The National Hockey League surveys thousands of its fans through the NHL Fan Faceoff program, asking all manner of questions about the game, fan behavior and the direction of the League.

In the latest survey, two questions caught the eyes of a few of our readers; ones that specifically ask about eight cities (s/t Matt C.):

NHL Survey

And then the follow up question, via reader Dan K.: “If you were in those cities, and if they had an NBA or NHL team, would you go and see a game there?”

Now, the common thread is that none of these cities currently have either an NHL or NBA team. In other words, if the NHL theoritically expanded to any of them, they'd be "first in market," which is a significant advantage to whoever becomes the city's only pro arena team. (See: Oklahoma City, and a blown opportunity for the NHL years ago.)

I used to work in market research. The setup of these questions smacks of “obscuring the obvious,” which is to poll specifically about Seattle, Las Vegas and likely Kitchener.

It’s not a coach’s challenge, but the NHL’s general managers have discussed one way to handle blown goalie interference calls during games: Allowing on-ice officials to use monitors inside the penalty boxes to determine the validity of goals onl interference plays they whistle.

There are, of course, questions about how in the name of Tim Peel any of this would work.

“Do we blend it into a coach’s challenge? Do we keep the coach’s challenge out of it? Is every one reviewed? Does a referee use a monitor in the penalty box instead of gong to Toronto and having them see it?” asked St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong, after Tuesday’s GM meetings session in Boca Raton, Fla. “It was great dialogue, and there was really no consensus coming out of it. It’s something we need to continue to explore.”

There was no formal proposal on this idea or any ideas surrounded expanded replay, as least not yet. But there was general consensus that the NHL’s “war room” should broaden its scope in reviewing

Evgeni Malkin made the media standing outside the Penguins locker room wait for him after the Pittsburgh Penguins' Monday night win in Washington against the Capitals. The pain of losing in Sochi is still present on Malkin’s face every time a question is asked about it. And he doesn’t hold back answering. Malkin talked walking to the team bus on Monday night.

The Washington-Pittsburgh games have lost their luster a little. Don’t you think?

“I don’t know. I think fans still like them. The playoffs will start and if we play against each other I think everything will come back. The season is long, there are a lot of games. And now every time we play against Washington now the hype is not the same. Maybe because Sid had some injuries in the past the draw of this game was lost.”

This is the first time after the Olympics you played against Washington. Did you and Alex Ovechkin talk?

“No. We arrived late last night, and we are leaving right after the game. They are also leaving right away.

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.

• Is this a new Arizona Coyotes logo? Or just a prototype? [SportsLogos]

• Is Patrick Roy the Jack Adams frontrunner? [The Hockey News]

• The Avalanche may be hosting an outdoor game next season at Coors Field. [Denver Post]

• The Colorado Avalanche have lost P.A. Parenteau for 4-6 weeks with a knee injury. [NHL]

• Dave Andreychuk gets a statue in Tampa Bay. [Lightning]

• The Flyers will be unveiling a Fred Shero statue on Saturday. [Flyers]

• The NHL handled the Rich Peverley situation perfectly. [Bruins Daily]

• What can the Washington Capitals do to fix their blueline? [Japers Rink]

• Someone had to pay for last night's collapse at Rogers Arena. It was the concession staff. The Canucks need winning food. "We need hot dogs committed to long-term success. Hot dogs with character. And heart. And grit. Well maybe not grit. Definitely heart, though. But not animal heart. Preferably meat." [PITB]

• Things people did when the Canucks were up 3-0 versus the Islanders. [The Province]

When Rich Peverley was being carried to the back by Dallas Stars medical and training personal, having slumped over on the bench during their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night, rookie forward Alex Chiasson sat on the boards, his back to the ice.

Moments later, he was seated on the bench, his head down. Like his teammates, have had an idea what ailed Peverley – he missed the preseason with an irregular heartbeat – and like his teammates, he wasn’t sure what happened to him after he was carried off, looking lifeless.

Peverley was taken to UT Southwestern St. Paul hospital on Monday night, alert and resting according to doctors who treated his “cardiac event” during the first period of the game.

According to the Stars, Chiasson also went to the hospital last night as well, distraught over the Peverley incident. He was released, but the Stars felt it was best that he didn't play 24 hours after the incident.

The rookie did not fly with the team to St. Louis for their

Kimmo Timonen’s in an interesting career crossroads, ahead of what assumes is the end of the road for his NHL career.

The nearly 39-year-old defenseman seems to have discovered a fountain of youth amidst the stray dogs of Sochi: He has seven points in four games since the Olympic break, including two goals in the Philadelphia Flyers’ overtime loss at Toronto on Saturday. He’s playing well as the Flyers push for the playoffs and potentially achieve Timonen’s dream of winning the Stanley Cup.

It’s that dream that brought him back to the Flyers for one season at $6 million.

“That’s why I’m still here,” he told CSN Philly. “It keeps you motivated every night, thinking about that I still have a chance to get it. Hopefully it’s this year.”

But is it a dream that’ll bring him back to the NHL again next season?

Timonen told Sarah Baicker of CSN that he’s undecided about next season. It all depends on how his body reacts to this season and if he believes he can rev up the engine for another 82

After Finland’s women’s team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Sweden at last month’s Olympic tournament in Sochi, goaltender Noora Raty announced that she was retiring from the national team. The 24-year old also noted she was retiring from club play, but only if she couldn’t find a competitive league to participate in.

With the lack of professional women’s hockey leagues around the world, Raty will be taking her skills and facing off against men. The netminder will join Kiekko Vantaa of the Mestis League, Finland’s second highest division, next season after signing a one-year deal.

From YLE:

She has been an outspoken critic of the way Finland’s ice hockey association treats women players, demanding improved facilities and training conditions. She says that she will not be a big star for Kiekko Vantaa, but is likely to play a few minutes here and there to allow the number one goalie to take a breather.

”Even though the contract has been signed, that doesn’t guarantee anything,”

It was chaos.

Rich Peverley had come off the ice on a line change Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Roughly 30 seconds later, he was keeled over on the Dallas Stars bench.

“I instantly stood on the bench and started screaming up in the crowd for a doctor,” said Coach Lindy Ruff. “And actually there was I think one lady put her hand up. I think she had a Stars jersey on, said she was a doctor. I was just screaming to let the doctors know we needed somebody ASAP and they were there ASAP.”

Ruff knew Peverley’s health history: He had an ‘a-fib’ condition that was treated in the preseason, as doctors shocked his heart to get it back into the proper rhythm. He missed the preseason but felt fine through much of the regular season. Then, last week, Peverley missed a game with Dallas because he “felt strange” but returned to the lineup for games against Vancouver and Minnesota, in which he had three points.

But on Monday, something was very, very wrong.

“I was scared,” said Ruff.