Wednesday Caps Clips

Your savory breakfast of champions links:

• Washington’s Greatest Dane gets his year-end accolades. [Rink, RMNB]
• The year in review for Matt Niskanen. [Peerless]
• Stanley Cup Champion Michal Kempny had his day with Lord Stanley at home in hometown Hodonin and at his youth rink in Brno, Czech Republic. [NoVa Caps, FiCP, RMNB, NHL, Blesk, (and again, with photo gallery)

• “Back in 1892 or 1893, Lord Stanley of Preston – the governor general of Canada at the time – spent 10 guineas, or half a pound sterling, to have a “challenge cup” made for the game of hockey. Stanley and his family had taken to the game during their time in Canada, and his purchase of less than fifty American dollars at the time likely made the smallest of ripples back then. But as Bruce Springsteen sagely penned: ‘From small things mama, big things one day come’.” Mike Vogel spins a pretty good yarn about his adventures with Alex Ovechkin and the Cup in Moscow... [Dump-n-Chase]
• ... and fear not. The Cup was carefully examined before it left for Prague and was determined to be in “good order”. [TASS, Blesk]
• The Cup will spend today with Jakub Vrana, then head back Stateside. Later in July, the Caps’ head athletic trainer Jason Serbus will host the chalice in his hometown, teeny-tiny Bird Island, Minnesota. [DNT]
• John Tavares’ elopement with the Leafs may affect the Caps’ approach to free agency in 2019 for Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby. But for now, < stanley shrug emoji > [NBCSW]
• How the rebuilding 2018-19 Rangers might stack up against the rest of the Win-Now mode Metro. [The Athletic]
• Back-to-back, baby. [FanSided, FiCP]
• The Caps’ 2018 first-rounder Alex Alexeyev always played as Ovechkin on Playstation. Then at the draft Alex was handed a phone to speak with Alex in person on FaceTime. [AllHockey.ru]
• Beck Malenstyn has wrapped up his junior career and will be lacing ‘em up with Hershey this year. [THW]
• July 1, 2018 was a pretty good day for journeyman center Michael Sgarbossa. He toasted Canada Day, signed a contract with the Caps, and then said “I do” with his now-wife in Chicago. Huzzah! [Inside Halton]
• Speaking of weddings, the official photos for the Ovechkin nuptials are out and about. [FiCP]
• Finally, a stick salute to the memory of Gaetan Duchesne, who would have turned 56 today.