Advertisement

NHL team air miles; Draft Day Eve chatter; Cup Final in slow-motion (Puck Headlines)

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.

• Amidst word that Rob Zombie will write and direct a Broad Street Bullies movie, Redditor "subwaysuicides" gives us its possible cover.

• If Nail Yakupov falls to no. 2, the Columbus Blue Jackets shouldn't let the bad memories of Zherdev and Filatov stop them from grabbing him. [Blue Jackets Xtra]

• Good stuff from Scott Burnside on sitting at the draft table. [ESPN]

• Oilers' head scout Stu MacGregor: "This has certainly been a more difficult process. There has been more players involved in the decision (first overall pick) this year than we've had in the past, for they've stayed in the discussion for a longer period of time. It's been a longer process than the previous two years, and I think some players have risen." [Oilers Nation]

• Be sure to read Horror at the Hockey Draft, a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. This is excellent. [Lighthouse Hockey]

• Dirk Hoag looks at the air miles teams will rack up based on their 2012-13 schedules. [On the Forecheck]

• Ken Reid's series on old hockey cards is great. Here's one on Henry Boucha and his yellow headband. [Sportsnet]

• Eric Duhatschek re-examines an old maxim in drafting: "Just about everybody in hockey subscribes to the same well-worn truth when it comes to assessing young defencemen vis-à-vis forwards: Generally, defencemen take far longer to develop than forwards, so if the goal is to win sooner rather than later, as it is in Edmonton, then the best strategy is to take the most NHL-ready prospect, the forward. But that thinking really doesn't hold up to scrutiny any more." [The Globe & Mail]

• I like this anecdote on Serge Savard winning the Masterton in 1979. "He could pay the league $1,500 for a half-size replica of the award, the original a 34-inch trophy of three flaming torches, or he could accept a free engraved plaque. He chose the plaque." Man after my own heart. [Montreal Gazette]

• Ranking the top 15 Americans in the NHL draft. [United States of Hockey]

• Turner is nearing a deal to buy Bleacher Report. [All Things D]

• How much does Ondrej Pavelec deserve? Whether you're talking about attention or money, the answer is less. [Artic Ice Hockey]

• Great profile of prospect Rhett Holland, who survived a horrific car crash two years ago because there was an ambulance directly behind him when it happened. He won't be at the draft -- he'll be busy giving blood instead -- but he'll have his phone on. [Ottawa Citizen]

• On Shane Hudella, who founded Defending the Blue Line, an organization that gives helps military families who love hockey. [ESPN]

• Sasky Stewart will be making a You Can Play support video and the NHL draft. You can be in it. [Sasky Stewart]

• Daniel Wagner sort of liked the NHL awards. He's a weird dude. [Backhand Shelf]

• Looking at some great late-round draft gems from the early oughts. [The Hockey Writers]

• And finally, because everything is beautiful when it's set in slow-motion and backed by soft piano, here's the loveliest 2011-12 Stanley Cup Final highlight package you'll see.