Your savory breakfast links:
- The semifinal games are complete, and it’s on to the medal rounds. [RMNB]
- Sweden’s penalty-killing and a timely Erik Karlsson tally (and assist by Nicklas Backstrom) led them to victory over Finland… [NHL.com (and again), Puck Daddy, ESPN, AP, CSNW]
- …while Canada rode a Carey Price shutout to edge out the United States with a 1-0 win… [NHL.com, USA Hockey, Puck Daddy (and again), ESPN (with 5 thoughts), AP, CBS Sports, Sporting News, BHS, USoH, CSNW]
- …which means today’s bronze-medal matchup will be Team USA vs. Team Finland… [NHL.com, USoH]
- …and the gold medal will be handed out tomorrow to the winner of Team Sweden vs. Team Canada. [NHL.com (video)]
- So just how did Canada manage to silence the highest-scoring team in the tournament? [NHL.com, Puck Daddy]
- As hyped and exciting as US-Canada games usually are, this one was, well, slightly less impressive than one might have hoped. [AP]
- Stunned silence, angry headlines, finger-pointing… Russia reacts to the elimination of their home team in the quarterfinals. [Fourth-Place Medal (Chesnokov)]
- Last time the Russians were bounced in the quarterfinals, Alex Ovechkin’s NHL performance took a dip – but 2014 is not 2010. [Peerless]
- As the Olympics draw to a close, it’s time to bust the myth of the post-Olympic hangover. [ESPN ($)]
- Legendary goalie, Canadian politican and hockey historian Ken Dryden traces the growth of USA hockey and notes why their next gold medal win won’t be a miracle. [Grantland]
- Ted Leonsis shares his thoughts on Alex Ovechkin at the Olympics. [Ted’s Take]
- Speaking of Alex, he was in attendance to watch his Caps’ teammate Carlson take on Canada in yesterday’s semifinal match. [AP]
- Meanwhile back in the States he was being blasted by Avalanche coach Patrick Roy. Protecting your own player’s failure by throwing another guy under the bus – pretty slick. [Denver Post]
- Most of the time, our Moments that Matter are fairly clear… but based on some postgame quotes from Adam Oates, this one was a puzzle. [Rink]
- Meanwhile out at Kettler:
- With a few teammates still in Sochi and no games until Thursday, the Caps find themselves in limbo between vacation and the stretch run. [WaPo]
- Although there are rumblings that Evgeny Kuznetsov could be headed to DC this season, the Caps aren’t pinning their hopes on that happening. Wise. Very wise. [WaPo]
- The Canadian contingent on the team was rooting for John Carlson to perform well… but only to a point. [CSNW]
- They made sure to show him exactly where that point was with some strategically-placed Canadian jingoism (removed by Real American Hero-in-Training Connor Carrick). [katie_carrera]
- Pretty cool read on hockey’s more obscure origins, which precede its adoption as “Canada’s game”. [G Adventures]
- Troy Brouwer and his wife, Carmen, show off their lovely Arlington digs. [Home and Design]
- Great work by the Caps’ Top Shelf Teammates program, which raised $12,000 in 2013. Joel Ward will present the check to the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Program on Monday. [Caps Today]
- Happy 38th birthday to Patrick Boileau, happy 60th to Al Hangsleben, happy 42nd to Jason Marshall and happy 48th to Joe Reekie.
- Finally, here’s a pretty cool infographic of all Ovechkin goals by NHL location. For some reason he likes scoring goals in Washington, DC…
(Courtesy of Ann Frazier, @annfrazi)
