Puck Headlines: So should Philly just throw in the towel or what?

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.

• Note: Chicago/Calgary and Detroit/Columbus previews due up this afternoon.

• If you read the press reports about last night's 4-1 loss by the Philadelphia Flyers to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One, you'd believe the Flyers were better off forfeiting the series than embarrassing themselves any further. Like Sam Carchidi of Broad Street Bull, who hears talk of "bad bounces" and believes it's just total denial about how the season's in a death spiral. [Daily News]

• Or these chipper words from Sam Donnellon: "Mike Richards looked tired, damn tired, a look that has become unnervingly familiar over the last month of Flyers hockey." He goes on to call Richards gassed, potentially hurt and playing lazy. [Philly.com]

• Flyers bully Daniel Carcillo is facing a disciplinary hearing today for the NHL because of "message-sending" at the end of the game. Because who really wants drama and passion in the playoffs, right suits? [TSN]

• It's gotten so bad that Pittsburgh Penguins bloggers are offering advice on how to keep the series competitive ... like Big John Studd picking a wrestler off the canvas just to body slam him again. [The Confluence]

• People are still discovering those hilarious Boston Bruins commercials from earlier in the week; here's an interview with the ads' creators, in which they discuss their approach to the humor and the budgetary concerns over a $100,000 bear suit. [Creativity Online]

• Elfish author Mitch Albom is a genius: "I had this theory. Every man is deeper than his sound bite. If Datsyuk ever sat down, relaxed, away from the rink, and spoke in Russian, I figured, he'd be a whole different story." God, if only we had thought of that first. [Freep]

• Stan Fischler thinks the Washington Capitals are a paper tiger, that Alexander Ovechkin isn't worthy of the attention the media gives him and that the New York Rangers could sweep the series after winning Game 1. And that you should get off his lawn. [MSG]

• Tic Tac Toe Hockey is asking for an official Capitals fight song, alma maters-style. Like "Hail To The Redskins," except you actually want to hear it played. [TTT]

• Predicting the first round winners with an iPod shuffle and Radiohead songs. For a minute there, we lost ourselves. [Sens at Land's End

• Really interesting article on how the Detroit Red Wings view Rick Nash's abilities, breaking down the Columbus Blue Jackets' star before their series begins this evening. [Macomb Daily]

• The editor of Pens Universe, a pretty terrific Penguins blog, is chronicling the growth of his playoff beard day by day. Hopefully Pittsburgh makes a run so we can revisit the site in a few weeks and see, like, pieces of chicken wing hanging off his Joaquin Phoenix special. [Pens Universe]

• Forty-four percent of respondents to a Canadian poll said the chances that a team nord of da border winning the Stanley Cup were "slim." One hundred percent of respondents in Toronto added "... to none." [CP]

• The Vancouver Canucks sold out their home playoff opener last night, but unless the bathroom lines were ridiculously long all night there were more than a few empty seats in the barn. [Globe & Mail]

• Meanwhile, back in 1994 at the NHL's "Tweetup" playoff party in the NHL Store, fans mingled amongst the overpriced swag. [Getty]

• Kudos to Joe Bolts Fan for listening and breaking down a two-hour interview with Tampa Bay Lightning Coach Rick Tocchet. Great blogging. [Joe Bolts Fan]

• The five Washington Capitals players that fans wanted to punch in the face after last night's loss. Brandon Dubinsky disagrees. [Simply Sensational]

• The Puck Stops Here argues that Alexander Ovechkin could never take another shot on goal and still be a Hall of Famer. Ovechkin just took four shots on goal while you read this, actually. [Puck Stops Here]

• Should the Toronto Maple Leafs trade two first-round picks, Luke Schenn and other assets to the New York Islanders for John Tavares? [Down Goes Brown and Sports in the City]

• Our "What We Learned" columnist Two-Line offers his playoff predictions. [The Two-Line Pass]

• Tom Benjamin with some great afterthoughts on the bloggers-on-HNIC appearance this week. [Canucks Corner]

• Kevin Smith is blogging for the NHL again about the New Jersey Devils, and all is right in the world. [NHL.com]

• Origami Carey Price. Well-done. [Nedatanet, H/T Mark]

• Finally, Cecil the Hamster makes its 2009 Stanley Cup playoff picks in dramatic fashion. Never trust a prognosticator that drinks from a bottle and poops in a cage. This is actually the reason why don't listen to Matthew Barnaby, either. [H/T Eyes on the Prize]

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