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Thursday Caps Clips: Happy 13th Anniversary, Japers’ Rink!

Daily Washington Capitals news and notes: Stanley shows up in Prague, a look back at Braden Holtby’s season, the Rink marks a milestone and more.

By Becca H
2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final - Game Five Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

On July 12, 2005, a young aspiring attorney, striving mightily to blunt the panic and pain of studying for the bar exam, logged onto Blogspot for the first time and began writing about a subject that was nearly certainly guaranteed to never, ever be a source of either pain or panic. That’s right - he chose to write about Washington Capitals hockey.

The Rink shared a rookie season with Alex Ovechkin, and in every season thereafter shared the tremendous endorphin rushes of documenting a legend do legend things and then the soul-crushing despair of yet another all-too-early end to the season.

But this season, the 13th season, was different for both team and blog. They won the thing. They raised the Stanley Cup. In October they will raise a banner. And we will always walk together, as champions.

Congrats, J.P. And thanks.

Now for your savory breakfast links:

  • Re-wrapping the first few Rink Wraps with the JRR crew. [Rink]
  • Reflections on the 2017-18 campaign for the man, the myth, the legend: Braden Holtby... [Rink, RMNB]
  • ...and on that of Dmitry Orlov. [Peerless]
  • Summer with Stanley keeps rolling on, as the Cup headed to Prague to spend the day with Jakub Vrana, friends... and yes, some champagne. That’s our boy. [NHL, NoVa Caps, FiCP, RMNB, iDNEZ.cz, Ceske Noviny]
  • 17 years later, a deep dive into the infamous trade that had a resounding impact on two rival franchises. [NBC Sports]
  • Looking ahead to the next three seasons between the pipes for the Caps. [NoVa Caps]
  • How do the Caps avoid the dreaded Stanley Cup hangover? [NoVa Caps]
  • Spotlight on... Pheonix Copley. [FiCP]
  • Prospect review and forecast for defenseman Tyler Lewington. [NoVa Caps]
  • After a pretty memorable rookie season, blueliner Christian Djoos will look to take another step forward in 2018-19. [NoVa Caps]
  • Part of this summer’s renovations at Capital One will include massive overhauls to the fan experience. [NBCSW, WashTimes]
  • Finally, today we rightfully congratulate and celebrate JP and his remarkable persistence. But this site would be meaningless without the work of all the people to whom we link each day, without the fellowship of the Rink’s many commenters (and you lurkers too!), and without our shared fandom of the one and only Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals Hockey Club. Cheers, friends. Weeeeeeeeeeeee are the champions!