Your savory breakfast links:
- With a little less than a week until he’s officially a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame (and the Hershey Bears off until Friday), Adam Oates reflected on his playing career and his future. [WaPo, Wash Times, Wash Examiner, NHL.com (and again), ESPN, Caps (video)]
- Lockout news:
- The key phrase of the day? Cautious optimism. Among fans, media and players alike, cautious, cautious optimism. [CBC, ESPN, SI, Globe and Mail, BHS, Puck Daddy, CBC, The Star]
- So what could be included – or left off – in this potential CBA that could be coming and about which we’re all cautiously optimistic? [Puck Daddy (and again), PHT,
- It took them four months, but the sides finally seem to have figured out that silence is golden… at least when it comes to the media. [RDS (Google translate), PHT]
- Three lockouts during Gary Bettman‘s tenure as commissioner don’t just make him an easy guy to hate – they also remind us how much we need the game. [The Classical]
- Uncovering hockey in the midst of a hockey-less lockout. [Grantland]
- Guess who’s back, back again! Dale Hunter‘s back… and he’s feeling chatty.. [Sportsnet (and for you lucky Canadians, Hunter discusses Ovechkin)]
- Jay Beagle‘s unemployed for the moment, but he and a handful of other current/former Caps are trying to maintain a routine. [Wash Post]
- If you missed it, last month’s InGoal Magazine’s got a lengthy feature on our very own Braden Holtby. [InGoal]
- Mike Vogel takes a look back at a series of exhibition games in Japan between the historically inept Caps and the equally inept Kansas City Scouts. [Dump ‘n Chase]
- In exciting business news, SB Nation and Monumental Sports & Entertainment have formed a content-sharing partnership that will provide fans with even better coverage… whenever there’s something to cover, that is. [Caps]
- Finally, happy 55th birthday to Rollie Boutin and Nelson Burton, happy 54th birthday to Paul MacKinnon, and happy 34th birthday to Keith Aucoin.