Your savory breakfast links:
- Previews of tonight’s rematch of an impressive October Caps win from Vogs, Peerless, Fight For Old DC, MercuryNews, and NHL.com, and be sure to check out our SB Nation partner Fear The Fin for coverage from the other side of tonight’s match up.
- The last time the Caps won in San Jose was October 30, 1993 (Arturs Irbe was in net for the Sharks on that night). The Caps are 0-8-1 against the Sharks on the road since. [@nateewell]
- To sum up Jason Chimera‘s first practice with the Caps, he skated on a line with Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin and was served Gatorade by Juice Boy Alex Ovechkin. [Caps365 (video)]
- Speaking of Chimera, he’s one of eight forwards to have 60 goals and 360 penalty minutes since the lockout, and it’s one sandpapery list. [@cmasisak22]
- If you squint and turn your head just a bit, the Chimera deal looks like more than Columbus GM Scott Howson “simply doing [George] McPhee a huge favor.” [FOX Sports]
- I have no idea what this Bay Area blogger’s point is, other than that somehow a captaincy and MVP credentials are linked. Or they’re not. I give up. [… And The Horse You Rode In On]
- Apparently the Caps know what they’re doing. [5ive Hole]
- It’s announcement day for Team Canada, and final Mike Green predictions shake out with a yes (Hockey or Die!), a no (Puck Daddy), another no (Damien Cox), a big no (CBC), a mixed bag (G&M) and a punt (Pierre LeBrun).
- Caps talk Olympics. [CSN Washington (video)]
- More power rankings, with the Caps up two to second at SI and ESPN and up one to third at FOX Sports.
- Lots of Caps clips in the Plays o’ the Decade. [FanShot]
- We know that Backstrom’s best has yet to come, but it’s nice to see the word’s getting out. [Sportsnet]
- Peerless unveils the number 7, number 6 and number 5 Caps stories of the year.
- Someone asked me if the line in last evening’s post about “challenging readers and trying to keep ‘the other guys’ honest and on their toes when it’s all too easy to pander to the conventional wisdom of the vocal and ill-informed” referred to anything or anyone in specific, and no, it’s not.
- Eric McErlain, for the win on yet another lame Jeff Schultz dig (from the WaPo’s “NHL Editor,” no less). [Off Wing Opinion]
- Update on the TWT story. [WaPo]
- Some hack is mad at AO for honoring a deal that was probably struck by his former agent, and takes a couple of cheap shots along the way. Here’s an idea, guy – if a kid wants his autograph, send him to Kettler, but let the professional collector who’s just going to flip it on eBay drop a few bucks for profiting off the man, k? [Out of Bounds]
- Andrew Gordon and Alexandre Giroux are All-Stars. Congrats. [Bears]
- A visit from Gordie Howe is always something special. [John Walton Hockey]
- The Bears are up to 50 points and countin’. [Patriot-News]
- Stefan Della Rovere has been well-behaved at Worlds… so far. [TSN]
- Finally, per the HHoF, on this date back in 1992, “Washington defenseman Al Iafrate became the first player in NHL history to have his shot officially break the 100 miles-per-hour barrier, when he had one clocked at 101.4 MPH during the Caps’ NHL Superskills Competition at the Capital Centre.”