Your savory breakfast links:
- Previews of tonight’s fight with the Flames from Vogs, NHL.com, AP, CBS Sports, Peerless, and be sure to check out our SB Nation pals over at Matchsticks and Gasoline for the other side of tonight’s matchup.
- Next up on the Caps’ Western Canadian Homecoming Tour: a visit to Calgary, home of Jay Beagle. [WaPo]
- As the rest of the League is starting to discover, the Caps have something pretty special in Andre Burakovsky… [Calgary Herald]
- …and as the rest of the League never tires of asking, yes, everything is fine between Barry Trotz and Alex Ovechkin. [Calgary Herald]
- Speaking of Ovechkin, the Flames will have their hands full trying to contain the Caps’ captain. [Calgary Herald, Calgary Sun]
- A response to Glenn Healy‘s recent anti-Ovechkin tirade, and the hockey media culture that has made such personal attacks almost commonplace. [Rink]
- Barry Trotz had some choice (albeit diplomatic) words for Mr. Healy, as well. [WaPo, Puck Daddy]
- News and notes from yesterday’s practice:
- In general. [Monumental video (Trotz, Backstrom, Rinkside Update/Jay Beagle), Caps OT (Trotz, Beagle leading stretches, Ovechkin signing), WaPo]
- After some lackluster performances from, among others, the usually-dependable Jason Chimera and Joel Ward, Trotz is shaking up the lines. [WaPo]
- It’s been a rough couple of years for Mike Green, with plenty of uncertainty, but he’s playing like he wants to stay in DC. Yes, please. [CSNW]
- The Caps are creeping up the Super 16 thanks to some much-improved possession numbers. [NHL.com]
- In Andre Burakovsky and Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Caps are getting a glimpse of the future up the middle. [Pressbox DC]
- There have been some pretty high-scoring Swedes in the NHL over the years… could Nicklas Backstrom become the highest-scoring Swede of all time? [THN]
- An argument for why Tom Wilson should stay in Hershey once he gets healthy. [THW]
- Projecting the roles of some of the youngsters on the team, avoiding those pesky quick-response goals and more in Capital Letters. [NBC4]
- Are the Caps a playoff team? [CSNW]
- Checking in on the farm:
- Despite scoring the game’s first goal, the Bears gave up three goals in the final six minutes of regulation, falling to Lehigh Valley 4-2. [Patriot-News]
- They also lost Patrick Wey for an indeterminate amount of time after a Jay Rosehill hit caused him to leave the game with an upper-body injury. [Patriot-News]
- It wasn’t all bad, of course; last night marked the season debut of a slightly rusty but otherwise healthy Tom Wilson. [Patriot-News]
- After a brief hiatus, the South Carolina Stingrays are back in the organizational fold, and the reunion is helping build a playoff-ready ECHL team. [Post and Courier]
- Take a deeper look at the magical time when Cup-winner Jeff Schultz was a plus-50 for the Caps. [RMNB]
- A day in the life of Chimera and Burakovsky. [Monumental video (CRL Extra)]
- It’s time for another hilarious episode of Chimmer and Wardo! [CSNW]
- More pictures from the Caps’ curling tournament, including plenty of shots of those stylish and colorful toques. [WaPo]
- Nice jeans, Ovi. Hey, when in Rome… er, Calgary… [WaPo]