Your savory Saturday brunch links:
- Japers’ Rink Radio hits the interwaves today at 10 Eastern. Pepper and Russell welcome two special guests this week – James Mirtle, all-star hockey editor for The Globe and Mail, drops by to chat Caps-Leafs, plus an interview with Caps grinder Matt Hendricks. [JRR]
- Previews of tonight’s Hockey Night in Canada tilt with Toronto from Vogs, NHL.com (Rosen), Peerless, WC2010, and KoL, and be sure to check out our SB Nation partner and friend o’ the Rink Pension Plan Puppets for more coverage from the other side of tonight’s match-up.
- It’s always fun to visit the GTA – the Toronto hockey media goes on full alert when the Caps come to town. A sampling:
- The Leafs have their slingshots ready for the Caps’ Goliath. [The Globe and Mail]
- Wherefore art thou, Alex Ovechkin? [t.o.night (PDF, page 4), Slam! Hockey]
- Welcome home, Bruce Boudreau. Remember, Gabby, we knew you when. [Toronto Sun]
- Boudreau: “If you look at the line situation, the combinations aren’t going to score that many goals.” [CI (Carrera)]
- This year’s Nicklas Backstrom is looking more like last year’s every day. [WaPo (Carrera)]
- The notorious cheap-shot artist David Steckel talks Winter Classic and Super Bowl picks. [NHL Live]
- Taking note of the Capitals’ new focus on D. [NHL.com (Krieser)]
- Oh, brother. Dale and Mark Hunter round out this gallery of siblings who played together in the NHL. [SI]
- Bryan Helmer talks about his new life in Oklahoma City, his record-setting game, and the day he took a call from the Hockey Hall of Fame. Plus a shout out to BearsNation. [The Voice of Sport]
- Speaking of the Bears, try these numbers on for size: 1 NHL general manager (sitting among the people), 11 goals combined, and 178 PIMs. And the game was more than the sum of these parts. [SHoE]
- Cody Eakin does it all. [Capitals]
- Catching up with Caps’ prospect D-man (and Team USA bronze-medalist) Patrick Wey post WJCs. [The Almanac]