Reaction to NHL’s proposal; don’t choke coaches; Andrew Ference, spin fighter (Puck Headlines)

• Struggling to decide which college hockey team you should cheer for? Let this chart, which was created using the science of emotion (i.e. not science) be your guide. Click to enlarge to readability. [Lost City of Bettman]

• Jesse Spector on the NHL's latest proposal: "There is Bettman's genius: By holding out until now to ask for what he really wants, to put a true first offer on the table rather than the wish lists the NHL has previously trotted out, he looks reasonable. And by putting a 10-day shelf life on the offer, Bettman addresses what has been a major annoyance for the league—the NHLPA slow-playing negotiations all summer long, going back to waiting a full month to make a counterproposal after the NHL came to the table with its initial desires." [Sporting News]

• Chemmy's not so into the proposal: "This does not seem like a genuine attempt to end the lockout. This seems like NHL owners are trying to win the PR war so they can wage an extended lockout and force NHLers into their terms. The NHL's offer was designed to get people excited about a season happening in much the same way that Luntz' coining of 'death panels' was designed to get people to dismiss health care reform in the US." [Pension Plan Puppets]

• Eric Duhatschek is a bummer: "It is easy to jump the gun in these situations. For proof, consider the events of December, 2004, when the NHLPA offered a 24 per cent rollback that felt as if it should get a deal done. It didn't. Instead, the two sides were still bickering two months later and then the season was eventually cancelled." [The Globe & Mail]

• How Tim Horton went from hockey sticks to stir sticks. [National Post]

• A Minnesota man was sentenced to six months in prison for choking in his son's hockey coach. See, you're not supposed to do that, is the thing. [Star Tribune]

• Calgary Flames' prospect Sven Baertschi is off to an amazing start in Abbotsford. [Calgary Herald]

• "We care about sport more than spin," said Andrew Ference, using spin. [CSNNE]

• Steve Dangle and Andrey Osadchenko are doing KHL highlight packages for the Nation Network. Here's Novokuznetsk versus St. Petersburg. The headshot at 0:52 is absolutely horrifying. [Leafs Nation]

• Mark Spector thinks it's time for Gary Bettman to go. He is the first person to think this. [Sportsnet]

• Why NHL fans should be rooting for the success of the KHL. [Pensburgh]

• The top 10 references to the Canucks in TV and film. I think every team blog should do one of these. Hockey teams show up in some strange places. [Canucks Army]

• Are NHL hockey players the toughest athletes? I'll say no, because ferret legging is a thing. [The Hockey Writers]

• In the wake of the NHL's latest offer, 7 steps the NHLPA can take to keep public perception on their side. [The Province]

• Getting a phone call from someone trying to sell you Blue Jackets tickets: offensive on so many levels right now. [Nightmare on Helm Street]

• Meanwhile, totally unrelated to public relations, NHL Green is the NHL's new sustainability blog. [NHL]

• Read H.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Fellowship of the Revenue'. [Lighthouse Hockey]

• And finally, enjoy this beauty of a shot from 17-year-old Dylan McLaughlin, who goes between-the-legs for the goal. [Buzzing the Net]