Your savory breakfast links:

• Mama said lock you out... forever, apparently.
  • First they tried talking. Then it was not talking about talking. Now it's just... not talking? Good plan. Let's see how that works out. [CBC, Sportsnet (and again), Yahoo!, WaPo, Wash Times]
  • Ian White of the Red Wings #thePlayers is not impressed with the NHL's tactics or with Gary Bettman... [Puck Daddy, CBS Sports, Globe and Mail]
  • ...and neither are the fans. [ESPN]
  • Oh, we're halfway there...oh-oh! Livin' on a prayer. No, really, prayer is pretty much all we've got left. [Globe and Mail]
  • Are the poor billionaires really as poor as they say, or are they merely "poor"? [Edmonton Journal]
  • Mike Knuble thinks the key to getting a new CBA lies in the hands of each side's second-in-command. Mike Knuble is very, very smart. [CSNW]
• As unsteady as it may seem at times, the KHL continues to roll right along - and continues to pose an increasing threat to a league mired in a lockout. [Sportsnet]
• Another increasingly valid option for hockey fans? The AHL, which is blossoming in its role as Plan B. [Globe and Mail]
• Caps' 2012 draftee Riley Barber is thriving in Ohio so far, putting up pretty decent numbers as a member of the Miami RedHawks [CHN]
• If, like us, your hockey withdrawal includes Joe B and Locker withdrawal, you're in luck, as the latter half of CSN's dynamic duo gets his own weekly radio spot for the Eyes Radio Network. [E.Y.E.S. Radio]
• Finally, happy 63rd birthday to Gord Smith and happy 57th birthday to Dennis Maruk... who no doubt will be known as "Pee Wee" well into his 90s.