Daily Washington Capitals news and notes: prospect rankings, a “Monumental” earthquake of an acquisition, who we love to hate and more.
Your savory breakfast links:
- In “Moby Dick,” Herman Melville wrote, “To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee; For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.” The Rink takes a look at the players at whom we would spit our last breath (figuratively speaking, of course) for hate’s sake. [Rink]
- Over at The Athletic, Corey Pronman has his “Pipeline Rankings,” a team-by-team look at the best prospects 22 years old or younger in the NHL. His overall rankings can be found here [The Athletic $], and his Caps prospect review is here. [The Athletic $]
- And another look at the Capitals’ prospect pool. [THN]
- Big media news… Monumental Sports and Entertainment has made a big acquisition under which they would hold 100% of the equity interests in NBC Sports Washington (subject to regulatory approval). [NoVa Caps]
- And while it might not be directly Caps related, MSE might not be done, with the Washington Nationals perhaps joining the Caps, Wizards, and Mystics in the MSE portfolio. [Washington Post]
- In other prospect news, Hendrix Lapierre will get chance to showcase his skills at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase coming up in a couple of weeks. [WHN]
- Wondering what the January schedule for the Caps looks like? Take a look [S+S]
- “Is this the party to whom I am speaking?” If you call a sports betting outlet in Russia, you might find that Alex Ovechkin is on the other end of the line. [WHN]
- Being quotable is a hallmark of athletes. Here is one take on the top all-time Capitals quotes [S+S]
- Finally, wishing happy birthdays to Andrew Brunette, who turns 49 today, and Gary Sampson, celebrating his 63rd birthday. A couple of notes about the pair. Brunette played only 62 games over three years with the Caps, but he then played in 1048 of 1066 games over the next 13 seasons (98.3%) with five teams, a real “iron man.” Sampson scored his only GWG with the Caps (the only one of his career, as it turned out) in Pete Peeters’ first shutout as a Capital (in his second game as a Cap), 3-0 over Quebec on November 23, 1985. It was the only goal he scored in 19 games of the 1985-1986 season.