Tim Thomas speaks; Gagne selling mansion; New Devils owner talks motivations (Puck Headlines)

Harrison Mooney

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.

• Drew MacIntyre loves him some cartoons, apparently. That appears to be Roo, Cheer Bear, and a My Little Pony on the back of his mask. Why, exactly? [Reddit]

• Tim Thomas speaks about his return. "You know what really gave me the itch (was) watching the playoffs. I was so proud of those guys, what they did, what they accomplished. But it started to get the competiveness juices flowing again." So basically, it was watching Rask do his job that made Thomas decide to come back. [TSN]

• Josh Harris, the new owner of the Devils talks about his motivations for the purchase. Basically, he wanted the building, so he had to take the tenant. [Bloomberg]

• Matt Cooke is still working on changing his image, which makes sense, I'd say. [Star Tribune]

• In his first NHL game since March, Max Talbot blows Frank Seravalli away. [Philly]

• Jannik Hansen opens up about the birth of his twins, who were born prematurely. It was stressful, as one can imagine. [Vancouver Sun]

• Larry Brooks dances on John Tortorella's grave. Seriously, this column has the phrase "Ding Dong the Witch is dead". [NY Post]

• The NHL is keeping a close eye on Chris Hansen's downtown arena project in Seattle, since that hockey team they're pretty obviously planning to give the city could potentially move in there when it's finished. "Hansen has been seeking a partner who could be a tenant in a new building. Sources say NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has been quietly pushing owners to award a franchise to Seattle, perhaps as early as next year. The NHL has denied that any talks have taken place, and sources suggest nothing has been finalized." [King 5]

• ESPN ranks the NHL's top 50 defencemen. Travis Hamonic is nowhere to be found, because who really cares about any of this? [ESPN]

• If you're looking for a Quebec mansion, Simon Gagne is selling his for $3.95 million. [Busted Coverage]

• Patrick Kane on Bryan Bickell: "He's one of our key parts of our lineup now. He's got to know that going into this season and realize he's not counted on being a third-line player or a checking-line guy. He's got to do what he did in the playoffs. That's what's expected from him now." [Chicago Tribune]

• John Tortorella on throwing the Sedins in front of pucks: "The next question that I'm sure is going to be asked is what if they get hurt. So be it. You need to play the game the right way. You get injuries in a lot of different ways. You need to play the game the right way and that's what we're going to try to do." [NHL]

• Evaluating the tenure of Bryan Murray in Ottawa, with necessary context added. [Silver Seven Sens]

• Jaromir Jagr is still dealing with oldness muscle soreness, but he plans to skate in the next 24 hours. [Fire & Ice]

• The day after Cory Schneider plays a fabulous first game as a Devil, Martin Brodeur is announced as the opening-day starter. [Rich Chere]

• Prepare yourself for the 2013-14 Islanders with a little bit of John Keats. [Eyes on Isles]

• He doesn't score, but this is one incredible shift from Justin Hodgmann.