Here are the links from around the hockey world, and what I’m reading, on the day before I turn 41 years old...or 41 years young.
*Alex Ovechkin says that he will play for Russia in the 2018 Olympics in South Korea whether or not the NHL is sending over their players.
*Patrice Bergeron took over the Pure Hockey Twitter account (@PureHockey) to answer a number of questions from fans, and offered his answers including that he thinks Patrick Kane has the best hands in the NHL.
*An emotional column through the Players’ Tribune from Marty St. Louis about his retirement, and the lessons he learned from his mother over the years.
*Hockey writer Dave Lozo is quitting Twitter, but is going to continue tweeting out links to his stories. Sounds like a really strong anti-Twitter statement to me. Or not.
*Carolina Hurricanes has hired Eric Tulsky as a full-time employee ready to crunch stats and do advanced stats work for the Canes.
*Daniel Carcillo is preparing for life after the NHL, and he’s doing the same for his fellow players as his enforcer/agitator career starts to wind down.
Boston Bruins
*Ken Wiebe takes a look at what the Winnipeg Jets roster might be when they open up against the Bruins in October.
*For something completely different: the oral history of HBO’s Six Feet Under is a pretty solid effort from Rolling Stone.