Colby Armstrong will be wearing a mic during tonight's game for Atlanta; hopefully it'll pick up all the muttering to himself when he gets stoned by Tim Thomas. Ondrej Pavelec starts for the Thrash.
• In a season of wacky decisions on defense, the Tampa Bay Lightning add another one: Waiving Mike Lundin, who played in the NHL Youngstars game last season. [Bolts Report]
• Meanwhile, Dan Boyle is rather pleased to be a part of the Lightning mess this season. [AP]
Preview: Detroit Red Wings at Dallas Stars (8:30 p.m. EST; TV: FSD, FSSW). We take back everything we ever said about Stephane Robidas: dude played half a game with a busted jaw. Meanwhile, Chris Chelios finally admits that he fought in the Civil War. "Ah, yes, the Civil War, where Chelios fought for a soldiers' union..." Well-played, Mr. Malik.
Preview: Chicago Blackhawks at Colorado Avalanche (9 p.m. EST; TV: CSNC, ALT, Yahoo! Sports). Adam Foote is back for the Avs, but Adrian Dater is wondering if Colorado is way too over-cautious with the way it handles injuries of the non-snowblower variety.
• It's official: Roberto Luongo has suffered a setback in his comeback. [Globe & Mail]
• Potential all-star Ray Emery looks like he's having a good time over in the KHL. [Sens Army Blog]
Preview: Florida Panthers at Calgary Flames (9 p.m. EST; TV: RSW). And we have a Tomas Vokoun sighting! Craig Anderson will be on the pine tonight, despite some saying he's played his way into the Vezina race. To which we say: yeah, we like him too. But 13 starts does not a trophy make.
• Finally, to bookend our Winter Classic coverage, the new trailer for the event.
