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Puck Headlines: Penner, Richards fallout; trade deadline review

Greg Wyshynski

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.

• Pass or Fail: The Chicago Wolves St. Patrick's Day jersey. [Wolves, via Hockey Broad]

• Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews(notes), San Jose Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi(notes) and New Jersey Devils goaltender Johan Hedberg(notes) have been named the NHL "Three Stars" for the month of February. Johan Hedberg. No. 3 star for an entire month. As the Devils goalie. Incredible.

• New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello on Zach Parise(notes): "Zach Parise will be seeing the physician on [March 2] and we will have knowledge of exactly where he's at, and what he can do, and when he can skate, when he can't skate. ... The results of the examination, that will say everything." [Devils]

• Long interview on 1310 The Ticket in Dallas featuring Brad Richards(notes) of the Dallas Stars, in which he says he never agreed to waive his no-trade clause for the New York Rangers; talks about his concussion recovery; and discusses housemate James Neal(notes) being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. [Stars]

• Kings GM Dean Lombardi on whether Richards was in play: "No, I don't think he was ever a viable option, pretty much (since) early last week. I think it was probably pretty far-fetched, given where Dallas is and that we're in the same division. That was highly unlikely." [LA Kings Insider]

• Is Jason Arnott(notes) the new Sergei Fedorov(notes) for the Washington Capitals? We'll assume they aren't talking about skating ability. [Capitals Insider]

• The threat of legal action by the Goldwater Institute is really raising the price tag for the Phoenix Coyotes for the city of Glendale. [AZ Republic, via reader Solo]

• Great piece by Jeff Z. Klein on 37-year-old Donald Brashear(notes) and the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, considered "the toughest hockey league in the world." [NY Times, via reader 'the immortal reg dunlop']

• "My question is...does throwing up everywhere and then passing out in it, at a sold out hockey game, in front of thousands of people get this guy laid?" [Barstool and viewer discretion is advised; via Dave McBrayer]

• Analyzing the Los Angeles Kings' big trade: "The Penner is Mightier than the Sturm." [Royal Half]

• Another take on the Dustin Penner(notes) trade: "For those who were clamoring for a big deal at the deadline, you got it. For those who didn't want to see chemistry or core compromised, you got it." [Pro Sports Blogging]

• Interesting piece comparing Penner's trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs' choice to hang on to Clarke MacArthur(notes) at the deadline. [PPP]

• Nice work out of Phil Kessel(notes), as the Toronto Maple Leafs star donated $5,000 to Brendan Burke Internship, USA Hockey announced Tuesday; money one assumes had come from his "Mr. Irrelevant" windfall at the NHL All-Star Draft. [The Star]

• Why, exactly, are the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers trade buddies? [Pass It To Bulis]

• If you missed it, the Twitter dust-up between Florida Panthers president Michael Yormark and Miami Herald writer George Richards. Randy Moller, Panthers announcer, told us on Puck Daddy Radio Tuesday that they shared a laugh about it Tuesday morning. [Pro Hockey Talk]

• The Montreal Canadiens lose Jaroslav Spacek(notes) for 4-6 weeks to surgery. Said Spacek: "The situation is that I went to see the doctor yesterday and we decided to go for a clean up of my knee. I think it's a good thing for me because at least I can come back this season." [Canadiens]

• Quebec's new hockey arena would be called the Videotron amphitheatre. Look, if this means lightcycle races when the New Nords are on the road, we're all for it. [Y!]

• Following up on this great piece by Leahy: "The Checkers today announced ‘Facebook Fandemonium 2,' an online fundraising initiative with the goal of raising $25,000 for Zach 'Bug' Bennett and his family. For every new ‘like' the Checkers get on their Facebook fan page, the team will donate $2 to the Bennetts, up to $25,000, as they continue to gather the resources needed to move to Charlotte." [Checkers]

• Darren Eliot on the trade deadline: "It was hard to wow or surprise anyone with anything that went down. I mean, how much wonder can there be in a cap era where exchanging assets is done under much narrower parameters and players send tweets as they walk out of a GM's office, as defenseman Brent Sopel(notes) did when he was sent from Atlanta to Montreal? The world was aware of the move before Sopel had gathered his gear and left the building." [SI]

• Down Goes Brown presents deadline winners and losers. "Loser: Vancouver Canucks -- Despite a handful of minor moves, still completely failed to address the team's most obvious flaw, a distinct lack of depth on the sixth line." [DGB]

• Steven Ovadia on the NHL trade deadline's meaning this season: "So while a slow deadline day is always kind of a bummer, it really is a sign of the NHL's overall health. The league has achieved parity and while that doesn't always make for exciting games, it gives the fans plenty to root for over the course of a very long season." [Puck Update]

• Are the Carolina Hurricanes a playoff team? [Canes Country]

• NOT HOCKEY: As we pour a little out for our mates at NHL FanHouse Tuesday, a great look back at the Great Fantasy Sports Girl Mutiny. [Deadspin]

• Via Scotty Hockey, a look at what the $1.575 billion stadium complex in Las Vegas would look like. [Wired]

• A podcast featuring Bourne, Lambert and Sean Gentille of The Sporting News? Yes please. [JTBourne]

• Finally, using Blur's "Song 2" can spice up any highlight of a 9-year-old scoring. But why is the title of this "Ice-Hockey Crack"?