Your savory breakfast links:
- #OperationHatTrick was a rousing success, a little island of NHL hockey bliss in a churning lockout sea. [Puck Daddy, Press of Atlantic City, CBC, Sportsnet, ESPN, Courier-Post (video)]
- The game-worn jerseys of all the players are available at auction … [Steiner]
- … and you can bid on John Carlson’s sweater here. Bid early and often! [Steiner]
- Say, that fellow there over in the shadows. Yes, that one. Looks a lot like Donald Fehr, nu? [Philly.com]
- The charity game was nice, but the real issues continue:
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“…[I]f you believe in free speech and you don’t believe in censorship, and you believe everybody’s entitled to their opinion, they speak it. … We don’t believe in censoring anybody.” Donald Fehr responds to the firestorm sparked by Roman Hamrlik’s comments. [WashTimes]
- Folks are starting to pay attention to the squabbling. [SenShot, WashTimes]
- Time for the moderate owners to start moderating. Rise up! [NYPost]
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- News from around the Caps organization:
- The Hershey Bears continue to struggle, posting a 3-1 loss to the Adirondack Phantoms. [Patriot-News, LDN, SHoE]
- Old friend Keith Aucoin will be visiting the Giant Center in a Toronto Marlies sweater today. [Patriot-News]
- The Reading Royals also lost 4-2 to the Evansville IceMen, ending an 11-game win streak.[Gamesheet]
- And here’s a quick scan of the news from overseas:
- Sverige:
- Marcus Johansson had an assist, a sweet sharp-angle goal and an only slightly awkward face plant as Karlsoga BIK took the league lead away from Filip Forsberg‘s Leksand. [HockeySverige (video, MJ90’s goal is at the end)]
- Speaking of Forsberg, he continues rehabbing a (what seems to be) hip flexor injury. He reports he is riding the bike a lot and skating a bit, and hopes it won’t become a chronic thing. Oppan Rehab Style, Filip. [dt.se]
- Brynas has had terrible bad luck with injuries to their defensemen, which is how young Christian Djoos got so many minutes, so fast. But you know what? He’s earning those minutes now, and his coach has high praise for him. [Arbetarbladet]
- Россия: Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom continue to be awesome and their next game is Monday against woeful Atlant.
- Suissa: Previous media reports had Brooks Laich returning to Kloten for this weekend’s games, but now the indicators are that he remains in the US for further treatment. [Blick.ch, Eishockey-24]
- Polska: Ciarko PBS Bank Sanok is participating in the IIHF Continental Cup in Stavanger, Norway. Sanok is unfortunately last in their group with two losses, but Wojtek Wolski was named “man of the match” with two goals in their loss to Metallug Zloban. [Eurosport]
- Finally, here’s a don’t-miss interview with Wolski as he discusses the differences in training and philosophy between the PHL and the NHL, why he’s always catching his new teammates checking YouTube, and just how long it will take for him to get on a plane bound for Washington. [FanPost]