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Chris Pronger on potential retirement; Niemi for Vezina; Brad Richards update (Puck Headlines)

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.

• Welcome back Kipper.

• Chris Pronger says he’s not retiring from the Philadelphia Flyers. On visors, he said today: “I would be for visors, but it’s a slippery slope by allowing the league to mandate that. I don’t think the players won’t do it, but it’s a slippery slope." [Philly.com]

• No Brad Richards for the New York Rangers against the New York Islanders tonight. He said his post-Kaleta injury is not long-term: “I went in (to the boards) pretty hard. I’ve just got to let the body regroup a little bit here … Obviously, the neck and back are a little locked up.” [NYDN]

• Patrick Sharp will not travel with the Chicago Blackhawks to Colorado on Friday night, and could miss a few weeks. [@NHLBlackhawks]

• Plan the parade: Claude Julien says the Toronto Maple Leafs are “legit contenders.” [QMI]

• Ian White hasn’t asked for a trade from the Detroit Red Wings … yet. [Freep]

• The Minnesota Wild are cool with realignment, for obvious reasons. Said Zenon Konopka: “We've got 14 teams on our side, so any time you've got a better chance to make the playoffs, it's a bonus, and there's a lot less travel for us. So, for us, it was a no-brainer that we approved it right away. We hope it goes through. I'm sure there's a few other people that have something to say about it." [FS North]

• Damien Cox doesn’t know who Daniel Wagner is. Turns out he’s the guy who exposed Damien Cox this morning. [Backhand Shelf]

• Great stuff from Elliotte Friedman on analytics in hockey. Said Don Fishman, Washington Capitals assistant GM: “Everyone wants a black-and-white answer: Will a trade work or not? Nate Silver said analytics won't provide that... You can't do that in sports. But they might let you know if there's a 60 per cent probability whether something will work. So, you can determine if there is a better chance the trade will succeed for you." [CBC Sports]

• Scott Burnside hands the Vezina Trophy at the halfway mark to … Antti Niemi? [ESPN]

• Chris Bourque is placed on waivers by the Boston Bruins. [Bruins Blog]

• Good stuff from Kent Wilson on the Northwest Div. knuckling up: “The problem NHL decision makers seems to be the weighting of hitting and toughness beyond their utility. To be blunt, if you're trading puck possession/outshooting for hitting/toughness, you're almost certainly making your team worse, not better.” [Flames Nation]

• Craig Custance offers his list of the top 20 rentals at the trade deadline. Corey Perry leads the way. [E$PN]

Face It: The NHL Gives Zero [Expletives] About Concussions. [Dry Island Castaways, NSFW language]

• There may be a truce between Vincent Damphousse and his ex-wife Allana Henderson. [CP]

• Ryan Malone is back for the Tampa Bay Lightning. [Tampa Bay Times]

• The Los Angeles Kings are winnin’ faceoffs. “[The Kings’] faceoff ranking has catapulted from 22nd in the league to seventh due to a success rate of 57.2% over that time. Overall, the team has won 51.9% of faceoffs this season. L.A. finished seventh in the league by winning 51.5% of its faceoffs a season ago.” [LA Kings Insider]

• Braden Holtby makes his 11th straight start for the Washington Capitals this evening. [Dump ‘N Chase]

• Anton Volchenkov and Peter Harrold in; Mark Fayne and Adam Larsson out for the New Jersey Devils. [Devils]

• Tapeleg on Mike Milbury: “Why do you people pay attention to what he says? Actually, it’s a simple answer: he has a voice, and he uses it. I don’t mean voice as in vocal chords. I mean voice as in he has something to say, says it with conviction, is consistent, etc. Every time he says something stupid or controversial, which is by design, you get all outraged and point out how his opinion doesn’t matter because of what a bad GM he was. But if the audience gets all butthurt about him, he is going to keep going because he is getting ratings for NBC. If you are talking about Milbury, Milbury keeps talking. Simple equation. Let the man go, already. He’s wrong, we know it, move on.” [Jerseys and Hockey Love]

• Finally, here’s Chris Pronger speaking with the media at Philadelphia Flyers practice: