Ducks have unfinished business; Duchene’s big year; Glencross out six weeks (Puck Headlines)

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.

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• Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello celebrate as young Penguins fan yearns to engage in his own hockey hug.

• What's been the reason behind the Ducks' early season success? "Unfinished business" after a disappointing playoff exit last season. [ESPN]

• Nick Cotsonika on Brendan Shanahan's journey to the Hockey Hall of Fame. [Yahoo]

• Former NHLer Jody Shelley on fighting: "I wouldn't have even been on a roster. I wouldn't have made my major junior team. Not a chance. My career would've ended my first training camp with the Halifax Mooseheads in Campbellton, New Brunswick. Thanks for coming." [CP via Yahoo]

• The step Matt Duchene has taken this year in his development can be defined as "enormous." [THN]

• Rick DiPietro is getting back into the swing of things with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL and should another injury arise in the Hurricanes' net, he'll be on the fast-track back to the NHL. [NHL.com]

• Johan Franzen has missed five of six games for the Red Wings and is expected to miss Saturday's game as well. But Detroit believes he should return to the lineup on Tuesday. [MLive]

• Tim Thomas might return to the Panthers this weekend, so he won't play tonight against his old pals in the Bruins at TD Garden. Despite skating with the team this morning, Thomas declined to speak to the media. Wonder why? [CSNNE]

• Taylor Hall is back in the Oilers' lineup tonight as they visit the Lightning. He's missed the past seven games with a knee injury. [Oilers]

• The Flames will be without Curtis Glencross for six weeks after he suffered a sprained MCL against the Wild on Tuesday. [Calgary Sun]

• After missing five games with an upper-body injury, Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller said that Jeff Skinner would be out for at least another two weeks. [News Observer]

• Trying to figure out exactly why the Metropolitan Division has taken over from the Southeast as the worst division in the NHL. [Grantland]

• How would life be different if Ray Shero had drafted Jonathan Toews instead of Jordan Staal in 2006? [Get to Our Game]

• Bourne on the slumping Claude Giroux. [Backhand Shelf]

• More Giroux on his teammates belief things can turn around: "Maybe they believe it, but they don't believe it 100 percent. I really believe that when we start believing that we're a good team, that's when we're going to start winning games. We're not convinced that we are right now."[Philly.com]

• It's a vital point in the season for the Panthers and as GM Dale Tallon contemplates changes, difficult decisions must be made. [Panther Parkway]

• Pretty devastating knockout punch by Brandon Braddock of the Edmonton Oil Kings. [Buzzing the Net]

• A forgotten Jason Arnott memory: NHL 98. [The Sportsfan Journal]

• If your dream in life is to become an NHL general manager, you better hope it's with a U.S.-based team because then you'd have sweet, sweet job security. [On Goal Analysis]

• Which player is worth having on your fantasy hockey team? Kyle Okposo or Bryan Little? [Dobber Hockey]

• Good on David Backes for donating $24,000 toward the purchase hockey equipment for the Mankato Hockey Association's Try Hockey For Free event. [Mankato Free Press]

• Finally, here's a top 10 list of plays from this year's Hockey Hall of Fame class:

via Y! Sports Blogs - Yahoo Sports http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/ducks-unfinished-business-duchene-big-glencross-six-weeks-202126926--nhl.html