September 7th marks the first anniversary of the tragic Lokomotiv plane crash that claimed 44 lives. As the hockey world mourns, we present you with some of the most moving photos of the memorial services around Russia courtesy of Pavel Lysenkov. He has provided some unforgettable imagery of the first anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies the sports world has seen.

The Phoenix Coyotes sale saga has trudged on for so long that most hockey fans, including those in Glendale, have been conditioned to shrug off any news of an impending sale. This time around, however, it appears that buyer Greg Jamison does in fact have the $170 million cobbled together. A familar name is also involved: Ice Edge Holdings, who made an unsuccessful bid for the franchise previous to Jamison and Matthew Hulsizer's failed bid. This being the Coyotes, the whole thing can't possibly be as easy as Jamison writing a check. And it isn't.

EA recently unveiled a fantastic new commercial for their latest game NHL 13 simply titled "Our Game". The 1-minute spot shows off some of the best parts of the sport we love, from the physical side to the beauty of Evgeni Malkin making defenders look silly. 

Unfortunately, the ad's tagline of "Our Game" is loaded with irony given the current state of the NHL.

Steven Stamkos delivered one of the most incredible shootout goals you'll ever see at the BioSteel Camp, an event where he captained a squad that competed against Tyler Seguin's team in a friendly matchup. The relaxed event allowed Stamkos to try something a bit different when it came down to a shootout. The end result was nothing short of spectacular as Stamkos drug the puck behind his back and buried it past a helpless Eddie Pasquale. 

The grainy video makes it tough to tell how Stamkos actually pulled off his trick shot but it's enough to capture what was a memorable moment from the camp.

Congratulations Steven Stamkos. You made us crave a full 2012-13 season that much more thanks to your magical shootout effort. 

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David Rogers is a staff writer for Puck Drunk Love & runs FrozenNotes.com.

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The negotiation process between the NHL and the NHLPA had been fairly calm over the past several weeks. The two sides remained divided on revenue sharing but the conversation always seemed to be mostly respectful. That all changed this week when Zach Parise and Danny Briere opened up about their opinions on the negotiation process, specifically calling out commissioner Gary Bettman.

 

You might remember last year that EA Sports, thanks to the protestations of a little girl from Buffalo (presumably so a girl could beat her brother in both real life and in the game), added women to the Create a Pro option. I covered this on my site, Thrashing the Blues, and I wasn't exactly thrilled with how they turned out. Let's just say they were a little too Ivan Drago for my liking, but hey, thems the breaks when you're working with a video game. At least the thought was there -- women, while not a significant portion of the gaming population -- do play video games. I've been playing games since I was 7, and I've been playing EA Sports' NHL franchise since NHL 94.

New to fantasy hockey? Rest assured. We've got you covered. This article will cover some of the basics that you'll need to know heading into your first fantasy hockey league. 

We're well aware there might not be a season in 2012-13 but this list should still be applicable whenever the owners and players finally reach a deal.

We're desperate for hockey topics to talk about. You've heard the speculative rumors about Player A potentially signing with Team B. You've heard the rather depressing news about the collective bargaining agreement and the looming lockout. What you might not have heard is the lighthearted story of an NHL team, the Montreal Canadiens to be precise, being awarded the top spot in Uni Watch's uniform countdown. 

The countdown judged the best uniforms across the four major sports - NHL, MLB, NFL and NBA. Out of 122 teams Montreal finished first overall thanks to an iconic and simple design. 

Those of you who're thinking to yourselves "aw, man, there's not going to be a lockout! There're three weeks of time left for them to figure stuff out," well, stop. Wake up, smell the coffee, put the tasty adult beverage down. There might be three weeks left, but if these meetings between the owners and the NHLPA are any indication of how much effort is being put into a compromise, there's not exactly a lot of hope to be found.

The two sides were supposed to meet yesterday, but the meeting was canceled (both sides agreed to do so). Today's meeting? It lasted ninety minutes. An hour and a half. That's shorter than the runtime of most Disney movies. This wasn't the move of two sides willing to hash out hard economic details and work towards a compomise that would allow the season to start on time. This was the move of two sides at an impasse, who can't agree, and who are using brinkmanship to force each other's hands.

Don't get excited for October, folks.

Sometimes it's nice to have a fan as the owner of a professional team. You know his heart'll always be in the right place, and he'll do what he thinks is in the franchise's best interest. No absent ownership with him -- but sometimes they have the propensity to think like a fan, and that's what gets you into trouble. Witness the Buffalo Sabres.

Their owner, Terry Pegula, loves the team very much. It's obvious. What is also obvious is that he's not sure what he's doing when it comes to cap management. The Sabres are $8,657,977 below the cap with 23 players signed. That's well and good, but he's offered the summer's current free agent du jour a contract that'd eat most of that space up. The Sabres have offered Shane Doan a four year, $30 million contract that'd pay Doan $7.5 million a season, making him the team's highest paid player. Keep in mind that, as excellent of a leader as Doan is and as good of a hockey player that he is, he's also 35 years old.