Your savory post-Classic breakfast links:
- Recaps and other assorted musings from yesterday out at Nats Park from us, Vogs, Monumental video (highlights), NHL.com, AP, CP, AFP, Reuters, SB Nation, Sporting News (and again), USA Today (and again), PHT, Puck Daddy, WaPo (gamer, blog), NBC4, CSNW, WashTimes, Frankovic, Peerless, Inside Hockey, Baltimore Post-Examiner, DSP, Stars and Sticks, RMNB, NY Times, CSN Chicago (gamer, blog), ESPN Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Blackhawk Up, Second City Hockey
- Postgame reaction from both
locker roomsclubhouses. [Monumental video (Trotz, Quenneville, Ovechkin/Brouwer/Holtby, Orpik, Laich, Beagle, Fehr, Backstrom, Blackhawks, winning locker room), Postgame quotes, NHL player blogs (Beagle, Raanta)] - Barry Trotz was pretty happy after this one. [ESPN]
- As he should be, because the Caps beat the team they’re trying to become – the gold standard of hockey teams. [Daily Herald, USA Today]
- The teams had to – and did – adjust to the variables and obstacles that go along with playing an outdoor game. [WashTimes]
- A “questionable” call on Jonathan Toews made the ending to that game a bitter one for the ‘Hawks… who apparently didn’t mind a few questionable calls going the other way, but whatever. [Chicago Tribune, WaPo, RedEye Chicago, USA Today, SB Nation, Puck Daddy]
- With the exception of a quick shot off a draw, the Caps took care of business on the penalty kill – including on a lengthy five-on-three. [NHL.com]
- Niklas Hjalmarsson questioned the decision to start the game on time due to the sun; he can take that up with his captain, who was in on the decision. [Chicago Sun-Times, ESPN, Puck Daddy]
- Check out video of the game-winning goal and end-of-game celebration from inside the net. [Chicago Sun-Times (GWG, end-of-game]
- Postgame reaction from both
- Talk all you want about the outdoor games being played out or overdone; the players don’t seem to be sick of them. [Puck Daddy]
- After all of the buildup, the excitement, the waiting… the game, and the experience, delivered. Big time. [WaPo (and again with more), CSNW (video), Sportsnet (and again), Yahoo Canada, MASN, Sporting News, CBS DC, Chicago Tribune, DSP, CBS Sports, SI.com, VOA News, PHT, NHL.com, CSNW, Bleacher Report]
- It got off to a great start, with one of the coolest openings to a Winter Classic yet… complete with a replica reflecting pool entrance and a stirring anthem. [CBSSports, SBN]
- The ending, of course, was better for one of the teams than the other. [NHL.com]
- And along the way, Caps fans unleashed some serious fury and it was awesome. [Puck Daddy]
- Breaking down the best and worst from yesterday’s event. [DSP]
- A successful Winter Classic, a great win for the home team… and perhaps the start of something special for the Caps this year. [WashTimes, CSNW, ESPN, Bleacher Report, SI.com]
- More sights, sounds and snacks from an awesome winter day at Nats Park. [Monumental (sights & sounds, gallery), Caps OT (Chimera with caffeine, bus ride to Nats Park, Ovechkin preps his sticks, Ward plays catch, Holtby is ready, Barry Trotz rocks the eyeblack), Caps by Puck, DSP, Caps Outsider, CSNW, Chicago Tribune, CBS Sports, Sportsnet, Canada.com, Newsday, The Score, NHL.com, Puck Daddy, Que Sera Sarah]
- Standout Performances:
- For Troy Brouwer, the game-winning goal in the dying seconds of regulation was special for a couple of reasons (and you can listen to John Walton’s incomparable call here). [NHL.com, CSNW, SI.com, Puck Daddy, ESPN, WUSA9, The Score, Daily Herald, RMNB]
- And for Alex Ovechkin, a bigger stage just meant a bigger place to shine – and shine he did. [WaPo, CP, NHL.com, ESPN]
- Meanwhile Eric Fehr‘s new name? Mr. January. Just make it official already, Eric. [NHL.com, RMNB]
- After suffering a scary-looking knee injury over the weekend, Brooks Orpik went from game-time decision to game-changer for the Caps. [NHL.com, WaPo, CSNW]
- It wasn’t all that surprising that Braden Holtby stopped pretty much everything he could see, considering how amazing he’s been the last two months. [WaPo, CSNW]
- Karl Alzner and those shades, tho. [WaPo, Puck Daddy]
- Some Classic miscellaneous:
- The day as portrayed in comic form, courtesy of our own Backwards Slapshot. [Rink (In Line, BINGO, Mixing Sports Cocktails, Intermission Update, Pinch Hitter]
- With the Classic over and done, it’s up to the hardest-working guys in the NHL to get to work cleaning things up and returning all the gear to Kettler. [ESPN]
- Nice touch by the Caps to join the Blackhawks in honoring the late Clint Reif with special ‘CR’ stickers on all of their helmets. [CP]
- Pretty cool story of some hockey-loving guys who got together to help their friend forget his troubles with a Winter Classic surprise. [WaPo]
- The bromance is strong with Michael Latta and Tom Wilson, and thanks to the Winter Classic (and the accompanying EPIX show), everyone knows it. [FTW]
- Of course, you can’t have a game in a ballpark without some baseball players – enter members of the Nationals bullpen, who attended the game (and ended up in the sin bin). [WaPo]
- Also enter loyal Caps supporter Ryan Zimmerman and
turncoattraitorChicago native Mike Rizzo, who had some words of advice for the Caps. [CSNW (video)] - All of the goalies were rocking pretty awesome Winter Classic masks… but which was the most “classic”? [CBC]
- With all the pageantry and ceremony surrounding the game, it can sometimes be hard to remember that the game is still worth two points in the standings. [WaPo]
- But what about the buzz????? [TFP]
- Apparently the “lack” of buzz didn’t matter considering it was nearly impossible to get tickets to yesterday’s game. [Puck Daddy]
- Ref Cam! [CBS Sports]
- Jay Beagle probably (probably?) shouldn’t be on the ice with Nicklas Backstrom and Ovechkin (although he did some work there yesterday, didn’t he?). [WaPo]
- Speaking of Backstrom, he’s a fantasy hockey stud (and just a stud in general, but we knew that already). [Puck Daddy]
- Checking in on the World Juniors and a look back at the preliminary round for a couple of Caps’ prospects. [Caps Outsider]
- Finally, happy 46th birthday to Rick Tabaracci.