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.
• Please recall last postseason, when the constant claims of goaltender interference by coaches in nearly every series got very annoying quite quickly, and made life hell for that poor Tomas Holmstrom. Well, Calgary Flames Coach Mike Keenan is first out of the gate with complaints about goalie interference by the Chicago Blackhawks -- both on Martin Havlat's game-winner (Keenan: The officials "didn't make the call because of the excitement of overtime") and in general about the Hawks "running" Miikka Kiprusoff. Something tells us the Flames will be doing extra work on the power play next game. [Between the Circles]
• Speaking of Chicago and goalies, a rather interesting story about Nikolai Khabibulin and his relationship with women's tennis. Not in, like, a Kournikova way. [Chicago Tribune]
• Great news for Versus, as the ratings for the first night of Stanley Cup playoffs action were up from last year. How this will affect the numbers for "The Best of Sports Soup" replays is anyone's guess. [Puck The Media]
• New Mental Floss quiz: Don Cherry outfit or clown costume? [Mental Floss, H/T Allison]
• Big Georges Laraque calls the Montreal Canadiens' defeat against the Boston Bruins in Game One a "good loss" and talks about playing on a top line with Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev. A line we hope remains together, because GAS Line could be a killer nickname. [Bruins Blog]
Sports
Get today's sports news out of Los Angeles. Here's the latest on the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Kings, Galaxy, LAFC, USC, UCLA and more LA teams.
• Fear The Fin steadfastly refuses to panic even after the Anaheim Ducks shut out the San Jose Sharks in Game One: "If anyone is Chicken Littling right now you don't even know how to tie your shoes. Get a grip. It's called a seven game series for a reason." [Fear The Fin]
• Is Rick Tocchet holding up contract talks with Tampa Bay Lightning management? In this economy? [Joe Bolts Fan]
• You know, NHL.com should have some basic requirements for its celebrity bloggers: (a) Watch the games and/or (b) at least have a functioning DVR to watch them on the rebound. No matter how cute said blogger may be. [NHL.com]
• Jeff Schultz is not practicing with the Washington Capitals today, and the thought is that he's injured. Well, of course ... you try playing with broken ankles. [Capitals Insider]
• Speaking of Schultz, Kevin Schultz of Barry Melrose Rocks discovers that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is on Twitter. And yes, it's actually him; no one else could possibly be that bland. [BMR]
• Brendan Shanahan didn't lose any dentures teeth after taking a puck to the mug. [Star Ledger]
• Japers breaks down the two Washington Capitals breakdowns against the moribund New York Rangers' power play. [Japers Rink]
• Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla shakes the hand of new Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, trying to hide his disappointment that it's not Matt Cassel instead. [Getty]
• Solid breakdown of the Blue Jackets' Game One loss to the Detroit Red Wings. [Puck-rakers]
• Making the argument that the Sedins are playing so well that they might be worth the bizonkers amount of money it'll take to re-sign them long-term. [Sportsnet]
• Boston University star Matt Gilroy expects to make a decision on his NHL future by this weekend, and that future could be with the Toronto Maple Leafs. [Sun Media]
• Previewing Game 2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins/Philadelphia Flyers series from both sides of the Battle of Pa. We're betting dollars to donuts that this one's going get a little chippy earlier rather than later. [Pensburgh and Broad Street Hockey]
• Great postmortem by Michael Russo on the Minnesota Wild's sweeping regime change, and a list of potential candidates for the new GM: Jay Feaster, Pat Quinn, Doug MacLean, Neil Smith, Rick Dudley, Pierre McGuire and Nashville Director of Hockey Ops Mike Santos and assistant GM Paul Fenton. Pierre McGuire as the general manager of a National Hockey League team ... his office would be between the benches, of course. And has the term "monster" ever been used in a salary arbitration hearing? [Star Tribune]
• Brian Burke is not about to allow his right hand to take over the Minnesota Wild. [Sun Media]
• Finally, if you haven't seen it, Mike Cammalleri's fantastic cheap shot on Havlat during a faceoff last night. We demand a super-slo-mo version!