‘No progress’ after NHLPA proposal; Malkin vs. a lion; BizNasty EIHL player of the week (Puck Headlines)

• Maybe this is a photo of Evgeni Malkin at a Russian petting zoo. Or maybe, In Russia, in order to renew your driver's license, you have to best a lion in an "I quit" match.

• Shocking news: The NHL did not respond favourably to the NHLPA's proposal. "No progress today," said Donald Fehr. [Ren Lavoie] [Michael Grange]

• Why, despite what you're hearing, the NHL lockout isn't killing your city's economy. "Baade, Baumann, and Matheson, and a host of other economists, have done extensive research that supports the idea that professional sports franchises, and the publicly-financed stadiums in which they play, have little overall economic impact on their home cities. That's because most of what is spent by fans in and around stadiums isn't new money injected into the local economy; rather, it's money diverted away from other sectors of the city's economy. So when the NHL cancels games, most of the money doesn't leave the local economy. It's just spent elsewhere." [Think Progress]

• The EIHL Player of the Week: Paul Bissonnette. It's bizarro world in Cardiff. [Elite League]

• Elliotte Friedman explains the "cap benefit" system proposed in the CBA that would end the back-diving contract loophole. Effectively: the money that you avoid factoring into your cap hit gets factored into your cap hit after the player retires. Interesting. [CBC]

• Tyler Dellow on the latest NHLPA proposal: "So, basically, although the PA has now moved away from saying 'We get $X as our share and if you guys grow the business at Y%, you get what you want', they're now saying 'If you guys have a bad year, that's your problem, not ours.' [MC79 Hockey]

• If things go badly in today's CBA talks, Bobby Ryan will be joining Mora in Sweden next week. [Mora]

• Not only is Columbus is about to lose their all-star game, but top prospect Ryan Murray's shoulder injury appears serious. Season-ending surgery serious. On the bright side, there may not be a season for him to miss. Ah, life as a Columbus fan, where crushing disappointment is mitigated only by another, larger crushing disappointment. [Blue Jackets Xtra]

• Jason Spezza has committed to Canada's Spengler Cup team, and then he may return home from Switzerland, whether the lockout's over or not. [Ottawa Sun]

• How Jason Spezza playing in the Spengler Cup sort of ruins the mystique of the Spengler Cup. [6th Sens]

• Awesome: Jordin Tootoo and a handful of Ottawa Senators recently visited Inuvik in Canada's Northwest Territories to raise money for Aboriginal youth sport progams. [Inuvik Photos via Reddit]

• In case you're skeptical that one vote ever made a difference, it will effectively be Glendale city councilperson Yvonne Knaack deciding whether the city's 20-year arena deal with the Phoenix Coyotes goes through. [Biz Journals]

• 'Puck Gary' is lame. 'Puck Cancer', on the other hand, is not. The team's goal is to raise $30,000 for cancer research. Help them, m'kay? [Puck Cancer]

• The lengths Devan Dubnyk has had to go to find practice time are, in a word, ridiculous. #FreeDubnyk [Edmonton Sun]

• Sidney Crosby attended a Justin Bieber concert last night, which is a different sort of brain trauma entirely. [Deadspin]

• Ryan Kesler films a PSA for the BC Society of Transition Houses, who specialize in helping women and children escape violence. [PITB]

• The NHLPA sent a letter to Canadian Parliament, because of course they did. [TSN]

• Lou Lamoriello and Mark Recchi have been inducted into the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. [PHT]

• Daniel Sedin, on his and his brother's plan once their current contracts expire: "We have a year and a half on this current contract and then mentally I think it will be easier if we go year by year after that." [The Province]

• Jaroslav Halak has signed with Lausitzer of the 2nd Bundesliga in Germany. [Allan Walsh]

• It would appear that Nicklas Backstrom is still pretty good. Nice move here to get into the slot.