Quick Hits: the Keep Calm Edition

In Red Wings Land

It takes a village, actually - Macleans.ca
This is a real good piece about where Dan Cleary came from and how he came to be one of the best roleplayers on the '08 cup squad. I know we've given Cleary more than enough heat for how everything ended up with him, but pending his retirement soon, I'd rather remember him as the kid who took the opportunity given him and ran with it. Cleary's goal that won game seven against the Ducks in 2009 remains one of my all-time favorites.

Around the NHL

Oleg Znarok: Alex Ovechkin was playing with an injured knee and hamstring ‹ Russian Machine Never Breaks
The narrative machine between the elimination of the Caps on Wednesday night and the release of information that Ovechkin was injured in the first round and was taking injections to manage the pain was all over how he's a guy you just can't win with; now we'll start the backlash about how Ovi deserves to be lauded for "playing through it' and I feel that a whole big thing about this most-recent Capitals' failure is going to get washed away.

The Caps outplayed Pittsburgh and lost. It happens. It happens in one-game increments all the time. It happens less-often in seven-game series, but it's not super-rare. Hell, the Colorado Avalanche won their division on a lucky streak that lasted for an entire season. I'm very interested to see what direction the Caps go from here, because if anything, this is a lesson for them about how not to overreact. I'm just not sure if their owner can do that.