Daily Cupcake - Links From Around the NHL - March 22nd, 2012

I had to use this picture, Colorado Avalanche 's Ryan Wilson 's face is brilliant!

There is some good news for Jean Beliveau.

They came to him at the Bell Centre head table five years ago this month, Canadiens icon Jean Béliveau the guest of honour at a black-tie gala that would raise more than $1 million in his name for children’s hospitals.

At each of the 1,000 place settings was a wooden hockey stick blade, a souvenir of the evening, every one bearing Béliveau’s legendary signature.

But as they kept flocking to the Hall of Famer for an autograph on the blade, he finally asked a guest: "You do realize I’ve already signed this?"

The Béliveau name on 1,000 sticks was so perfect, so alike, that many believed their blade had been signed not by hand, but by a machine.

Remember the picture of the false teeth that Gabriel Landeskog tweeted? Yeah, he asked Erik Johnson 's permission before putting it on Twitter. There are some jewels of quotes by Erik about Gabe.

Gabriel Landeskog was presented with a golden opportunity the other day.

Roommate Erik Johnson, having forgotten his false teeth in their hotel room, asked the kid to bring his dentures to the rink.

In the opportunistic world of social media, that is a gimme.

But before tweeting his photo of the unguarded choppers — nicely displayed on a blank sheet of hotel stationary — Landeskog kindly asked Johnson’s permission. Which he got.

That’s the kind of young man he is.

Landeskog, despite immense talent, respects his elders.

A nice story about Johnny Boychuk.

If Johnny Boychuk stopped believing in the dream, he couldn’t be blamed.

Once a prospect for the Colorado Avalanche, Boychuk had to play five full seasons (and then some) in the American Hockey League, 347 games to be exact. He even was moved up to forward in an enforcer’s role, not exactly the fast track to the big time.

But he persevered.

Well, OHL coaches sure do like Michael Sgarbossa.

The Ontario Hockey League have announced the results of the Eastern Conference Coaches Poll for the 2011-12 OHL regular season, and the Sudbury Wolves had ample representation.

The OHL Coaches Poll provides member club coaches with the opportunity to recognize the top three players in 20 different skill categories within their own conference.

The Niagara IceDogs led the way with representation in 14 of the 20 different categories. The Wolves came in second with 13.

Forward Michael Sgarbossa appearing in a conference-best five different categories. The Colorado Avalanche prospect was named Smartest Player and Best Playmaker, the second Most Dangerous in the Goal Area and second Best Stick-handler (he finished third in that category last season). He also ranked third in the Best Shot category.