Your savory Saturday brunch links:
- Japers’ Rink Radio takes the weekend off as Stephen Pepper and his wife celebrate the birth of their son. Congratulations to all the Peppers!
- Previews of tonight’s Sabres dance from Vogs, NHL.com (Masisak), Peerless, RtR, Musings of a Hockey Mom, and CRtC, and be sure to check out our SB Nation partner Die By The Blade for more coverage from the other side of tonight’s match-up.
- “Mike Knuble, can you give us any more details – without making us sick?” “No.” [ESPN 980 Radio]
- The Mike Green Compendium. [WashTimes (Whyno), CI (Carrera: One, Two)]
- We won’t be seeing John Erskine tonight… [CI (Carrera)]
- …which means opportunity for Tyler Sloan…[DCEx (McNally)]
- …and the Great Wheel of Hershey Call-ups seems to have spun, and landed on Sean Collins. [Patriot-News (Leone)]
- In which Ambassador Alex Ovechkin holds an impromptu summit with First Lady Michelle Obama. [Caps Outsider]
- Will the 2011-2012 preseason feature a game in Baltimore? [Balto Business Journal]
- “Further proof coach Bruce Boudreau doesn’t get enough credit for his work behind the Capitals bench.” [Globe and Mail (Duhatschek)]
- We’re still trying to figure out how Brooks Laich only gets an honorable mention on this list. [ESPN]
- Michal Neuvirth is playoff tested. But Karl Alzner ought not sell his own contributions so short. [CSN Washington (Raby)]
- Hockey’s Future is counting up the top 50 prospects. We have a Braden Holtby sighting at number 33. [HF]
- Prospects playoff updates:
- Samuel Carrier had an assist and a plus-1 rating as the Lewiston MAINEiacs closed out their series against the defending Q champion Moncton Wildcats. Lewiston advances to the quarterfinals where they will face the Montreal Junior.
- Cody Eakin had a goal and an assist as the Kootenay Ice beat the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-1 and took a 3-2 advantage in the series.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the first goal for Team Russia but was denied in the shootout in a friendly/World Cup tuneup against Belarus. The Russians did prevail; the final was 3-2. Here’s video, the game footage is pretty close to the end.
- Angry Birds are angry. And quite clever. [RtR]
- The Awwwwwwww factor: Off the charts. [RMNB]
- Finally, the Rink would like to salute referee Bill McCreary on the occasion of his last game prior to retirement from active duty on the NHL’s front lines. We’ve had our differences, to be sure, but he’s had a heck of a career. And he returns tonight to call his last game with the team for which he called his first. We’ve all come a long way since then. Fare thee well, Bill. [Globe and Mail]