Your savory breakfast links:
- Your lovable Rink crew weighs in on the moves made (and not made) by George McPhee at this year’s deadline, and what it means for the 2013-14 Caps. [Rink]
- Speaking of McPhee, the buns may be getting a bit toasty where he’s sitting, but the moves he made on Wednesday weren’t done out of desperation. [WaPo]
- Previews of tonight’s clash with the Coyotes from Vogs, NHL.com and AP, and be sure to check out our SB Nation pals over at Five for Howling for the other side of tonight’s matchup.
- After a whirlwind week of travel and trades, Jaroslav Halak will make his Caps’ debut tonight against Phoenix. [Monumental video, CSNW]
- Meanwhile the newest Coyote, Martin Erat, is hoping to get to know his new team as they venture back to the East Coast… [AZ Central]
- …and someone who is very familiar with the East Coast, Jeff Halpern, is looking forward to a trip home. Welcome back, Halpy! [WashTimes]
- News and notes from yesterday’s optional skate:
- In general. [Monumental video (Oates, Halak)
- With John Erskine skating and Dmitry Orlov‘s League-mandated two-game suspension up, the Caps have reassigned blueliner Cameron Schilling to Hershey. [Caps Today]
- KHL season over, KHL deal terminated…commence Evgeny Kuznetsov Watch 2014. I don’t know, kids, it’s starting to feel real now. [WaPo (and again), CSNW, PHT]
- Of course, as his future coach reminds us all, expectations should be tempered for the incoming 21-year-old forward. [CSNW]
- Sure, that disconnected Xbox controller GIF meme is hilarious – especially when applied to Sidney Crosby – but how true a picture does it actually paint? [Puck Daddy]
- A few leftovers on Thursday’s oh-so-fun loss to the Bruins. [WaPo, WNST]
- Yeah, that whole push for the playoffs thing is not looking so good for the Caps right now. [PHT]
- The Capitals Hill gang talks Dustin Penner, Erat, and this week’s trade deadline. [Caps Hill]
- Limited minutes, low-quality teammates and competition…Â it’s been noted before, Adam Oates isn’t exactly putting Tom Wilson in a position to succeed this year. [RMNB]
- With the 2014 Trade Deadline in the past, a look back at one of the most infamous of trade deadline players: former Cap (and current Caps’ analyst and Friend of the Blog) Alan May. [Grantland (DGB)]
- Alex Ovechkin is one of the League’s best goal-scorers, a three-time Hart Trophy-winner… and a genetic mutant. [BHS]
- The Caps’ third jersey is pretty slick, and a lovely reminder of the Winter Classic win from a few years ago. It’s also cursed, though, so toss that sucker out. [Peerless]
- Hoping for a bit of extra cap space next year? It may not be as much room as originally thought. Thanks, Canada. [CBS Sports, PHT]
- The Hockey Community is a Family, Part 1: Grandville High School’s hockey team played in their division semifinal yesterday with heavy hearts, mourning the loss of their co-captain’s sudden death. Heartbreaking. [MLive, USoH]
- The Hockey Community is a Family, Part 2:Â Great story about how Rangers fans banded together to send young Liam Traynor to Nashville to visit his pal, recently-traded defenseman Michael Del Zotto. [NHL.com]
- Finally, happy 45th birthday to Rob Zettler, happy 37th to Chris Clark, happy 51st to Mike Lalor, happy 43rd to Rob Pearson, and a few “whoop whoop”s for Larry Murphy, who turns 53 today.
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