Your savory breakfast links:
- The World Cup is giving the nine Caps participating a leg up on getting ready for the NHL season. [WaPo]
- Team USA got settled here in DC for some practice time ahead of tonight’s Finnish throwdown at Verizon Center. [Caps OT, WCH]
- Hear from the Caps’ American trio as they (briefly) return home for a pre-tournament stop. [Monumental video (Niskanen, Carlson, Oshie)]
- The Swedes are also in town, readying themselves for a fight once the tournament gets underway this weekend. [NoVa Caps]
- Alex Ovechkin and the rest of the Russian Caps ventured into enemy territory, taking to the Penguins‘ practice facility as they prepared for tomorrow’s final exhibition game vs. Canada. [WaPo, CSNMA, WCH]
- Of course, then Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov wandered even further into the abyss, hanging out with Evgeni Malkin and friends at Malkin’s home. They’ll never be clean again. [Instagram]
- Returning to Pittsburgh brought up the subject of the playoffs, and Ovechkin is not a fan of a format that pits #1 against #2 in the second round. Hear, hear! [CSNMA, RMNB]
- What might Lars Eller‘s first season as a Capital hold? [Peerless, StarsandSticks]
- Roasting the Caps! [Caps Outsider]
- This one’s a real doozy, so gird your loins: Defending the Filip Forsberg Trade. [Caps Fans Report]
- Finally, happy birthday to Jose Theodore, who turns 40 today.