Your savory breakfast links:
- Loads of hockey action from Russia today as the preliminary round continues, with the Czech Republic vs. Switzerland, Slovenia vs. Slovakia (spoiler alert: the winner was Slov….), and Sweden vs. Latvia. [Rink, NHL.com]
- But let’s not kid ourselves, all anyone is talking about is this morning’s big matchup between Team USA and Team Russia. [NHL.com, SI.com, USoH]
- Russia’s plan of attack? Use skill, the larger ice surface and reigning Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky to defeat the US. [NHL.com]
- Team USA’s plan? Deploy Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik against Russia’s talented top-six forwards. Um…. [NHL.com]
- USA vs. Russia always brings up the “Miracle on Ice” comparisons… [NHL.com, SI.com]
- …but this game bears very little resemblance to the one that took place 34 years ago, and this crop of players is looking to forge their own place in history. [SI.com, ESPN, NJ.com]
- If the idea of rooting against Alex Ovechkin is making you feel a little conflicted, well… you’re not alone. [Rink]
- First-time Olympian and superstud defenseman John Carlson went for a little skate-and-chat with the local news. [Fox5]
- Martin Erat is red-hot right now, with his tally against Latvia yesterday giving him goals in three of his last four games. Okay, so one of those was on his own team, but still! [CSNW]
- The Caps think they’re too good to be a bubble team. We might have agreed before the season started, but then they did that pesky thing where they actually played games. [CSNW]
- One of their biggest holes remains on defense – so who might be available at the deadline, should they decide to upgrade that way? [ESPN ($)]
- Congrats to former Cap Andrew Brunette, who will have his jersey raised to the rafters by his old OHL team, the Owen Sound Platers, next weekend. [Bayshore]
- Finally, happy 40th birthday to Martin Gendron and happy 42nd to… he-who-shall-not-be-named.
