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Saturday Caps Clips: United

Daily Washington Capitals news and notes: Amid protests around the world of sports, NHLers were noticeably silent... until they weren’t. Recapping a huge couple of days for a league, with a few Caps’ hockey-related notes s

By Becca H

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2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs - Edmonton - Press Conference Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images

Your savory breakfast links:

  • On Wednesday and into Thursday, the NHL paid lip service to the situation but otherwise was embarrassingly silent amid a series of protests and strikes around the world of sports. [NHL, USA Today, Yahoo, The Score, Sporting News]
  • Evander Kane and Matt Dumba were particularly critical of the lack of action (and rightly so). [Yahoo, Sporting News]
  • So glaring was the lack of response that the newly formed Hockey Diversity Alliance issued a formal request to the NHL to postpone Thursday’s games. [ESPN, The Score, AP]
  • And then something amazing happened: the players stepped up. And walked out. And made a statement, together. [NHL, PHT (and again), NBCSW, ESPN, The Score, Sporting News]
  • Just watching white players file in and stand behind and beside three men of color was staggeringly powerful:
  • Players in the Eastern Conference also spoke, with a slightly less powerful visual - but the message remained the same. [NHL video]
  • Go in-depth behind the players’ decision to postpone Thursday and Friday’s games, and the Hockey Diversity Alliance’s role in the proceedings. [ESPN, NBC Bay Area]
  • This is a moment unlike any other in the history of activism in sports. [The Score]
  • Hear from Ryan Reaves, Matt Dumba and Kevin Weekes on the players’ decision to sit out two days of playoff games. [NHL video (Reaves, Dumba, Weekes)]
  • A day after the players made their powerful, united stand, they sidestepped hockey questions and kept the focus on social justice. [NHL, AP, The Score]
  • This was a big step forward for the NHL. It’s important that it’s just a first step. [The Athletic]
  • Unfortunately it’s still a league largely run by old, white dudes so... two steps forward, one step back. Thanks, Dale Tallon, for reminding us what this fight is about. [The Score, ESPN]

Anyway, if we must talk about actual hockey...

  • The Caps need a new coach, so we’ve started looking at some of the potential candidates. [Rink (Babcock, Boudreau, Gallant, Muller)]
  • Dissecting the “what went wrong?” of every Caps’ head coach during the Ovechkin era. [NBCSW]
  • A look at some of the Caps’ best UFA options to beef up their forward lines. [NoVa Caps]
  • Three things the Caps need to address this offseason, potentially via free agency. [StarsandSticks]
  • Mike Green hung up his skates earlier this week, wrapping up a career that was perpetually underappreciated. [THW]
  • Finally, happy 60th birthday to Tim Tookey, and happy 39th to Martin Erat.