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.
-Adrian Dater confirms that the "special" announcement to be made by the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday will be that Joe Sakic will hang up the skates after a 20 year career. Farewell Burnaby Joe, you'll always be the only Quebec Nordique in my McFarlane collection. [Denver Post]
-Mile High Hockey begins the numerous good-bye pieces we'll see over the new few days. [MHH]
-Those cries you heard from the West Coast this morning wasn't Wysh attending the Michael Jackson memorial service. It was his reaction to hearing that the American Hockey League has suspended the operations of our beloved Iowa Chops. Apparently the club was "unable to remedy certain violations of the provisions of the league’s Constitution and By-Laws." Not good times. Farewell Baby Backs, you shall be missed. [Iowa Chops]
-The AHL was busy today. They also announced the divisional realignment for the 2009-10 season. [AHL]
-A look at the revamped Toronto Maple Leaf defense. [Sports and the City]
-The Stanley Cup, World Series Trophy, and Super Bowl Trophy all walk into a government building....[Pittsburgh Penguins]
Sports
-Not long after Roberto Luongo appeared on The Weather Channel, here's video of Stanley Cup champions Tyler Kennedy and Kris Letang learning to do the weather themselves on KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh. [KDKA]
-Anaheim re-signed overtime hero Todd Marchant to a two-year, $2.25 million deal. [Ducks Blog]
-Looking at the future goaltending situation in Dallas. [Defending Big D]
-Tampa released their pre-season schedule today which features games in Washington State, Winnipeg, and Regina. [Lightning]
-Interesting piece by Mark Bradley about Atlanta Thrashers GM Don Waddell and his quest to impress soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Ilya Kovalchuk. [AJC]
-The Hockey News' Rory Boylan says that Waddell shouldn't put all his focus into pleasing Kovalchuk. [THN]
-In an interview, President Obama said that growing up in Hawaii, there was no hockey. Japers' would like to remind the POTSU about Waikiki Hockey. [JP]
-Finally, President Obama was in Russia today speaking to graduates at the New Economic School in Moscow and thanked his host country for one electric export:
(h/t to Hugging Harold Reynolds)
