Shrapnel - 12/16/11

Last night was not nearly as fun as we'd hoped.

For reactions to the listless loss to Los Angeles, check out puck-rakers, Strait-Jackets, Dark Blue Jacket (complete with a great look at the utterly BS first LA goal), the Dispatch, the Jackets notebook, and of course our take on the whole deal.

Not surprisingly, there isn't a lot of other Jackets discussion today, but there was a fair bit of NHL news going around.

In Philadelphia, Chris Pronger met with the same concussion specialists who have been treating Sidney Crosby, and the decision was made to shut him down for the year. The really interesting question is what this means for Pronger's career going forward - the man is 37. He'll be 38 before he has a chance to return to the ice, and carrying a $5 million dollar cap hit through the next five years. If you're north of 35 and just suffered a concussion severe enough to end your season (and potentially impact the next), I can't help but think that it may be time to consider retirement - especially with the other knee and back issues Pronger has suffered the last two years.

He's a great player (as long as he's on your team), but there's a point where the risks outweigh the joys.

Speaking of the Flyers, there's a great interview over at BSH with 24/7 senior producer Dan Harmon.

Out in San Jose, apparently some fans want to fire Todd McLellan? First off all, that's the stupidest thing I've heard this week. Second of all, yes, please, convince Doug Wilson to fire him. WE WILL TAKE HIM.

Over at Backhand, they're talking Teemu returning to where it all began, some fantasy updates, a look at Pavel Datsyuk whiffing an empty net as the Wings tried to break a tie in Nashville last night, how Brendan Morrow fires up Steve Ott, and Cam Ward with a monster save.

Your Puck Daddy roundup features the curious case of Richard Bachman, a guy got kicked out of a New England rec league for defecating into a hockey glove, Minor League Hijinx featuring the Syracuse Crunch, and 7 possible spinoff roles for Ilya Bryzgalov after 24/7.

I'm telling you, get him to help Neil deGrasse Tyson host the new Cosmos. Seriously, it'd be 100% pure trip.